This is by no means the 'Best' or most effective way of making credits in elite Dangerous, but it worked well for me as a new player and I want to share my experience, there are a lot of paths open to you and a lot of variables can affect what makes a good grind system to a bad one.
When I first started like everyone else I was confined to the Sidewinder, good fun little ship and can be really funny when A graded later on.
I started out not having a clue what to do, I picked fights with ships already being attacked by the Space Police and scrubbed for credits, I did some research and found going to a system which has a asteroid belt or a planet with a ring was a good hunting ground for Bounty Hunters. I made my 1st few thousand credits Bounty Hunting in the rigs of planets. This has its ups and downs.
Great fun - Flying in the rings is great fun, Han Solo aint got shiz on me...
Hunting the prey - I suggest putting one or two bars of gold in your cargo hold, this attracts the outlaws, they scan you, they become hostile, and then they die!!!
Getting caught up in large scale fights - You don't want too many ships around you when your fighting, turn your auto report off to keep the police from intercepting and potentially stealing your kill.
This goes the same as 'friendly fire', in the mist of a dog fight, lasers spraying, pretty much any scene from top gun, you can bet pound to a penny a ship is going to do the dumb thing and cross your path. 1 hit is all it takes for you to be wanted for the assault, and the Police will hunt and kill you for that glorious 200-400cr bounty!!!. Do yourself a favor, try and keep clear of it, or ease that trigger finger.
The gamble of staying out too long - When starting out don't collate hundreds of thousands of cr worth of bounties before turning them in. Sometimes you can bite off more than you can chew and end up being ripped apart by a Viper or what not, and presto, all those bounties and hours of dog fighting for nothing. To start with, play it safe and keep it to 50-100k or so, something that's not going to take you hours to earn back if the disaster does strike.
If you do end up becoming wanted for whatever reason, get out of there, return to the nearest station and wipe the slate clean. While your there look for any jobs that require pirate kills and kill two birds with one stone for some extra cash.
I went from Sidewinder to a Viper, Viper is a fun ship to play with and kitted out is pretty strong in Bounty Hunting I found, nothing really stood much of a chance with me (ridiculously gunned Anaconda's aside)
Once I had my fill of Bounty Hunting and had a good cr line I bought a Cobra Mk3 and tried my hand at trading. (You may want to skip the Viper and go straight to Cobra, wouldn't be a bad decision if this is the route you want to head...)
The Cobra Mk3 is a brilliant starting trade ship, it has a brilliant jump distance when A graded and can hold reasonable amount of cargo, the perfect amount for what I was using it for... Rare Trading....
This is the pattern I used and made around 1.7mil every full run... It can take a while but the pay off is worth it. New players eyes will bulge as your credits soar...
1st the Ship. Cobra Mk3. 26.65LY unladen, 21.19LY Laden jump range, not to be sniffed at. Bearing in mind you can do this run with at least 11LY jump range Laden.
Hardpoints / Utilities removed, Light alloy, Power A2, Thrusters D4, FSD A4, LS D3, PD D3, Sensors D3, Fuel C4, 3 x 16 Cargo racks, 2 x 4 Cargo racks, A2 Fuel Scoop
So.. Hardpoints and utilities removed to save weight and you wont need them. All systems downgraded to D3, you dont need them and you save weight. Max capacity of storage and a fuel scoop as you will need to refuel during the trip, better fuel scoops = faster refueling. Some people get nervous about flying without shields etc, dont... I havent been killed by a pirate yet. I get pulled out of hyper speed, throttle down and submit, saving your ship from damage, once out of hyper speed hard on the thrust and boost, when ready charge FSD and your gone, you sustain maybe 3% dmg from him and you've out run his guns after that, seriously dont let it worry you. If you get killed then you've done something wrong.
From the Mk3 I sold my soul and bought an ASP. The ASP is great fun, fast, can carry a decent size of cargo, reasonably low running costs and I enjoyed it. I did the same route but just carried more cargo.
So, here is the trip you will be doing. Starting at Lave. All rares in the commodities will be highlighted in yellow.
Sometimes the station will offer you only a small amount of rares, wait 10min and the station will refresh and offer you more. However, it will not go over the max allowance and after 1-2 refreshes will stop offering you stock even if max capacity hasnt been reached, so bear this in mind. You dont always need to fully cap on one particular rare as you will be visiting other stations so its your call as to how much you want to fill and how long you want to wait around for.
SYSTEM, STATION, BUY
Lave, Lave Station, Lavian Brandy (max 7t)
Orrere, Sharon Lee Free Market, Orrerian Vicious Brew (max 16t)
Uszaa, Guest Installation, Uszaian Tree Grub (max 14t)
Leesti, George Lucas, Leestian Evil Juice (max 14t), Azure Milk
Diso, Shifnalport, Diso Ma Corn (max 15t)
Make the Jump and plot your course to Fujin. 182.07LY trip.
