Newcomer / Intro How to make money, without doing bulletins?

[jamesmay]

Ive tried exploration, but the jump 20 LY's from site is quite tedious, to get only 200-3000 credits..
(Im in a sidewinder also, with ~4k creds, WOAH!)

I cant find any random targets to shoot down for cash either, no rats or anything in this game? Difficult to locate targets.

Hauling? In a sidewinder? Nope.

 

[CMDR Sheehy]

You can find the rats hang around where there's profit to be made: Mining Extraction Sites. Planetary Rings (metallic) are particularly good. Buy a ton of something nice and head over there, you'll soon have someone scanning you and asking you to drop it!!!

 

[blueski]

Ok, so head for either nav beacons or resource extraction sites(and sometimes Unidentified Signal Source spaw pirates) , fly around and scan the local ships(they spawn in just after you).

Check for any that come up wanted, and blast them to hell, try not to shoot the cops if they show up(they love to try and steal your kill), things can go south pretty quickly.

Good luck

 

[Shadowdancer]

Ive tried exploration, but the jump 20 LY's from site is quite tedious, to get only 200-3000 credits..

That option becomes viable once you get a jump range around 10 ly, at which point you start hopping around all over the place. The sidewinder has a bit of a fuel capacity problem though, so you'll need to land every three or so jumps

I cant find any random targets to shoot down for cash either, no rats or anything in this game? Difficult to locate targets.

You can try the nav beacon around the central star of pretty much any inhabited system and look for wanted ships. Just target them, face towards them, and wait until the scan shows "wanted"; you're free to shoot those. You can also try your luck at unidentified signal sources, they should still produce a lot of unshielded opponents.

Hauling? In a sidewinder? Nope.

At four cargo units, it's not that bad, you can make quite a bit of cash if you score good "scrap" runs, or even some small-scale luxury fetch missions.

 

[Ortikon]

if you continue to do hauling after the sidewinder:
Larger cargo is great when you grab a few bulletins to help you get around and fill the "gaps" with bought goods to trade normally.
I slowly transitioned from supply missions to trading whilst still keeping an eye on bulletins for subtle good deals. Now I rely more on raw trade than missions. Bulletin board is still good for getting rep, which I am finding is actually quite valuable.
To find 'rats' look for Nav Beacons and Unidentified Signal Sources.

edit: ninja'd and then some

 

[Juby]

The starting game play for Elite is quite slow and you will have to spend your first few hours (days) earning just a handful of credits here and there by trading small cargo loads, doing the easier bulletins, selling exploration data when available, etc. After a little while however things will pick up as you get better equipment, larger cargo hold/ships, etc.

I tried bounty hunting last night but it is pointless without having the equipment to interdict other ships - you can't deploy weapons in supercruise and if you drop out then the target ship just disappears. Therefore I will go back to tradin/bulletins until I have the cash to buy and equip what I need and then try again.

It is definitely worth sticking with, but you are going to have to go through a few hours of grind before getting to the real action.

 

[Boff'in]

I've had some unwelcome bad luck and teething issues (DO NOT PICK UP FREE CARGO)

So I've got some federal fines, making some missions hazardous for my health, because I'm wanted with a 30k bounty on my head, and I'm still "starting out" and learning the "rules" of the game.
in fact I don't think I can "call it" a game right now. It's like a second job, where obeying the law in the beginning is the sensible course of action.

I've messed up most of the local missions and got a bad rep with most.
I'm bouncing between outposts, actual Federal stations are too dangerous for me.

I'm resorted to the "space trucking" and hauling in just my little sidewinder.


Buying in the trade data, and sizing up the local economies (within a few jumps) is making a bit of sense in my current predicament.
I might try a few "rats" so far, combat hasn't been a "win-win" event for me either.

From trading and some simple missions (which involved finding trade routes, well d'uh I just paid for some I can look that up now).
Even the galaxy map breifing the Dev's have put up will help out.

