So the short journey so far

[chili1496]

Done a few tutorials to get the hang of things and asked alot of questions in the forums, got myself into a hauler following a guide and went down the road to riches for a little way made some credits and now i am still in the hauler running data courier jobs for rep. Have not decided on a home planet yet unable to make my mind up and that is about it for now, have yet to see another human player.....................

is there a natural ship progression trail to follow? pretty sure i am loosing out as this ship is probably not the right one for what i am doing

 

[Deleted member 38366]

There used to be but that was years ago.

Look into what you plan to do next and simply pick, purchase, equip and Engineer the Ship you want next for that very purpose.

 

[chili1496]

My rep with fed seems to be stuck on 100% cadet, not moved for ages

 

[STRONTIUM DOG]

whilst not uncommon to not encounter cmdr's for days weeks years pending location
some don't realize that upnp needs to be enabled on pc and router and if not supported ports forwarded...……...
and a static ip if available (seems more stable)
either one or the other will be a better connection for meeting other cmdr's (chance of being bunged into same instance)

 

[Ashnak]

My rep with fed seems to be stuck on 100% cadet, not moved for ages

You'll need to do a rank progression mission (usually a follow-up mission, i.e. with the link symbol and at the top of the mission list, and always with the wording "federal" somewhere in the description). In order to get one of those, you'll have to be IIRC allied with the mission giving minor faction, which in your case also would need to be a fed aligned minor faction. Then it's just a matter of RNG until a follow-up mision comes up. YOu don't have to do the first one that pops up, though - if e.g. you're set up for transport, but that first rank-up mission is an elite level wetwork mission, just skip it. There are all mission types for ranking up.
And: you don't lose any of the progress in the meantime. People have been known rto be stuck at one rank for some time and then get three ranking missions in a row.

 

[Terekhov]

Re: Rep stuck at 100%... You will be offered rank-up missions that actually do the promotion. In the meantime the next rank is already accruing experience from your ongoing activities, so you'll probably find the next rank is already partway achieved when you receive the pending promotion. I'm fairly sure that the rank up missions need the right Federation military presence at the station (maybe someone can clarify).

Re ship progression.... The main bit of advice would be not to get into larger ships too soon.. From a Hauler - maybe try a Cobra MK III for a while then for Trading move to a Keelback when you can... For exploring, maybe a Diamondback Explorer (It can later (once you're ready), be engineered to jump large distances...

 

[Ashnak]

Natural ship progression - not any more, sadly. Credits (and therefore ships) have become easily obtainable, except for the rank locked ships (and even those can be easily gotten with a bit of rank grinding). If you have Horizons (if not, why not?), the next step would be to unlock the Engineers. The Hauler is a good starting point for that, but you might want to switch to a T-6 or Keelback (if you want to stay with the ship progress) for some of the Engineers that want cargo or mining, and maybe a Vulture for the combat assignments. The Viper only becomes real fun once you have the Engineers unlocked.

 

[Terekhov]

Indeed... I'd 'second' Vulture as a combat ship choice, however with reservations - it needs Engineering to it's power plant to make proper outfitting possible, and I didn't want talk about engineering too much. (In the words of Basil Fawlty, "I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it"). I'll mention it again in this post 'though...

I don't think there is a particular hurry to engage with the early engineers. Do it once you feel ready, and that will probably not be too long.. One thing about the Engineer unlock requirements (normally an event that gets their attention causing them to send you an invite, and another requirement to bring them something before they will work on your ship), is that the requirements seem to be deliberately very varied and will prompt you to sample many of the activities that ED has to offer.

My actual progression was

• Sidewinder
• Upgrade to Cobra MK III
• Upgrade to Keelback (84T cargo capacity) and add Vulture - Ran those two for a couple of months
• Partway though above, Add a Cobra mk III and used it for planetary landings and surface prospecting in SRV. It's a great little ship....

(Throughout above being careful not to bite off more than I can chew.. (and start working on early engineers), and Taking time to learn things....)

• Added a hauler as a general cheap taxi....
• Added a Dolphin to try some Passenger missions to Robigo.
• Added a Diamondback Explorer to do the 5000LY trip that gets Engineer Pressor Palin's attention.
• (5 Months into game and 450 gameplay hours later) Added a Krait MKII to do some mining quickly changed it for a Python for the extra large optional bay...

One mistake that I made in Combat progression, was to spend too long helping the Feds finish off pirates in a High Res sites. I'd have learned better, fighting my own solo engagements in low res sites. Combat skills are important - learn them well. My combat rank for a while was ahead of my actual skills, and is still lagging behind my other ranks and I'll need to attend to that soon.... A quick few words about solo bounty hunting in Low res sites. Scan your target, be very sure he's Wanted, check he's not part of a wing, and that he is of similar or lower combat rank than yourself!).

As for home base. I'm still not sure I've settled down.. I spent a month or two operating out of Miller Depot at Barnard's star, (good for early missions and Central). Then I moved to Ashby City at Lutyen's star (Still decent missions for what I wanted, and slightly easier better connections than Barnard's star, and not too difficult to make the odd trip south to a station where Li Yong-Rui has a presence for his ship and module discounts). I'm still at Ashby City, although now I have a Founders world permit, I might split my time with Jameson Memorial..

 

[chili1496]

wow thanks for all the advice, very kind of you all to bother. Sadly i do not have horizons yet, i am waiting for a steam sale.