Weapons in Elite Dangerous only

[M.S.P.]

I own Elite Horizons.

Am I right in thinking if I play only Elite Dangerous, which doesn't have the Engineers in
it that none of the weapons or upgrades they do are available to anyone, npcs in particular
in Elite Dangerous only? I just want to play Elite without being attacked by npcs with engineered
weapons etc. I am thinking playing Elite Dangerous only is the way to go about it.

I've looked on Elite wiki but it is not clear imo.

Any clarification / confirmation etc preferably with a source of proof would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Bortas]

I own Elite Horizons.

Am I right in thinking if I play only Elite Dangerous, which doesn't have the Engineers in
it that none of the weapons or upgrades they do are available to anyone, npcs in particular
in Elite Dangerous only? I just want to play Elite without being attacked by npcs with engineered
weapons etc. I am thinking playing Elite Dangerous only is the way to go about it.

I've looked on Elite wiki but it is not clear imo.

AFAIK engineered NPCs exist only in Conflict Zones and wing assassination missions. So if you stay clear from CZs and wing missions, you shouldn't encounter any engineered NPCs.

 

[M.S.P.]

Thanks for the reply.

Ah I see. Just out of interest where has that information come from?

I think it would be good if it was made clear that in Elite Dangerous there was no engineering
element, more akin to the original Elite. As I say I can't seem to find out, it seems obvious that if
the Engineers are not in Elite Dangerous then their upgrades aren't available to anyone playing it
including npcs.

How it would work if you were up against humans playing Horizons I do not know - do they
not instance together the two versions of Elite?

Thanks.

 

[Crimson Kaim]

Thanks for the reply.

Ah I see. Just out of interest where has that information come from?

I think it would be good if it was made clear that in Elite Dangerous there was no engineering
element, more akin to the original Elite. As I say I can't seem to find out, it seems obvious that if
the Engineers are not in Elite Dangerous then their upgrades aren't available to anyone playing it
including npcs.

How it would work if you were up against humans playing Horizons I do not know - do they
not instance together the two versions of Elite?

Thanks.

You are not getting seperated and you will be at a huge disadvantage. i'd suggest not playing in Open if you haven't got engineers. Horizons is a must have for competetive play of any kind.

 

[Lucius-Darcia]

I own Elite Horizons.

Am I right in thinking if I play only Elite Dangerous, which doesn't have the Engineers in
it that none of the weapons or upgrades they do are available to anyone, npcs in particular
in Elite Dangerous only? I just want to play Elite without being attacked by npcs with engineered
weapons etc. I am thinking playing Elite Dangerous only is the way to go about it.

I've looked on Elite wiki but it is not clear imo.

Any clarification / confirmation etc preferably with a source of proof would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

The Cmdr Deluxe edition (inc. Horizons) was at sale for 10£ a few days ago. Horizons add-on only even a bit cheaper.

I don't get it, why people are still not having it [blah]
Instead of investing time in non-Horizons i would prefer to see it gone completely and making it one game again. For long-term owners of Elite Dangerous maybe a discount again but please no further dividing anymore.

#Don'tWasteDevTime

 

[Bortas]

Thanks for the reply.

Ah I see. Just out of interest where has that information come from?

Just from my personal experience. Engineered NPCs in CZs were just recently added with 3.3. Before that I have never seen one outside of wing assassinations.

How it would work if you were up against humans playing Horizons I do not know - do they
not instance together the two versions of Elite?

They do get instanced together. Probably not a good idea to engage in PvP without owning Horizons.

 

[Aashenfox]

They also have light (no weapons, but some shield and hull) engineering in massacre mission USSes, and the pirate activity USSes, I believe. I'm confident about hte latter, not so much the former.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Loading the non-Horizons client (whether as a choice or because that's all you have licensed) does not affect what the NPCs have.

AFAIK engineered NPCs exist only in Conflict Zones and wing assassination missions. So if you stay clear from CZs and wing missions, you shouldn't encounter any engineered NPCs.

You won't encounter any with weapon special effects (e.g. phasing, corrosive, thermal shock, etc.) except in clearly labelled high-risk optional combat encounters - to your list of those there are also the "Pirate Activity Detected" zones which show up in Civil Unrest/Lockdown systems - or if you commit enough crimes to attract ATR attention.

However, any high-ranked NPC can have lower-grade engineering to their modules and weapons, which is less visible but still makes them tougher and faster than their lower-rank equivalents. You don't need to engineer to be able to run away from them, though.

