Need some help understanding how to progress with Federation

[kknd4eva]

I've been playing Elite Dangerous - according to Steam - for over 1700 hours now. I love it, but I've never really dug deep to understand a lot of the mechanics of progression in the game. Hell, until recently I would just play solo and it's only in the past month I've started going into open play (even though I've never seen another human controlled ship to my knowledge yet).

Anyway, I'm by no means one of those players that has 6 ships, oodles of cash, is at the forefront of fighting Thargoids etc. I have about $9mil in the bank, and a reasonably kitted out Vulture that I use for combat missions. I also have a Type 6 for doing trade missions.

I really, really want to upgrade to a Federal Gunship, but from reading I've been told I need to be a certain Federation rank to obtain one. This is where I'm stuck. I know that I have the following Federation rank:

But I also know that I likely have higher rank than this, but that I need to do a certain type of mission to unlock my higher rank? I have flown to Federation controlled stations, but I can't find these specific missions? I find data delivery, trade, combat (which I shy away from) but nothing that stands out as 'do THIS mission to unlock higher federation rank'. - What am I looking for? And once I've done that mission to unlock the higher Federation rank... what do I need to do to get my Federation rank to the point I can buy a Federal Gunship? I just get a bit stuck in these parts of the game, which is probably why I've managed nearly 2,000 hours of gameplay while avoiding asking this question.. BUT.. as it's unlikely I will ever have enough money to afford a Python or Anaconda, it seems that the Gunship is the only other purchase besides a Vulture which will be worth focusing on.

 

[tafkabb]

Hello.
You gain Federal rank by doing missions for Federal factions; they have a Federation symbol next to their name in the missions list.
Once you reach 100% on your current rank, naval ranking missions will spawn at random, enabling you to gain promotion.
Naval ranking missions will have 'Federal navy' or 'Ranking opportunity' or similar titles. You still gain rank towards the next rank while doing missions @ 100%, even if naval promotion missions don't appear

 

[Flin]

Beyond what BongoBaggins advises, a few more tips.

* Find a system in the fringes of Civilization (the bubble) where there are lots of Fed fractions. There are additional factors to consider, but start with a system with lots of Fed fractions. This means most of the missions you take contribute to rank.

* Do missions for them to build reputation. Once you get Allied status, you get higher paying missions. Watch for the Rep + signs, +++ is obviously better than + missions.

There are a lot of other tip to speed up rank gain. You can Google for it to find them.

 

[Stealthie]

This is one of those things that should really be made clear to new players on day 1, unfortunately.

Literally, there should be holo-adverts at stations in Eravate showing pictures of the Cutter and Corvette with a caption that reads "If you want to fly one of these, join the Naval Reserve NOW!!!"

I'd bet that a lot (possibly the majority) of players have started off, spent months doing their own thing, decided they'd like a specific ship, realised they needed naval rank to obtain it and then realised that a lot of the stuff they've already been doing could have counted toward gaining the required rank.

As for how to get a fed ship in the quickest way...

Spoiler

After joining the Federal Navy Reserve (I forget what that actually involves), go and spank Smeaton until you've got about a billion credits then use EDDB to find a Federal system that's in famine and has as many Fed' factions present as possible.
Go there and spank donation missions until you get a rank-up mission, complete that and go back to the famine system and repeat.

It's not exciting or engaging but it'll get the job done as quickly as possible.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

I happened to spend all day yesterday doing precisely this, OP. I wanted the Sol permit in my case. (Got it too!)

Now I won't claim to suddenly be an expert on the ranking structure, but it seems, from my gameplay yesterday, that at the lower end of the rank spectrum, data delivery missions are your bread and butter.

I filled my contract quota entirely with Federation data delivery jobs.

Also, I did donation missions whenever they happened to spawn. Donations provide the maximum level of rep', and thus progress to your ranks.

It's a slog, but it can actually be quite enjoyable, if you choose a non-grindy' way to make progress.

Go do some missions for the Feds, make a story for yourself.