At Fujin sell everything you have. You should have a full hold of rares before you do this jump. These are my results from the 1st 4 runs I did.
906'903 total profit
904'892 profit
905'568 profit
907'224 profit
Fujin, Futen Starport, Fujin Tea (max 10t)
39 Tauri, Porta, Taurai Chimes (max 17t)
George Pantazis, Zamka Platform, Pantaa Prayer Sticks (max 13t)
Zeessze, Nicollier Hanger, Zeessze Ant Grub Glue (max 18t)
Altair, Solo Orbiter, Altarian Skin (max 14-25t)
Again once full of these rares plot your course back to Lave, this trip is 122.9LY you can go out further to Wintii and dock at Whympter Landing which is 152LY for some extra profit if you fancy going out that far. Dont buy anything from there but is good to unload at if you want a little more profit and dont mind going out your way. The further you travel the more profit you gain until you hit the cap, this is around 150LY I think or that is around the best distance so I read...
Profits I saw from the return jumps back to Lave saw:
806'901 total profit
829'917 profit
831'636 profit
833'898 profit
Now doing this route going from station to station and docking etc can take its time but the rewards are well worth it. balance it up to the short runs there and back between close systems I dont know about because I havent done it but for me I earnt A LOT of credits doing this.
So to clarify, fly from Lave to Orrere to Uszaa to Leesti to Diso and fill up on the Rares. Dont sell anything while doing this. Make the big jump to Fujin and then sell everything you have.. Buy your rares from Fujin, 39 Tauri, George Pantazis, Zeessze and Altair, dont sell anything during this time... Make the big jump back to Lave and sell everything at Lave. rinse and repeat, like a big loop.
Once I had a good amount of credits behind me again I looked for the next thing.
I've just bought a Laken Type 7. I've fully kitted it out with max storage, a A5 FSD and A4 Power plant and stripped down the rest as I did with the Mk3.
I'm playing with trade runs at the moment and seeing good profit running from High Tech stations to Extractor Stations trading Berylium and Resonating Seperators. Too early in the day to compare to rare trading and is a different game with a slower and heavier ship but we'll see.
Well thats how I went from starter to where I am.
Like I said this is by no means a definitive guide or a claim to be the best way, but for me it worked and I climbed the ladder quite quickly. I'm flying 24mil worth of ship with plenty extra in the bank so must be doing something right. I know other pilots who immerse a lot more time and focus into the game are earning well above and beyond what I am lol but for a casual player it's not bad...
Hope this helps any new guys looking for direction or a leg up
Enjoy
When I first started like everyone else I was confined to the Sidewinder, good fun little ship and can be really funny when A graded later on.
I started out not having a clue what to do, I picked fights with ships already being attacked by the Space Police and scrubbed for credits, I did some research and found going to a system which has a asteroid belt or a planet with a ring was a good hunting ground for Bounty Hunters. I made my 1st few thousand credits Bounty Hunting in the rigs of planets. This has its ups and downs.
Great fun - Flying in the rings is great fun, Han Solo aint got shiz on me...
Hunting the prey - I suggest putting one or two bars of gold in your cargo hold, this attracts the outlaws, they scan you, they become hostile, and then they die!!!
Getting caught up in large scale fights - You don't want too many ships around you when your fighting, turn your auto report off to keep the police from intercepting and potentially stealing your kill.
This goes the same as 'friendly fire', in the mist of a dog fight, lasers spraying, pretty much any scene from top gun, you can bet pound to a penny a ship is going to do the dumb thing and cross your path. 1 hit is all it takes for you to be wanted for the assault, and the Police will hunt and kill you for that glorious 200-400cr bounty!!!. Do yourself a favor, try and keep clear of it, or ease that trigger finger.
The gamble of staying out too long - When starting out don't collate hundreds of thousands of cr worth of bounties before turning them in. Sometimes you can bite off more than you can chew and end up being ripped apart by a Viper or what not, and presto, all those bounties and hours of dog fighting for nothing. To start with, play it safe and keep it to 50-100k or so, something that's not going to take you hours to earn back if the disaster does strike.
If you do end up becoming wanted for whatever reason, get out of there, return to the nearest station and wipe the slate clean. While your there look for any jobs that require pirate kills and kill two birds with one stone for some extra cash.
I went from Sidewinder to a Viper, Viper is a fun ship to play with and kitted out is pretty strong in Bounty Hunting I found, nothing really stood much of a chance with me (ridiculously gunned Anaconda's aside)
Once I had my fill of Bounty Hunting and had a good cr line I bought a Cobra Mk3 and tried my hand at trading. (You may want to skip the Viper and go straight to Cobra, wouldn't be a bad decision if this is the route you want to head...)
The Cobra Mk3 is a brilliant starting trade ship, it has a brilliant jump distance when A graded and can hold reasonable amount of cargo, the perfect amount for what I was using it for... Rare Trading....
