Newcomer / Intro How did you guys learn Elite Dangerous?

My first commander died instantly in a CZ :-(

I avoided combat completely for my first week or so in the game and became very good at avoiding interdiction, learned how to dock and make lots of credits doing simple cargo missions in a Cobra...

Then I decided it was time to learn combat so read a bounty hunting tutorial or two and learned how to tune a ViperMK3, I owe all of my combat experience to that ship, spent several days at the same Nav beacon helping the system Feds out and learning when NOT to pull the trigger...

Then I became more interested in how to make credits faster and began paying more attention to the systems I was working in and the superpowers I was unknowingly supporting by doing missions. Adopting a home system is very financially rewarding in this game and I'd advise any newcomer to find a system they like (preferably a high tech one with lots of ships available) and groom the minor factions until you're allied with them all by doing missions...

...if running countless missions sounds boring and you're just looking for action another tactic is to select a home system you like and identify the local pirate faction (usually crimson/purple/mafia/family/crew) and then beat on that faction only at the nav beacon or RES, this will boost your Rep with all the other systems minor factions at the same time as long as you can restrain yourself from killing every wanted that crosses your path. You end up with 5 factions that love you and one faction that hates you, which is well worth it because the five factions will offer missions worth millions of credits...

I think I'm probably quoting many others here but anytime you're doing ONE task that's contributing towards multiple goals you're doing very well in Elite, it's a time consuming game and you should always try to spend your time wisely in order to progress...

For example, you could climb aboard a freighter and just go from station to station completing 100k cargo transport missions and travel all around the bubble, you'll earn reasonable credits doing this and you'll always be on the move....but you'll never have any friends because your work is to spread out...and simply grabbing the nearest hand that feeds you isn't always the best option, especially if you're wanting to climb federation or imperial ranks in order to unlock specific faction ships...
 
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I was part of the Kickstarter.

I tend to split my time between Elite:Dangerous, Star Citizen (regardless what that idiotic thread on this very forum says), and my standard flight sims (IL2, Rise of Flight etc). So flying for me is natural (I'm a pilot in real life).


I tend to take the control scheme for my Thrustmaster HOTAS (Warthog) with my Saitek Combat Pro pedals (no longer made boooohissss), and use them across all platforms.



And then for a few weeks, I just kept flying my Sidewinder until I didn't feel like I was doing poorly.

My thanks to all the serious ED's for the great support provide in these forum threads, we who are so easily confuse by this game salute you. I am seriously addicted to this game, mostly because it is about flying... and flying in space. I'm caught my addiction using Xbox One Elite and am considering adding a PC with a Thrustmaster Hotas Warthog. Reading the reviews created some hesitation when they indicated the foot pedal required some rather complicated work arounds to work with the joystick's controller app. Sounds like your rig was similar to the one being reviewed--any advice would be appreciated.

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Rail-Clipper does approximately 200MJ damage per shot. With PAs even more. And yours look like PAs. (And yes, they can hit with four plasmas at once. Nobody said they weren't cheating, but they don't have engineered weapons. That's confirmed)

It pays off to check their weapons and loadout before engaging. For example when I'm bounty hunting in my Courier, I have to avoid pirates with railguns. (Especially Asps, because they have six of those bloody things) I am simply one-shot for them and although my Courier can go well over 600m/s, she can't outrun a rail gun slug. :D

So how do you check out their load-outs and weapons? I am loving the trading career path currently (T-7 and FDS) and normally rely on submit and speed away; although am tempted with the FDS to turn and fight (Eng'd Long-range Multi-cannons).
 
So how do you check out their load-outs and weapons? I am loving the trading career path currently (T-7 and FDS) and normally rely on submit and speed away; although am tempted with the FDS to turn and fight (Eng'd Long-range Multi-cannons).

Target them, then look at your left-hand panel. There is a "Sub-systems" tab there, where you can see what they're sporting.
 
Target them, then look at your left-hand panel. There is a "Sub-systems" tab there, where you can see what they're sporting.

As soon as you said that, I realized I knew that; just when it all starts happening the fight or flight argument starts and I'm trying to avoid interdiction or not and looking into another panel to look into a sub-panel seems like a serious injection of lack of focus. So you say I'll learn how to multi-task-in-time, just like I learned how to not boost into the back of the starport when landing? Appreciate your response--sending your some rep for all the great posts, but keep being told I have to spread some rep around before I can give you more; thanks again anyway!
 
As soon as you said that, I realized I knew that; just when it all starts happening the fight or flight argument starts and I'm trying to avoid interdiction or not and looking into another panel to look into a sub-panel seems like a serious injection of lack of focus. So you say I'll learn how to multi-task-in-time, just like I learned how to not boost into the back of the starport when landing? Appreciate your response--sending your some rep for all the great posts, but keep being told I have to spread some rep around before I can give you more; thanks again anyway!

Hahah. :D
Thanks, anyway.

And yeah, Elite is a learning marathon, even after a year you can encounter a thing that will make you feel like a complete newbie. :)

Fly safe!
 
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