Newcomer / Intro My Return to ED ......

[Wombat1940]

ED likes to challenge your morality. Those data courier missions - what's in the data, exactly?
Now my combat rank is higher, I sometimes get follow up missions from a data courier mission - go and assassinate these 6 civilians (that your data courier mission identified). Quain does not assassinate civilians.

Naturally.

Quain might trade 1 ton of narcotics in 5 different black markets to qualify to use an engineer called The Dweller.
It's only a game and I'm playing a character in it. It's not me

No. No good for me.
For me, that's a problem with the game.
If children are encouraged to smoke in a game, I bet our cigarette companies love it ......
However, I'm not here to justify my ethics, but I'll be avoiding 'The Dweller' irrespective of the consequences.

ED is a brilliant game, but it has some problems. One of the problems is, acquiring the materials needed for engineering projects on your ship can sometimes get repetitive and lose their entertainment value. There are ways of reducing / easing the process. One of the ways to ease the process, is do the thing required to gather a certain material a little and regularly rather than all in one go.

If it's a problem for others, then it's going to be a bigger problem for me.
Why?
Because I won't do the irregular thing 'just for kicks'. I won't do it at all.
Sorry .......... but I'll just have to put up with the possible bordom or extended time to achieve something.

FF is not unique in this regard. If you want a ship with close to the best jump range, there will be some tasks to do that are a touch repetitive and will seem odd from a game play perspective, but not immoral. It's a work around because FDev have not built in a better way to get the material in the game and its not a priority for them to address this. Something to come back to when you're ready, and we'll find out if you want to do it.

No problem.

I find getting the materials for the Engineered FSD V1 easier than any other way of boosting jump range, and the mission to get the Guardian FSD parts is fun the first time you do it - I've done it once. You need to be reasonably proficient in an SRV before tackling this one, as well as taking a DBX with point defence utility on the mission

All in the future. Let's wait and see.

 

[Wombat1940]

That's too bad. When you do this, it's called the loop of shame. However when I do it, I call it a victory roll.

Oh love it!!!
Must tell that to the gatekeeper at the next Station, how lucky he was to be watching !

If you're into exploring, the DBX is a must have. However don't skip the Cobra Mk III and equip it with an SRV and a wake scanner.
Scan ships, wakes and map planets as you move around. Use the SRV to surface mine on planets with geo.

Have fun commander!

Thank you Sir !

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

Cobra MKIII is a superb multi purpose ship in it's price bracket for having a go at a bit of everything in the game. It is a newer version of the only ship you could fly in the original 1984 game. Fast and pretty manoeuvrable with enough weapon hard points to be good in a fight. Not essential for targeting exploration, and easy to skip past money wise if you take a shortcut like R2R, but well worth spending some time in if your looking for the try everything full game experience.

 

[Wombat1940]

Yes that is correct.

The two most important items for a ASPX/Phantom exploration ship - Engineered FSD V1 and Guardian FSD Booster to get you to around 95% of the best jump range you can ever get with these ships. The only engineer you could use for these two items is Felicity to add "mass manager" special effect to the FSD V1 to give you another 1 to 2ly jump range - when the FSD V1 is permanently in one ship (e.g. Phantom). Guardian FSD booster does not need an engineer.
You could stop ship improvements right there and go anywhere in the galaxy you like.

If you did get into further engineering, you might face a situation like this:
In some cases, engineer A can only improve your chosen module to say grade 3, but you have to do the improvement to grade 3 with engineer A before you get introduced to engineer B who can go all the way from grade 1 to 5. You then have the annoying situation that your module is already at grade 3, you want grade 4 next, but engineer B will only give you access to grade 1 at the start. This leads to people having engineer B do some other engineering grades 1 to 3 to another module or even on a different ship to get access to their services at grade 4.
Most engineers can work on more than one module type, so you can go through grades 1 to 3 on a different module that is still useful, and then get the grade 4 and 5 work done on the module you really wanted upgrading in the first place.

