Newcomer / Intro New player, need help

[Umichi Onichi]

Just bought the game a couple days ago. I can manually dock my ship without crashing tosses out the assist module I can run missions and im in an Adder. I havent done any combat yet mostly just doing courier missions in pilot federation space and practicing Supercruising (had fun with something trying to interdict me and i was able to escape. Ive landed on a few planets and today im planning on doing my first DSS.

however. a problem has occured now. I flew out to find a DSS module and docked in a station upon docking. i got comms from the federation telling me my pilots permit to acess their space was revoked.

So here I am, Le meh. Fairly green. In the grownups sandbox with little to no direction. asking for some instruction.

What are things i should be reading up on?
What weapons do you suggest for a starter to practice using and get proficient with?
Is there a fairly safer place in the bubble to practice more? Should i head more towards to outskirts to not be bothered by humans?
What are destinations i should visit that might be beneficial to a newbie? Should I visit before I start leaving the bubble of humanity?
Thargoids.... Are they present within the bubble? If so where shold i go to not bump into those uglies?
Are there groups I can apply for so i wont be a lonely space cowboy?

Im having a blast. I think the game is fun and I want to learn more. Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions for me.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

What are things i should be reading up on?

By the sounds of your DSS acquisition, some specific suggestions for you are how to build a good exploration starship and how to find higher-value planets to scan—both of which I could just answer with what I would do, but I think it best not to impose anything in particular. As a more general suggestion, look into Engineering and work towards getting your first Engineer access, ideally one of the two which can upgrade Frame Shift Drives. A nice A-rated, engineered Frame Shift Drive in something which can jump quite well should be one of your main first goals; an investment to help everything else.

What weapons do you suggest for a starter to practice using and get proficient with?

Multi-cannons. Maybe include a Burst Laser if it takes too much time to deplete a shield without one, but otherwise use all Multi-cannons for their simplicity and relatively low Distributor draw to make your SYS, ENG, WEP management easier. Start with Gimbal weapons, and consider trying Fixed when you feel competent to follow a target. Note that Fixed weapons with different shot speeds will not be as effective as either matching the speeds or using Gimbal for the mismatched weapon.

Is there a fairly safer place in the bubble to practice more? Should i head more towards to outskirts to not be bothered by humans?

Most places are relatively safe! This is more a question of where to avoid, to which the answers are:

• High-traffic systems (many Fleet Carriers, high traffic numbers at the Starport news).
• Engineer systems, especially Deciat.
• Community Goal systems.

That said, you may also prefer to do as Zorgon Peterson's advertisement for their Fer-de-Lance, and "meet danger head-on".

What are destinations i should visit that might be beneficial to a newbie? Should I visit before I start leaving the bubble of humanity?

Except for the Engineer systems, the Bubble is such that most Commanders really can set themselves up anywhere within it, so the direct answer is that there is nowhere in particular to visit. There are goals to achieve, such as engineering the rest of your ship to be more lightweight for further jumps, and perhaps unlock the Guardian Frame Shift Drive Booster.

Thargoids.... Are they present within the bubble? If so where shold i go to not bump into those uglies?

They are following the Unidentified Interstellar Anomalies present at the moment, though we know not yet whether this is to defend them or to attack them. Aside from those, the Pleiades and the California nebula are Thargoid areas. HIP 22460 in particular should be avoided completely, in which Thargoids will follow your every wake from Supercruise to normal flight.

Are there groups I can apply for so i wont be a lonely space cowboy?

Take yourself over to Groups, Squadrons and Factions!

Good luck out there, Commander.

 

[Codger]

Welcome to the game!

Don't worry about being locked out of the newbie zone. There's nothing in there, really (it's very limited). When I started there was no newbie area, we all just started out in the galaxy.

As for advice, the usual "Don't fly without a rebuy" always (that means always have at least enough spare credits to pay the insurance on your ship if it gets destroyed -- it's about 5% of the worth of the ship, or thereabouts).

Don't feel like you have to "catch up", everyone's on their own journey, and there is no end game (I have over 4000 hours in the game and still have plenty to do, for example).

Explore. Try stuff. Ask a bunch of questions.

Keep your Sidewinder until you understand all the options. Remember that your first ship is free. Dying in it is free. Until you upgrade it or buy another ship, you can just try things without worry.

Have fun out there.

 

[Mrc_NorthEast]

Welcome to the galaxy. Yeah docking at any station outside of the starter systems revokes your starter systems permit once you have run a few missions. Outside of the starter systems is better. Lots more to do and buy outside of the starter systems

I like Multi cannons and pulse lasers to start with, one or two of each depending on what your ship will take.

Don't rush, have fun, and realize tomorrow is a patch day, so do not plan on playing tomorrow as the game will be down and then the servers will be busy with the game updates. Although later in the day, the game and servers hopefully are working fine

Other than that, go slow and have fun. Do things you like. Some people like combat, some like exploration, some are cargo traders, some play the bgs, you get to decide.

