I'm not normally one to bump my own thread, especially ones 3+ months old, but I thought I'd report my experiences since doing this.
Being back in the Sidey with no other option but to use it was weird at first, but I quickly grew accustomed to it again, in fact I now have a new found love for the Sidewinder...I'm not sure I fully A-rated my original ship, I was eager to get into a T6 so I could join the Distant Worlds Expedition. Second time around was different, I discovered it's a very capable ship and with the right engineer mods it could be a beast - ok, I have honed my piloting skills since day 1, my memory of it was that it was a clunky machine and next to useless in combat so I was nicely surprised when I was able to go toe-2-toe with a competent NPC Python and emerge victorious...battered, but still, a win is a win.
I've moved on now, but that little sidey is still parked up waiting for me to return from the void and take it to see Farseer, Palin & Co.
I think I was able to make money much quicker this time, for a couple of reasons: 1) I already had good rep in some systems, so I got higher paid missions on the board & 2) I know the game mechanics better than before...this enabled me to rapidly upgrade the Sidey and eventually progress to a Cobra, but once I remembered it was the same choice I made last time I used it in a CG to make a few million, then traded it in for a DBS - with the view to getting the DBX when I could afford it.
The DBS was a great little ship too, the lack of internals let it down, but for the price you can't complain...I decided to venture out of the bubble for it's maiden voyage and I made it out to Barnards Loop before the news of the Alien Structure broke, so I high-tailed back to Maia - upon selling my exploration data I now had enough for the DBX build I had in mind, so I did some station hopping to find the modules I wanted, then did the engineer circuit and I am now the owner of an excellent exploration vessel (43Ly range) with moderate combat capabilities - I wouldn't want to take on a pirate wing without assistance from the cops, but now I don't have to run when danger comes my way, which I found myself doing a lot in the paper thin AspX.
In summary, I was a starting to grow tired of the game before, but doing this has re-ignited my passion for ED - add to this the fact that in the last 24hrs I have finally
collected purchased from EIC, enough Modular Terminals to unlock Qwent and thus Palin...I am one happy commander