You should probably go deep space exploring before getting tangled up in this

With due respect, I need to be carefully reading posts like these: they can give a lot away and maybe spoil my surprise.
So I'm putting this one aside for the moment. Carefully archiving it.

 

[Wombat1940]

You and me both

Meanwhile, in our real world, it seems "loops of shame" are a real thing and taken to something of an extreme. I heard about this on the radio this morning and think it's good to share here:

"The BepiColombo probe is moving too fast to go into orbit and will fly straight by the planet.
But the diminutive world's gravity will have slowed the craft just a little, and further passes in the coming years will eventually see Bepi take up a stable station around Mercury.
That'll be late 2025; patience is required."

The full story:

BepiColombo: Europe's mission to Mercury returns first pictures

The BepiColombo spacecraft gets its first glimpse of the Solar System's innermost planet.

www.bbc.co.uk

There's that billionaire fellow, running with, and as an alternative to NASA. He just put 4 civilians in space for 3 days. They had half an hour documentary showing his building of a ship intended for Mars ! Incredible ! The size of the prototypes which he calmly destroys just to "try something out". Sometimes they blow up on the launch pad ant they're all cheering !

 

[aRJay]

Levelling up = Completing a grade 1 improvement to qualify to do a grade 2 improvement.

If this is right, could you "level up" from grade 2 to grade 3, or grade 3 to grade 4 ?

Yes.

Though there is a little more to it, after all this is Elite so nothing is ever too simple.

The blueprints have grades 1,2,3 etc and you have to work through them in sequence on each module you modify. So no matter what level you have access too when you start on a new module you start at grade 1.

The engineers also have grades or access levels, 1-5, if you only have level 1 access to an engineer you cannot use a grade 2 or higher blueprint with them.
You increase your access level at an engineer in the main by getting more work done by them, it is usually best to start engineering extra modules for future needs or re-engineer the same module multiple times but only got to grade 1 or 2 so you don’t use up too many hard to find materials.

 

[Wombat1940]

Yes.

Though there is a little more to it, after all this is Elite so nothing is ever too simple.

The blueprints have grades 1,2,3 etc and you have to work through them in sequence on each module you modify. So no matter what level you have access too when you start on a new module you start at grade 1.

The engineers also have grades or access levels, 1-5, if you only have level 1 access to an engineer you cannot use a grade 2 or higher blueprint with them.
You increase your access level at an engineer in the main by getting more work done by them, it is usually best to start engineering extra modules for future needs or re-engineer the same module multiple times but only got to grade 1 or 2 so you don’t use up too many hard to find materials.

This "sounds" ok. And should fit within my playing constraints.

 

[Dreyski]

A small addendum...engineers don't have the same proficiency with all the upgrades they offer. So Felicity can modify your FSD to level 5, but your thrusters only to level 3. So the game makes you zip about the bubble if you want to max out your engineering.

 

[Wombat1940]

A small addendum...engineers don't have the same proficiency with all the upgrades they offer. So Felicity can modify your FSD to level 5, but your thrusters only to level 3. So the game makes you zip about the bubble if you want to max out your engineering.

Even though I wish to be a dedicated Explorer, I anticipate I won't be rushing out of the bubble. So hopefully, this will minimize my need for Engineers.

 

[Codger]

Even though I wish to be a dedicated Explorer, I anticipate I won't be rushing out of the bubble. So hopefully, this will minimize my need for Engineers.

Engineering is definitely not required. People explored just fine before Engineering was even a thing.

 

[Wombat1940]

Engineering is definitely not required. People explored just fine before Engineering was even a thing.

That means I don't need Falicity ......

 

[Wombat1940]

This has got to be the best "Fuel Scoop" Tutorial !
Why ?
It has a 90 sec video (doesn't chew up my data Gb's) and it's a very simple method ie. no skimming required.
(Here's hoping it works ..... I'll update this comment when I've tried it
Update: It works, but you need to approach very slowly and be prepared to make a very quick supercruise departure).

