Newcomer / Intro Quick P.S.A. about neutron stars for those of you who are as yet uninformed.

[Cmdr_HsH]

So for those of you who want to get into exploration, I have a cautionary tale. I recently made a journey to the great annihilatior for a passenger mission that was very lucrative. It took a three or four sessions for me to get there(6-7 hours each for me, as I scanned every little thing on the way) and as I was on the return trip and maybe 30 jumps from civilization I ran into my first neutron star. My friend who was in chat with me at the time advised me to fly through the end of the star quickly, as it'd boost my jump range temporarily. I was apprehensive as I did this due to the warning that was displayed as I came very close. The first time nothing happens but my friend insisted that if I kept doing it it'd work. So, I lined myself up and went through again. It did indeed boost my fsd, but I didn't fly out safely as before. Instead, I found that every module in my ship had seemingly simultaneously went nuts, and I could no longer control the ship, forcing me to watch as my canopy was shattered and I slowly died from lack of oxygen. Failing the mission, losing all my data, and wasting almost a week of my life. I understand that I only have myself to blame for just trusting another player and not being careful, but I do think the warning could have been a bit clearer. Perhaps they could have gone over this in a tutorial of some kind where they teach you tricks to flying and not just how to move around. Like which stars are and are not scoopable, how to use neutron stars, targeting subsystems, wing mechanics, multi crew, etc. These are all things that I didn't even know existed within the game until either I found out on accident or another player was kind enough to show me. I know this wasn't really that big of a deal, as I had enough to rebuy. But unlike something like dark souls where failure actually drives me to better myself at the game and overcome the obstacle if I mess up, with something like this it just makes me wonder why they didn't at least warn me this might happen, and then promptly wonder why I'm still playing. The illusion of fun is now sadly broken for me. It just feels like a grind now. I may give the game another chance if they add something appealing to me later, but for now I think I'm done, which is sad for me to say given that I liked this game so much. Don't do what I did ladies and gentlemen. Learn from my mistakes.
Cmdr_HsH, signing out.

 

[freddyhard]

i can imagine the disappointment at losing so much effort. i'm near the centre somewhere making my way back to the bubble and my hull is at 90%. So i am really watching everything i do, so that i do not wear my hull away before i get back.
But i thought i heard somewhere they are making changes to exploration in 2.4. It would be nice to get some confirmation if it is so.

 

[Para Handy]

1. "Friend" indeed

2. You blame the game because you blew yourself up in a neutron-star beam?

3. Bye bye ...


P.S. The paragraph is your friend.

 

[BigBANGtheory [VR]]

It's a harsh lesson, the way I look at it is this... The key to Elite Dangerous comes down to knowledge and how you apply that knowledge. You learnt something from the experience it just came at a high cost.

My advice: Don't try to repeat your passenger mission for a while (if you do it will grind ur mind), instead go explore and investigate the Neutron star part of the game learn how to jump from them safely and how to navigate/manage the extended jump range. When you are happy with that use your new knowledge to your advantage.

 

[StiTch]

If only all my "friends" were this tractable when I ask them to jump off cliffs.

 

[d8veh]

There's a rule in this game: The more you have to lose, the more is the chance that you'll lose it. In other words, don't take any risks when you have a lot to lose. You had a winning formula that you knew was going to work. Why change anything.

The neutron star jump boost can be useful when you use a neutron star highway to make a very long journey, but it's hardly worth using one for a single jump. By the time you've been through the procedure and had to re-plot your route twice, you could have done the extra jumps, so there's very little advantage.

Whenever there's something new, practice or investigate it when you have nothing to lose.

I'm sure that you realise all this now, so this advice is for others who might read it.

 

[Ashnak]

There is a nice infographic from CMDR MackTheHunter:

Spoiler

Otherwise, a lot of useful information (and even more reckless flying) about and around neutron stars in the Buckyball "Double Action Jackson" thread.

 

[through the hole backwards]

Learnt to love the Neutron Star they are the explorers friend . Yes they are dangerous , dangerous in the same way as weapons fire in a space station , or nosediving into a high gravity planet. Dangerous if you are stupid enough to get it wrong, but very useful if you just approach them with a little skill and a little caution.

(that is quite a useful jumprange.)