This is the pattern I used and made around 1.7mil every full run... It can take a while but the pay off is worth it. New players eyes will bulge as your credits soar...
1st the Ship. Cobra Mk3. 26.65LY unladen, 21.19LY Laden jump range, not to be sniffed at. Bearing in mind you can do this run with at least 11LY jump range Laden.
Hardpoints / Utilities removed, Light alloy, Power A2, Thrusters D4, FSD A4, LS D3, PD D3, Sensors D3, Fuel C4, 3 x 16 Cargo racks, 2 x 4 Cargo racks, A2 Fuel Scoop
So.. Hardpoints and utilities removed to save weight and you wont need them. All systems downgraded to D3, you dont need them and you save weight. Max capacity of storage and a fuel scoop as you will need to refuel during the trip, better fuel scoops = faster refueling. Some people get nervous about flying without shields etc, dont... I havent been killed by a pirate yet. I get pulled out of hyper speed, throttle down and submit, saving your ship from damage, once out of hyper speed hard on the thrust and boost, when ready charge FSD and your gone, you sustain maybe 3% dmg from him and you've out run his guns after that, seriously dont let it worry you. If you get killed then you've done something wrong.
From the Mk3 I sold my soul and bought an ASP. The ASP is great fun, fast, can carry a decent size of cargo, reasonably low running costs and I enjoyed it. I did the same route but just carried more cargo.
So, here is the trip you will be doing. Starting at Lave. All rares in the commodities will be highlighted in yellow.
Sometimes the station will offer you only a small amount of rares, wait 10min and the station will refresh and offer you more. However, it will not go over the max allowance and after 1-2 refreshes will stop offering you stock even if max capacity hasnt been reached, so bear this in mind. You dont always need to fully cap on one particular rare as you will be visiting other stations so its your call as to how much you want to fill and how long you want to wait around for.
SYSTEM, STATION, BUY
Lave, Lave Station, Lavian Brandy (max 7t)
Orrere, Sharon Lee Free Market, Orrerian Vicious Brew (max 16t)
Uszaa, Guest Installation, Uszaian Tree Grub (max 14t)
Leesti, George Lucas, Leestian Evil Juice (max 14t), Azure Milk
Diso, Shifnalport, Diso Ma Corn (max 15t)
Make the Jump and plot your course to Fujin. 182.07LY trip.
At Fujin sell everything you have. You should have a full hold of rares before you do this jump. These are my results from the 1st 4 runs I did.
906'903 total profit
904'892 profit
905'568 profit
907'224 profit
Fujin, Futen Starport, Fujin Tea (max 10t)
39 Tauri, Porta, Taurai Chimes (max 17t)
George Pantazis, Zamka Platform, Pantaa Prayer Sticks (max 13t)
Zeessze, Nicollier Hanger, Zeessze Ant Grub Glue (max 18t)
Altair, Solo Orbiter, Altarian Skin (max 14-25t)
Again once full of these rares plot your course back to Lave, this trip is 122.9LY you can go out further to Wintii and dock at Whympter Landing which is 152LY for some extra profit if you fancy going out that far. Dont buy anything from there but is good to unload at if you want a little more profit and dont mind going out your way. The further you travel the more profit you gain until you hit the cap, this is around 150LY I think or that is around the best distance so I read...
Profits I saw from the return jumps back to Lave saw:
806'901 total profit
829'917 profit
831'636 profit
833'898 profit
Now doing this route going from station to station and docking etc can take its time but the rewards are well worth it. balance it up to the short runs there and back between close systems I dont know about because I havent done it but for me I earnt A LOT of credits doing this.
So to clarify, fly from Lave to Orrere to Uszaa to Leesti to Diso and fill up on the Rares. Dont sell anything while doing this. Make the big jump to Fujin and then sell everything you have.. Buy your rares from Fujin, 39 Tauri, George Pantazis, Zeessze and Altair, dont sell anything during this time... Make the big jump back to Lave and sell everything at Lave. rinse and repeat, like a big loop.
Once I had a good amount of credits behind me again I looked for the next thing.
I've just bought a Laken Type 7. I've fully kitted it out with max storage, a A5 FSD and A4 Power plant and stripped down the rest as I did with the Mk3.
I'm playing with trade runs at the moment and seeing good profit running from High Tech stations to Extractor Stations trading Berylium and Resonating Seperators. Too early in the day to compare to rare trading and is a different game with a slower and heavier ship but we'll see.
Well thats how I went from starter to where I am.
Like I said this is by no means a definitive guide or a claim to be the best way, but for me it worked and I climbed the ladder quite quickly. I'm flying 24mil worth of ship with plenty extra in the bank so must be doing something right. I know other pilots who immerse a lot more time and focus into the game are earning well above and beyond what I am lol but for a casual player it's not bad...
Hope this helps any new guys looking for direction or a leg up
Enjoy
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