Maybe you’ve just installed the game, and after that overwhelming yet fascinating first impression — realizing you’ve got an entire galaxy to explore — you’re asking yourself:
“Okay... now what?”
Well, this might help — it’s a real experience, at least mine.
There’s always a fundamental mistake people make when starting Elite Dangerous:
The important thing isn’t the end of the game — it’s the journey, because that “end” doesn’t really exist.
If us veterans don’t answer certain questions right away, it’s precisely because we don’t want to spoil those parts of the journey that are truly enjoyable.
That’s why you need to go through the phase of using someone else’s carrier before having your own — so you understand how and why to use it.
That’s why we encourage you to join combat in Conflict Zones or pirate hunting with barely-engineered ships (or none at all), so you feel the need for engineering and get to know the weapons we use.
That’s why we invite you into voice chats — where people debate engineering, builds, and weapons — because not a single Commander builds their ship exactly like another, even for the same role… and they’re all right.
That’s where you’ll learn to build your own ship, one that becomes yours, a hybrid of everything you’ve seen and heard.
Don’t try to understand BGS or Power Play in just a few days.
But trust me — the light will come, and you won’t even realize when.
Just by playing.
And if you enjoy roleplay, it’ll become your passion.
In short, voice chats are the cornerstone of your learning — and ours too — because the game is so deep that even veterans keep learning new things every day.
In your natural eagerness to understand the game, sometimes you ask questions way above your current level.
Answering them won’t help — it’ll just lead you to frustration, getting lost, and possibly quitting.
Doing Guardians to fight Thargoids? Sure, that’s awesome!
But trying it in a Sidewinder, jumping 10 light years at a time?
That’s a shortcut straight to quitting on day two.
Going solo into a Hazardous Resource Extraction Site to kill pirates?
Yes, you can make millions in an afternoon.
But if you go in with a stripped-down Viper, those millions will vanish in rebuy screens.
Want to make money trading? Absolutely!
(Especially now with colonization.)
But boredom will eat you alive by the fourth run, like fire consumes paper.
Money will stop being important very quickly — except when you start the “carrier grind.”
But by the time you realize it’s worth gathering 5 to 7 billion credits, you’ll also see that it’s within your reach.
(Especially if you join voice chats and play with others.)
One last thing:
When you try a build from another Commander, tweak something, understand why you did it, and it works —
That’s one of the most satisfying moments in the game.
Because it means: you’re ready.
“Okay... now what?”
Well, this might help — it’s a real experience, at least mine.
There’s always a fundamental mistake people make when starting Elite Dangerous:
The important thing isn’t the end of the game — it’s the journey, because that “end” doesn’t really exist.
If us veterans don’t answer certain questions right away, it’s precisely because we don’t want to spoil those parts of the journey that are truly enjoyable.
That’s why you need to go through the phase of using someone else’s carrier before having your own — so you understand how and why to use it.
That’s why we encourage you to join combat in Conflict Zones or pirate hunting with barely-engineered ships (or none at all), so you feel the need for engineering and get to know the weapons we use.
That’s why we invite you into voice chats — where people debate engineering, builds, and weapons — because not a single Commander builds their ship exactly like another, even for the same role… and they’re all right.
That’s where you’ll learn to build your own ship, one that becomes yours, a hybrid of everything you’ve seen and heard.
Don’t try to understand BGS or Power Play in just a few days.
But trust me — the light will come, and you won’t even realize when.
Just by playing.
And if you enjoy roleplay, it’ll become your passion.
In short, voice chats are the cornerstone of your learning — and ours too — because the game is so deep that even veterans keep learning new things every day.
In your natural eagerness to understand the game, sometimes you ask questions way above your current level.
Answering them won’t help — it’ll just lead you to frustration, getting lost, and possibly quitting.
Doing Guardians to fight Thargoids? Sure, that’s awesome!
But trying it in a Sidewinder, jumping 10 light years at a time?
That’s a shortcut straight to quitting on day two.
Going solo into a Hazardous Resource Extraction Site to kill pirates?
Yes, you can make millions in an afternoon.
But if you go in with a stripped-down Viper, those millions will vanish in rebuy screens.
Want to make money trading? Absolutely!
(Especially now with colonization.)
But boredom will eat you alive by the fourth run, like fire consumes paper.
Money will stop being important very quickly — except when you start the “carrier grind.”
But by the time you realize it’s worth gathering 5 to 7 billion credits, you’ll also see that it’s within your reach.
(Especially if you join voice chats and play with others.)
One last thing:
When you try a build from another Commander, tweak something, understand why you did it, and it works —
That’s one of the most satisfying moments in the game.
Because it means: you’re ready.
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) and of course the Discord channel that's stuck to the top of that subforum.
![[VR] DDM_Reaper20](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/44/44021.jpg?1588332101){kind=avatar}