The way i was taught to do it and i am happy to pass it on , is as follows.
On arrival in a system containing a neutron , it will usually be the principal star, so you are going to exit witchspace very close to it so make sure you have fully throttled down during witchspace or you will fly into the neutron star and go pop. Line up the star with the centre of your hud and the arms of the star on the horizontal (east/west) . Usually there will be one arm that appears larger than the other , this is because you are facing the star at an angle and one arm is facing towards you and is closer . This arm is the one to use . Rotate your ship until the arm is running vertically (north/south as you look at it). Aim your ship to a point about one third up the length of the arm and gently bring the throttle up to 10% , you do this slowly so that you can gauge your distance from the arm of the star, and can gently adjust your speed, moving towards the arm until the width of the arm matches the two curved edges of your HUD.

Raise the nose of your ship pointing to the open end of the arm and travel in a shallow glide along the length of the arm away from the core of the star at an angle that will allow you to intersect the arm . At some point you will enter the cone/arm of the star and everything will go haywire for a bit as you struggle to stay in position as your FSD charges , this usually takes no more than 5 seconds , you will receive a message when the charge has been achieved , at which point you can hit full throttle and move well away from the star. If you are thrown out of the star prior to charging your FSD simply throttle right down , take a moment to get your bearings and repeat the process as described.

If on arrival at the star both arms are of equal size , then you are equidistant from both arms and either is safe to use . Never use the arm that appears smaller (further away) as in order to "engage" with it you would risk flying too close to the core of the star and your ship risks that nasty thing where it can go pop again .

Once i got the hang of this I realised just how small the inhabited bubble really is and regretted having flown to Colonia and back without the knowledge of neutron stars and how to use them . You will of course get the old timers who will tell you that using neutron stars isn't the proper way to navigate the universe and it provides and unfair advantage , but remember, these are the same people who like their telephones to come with a wall socket and little whirly handle that you have to turn before you call the exchange to ask to be through to a number. The kind of people who still think there is the risk of suffocation in rail travel, you know the type.

If you master Neutrons then this little website is going to be very useful to you as it takes most of the effort out of plotting routes , I hope you find it useful. Good luck and fly safe Cmdr.

https://www.spansh.co.uk/

 

[Vikitzo]

Very sorry to hear about your misfortune, CMDR. Maybe try contacting FD support (i.e. make Lost Items ticket) and plead with them. It's not guaranteed to work since you didn't die from a bug, but hey, there is no harm in trying.

 

[Ben Sevil]

You will of course get the old timers who will tell you that using neutron stars isn't the proper way to navigate the universe and it provides and unfair advantage , but remember, these are the same people who like their telephones to come with a wall socket and little whirly handle that you have to turn before you call the exchange to ask to be through to a number.

Wait, there's other types of phones?

[video=youtube;XkuirEweZvM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkuirEweZvM[/video]

 

[Cmdr_HsH]

1. "Friend" indeed

2. You blame the game because you blew yourself up in a neutron-star beam?

3. Bye bye ...


P.S. The paragraph is your friend.

To clarify on your second point, No. I don't blame the game for losing my ship. That was entirely due to my own stupidity. What I blame the game for is not arming me with the knowledge to avoid these sorts of things to begin with.
I'm not saying that it needs to hold my hand every step of the way. I just think that that they should educate people about basic exploration tools that I wish I would have known about prior to leaving the bubble. Things like how to fuel scoop are fairly self explanatory, but without leaving the bubble or specifically looking on forums you may not figure out which stars are and are not scoopable, or what neutron stars are and how to use them correctly. The same thing could be done with combat. Like teaching you how to use chaff, point defense, heat sinks, teaching different combat maneuvers, etc.
I feel that the basic tutorial should be there to teach you what is available for you to do, and then once you do you should be able to receive special training if you wish. This could be implemented in something akin to a flight school in game I think. Not only would this fix many of the problems with people not fully understanding game mechanics, it would also add to immersion IMO.

 

[CMDR Jago Kain]

+ rep to Ashnak and TTHB for prsenting clear 'how to' guides. I'm going to use your tips to try this for myself.

 

[Mike Reacher]

I found 2 new neutron stars in the bubble today. One I was able to read the nav beacon.
The other one had the nav beacon inside the green ring and it can't be reached.
That is 2 neutron stars that have the nav beacons in unreachable spots.
Wish I could find my whinge list.

 

[Para Handy]

............. This could be implemented in something akin to a flight school in game I think. Not only would this fix many of the problems with people not fully understanding game mechanics, it would also add to immersion IMO.

Firstly, glad to see that you have not actually quit.