Turning tens of credits into hundreds if not thousands of credits, even in a little sidewinder.
I've got enough some mining equipment I think I might just do that for a while (and keep my head low), just like the 'dad' in I-war 2, oddly enough my real life son is watching me play, maybe he'll have to avenge me one day too

 

[Juby]

I've had some unwelcome bad luck and teething issues (DO NOT PICK UP FREE CARGO)

So I've got some federal fines, making some missions hazardous for my health, because I'm wanted with a 30k bounty on my head, and I'm still "starting out" and learning the "rules" of the game.
in fact I don't think I can "call it" a game right now. It's like a second job, where obeying the law in the beginning is the sensible course of action.

I've messed up most of the local missions and got a bad rep with most.
I'm bouncing between outposts, actual Federal stations are too dangerous for me.

I'm resorted to the "space trucking" and hauling in just my little sidewinder.


Buying in the trade data, and sizing up the local economies (within a few jumps) is making a bit of sense in my current predicament.
I might try a few "rats" so far, combat hasn't been a "win-win" event for me either.

From trading and some simple missions (which involved finding trade routes, well d'uh I just paid for some I can look that up now).
Even the galaxy map breifing the Dev's have put up will help out.

Turning tens of credits into hundreds if not thousands of credits, even in a little sidewinder.
I've got enough some mining equipment I think I might just do that for a while (and keep my head low), just like the 'dad' in I-war 2, oddly enough my real life son is watching me play, maybe he'll have to avenge me one day too

If you've messed up your reputation, got a huge bounty (which will make things difficult to say the least - if I see a 30kc bounty I'm definitely gonna go for it, even just in my wee Sidey - all in the process of learning (which is entirely feasible and to be expected) then it may be worth your time doing a wipe and starting again with the benefit of hindsight and what you have learned by your mistakes. Especially if you haven't progressed too far anyway.

It would be a shame to let mistakes made when learning potentially spoiling your on going game experience.

 

[jamesmay]

Im making ~1000 profits in my Sidewinder with 6 tons.

It takes ~10+ minutes per run.

:/

 

[technophebe]

Here is a guide I've been working on that covers making your first million, amongst other things. Hope it helps!

 

[neXib]

That option becomes viable once you get a jump range around 10 ly, at which point you start hopping around all over the place. The sidewinder has a bit of a fuel capacity problem though, so you'll need to land every three or so jumps

If you are exploring, GET A FUEL SCOOP. Free fuel and no landing. First buy as an explorer really.

 

[Aevric]

If you enjoy exploring, do a few more courier runs to save up around 20k. Replace your internal cargo fitting with a fuel scoop, and replace your frame shift drive (I believe the least expensive class C drive is around 13-17k). This really opens up the map, and you can immediately jump the 20 LY to sell newly collected data after you scan a system.

 

[Vampyre111]

I am doing ok as an explorer. I added a fuel scoop to increase my range, added a slightly better FSD and got a slightly better power core to handle the load. I have a 9.8ly range. It be 11 without my guns .

I'm keeping the guns. I found some bounties in one of those unknown signal sources. I only have about 11kcr right now but I have a pretty rockin little Sidewinder with plenty of room to grow.

 

[jamesmay]

If you enjoy exploring, do a few more courier runs to save up around 20k. Replace your internal cargo fitting with a fuel scoop, and replace your frame shift drive (I believe the least expensive class C drive is around 13-17k). This really opens up the map, and you can immediately jump the 20 LY to sell newly collected data after you scan a system.

Problem with the game is... there are no missions for me, the ones that pop up require reputation because they dont trust me, or its in some system I cant even go to.

 

[neXib]

Problem with the game is... there are no missions for me, the ones that pop up require reputation because they dont trust me, or its in some system I cant even go to.

A few hours exploring in the not too obvious places will net you enough for bigger fuel scoop (5k ish) and frameshift drive within a few hours, especially if you drag 4 tons of cargo with you for a while still. I never did any missions until I swapped my sidey for the eagle and started bounty hunting.