Now I won't stop you using money farms like Smeaton to fund donation spam. If you want to do it that way, sure, go ahead. But personally I find that incredibly boring.

I'm actually going to do more rank work today, as I'd like to now receive the Achenar permit. Maybe Alioth too.

 

[Mano d'Oro]

I'm actually going to do more rank work today, as I'd like to now receive the Achenar permit. Maybe Alioth too.

Just wanted to say there's no Naval rank level necessary for access to Alioth, other than getting Allied with Alioth Independents minor faction for the permit. Well worth it though; 20% off the AspX and the Orca (can't remember the specific stations I got them from), plus access to the engineer Bill Turner (once you unlock and level up Selene Jean).

 

[Karamon]

If you want to make fed rank higher in days/weeks not in years just find federation system with boom state , take boom delivery missions and profit .

If you find 2 systems that send missions to each other and to single base it is perfect , then you can get from zero to hero (or at least to corvette) in reasonable time like 10 hours of gameplay. Sothis-Ceos is good place but only if in boom state and they aren't always in that state sadly

And before autistic scretching about "exploiting board fliping" you can find systems that give so many boom missions that you could fill 3 ships without board fliping and then you go to another system where you get same amount of missions . Found system like that while doing imperial rank , 6 hours of total gameplay +150 mil spent on donation missions there and i got from Outsider to Duke


Any other options for rank grind are completly inefficient , time consuming and pointless

 

[Kyennamo]

Sothis-Ceos passenger missions are your best bet. You can also do data delivery in Sothis-Ceos but doing the passenger missions will get you both rank and PILES of munny.

EFFICIENCY is the name of the game here. Being able to stack missions all going to the same place without wasting time or having to look for missions is how you progress fast. Its not the most fun or engaging way to play the game but it does get you to your goal quickly and efficiently.

Just for some perspective- i have just over 300 hrs on PC and i have completed both naval rank grinds, own EVERY ship, all engineers unlocked and to level 5 except 2, about 3 billion in assets and an Elite rank (for access to the Dez). A little efficiency goes a long way

 

[ZeroAi]

Sothis-Ceos passenger missions are your best bet. You can also do data delivery in Sothis-Ceos but doing the passenger missions will get you both rank and PILES of munny.

EFFICIENCY is the name of the game here. Being able to stack missions all going to the same place without wasting time or having to look for missions is how you progress fast. Its not the most fun or engaging way to play the game but it does get you to your goal quickly and efficiently.

Just for some perspective- i have just over 300 hrs on PC and i have completed both naval rank grinds, own EVERY ship, all engineers unlocked and to level 5 except 2, about 3 billion in assets and an Elite rank (for access to the Dez). A little efficiency goes a long way

You can also do cargo and data from Sothis Mining to Ceos in a medium ship. Works very well and pays about the same.

 

[Kyennamo]

Except...... for efficiency sake, you should use a large ship. Which negates the ability to dock at sothis mining.

Also, running the passenger missions here is more efficient. You only dock once per loop instead of twice, dont need to mode switch and you only need 8-ish missions

My average take is over 1 million dollars a minute (on top of the rank you get)

 

[Red Anders]

And before autistic scretching about "exploiting board fliping" you can find systems that give so many boom missions that you could fill 3 ships without board fliping and then you go to another system where you get same amount of missions.

Amazingly, if you take the word 'autistic' out of that sentence it makes exactly the same point. So next time, I'd suggest you try that.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Just wanted to say there's no Naval rank level necessary for access to Alioth, other than getting Allied with Alioth Independents minor faction for the permit. Well worth it though; 20% off the AspX and the Orca (can't remember the specific stations I got them from), plus access to the engineer Bill Turner (once you unlock and level up Selene Jean).

Oh I know, although the basic method of gaining the reputation with the appropriate party is the same... Mostly. I know exploration and bounties will work here too. But I don't feel like going out today, nor shooting. Missions are my best option tonight.