 

[Morbad]

You won't encounter any with weapon special effects (e.g. phasing, corrosive, thermal shock, etc.) except in clearly labelled high-risk optional combat encounters - to your list of those there are also the "Pirate Activity Detected" zones which show up in Civil Unrest/Lockdown systems - or if you commit enough crimes to attract ATR attention.

Any threat five or higher signal source can seemingly produce some experimental effects, in my experience.

 

[M.S.P.]

Loading the non-Horizons client (whether as a choice or because that's all you have licensed) does not affect what the NPCs have.


You won't encounter any with weapon special effects (e.g. phasing, corrosive, thermal shock, etc.) except in clearly labelled high-risk optional combat encounters - to your list of those there are also the "Pirate Activity Detected" zones which show up in Civil Unrest/Lockdown systems - or if you commit enough crimes to attract ATR attention.

However, any high-ranked NPC can have lower-grade engineering to their modules and weapons, which is less visible but still makes them tougher and faster than their lower-rank equivalents. You don't need to engineer to be able to run away from them, though.

Right, so forgive me for being a bit thick here, but are you saying or implying at least then that npcs in
Elite Dangerous do have engineered equipment, particularly at higher ratings? I only ever play on solo
mode too.

If yes, is that something you know through personal experience or is it official somewhere?

Many thanks.

 

[Jukelo]

Right, so forgive me for being a bit thick here, but are you saying or implying at least then that npcs in
Elite Dangerous do have engineered equipment, particularly at higher ratings? I only ever play on solo
mode too.

If yes, is that something you know through personal experience or is it official somewhere?

Many thanks.

Yes. This is from the 2.1.03 patch notes:

- Reduced the number of engineer mods on AI ships substantially, now only Deadly & Elite rank ships are guaranteed to have mods and any below Master are guaranteed to have none

 

[thistle]

Right, so forgive me for being a bit thick here, but are you saying or implying at least then that npcs in
Elite Dangerous do have engineered equipment, particularly at higher ratings? I only ever play on solo
mode too.

If yes, is that something you know through personal experience or is it official somewhere?

Many thanks.

The universe is the same, the npcs are the same, the game logic is all the same. The only thing that is different if you play Elite Dangerous rather than Horizons is some content and locations are cut off from you. I'm not sure there's ever been anything official that says npcs for example are different in the two versions, I can't see how, it really is just a single game and universe and background simulation, just with Horizons letting the player do more.

So in the base game you will find the same engineered npcs. But they aren't common as others have said, they are restricted to some situations.

You said you own Horizons. Are you thinking if you play the base game instead you can avoid engineered npcs? I'm not sure why, you would have to be in a situation you wouldnt be able to handle without an engineered ship before you would meet engineered npcs, etc Conflict Zones. Contrary to some opinion, I like the engineering process, and it's so worth it top open up the full game content - engineered fsd to jump further, better weapons, faster and more manoeuvrable engines.

 

[Ethaidan]

Right, so forgive me for being a bit thick here, but are you saying or implying at least then that npcs in
Elite Dangerous do have engineered equipment, particularly at higher ratings? I only ever play on solo
mode too.

If yes, is that something you know through personal experience or is it official somewhere?

Many thanks.

It's the same game universe no matter what version you, as the player / client, log in with. The only difference will be on your end with regard to which features you have access to - engineers, certain ships, planetary landings.

Edit : "Ninja'd!

 

[Para Handy]

...... are you saying or implying at least then that npcs in Elite Dangerous do have engineered equipment, particularly at higher ratings? ...

If yes, is that something you know through personal experience or is it official somewhere?
...

This from support (in a ticket) two years ago:

"Deadly and Elite NPCs can have modified equipment outside of combat zones, and modifications on these ships are not limited to passive modules.

Elite NPCs will have more modified equipment then Deadly."

have fun...

 

[M.S.P.]

Okay, thanks everyone who responded.

In the end it looks like it is at least Deadly and Elite pilots who may / will have engineered weapons etc. in Elite
Dangerous. I think that is inconsistent personally but will live with it.

I just want to play Elite more in the style of the original Elite, no one has an advantage with engineered stuff, I have
little interest or enough time to traipse around looking for things for engineers, it isn't for me, so my plan to just
play Dangerous instead of Horizons seems like a good, if not perfect, plan overall. The vast marjority of my time
has been on Horizons, before that Dangerous since Kickstarter and the original beta.