 

[GroG79]

Dont forget to make loads and loads of mistakes

You will thank me later

 

[Ashnak]

Reading up: definitely the current Stargoid story line.
Weapons: there's a whole subforum dedicated to shipbuilding. In the end, it depends on your preferences and engineering capabilities.
Engineering: on the plus side, it'll let you improve your ships. On the downside, it'll cost you a lot of time to collect the materials - and especially the starter engineer bases are also hotspots for gankers, so take whatever precautions you deem necessary (like switching to solo).
Systems: apart from a few hotspots, you'll rarely, if ever, see another human player.

 

[A10A]

There is some really great advice (and information) being offered, here. I don't disagree with any of it. The new Thargoid threat in the 'Live' version means that we aren't sure where they will get to next (or even eventually). My humble advice is to invest in an Advanced docking computer. I'll take some flak for saying this. That is 'OK'. I cut out as much tedium from the game as possible. I have one of these on every single ship that I have. Except for my explorer version ships (OK - even some of these have it). I-don't-care. Tedium is tedium. The DEVs need to make this module built-in for every ship.

 

[aRJay]

The Docking Computer and the Advanced Docking Computer can be very useful* however they are very fallible and if left unsupervised can lead to loss of your ship or very high repair bills.

Fitting and using one is of course a matter of personal choice but it is important in my opinion to keep yourself familiar with how to dock any ship you own manually, especially now that there are burning stations where rescues can be done as these are one of the cases where the docking computers don’t work.

*When landing on high gravity planets they are almost essential if you want to land safely.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

There is nothing wrong at all with the concept of using Auto-dock, especially if it releases time for other concerns. The specific problem at the moment, which only occurs in 4/Live and exacerbates the problem of Auto-dock and Auto-launch striking the Starport walls far more so than ever it did with 3/Legacy, is actually that Rotational Correction is not working properly.

While Rotation Correction and Flight Assist are active, flying anywhere close to any docking pad—rotating or otherwise—will reduce your thruster deceleration as if Flight Assist was disabled. I have since given myself a button for switching Rotational Correction, however Auto-dock and Auto-launch insist on using it, and it is quite clear that they are unable to account for the sudden lack of deceleration. If they so much as begin a lateral move in the direction of a wall, I suggest setting a small amount of reverse speed immediately, for waiting too long before taking over control can result in pad-loitering.

 

[Fnord Velkor]

..... My humble advice is to invest in an Advanced docking computer. I'll take some flak for saying this. That is 'OK'. I cut out as much tedium from the game as possible...

Well, 2 things:

1 - Standard Docking Computer - I always have one fitted, it is convenient and (generally) reliable. The Advanced version is a waste of time, there are plenty of visual cues provided in game to enable you to undock even the HUGE ships and get out the slot with no issues - the ADC undocking is extremely unreliable. In the main (unless I am being really lazy) I do the approach and enter the slot manually, just zero throttle to let the ship settle by DC.

2 - There is nothing more tedious that watching your Cutter bang about inside a station, except maybe having to go through the rebuy if you missed the undocking blowing you up.

 

[sinisalo]

One man's tedium is another man's one of the best parts of the game.

I think portside operations -- landings, departures, approaches, being in control, hoping you didn't forget anything like requesting clearance, minding your speed and hardpoints, avoiding other departing and arriving ships, locating your assigned pad and setting your crate down on the pad like a butterfly with sore feet -- is one of my favorite parts of Elite. I've never used a DC, not that it marks me out as special, just that it isn't needed. It's like cruise control. Use it if you want. I don't recommend them as that's a valuable slot you are using to eliminate one of the best parts of the game. It never gets old for me and I've done thousands of landings, as many here have. Blaze your own.

 

[Krieger]

Welcome to the Elite Galaxy commander!

A bit of a slow reaction to your post but here's my standard welcome message with some useful pointers. You picked an exciting time to join the game...

Maybe you've already found most of the resources listed below. If not, have a look at them and in any case don't hesitate to ask questions here in the forum.

In-game help is available in the form of menu links to the Pilot's Handbook and the Codex (right-hand cockpit panel 1st tab).
For a very good beginner's guide see: An in-depth beginner’s guide to Elite: Dangerous.
Tutorials covering all aspects of the game, many of them in the form of YouTube videos, are available from ED Tutorials.
There is a wealth of useful information available in these forums spread out over hundreds of threads. Thanks to commander @Alec Turner you can access all of that information and more via a single thread: Alec's best of the forum (and elsewhere) [v2].
Here is a good guide on the background simulation (BGS) that simulates the economical and political changes caused by player actions in inhabited systems.
Also check out the inara.cz and eddb.io websites with (almost) realtime info on practically everything in the game.
The coriolis.io and edsy.org websites let you design your ships before buying them.
There are many more Tools and Websites created by fans that make life in the galaxy better.
And last but not least, the Elite Dangerous Wiki contains extensive information on nearly all aspects of the game.

o7

 

[SteveWW57]

As has been said, join a squadron, at least temporarily. They will be able to help you with guidance, show you the ropes and help you make money. If your ship has a small jump range and or the squadron is too far away, nice squadrons send a carrier to pick you up and take you to the squadron home system.

Steve