 

[BDelacroix]

This is one of those things that should really be made clear to new players on day 1, unfortunately.

Literally, there should be holo-adverts at stations in Eravate showing pictures of the Cutter and Corvette with a caption that reads "If you want to fly one of these, join the Naval Reserve NOW!!!"

I so wish I could find that Border Patrol Recruitment ad to paste here.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

If you want to make fed rank higher in days/weeks not in years just find federation system with boom state , take boom delivery missions and profit .

If you find 2 systems that send missions to each other and to single base it is perfect , then you can get from zero to hero (or at least to corvette) in reasonable time like 10 hours of gameplay. Sothis-Ceos is good place but only if in boom state and they aren't always in that state sadly

And before autistic scretching about "exploiting board fliping" you can find systems that give so many boom missions that you could fill 3 ships without board fliping and then you go to another system where you get same amount of missions . Found system like that while doing imperial rank , 6 hours of total gameplay +150 mil spent on donation missions there and i got from Outsider to Duke


Any other options for rank grind are completly inefficient , time consuming and pointless

Could you do me a favour and educate yourself on what the autistic spectrum actually is?

If you actually bothered to learn what it is, you'd know why throwing the condition around as an insult is just plain disgusting.

Yes, I do know what I'm talking about, and yes I do take personal offence, as I have aspergers.

It's people like you who cause society to treat those of us on the spectrum like dirt. No, I'm not sorry to say that. Quite the opposite actually.

 

[GG7]

Altair and Vega are good systems for Federation missions.

At least that is where I earned my Rear Admiral rank back in the day.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Altair and Vega are good systems for Federation missions.

At least that is where I earned my Rear Admiral rank back in the day.

Okinura was good. I used it to reach Sol yesterday.

 

[Marbat]

Made to Ensign today but might take a break from the grind after I catch up with the secondary missions piling up.

 

[Chaz]

Well with the new mission changes incoming with the Beyond updates, we should soon be able to choose a lower payout but more rep as a reward choice. So if climbing the ranks is your goal, it should make it a bit less grindy, as you'll be able to benefit from rep with any mission you take.

 

[JetsonRING]

if you want to rank up the formulaic, boring way you can get into a medium landing-pad capable ship (I used a DBX), go to Newholm Station (has a better shipyard/outfitting and all services are in operation) in Sothis system and flip the mission board there to stack data delivery missions offered by the (currently single) FED-aligned local faction to New Dawn Station in Ceos system. Then do the same at New Dawn, accepting and stacking data delivery missions from the FED-aligned local faction to both Sothis Mining and Newholm Station in Sothis system. From New Dawn go to Sothis Mining first (just seems to work better that way) and do the same: drop off missions from New Dawn and accept/stack missions back to New Dawn, then fly over to Newholm and do the same. Remember to only accept missions from the FED-aligned local faction (look for the FED sigil on the mission board) at each station. This will require a LOT of board flipping, I got bored and so eventually started accepting a few missions from the other factions at each station just to become ALLIED with them all. Round and round, Newholm to New Dawn to Sothis Mining and back to Newholm. As your REP increases with the FED-aligned local factions you will begin to be offered a few more missions. Once you are (Friendly?) ALLIED with the local FED-aligned local factions and your Federation REP (Panel 3) reaches 100% you will be offered a NAVY or NAVAL mission. Complete that mission and rank-up. The Federation REP counter will reset to 0% then rinse & repeat. If you have a good credit balance accept donation missions too as they complete instantly and are all REP+++.

Using this method I increased my Federation RANK from Ensign to Rear-Admiral in a couple days of very casual play. Boring but, very effective. By the time I was finished I was ALLIED with every local faction, not only the FED faction but all the others, too. o7

 

[kknd4eva]

So I finally spotted one of these 'Navy' missions, but I didn't have high enough Merchant rank to do it? I'm guessing I need to just do more missions of the normal variety to get enough of that rank, to be able to do the Navy mission to then bump my Federation rank over the 100% 'None' mark? Sheesh...