Newcomer / Intro The FASTEST and MOST EFFICIENT way to Supercruise

[Altissimus]

Lots of people initially over-fly their targets when using supercruise and have to turn around and fly back. This is REALLY embarassing when it's a space station and you just KNOW lots of people are looking out of the window with high-powered zoom functions, watching you and laughing.

Lots of other people use manual throttle control to keep their ship at a given speed to avoid this.

Both of these are unnecessary!

Here's how:

1) Bind a key to 75% throttle.

2) Enter supercruise (press <whatever you've assigned to supercruise>, throttle up, face target).

3) Note "time to destination" under target. For a long-distance target this could initially be >1 year or 14:23:17 or something of this nature. For nearby targets this might read 0:31 or some such.

4) Throttle up to max and watch the clock fall down rapidly (your throttle will only go so far - the computer limits this in Supercruise).

5) As clock passes 0:10 seconds, press <whatever key you bind in step 1> to engage 75% throttle.

6) That's it! You will now fly towards the target and never overshoot. You will not have to make any manual throttle changes. You will see the clock drop to 0:07 or 0:06, but it won't go below. You will then coast perfectly into your target area for safe release from Cruise without needing to do anything else.

7) When velocity <1Mm/s and distance <1Mm, press <whatever you've assigned to supercruise> to disengage safely.

Pro tip:
You can save yourself a few seconds as you approach the target by manually increasing your throttle to keep your speed up at 1Mm/s. So long as you are at or just under 1Mm/s, you can still exit supercruise safely - it doesn't need to go into the 2-300Km/s.

Happy flying!

Alt.

 

[KiltedNinja]

You can also use the blue speed indicator which is beside your main orange speed indicator. If you keep the throttle just before the end of the blue, it will have the same effect as what Altissimus has posted.

 

[Vandaahl]

Great post! Should be stickied maybe

 

[zorianarki]

And if you want to get there as FAST as possible, then there are two things.

1: Go around planets etc. they slow you down (as in don't go right by them, go way around them)

2: Constantly keep the speed high enough to keep you at the 0:06 - 0:07 arrival time marker, go below that and you'll overshoot.

 

[KiltedNinja]

And if you want to get there as FAST as possible, then there are two things.

1: Go around planets etc. they slow you down (as in don't go right by them, go way around them)

2: Constantly keep the speed high enough to keep you at the 0:06 - 0:07 arrival time marker, go below that and you'll overshoot.

3.
Don't lock your destination as a target, and keep your ship "above" the stellar plane and don't aim directly at your destination until you're close. Normally, your ship will see you are approaching a gravity well and attempt to slow you down, so if you keep your ship pointed away from planets/suns until the last minute, your ship will not slow down as much.

 

[FaolGlas]

If you have a joystick with throttle, you can "ride the six" - go full throttle til time to destination is 6 seconds then throttle back to about midway in blue and adjust to keep it at 6 seconds. If you get to 5 seconds, drop to zero til it comes back to 6. If it hits 4, you'll over shoot

Once your speed enters the blue zone on the indicator on the left, full throttle again, ignore the Slow Down, and when you get Safe to Disengage, drop out. I like this method as it is more interactive and keeps me engaged! Can't say if it is any faster though!

 

[SleepySid]

That sounds good, but you have to remember that the slower you go in supercruise the longer time it takes to get to where you're going. You are also increasing the chance of getting interdicted by an NPC and making it a whole lot easier for a player to be able to sneak up on your tail and interdict you.
This probably won't be an issue in the starter systems, but the further out you get the more you'll need to watch you backs...

 

[Altissimus]

If you have a joystick with throttle, you can "ride the six" - go full throttle til time to destination is 6 seconds then throttle back to about midway in blue and adjust to keep it at 6 seconds. If you get to 5 seconds, drop to zero til it comes back to 6. If it hits 4, you'll over shoot

Once your speed enters the blue zone on the indicator on the left, full throttle again, ignore the Slow Down, and when you get Safe to Disengage, drop out. I like this method as it is more interactive and keeps me engaged! Can't say if it is any faster though!