AND

The dialog from the video is reproduced in text for a casual read. Perfect for me.
EDIT: No! Wrong! His suggestion to virtuallyan almost stationary scooping at 95 to 96 degrees is dangerous. It's not necessary to get that hot! I'm successfully scooping at 65 degrees and on the move. Briefly "skipping' the star. In and ........and.........and ........ out. Just watch the temperature.

How to use a Fuel-Scoop

A fan-site covering Elite: Dangerous, X-Series and gaming.

roguey.co.uk

 

[Wombat1940]

Thought I'd try and do a Passenger Mission, but it looks like my little Hauler is just not up to it.

 

[Wombat1940]

So ........ thought I'd head back to familiar territory. Dromi maybe. Of course, I'm excluded as Dromi is one of those Systems limited to raw beginners, and experience pilots (me experienced ) only enter with permit permission. However, the Willbow System is close by and might serve as a starting point for finding a permanent home.
So ......... Willbow it is.
Edit: Will Fuel Scoop on the way.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

So ........ thought I'd head back to familiar territory. Dromi maybe. Of course, I'm excluded as Dromi is one of those Systems limited to raw beginners, and experience pilots (me experienced ) only enter with permit permission. However, the Willbow System is close by and might serve as a starting point for finding a permanent home.
So ......... Willbow it is.
Edit: Will Fuel Scoop on the way.

While practical reasons of cheap and wide availability of ships and modules make Ray Gateway in Diaguandri a popular choice for commanders seeking a home base, role playing the explorer reasons might make the following an appealing location for you.

HIP 72043 (Institute of Galactic Exploration and Research)

 

[Wombat1940]

While practical reasons of cheap and wide availability of ships and modules make Ray Gateway in Diaguandri a popular choice for commanders seeking a home base, role playing the explorer reasons might make the following an appealing location for you.

HIP 72043 (Institute of Galactic Exploration and Research)

Right. Thanks, I'll make that my next journey. Willbow just too appealing at the moment.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

Thought I'd try and do a Passenger Mission, but it looks like my little hauler is just not up to it.

You need passenger cabin(s) instead of cargo racks to do passenger missions. You could fit one 4 seater economy cabin or one 3 seater business cabin in place of the cargo rack you have now and look for a passenger mission that fits in it. Your jump range goes down to 22ly with the weight. Look carefully at where they want you to go. Some passenger missions are many 1000s of ly. Passenger mission can be a good way to find pretty things to see as well as earn credits or engineering materials like biotech conductors or modified embedded hardware - for the higher grade missions anyway.

 

[Wombat1940]

You need passenger cabin(s) instead of cargo racks to do passenger missions. You could fit one 4 seater economy cabin or one 3 seater business cabin in place of the cargo rack you have now and look for a passenger mission that fits in it. Your jump range goes down to 22ly with the weight. Look carefully at where they want you to go. Some passenger missions are many 1000s of ly. Passenger mission can be a good way to find pretty things to see as well as earn credits or engineering materials like biotech conductors or modified embedded hardware - for the higher grade missions anyway.

Thanks. Will complete my two journeys, and give it some thought.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

Thanks. Will complete my two journeys, and give it some thought.

Also, if you have not seen The Pilot's video on the Dolphin yet, well worth a watch as it talks about the value of passenger missions for ED explorers.
There are a lot of short range passenger missions in Colonia. Keep thinking about buying a Dolphin just to do them in style and because Dolphin, Orca and Beluga are the only ships a luxury cabin can be fitted in. Other ships limited to first, business and economy.

 

[Wombat1940]

Also, if you have not seen The Pilot's video on the Dolphin yet, well worth a watch as it talks about the value of passenger missions for ED explorers.
There are a lot of short range passenger missions in Colonia. Keep thinking about buying a Dolphin just to do them in style and because Dolphin, Orca and Beluga are the only ships a luxury cabin can be fitted in. Other ships limited to first, business and economy.

So what would that mean ? SideWinder > Hauler > Dolphin > DBX > ASP X > Phantom ?