Where do I start

[odins-might]

Bought the game and really need help. I understand its a beta but, did they forget people will need to start from zero?

I go to the "unidentified signal" and there's never anything there. I go the the federal distress signal and immediately get killed by other players, I try go to a low combat zone and I get jumped by a swarm of fighters against my little 1 weapon ship.

So what am I suppose to do, i've killed 3 ships over several hours, only got credits for one of them (says I have 3 kills). Where do I find cargo to sell, where is a newbie friendly area to go etc. where can I do anything that involves not dying instantly?

 

[Rog]

Hi Odins-Might, and welcome to the forums.

Try and work through most of the single player scenarios before wading into multiplayer - they do help!

In multiplayer, avoid combat as much as possible until you get enough for another laser (unless it's just an NPC Sidewinder).

Scoop loose cannisters you see and sell them at a station with a black market: Freeport@:LP98-132, Dahan/Gateway, Eranin/Azeban City and Bootis/Chango Dock. Warning about Freeport though - it's a dangerous place! And remember that scooped cargo is listed as 'stolen', so don't let anyone scan you until you offload it.

Unknown signals: if there's nothing there, supercruise away and come back. You might be surprised.

Initially though just get a nice trading run to build some credits.

You could go to the Distress signal @ Eranin (choose the Eranin side in the right hand panel) and shoot Fed fighters for the bounty. But get that extra laser first and watch out for player characters (hollow blips on the scanner).

You will manoeuvre and turn quicker if you keep the throttle pointer in the 'blue zone'.

Practice routing power to systems (shields), engines and weapons. It really makes a difference.

Stick with it though, it's worth it.

 

[GuruNot]

Welcome.

Rog pretty much covered everything. Dont forget there are the single player missions to cut your teeth on. They will help you cover some of the basics.

And make sure you read the sidewinder handbook which is here.

 

[Fenris Wolf]

Excellent advice there from Rog.

You might want to see what trade is like from Aulin (high tech) to LHS 3006.

Then from there (Minerals) to Dahan.

And finally (Metals) back to Aulin.

Can be quite profitable when you get used to what you need to take.

Stick with it though, it's worth it.

Also... Odins-Might... beware of Fenris *

Edit: PS - Learn to use the thrusters when fighting, they really help.


* Reference to Norse Mythology and not a personal attack!

 

[MikeSnos]

Another thing to avoid is spending your cash until you have a good sized buffer in your coffers. If you get killed always get the free sidewinder. Keep doing this until you manage to spend some time not getting killed (you can repair your ship when yoou dock at stations).

Try federal distress and make sure to join a faction, that way you WILL get bounties when you kill a member of the opposition. Best faction to join is Eranin defence.

Do not try to take on PCs (Hollow shapes in the Scanner) until you're suitably improved and confident!

Above all, practise, practise and practise again and again and again!

Best of luck!

PS : Running away is a pretty effective tactic most ofthe time

 

[insanephoton]

Sorry you're having trouble getting started. It is a bit daunting when you first start, especially as we don't have any tutorials yet.

Unidentified signals are a bit of a mixed bag. Some will leave canisters, others won't and if you're unlucky some one else will have cleared it before you arrive or you'll find hostile NPCs or players. One thing to remember is that any cargo you pick up is classed as stolen so you will have trouble if you get scanned. Also stolen goods can only be sold on the black market (see contacts in the stations, though not all stations have black markets) at a discounted price.

The various combat zones and Federation distress signal can be good places to earn as long as you pick a side and don't get attacked by other players. In most cases in the beta it is easier to side with Eranin rather than the Federation. The Federation forces seem less organised and Federal Fighters are pretty weak. Don't be afraid to run away when you start taking hits. It's probably safer to go to some of the more distant combat zones to reduce the risk from other players. There are also some combat zones in the Dahan system, I'm not sure if many people use them.

