Winging up for the first

[and_ft]

Greetings Commanders,

I am winging up with a mate for the first time. Neither of us have flown in a wing before, so I have a few questions.

1) Any technical tips for a smooth experience (we are on PS4 if it matters)?

2) Most fun and profitable activities?

Context to no. 2: We are not that advanced. He is at the unengineered Cobra mk.III level, and still needs credits. I have a moderately engineered Krait II (mission running) and a Vulture (combat) and a Python (mining, yet to go on a maiden voyage). I don't really need credits, so goal would be to max my buddy's earnings.

Cheers,

 

[Riverside]

If you want an activity where winging up benefits, try combat. In a RES if one of you shoots at (or is shot by) another ship it will show up as purple to the others in the wing (until they engage or are engaged, then it goes red as usual). As long as each wingmate fires on the enemy ship at least once they will get the bounty reward too, a handy way for a more experienced player to 'soften up' a target & let their less experienced wingmate(s) share in the reward.

Nav lock takes a little getting used to but wing beacons are a handy way to see where your mates are & join the instance they are in if you target it instead of the RES, station or whatever. Have a play around with wing beacons & navlock to figure out how they work.

 

[Oytis57]

1) Just hope it works....

 

[Ettanin]

Due to the nature of peer-to-peer connections, which is also true for console, at least one of you has to have PS4 NAT type 1. It might work with NAT type 2 or even 3 (NAT type 3 is commonly encountered with CGNAT ISPs), but this depends on the availability of Frontier's TURN servers.

TURN works similar to a VPN in which a specific relay server forwards data between endpoints.

Also, to be able to wing up, you both have to be in the same private group or both be in open play. Both modes require a Playstation Plus subscription. Please note that cross-play between different platforms is not possible.

 

[Treya]

I'm on PC so can't say if anything specific applies to PS4 but generally:
- Once winged up set your Ship Beacon (both of you) to Wing mode:

That will make it easier to find each other. Keep in mind that a ship shutdown or relogging will reset this.

• Expect some intermittent rubber banding, usually doesn't last long but not much that can be done about it
• Wing missions can be a mixed bag. Wing assassinations will pit you against heavily engineered ships, wing trade ones can turn out to be a net loss. Wing massacre missions are fine though, same kind of targets as in regular missions and as Riverside pointed out a single connecting shot from both of you is enough to get you both the bounty.
• Laser mining is well suited because the amount of fragments coming off each rock is multiplied by the number of wing members. Also only one of you needs to equip a Prospector limpet so there's some wriggle room for divergent ship loadouts (just make sure both of you have mining lasers)

 

[Bottom Hat]

As Treya says, never forget your wing bacon - it makes life easier!

 

[here_it_comes]

Wing beacon, wing beacon, wing beacon.

Why this isn't on by default when you wing up is bizarre. Classic FD.

 

[ED_Recluse]

Not sure if this works on PS4, but on PC, if you are winged up and your wingmate has a target locked, there is a command to select your wingmate(s), then automatically target the target they have locked. Really handy to get everyone attacking the same target. Again, you would have to check the commands to see if this works on PS4 the way it works on PC.

 

[Zeeks]

This is when I wish we had good group content. Sid Meier Pirates treasure map. Idea where ship full of treasure should be. Your wing looks for it, converges on the convey, knock out the escorts, and disable the cargo ship. Either hatch break it or pull the ship back to the pirate base for credits.

 

[Riverside]

Wing beacon, wing beacon, wing beacon.

Why this isn't on by default when you wing up is bizarre. Classic FD.

Privacy. Send a noob a wing request, with the wing beacon defaulting to on you instantly have their location for potential nefarious activities the noob may not want.

So every time we log in we have to enable it.

I'd be happy for it to default to off & just be sticky (ie remember the choice).

 

[here_it_comes]

Privacy. Send a noob a wing request, with the wing beacon defaulting to on you instantly have their location for potential nefarious activities the noob may not want.

Wanting your location hidden from people you knowingly group up with for 'privacy'? At least you gave it a swing I suppose.

 

[and_ft]

Thanks for all the replies Commanders!

We had a smooth and very fun 1st session a few days ago. Connecting and winging up was very smooth and stable during the entire session.

We chose to fly in a private group together and was in the same instance from the beginning. Then it was just a matter of winging up. PG or open is not any big difference on PS4 anyway, as I've only ever seen other Commanders in Engineers' systems, Shin Dez or at CG's.

Wing mechanics with HUD indicators of your wingman location, his target etc are really good and intuitive.

Now I would like to get some pro tips from you guys on how to max my wingman's profits. I am decently set for cash, but he's not able to A-rate his Cobra completely yet. Should he be the one who accepts massacre or assassination missions, would that increase his profits compared to when he tags along on my missions?

Any ideas for other fun and profitable duo activities are also welcome.

Cheers,

 

[CaptKarel]

When I started playing ED and needed some credits a friend of mine took me in a wing. He then accepted wing missions to deliver cargo from some bases to another base or planet. Some deliveries were up to 3000 tons or more.
I flew with my small ship as many loads as I could, he the used a Type 9 to carry the bulk. I very quickly made enough credits to go from a small Hauler to a type 6, type 7 and finally a type 9. I even bought a Python and Crait Mk II with what was left over. I only kept the Type 9, the other cargo ships I traded in.

This only took a few evenings of playing, with a few visits to the odd RES or CZ for a break in activities. He also made a good chunk of cash and hit trader Elite.

Note that each wing man will get the full fee and the other wing members also get a trade dividend, the number of tons carried by each member does not affect the payout.

He also took me on as a multicrew member on his fully engineered Anaconda into some CZs, where I operated half of his turrets, this gave me some Combat rep and combat bonds fore each of my kills. I also flew a SLF a few times, also as multicrew.

All of the above helped me to get a leg up and put me in a much better position that trying to do it all by myself.

One thing I do recommend is don’t try and rush going for the big ships, enjoy the small and medium ships, they are good fun and you learn very important skills, that you will need later. Personally I prefer the medium ships, especially for combat.

O7 CMDRs

 

[and_ft]

When I started playing ED and needed some credits a friend of mine took me in a wing. He then accepted wing missions to deliver cargo from some bases to another base or planet. Some deliveries were up to 3000 tons or more.
I flew with my small ship as many loads as I could, he the used a Type 9 to carry the bulk. I very quickly made enough credits to go from a small Hauler to a type 6, type 7 and finally a type 9. I even bought a Python and Crait Mk II with what was left over. I only kept the Type 9, the other cargo ships I traded in.
(...)
One thing I do recommend is don’t try and rush going for the big ships, enjoy the small and medium ships, they are good fun and you learn very important skills, that you will need later. Personally I prefer the medium ships, especially for combat.

O7 CMDRs

Thanks for the tips.

And I wholeheartedly agree with your point on small and medium ships. I've literally flown the paint off my Asp, and am only now starting to play around with a Krait and a Python.

 

[CaptKarel]

and_ft
The Python is my main workhorse, with the right module fit and some engineering it can be used for almost any task in ED. You may have to refit depending on the task. The Krait Mk II is just as versatile but is more capable as a combat ship.

For mostly or just combat missions you can try the Chieftain, it is my favorite ship for CZ clearing, solo or in a wing. It is not cheap though, but more affordable that any of the bigger ships. So far I have not lost mine in a fight but got close a time or two, mostly because of my own stupidty.