Newcomer / Intro Newb question about combat

[Xenon 325i]

Thanks for all the advice. Having learned to pick my fights I'm making some progress - lower ranked opposition are easy now I've got the hang of it (although they annoyingly make an FSD escape just before dying) but I've completed a few assassination missions. Another question: on hanging around a NAV beacon I found you could target it and scan it - it then says that data is downloaded. But where or what is this data? I couldn't subsequently find it.

 

[cmdr milesred]

it gives you new articulated info on all the USS's in its vicinity as well as temporary data on all the bodies and stations in a system
and if you have any missions related to finding something in that system then it will usually but not always give you that info as an update in your messages or in the actual mission on your missions tab.

 

[Ashnak]

Another question: on hanging around a NAV beacon I found you could target it and scan it - it then says that data is downloaded. But where or what is this data? I couldn't subsequently find it.

That's the navigation (duh!) data for that specific system, i.e. al the planets, stations, signal sources (at the time), plus any mission updates your current employer wants to send to you. You will find most of it in your system map, some of it in your comms panel.

Try it: fly into an unknown (to you), inhabited (only those have beacons) system with low population (IIRC high pop systems ar generally known). Check your system map. You will see the main star (your ship automatically scanned that one) and (also IIRC) the orbital stations. Now scan the beacon and check the system map again, and it'll be fully populated, including (that is important for some missions) the planetary stations.

 

[Xenon 325i]

Ah - makes sense. I was in a system I had already fully mapped and hence there was no appreciable difference in my system map.