As for getting a legit cargo, you'll have to dock with a space station. Once you dock, you can check the commodities market. There are some threads in the beta forum giving tips about trading, but the basics are simple. If the buy price is lower than the galactic average, there's a good chance you could make some profit. Just think a little about where best to take things and if you aren't sure you can check out other systems. At the moment there is no cost to this as we don't have fuel in the game yet. Trading is pretty peaceful, but if you do get interdicted put maximum power to engines, throttle to maximum and hit boost a few times and get back to supercruise as soon as you can. That should usually keep you out of trouble for now.

 

[Thylacine]

Take advantage of the time where you only have your starter ship and starter laser!

You cannot lose, there is no penelty on dying. Every credit you make in that configuration is save.

So go to the Federal distress signal and chose the Eranin side. Try to kill at least a few of the NPC federal fighters before blowing up, it is the quickest way to make money. You can repeat as often as necessary, just take the free sidewinder if you get blown up.

As soon as you have enough money for a second laser + maybe 3,000 to cover the insurance in case of death it will become a bit easier. You can also go to a resource extraction site and go bounty hunting, there is normally no PvP in these areas (because of the penelties involved if you shoot a "clean" player)

And scoop everything you can find, especially from the resource extraction sites. As soon as cargo is full, go to the starter system and sell it on the black market

 

[Vingtetun]

Try the alternative Flight Briefing and if that doesn't work.... The advice above is fairly sound. If your rig and connection copes with the testing, get to the asteroids and get a kill or two. If not, do a trading haul slowly but surely until you can afford some guns.

A Sidewinder armed with a decent pair of weapons is a great tool over at Dahan in the high intensity area. Wait until you can afford a Cobra if you want and then let rip on the trading.

 

[Calaban]

I had initial problems "finding my place" in the early hours of playing, that sounded a lot like your intial uncertainty, but I finally got one figured out:

Go to the distress signal, side with the Eranin Faction, and blow up the brain dead federal fighters zipping around. You should find that full shields and reverse does wonders on them.

And by all means beware of the red hollowed out triangles. They are only bad news (other players hostile to your faction, and eager to face another player instead of AI). Keep your eye on the hollow yellow triangles, too; they may be clever bad news. (they follow you and figure out what faction you are by who you attack, then pick the opposite faction to gank you)

Basically, avoid other players until you become good enough to rake in 20-30 federal fighters before returning to base for repairs. Then you will have your "chops" to hold your own vs some intelligent(ish) pilots.

 

[Phantom Mark]

I was in the same position as the OP and having a hard time making any credits at all trading with 4 slots and limited funds.

After 5 days grinding I managed to get 20k credits.......

I finally caved in and went to Eranin with a second pulse laser fitted (so now had 2) and was chalking up 40k credits per hour, in less than the rest of that day I was sitting in a shiny new Cobra, which I am now in the process of kitting out.

If you are intercepted and carrying cargo run, put all the pips to the engines, move the enemy to your rear and boost away on the engine boosts, do this a couple of times to build a gap and re-enter supercruise as soon as the framedrive has cooled down.

Thanks to all those who answer my similar questions previously as well.

 

[Nomadski]

Don't even touch combat until you have a second class two laser. I cant stress how much easier it makes combat vs NPCs.

Its slow going at first, trading, but one thing to keep in mind - don't deal way over your bank balance. Leave enough money in the bank to cover insurance (once you have bought that second laser beam, until then its free sidewinder time) and loss of cargo.

Once you have a few thousand under your belt, get that second laser and head to a conflict zone. I'm not very experienced myself, but when you arrive check the area for PCs, I wouldn't advise joining a side if its a free for all, but many players tend to join the Eranin side - the Fed fighters are easy meat.

If you by yourself, or have a fellow PC as Eranin, go and indulge in some NPC killing. If you run into issues, head back towards where there are lots of greens and your chaser will soon run into issues.

I'll repeat, I'm not a fighter (I'm a banana loving chimp) but even I managed 17 kills today in the High Intensity Zone in Eranin.

As for combat skills, as above, use the SP modes to learn a few tricks. Most useful is the obvious stuff, how to turn quick and how to keep your sights on the enemy. If you get those two right, the rest can follow.

Mix up the trading and the combat and don't get too het up on it all, there's a wipe coming up at the end of this month.