You are quite correct in that there is an awful lot going on that you are not given help with in the game. I excuse that in my head by saying "What would you come across if you really were a newly-qualified freelance spaceship pilot in the 34th century?" - So I assume that I have to learn about "stuff" by using the interstellarweb to keep myself current - my PC using 3rd party tools and these fora simulates this future interstellarweb for me.

Although the in-game resources don't provide you with your notion of a flight school, there is actually such a thing available and it is linked at the top of this forum page - the Galactic Academy.

Keeping up with developments, just like any professional in the 21st century has to, requires some form of continuing education - be that from journals or in-service training. Pity the poor unsuspecting player who doesn't read the newsletter, Galnet, these fora or other medium like Reddit when they are suddenly confronted by a giant space cabbage after their next update!

I hope you can find your own way of coping with this "keeping up to date" and get back the enjoyment of E D.


[arrrr]

 

[Fendalton]

Also a reminder, if you fly too close, you're essentially dead as you won't be able to point your nose towards the escape vector if you're in the cone as it throws you around, and you're in a 'Hazardous environment' which shreds your modules.

The only thing I'm mad at is that I docked in a asteroid base so i'm still 8000 Ly away from the bubble lol.

Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qyPiINnfrM

 

[nik_a777]

I also got made poorer but wiser by a white dwarf recently. My mistake was entering the cone head on and below the yellow line, (I assume). This resulted in the long drawn out destruction of my ship, passengers and data, despite a reboot repair and life support replenish during the futile escape attempt.
I have actually enjoyed finding out the hard way about high g worlds, gankers white dwarves and other hidden dangers. I think some unexpected drama helps break the grind.

 

[NW3]

In my experience, White Dwarf boosts are more difficult than Neutron star boosts. With practice, these boosts are not risky, much like fuel scooping at a star. If you have a Field Maintenance module, you can even survive a near-disaster, but you must be prepared and know how to enable it quickly.

My recommendation is to practice with a cheap ship at a neutron star near the bubble (of inhabited space). I've made a post in the Suggestions forum, requesting for FD to add a tutorial mission on neutron star jumping. I think that would be very helpful for new explorers.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...n-neutron-star-boosting?p=6059754#post6059754

 

[znôrt]

These are all things that I didn't even know existed within the game until either I found out on accident or another player was kind enough to show me.

unlike something like dark souls where failure actually drives me to better myself at the game and overcome the obstacle if I mess up, with something like this it just makes me wonder why they didn't at least warn me this might happen

this game teaches you barely anything. you have to either experiment yourself, which often involves risk, or seek information online (forum, youtube, external apps) or from friends.

if you decide to experiment yourself assume anything can kill you with no warning, so minimize the risk. that's actually fun, but don't try out new stuff in an expensive ship or with lots of exploration data or bounties or bonds or valuable cargo. do it in cheap ships. once you know, you know.

be advised that playing all by yourself you will miss a lot of content, i.e., it is very unlikely that you ever see a thargoid, or an ancient relic, or that you engineer a dirty drive worth of mention. there are some clues in galnet, and here or there, but you'll have a lot to read and then solve puzzles ... often not very smart ones. this brings us to the other route: learn from others.

there is a ton of knowledge about the game online but it is dispersed in different sites. the forum, as you can see, is quite messy (and as for late not even the search function works) but is a good place to start. it has been amassed by players, often in collective effort, most of which have been in the game from the start and have been discovering it gradually, so much is assumed and not told. also, much of what is recorded is already outdated.

but that's how this game works. now you know.

 

[Ziljan]

Neutron boosts are risky but pretty easy once you get the hang of it, and they can save quite a lot of time if you plan your route well. My first trip to Colonia was 3.7 hours, and I was a Neutron Highway noob. I'm sure I could get there much faster with practice.

Pro Tip: bigger ships are better at navigating the jets.

 

[NW3]

Neutron boosts are risky but pretty easy once you get the hang of it, and they can save quite a lot of time if you plan your route well.

Pro Tip: bigger ships are better at navigating the jets.

Medium ships, like an AspX, are fine for this technique.

Once you get the hang of it, you can try this advanced maneuver: After charging up, stay in the cone and start your hyper jump. That uses your boost and if you do it correctly, you can gather a second boost, prior to the countdown starting for your jump. In this way, you can use a single neutron star to obtain 2 boosts. For details, search the forum or YouTube.