My OP completely negates the need to do this, and does it automatically without error and better than a human can.

That's the point.

 

[HipToss]

OR!!! Go as fast as possible, then do an E drop out of SC. Pay for the minor damage to hull, easy. J/K Do not do this, only as an emergency.

I was being chased by an Anaconda that was trying to pull me out, and I had no shields or weapons. This was the only way to get away from him

 

[Jarek Storm]

Another neat SC trick is to come in to your destination hot, over speeding as you approach. Then you use the planet's gravity well to slow you down as you swing around to safe disengage range.

Takes some practice but it's a good way to throw interdicting npc's off, sometimes even forcing them to crash into the planet's atmosphere behind you. It's also very cool. The sounds are insane, like redlining a Ferrari the whole way in.

 

[Jason S]

Great tip, thanks, will help me lots.

+1 rep for you

 

[scriptacus]

Another tip: if you over do it on speed and end up at 0:04s or less seconds to target, you can often correct without overshooting by doing the following:
1) throttle into the blue zone, no need to drop to zero
2) aim below target, so that it is visible far above you, just out the top of the cockpit (it's useful to use head look here)
3) maintain this heading until the time begins to climb back up (should take 5-10 seconds)
4) when the time is climbing, aim back at target with the throttle in the blue and proceed as normal

This process takes significantly less time than a full overshoot followed by a 180 degree turn. As to why you might overshoot; you can ride max throttle to your destination until 0:07 or 0:06 instead of 0:10 as suggested by the OP, but doing so leaves very little room for error.

 

[FaolGlas]

My OP completely negates the need to do this, and does it automatically without error and better than a human can.

That's the point.

Right, but I like to do things in SC and not have it all happen automatically!

PS - also not sure if the greater time spent at max boost, and continually pushing speed as much as possible, actually saves time. Races would be good!

 

[Katkon]

2: Constantly keep the speed high enough to keep you at the 0:06 - 0:07 arrival time marker, go below that and you'll overshoot.

This, except to ensure you NEVER overshoot keep the timer locked 0:07 (not 0:06). When your speed drops below 1000km/s, feel free to speed up for the last several seconds as long as you don't exceed 1000 km/s. That's really all you need to do to SC effectively - it's the closest thing to autopilot.

 

[mikael]

Great post, and also keep in mind that it's easier to interdict you when you slow for approach, so if you see a threat behind you which you'd like to avoid, overshoot and do the loop.

 

[3LDRITCH]

Only riding the red line till 0:10

I remember my first sidewinder.....

 

[DragonIV]

My OP completely negates the need to do this, and does it automatically without error and better than a human can.

That's the point.

Which works fine for a non-HOTAS player. If you use a throttle, I didn't think you could set those keys (to XX% throttle)--that it would be ignored due to it receiving throttle input from the HOTAS. Is that not the case?

 

[3LDRITCH]

Which works fine for a non-HOTAS player. If you use a throttle, I didn't think you could set those keys (to XX% throttle)--that it would be ignored due to it receiving throttle input from the HOTAS. Is that not the case?

You can bind a keyboard key to a throttle% but it will be over written if you move the throttle. You can come in much faster working the throttle yourself though with a bit of practice.

 

[DragonIV]

You can bind a keyboard key to a throttle% but it will be over written if you move the throttle. You can come in much faster working the throttle yourself though with a bit of practice.

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[Hugh Jardon]

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned the supercruise assist trick. You can find Youtube videos explaining it, but probably a good idea to watch several to get all the points. this guy nailed it, but he explained the basics in another video:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp0siSmwCd8


Also, the 7 second 75% throttle doesn't work when approaching planetary bases, etc. It sort of works if you come in at a shallow angle, but that's very slow. If you come in at the much faster 45 deg. or thereabouts, the gravity of the planet sucks you in approximately as the slider on the left of your hud goes past the lower marker, then the gravity starts slowing you down, so you gradually increase the throttle to maximum as you get near the glide point.