Your Best Elite Dangerous Tips Wanted - Welcome the PS4 Players

Greetings Commanders,

With the release of Elite Dangerous on PlayStation 4 coming up on Tuesday June 27, we wanted to create a place where we can point people towards with some quick starter tips for Elite Dangerous.
We need your help populating this forum thread with your best Elite Dangerous gameplay specific tips. That way we can welcome the new PS4 players to the community in style, by showing off how awesome and helpful our Commanders are.

A few rules:
- Please title your tip clearly (see example)
- The tip should be short, to the point, and, most importantly, helpful for new players! (see example)
- We will remove any unhelpful remarks, off-topic comments or posts we deem as unnecessary
- Anything non-gameplay-related will be removed
- Tips should relate to gameplay, and be as close to a factual tip as possible. Opinions are always welcome elsewhere in this forum, but this thread is for Elite Dangerous gameplay-specific tips
- Repeat tips will be removed if they are direct copies of other posts
- Keep them roughly to one paragraph
- Try to explain any Elite Dangerous terminology for new players
- Be friendly!
 
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Good morning CMDRs,

Thank you for submitting your tips and tricks. We've picked our top ten favorites that we believe all new Commanders should know, however, this list is definitely not exhaustive. Take the time to read through the rest of this thread for more wonderful tips. See you in the black, o7.

10 -
Always check your fuel gauge

Always keep an eye on your fuel gauge to make sure you have enough fuel for your next jump. If you have a fuel scoop you can check the star class of the next system by using the Galaxy Map (it is also displayed in the info panel at the top right of the cockpit). Scoopable star classes are O, B, A, F, G, K, M. If you are not carrying a fuel scoop make sure on the Galaxy Map your route has a solid line to indicate you can make it on your current amount (a broken line indicates not enough fuel).

9 -
The Galactic Academy Is a brilliant resource for new Commanders to get help and advice from more established players of this great community.


A very friendly and helpful bunch of people.


And above all have fun.

8 -
Mind your keybindings!


Certain functions (like Jettison All Cargo) are better off accessed through the menu than via a button on your controller or HOTAS. Accidentally activating Silent Running, and not knowing how to turn it off, can be fatal. Finally, assigning keybinds to your heat sinks and chaff means you don't have to use your limited fire group options for those utility functions!

7 -
When Supercruising to a location, use max throttle until the ETA timer reaches 0:10. At that point, throttle back to 50% of the blue area of the throttle and stay above 0:06. That'll let you travel as fast as possible without overshooting your destination!

6 -
Most modules are rated E to A.


E is cheapest, lowest power
D weighs less (good for jump range)
C is an all rounder
B is better armored (good for combat)
A is generally best overall


If you can afford to, choose A rated Thrusters, Power Plants & Shields, D-rated sensors & life support can help improve your jump range.


Use the smallest A-rated power Plant that will still power your ship to help with heat management.

5 -
Do not retract landing gear until you have exited the station.


When taking off from a starport, do not immediately retract your landing gear. Boost is disabled all the while landing gear is down. This way you will not face plant into the station wall if you accidently hit the boost button. Retract landing gear once through the slot.

4 -
Sooner or later you'll run out of fuel and when you do you have two options.


1) Sit, alone, in the cold vacuum of space as the last fumes of hydrogen powering your life support are consumed and then watch, shivering in the dark, as your windows slowly ice up until, eventually, your oxygen runs out entirely and you die of asphyxiation (well, that and your ship exploding out of symbiotic pity at your tragic and senseless waste of life).


2) Call the Fuel Rats, have a genuine "experience", get rescued*1, meet awesome people, learn about cool stuff and maybe, just maybe, find your one true vocation.


fuelrats.com


We have fuel.
You don't.
Any questions?


*1 95.89% success rate at time of writing

3 -
Simple thing but if you are AFK for any amount of time remember to exit the game as there is no "pause". It will be either an expensive insurance bill, loss of exploring data or a severely damaged ship. It's very easily done (I'm currently out in the black with hull at 39% after being called away while flying over a planet - thank heavens I had shields!)

2 -
Always Wait For the Scan to Finish BEFORE Opening Fire!


And double check the other ship gas a Wanted flag! Even if you're sure they're a criminal. One misplaced shot on a ship you have locked onto will get you a bounty, and the full (unwanted) attention of every copper in the instance!

1 -
Example:


Always Fly With Rebuy


Check your rebuy costs on your new ship before doing anything at all in the game. If your ship is destroyed and you don’t have the credits available to pay for the insurance you’ll be left back with the starting Sidewinder!
 
Example:

Always Fly With Rebuy

Check your rebuy costs on your new ship before doing anything at all in the game. If your ship is destroyed and you don’t have the credits available to pay for the insurance you’ll be left back with the starting Sidewinder!
 

Ozric

Volunteer Moderator
Always check your fuel gauge

Always keep an eye on your fuel gauge to make sure you have enough fuel for your next jump. If you have a fuel scoop you can check the star class of the next system by using the Galaxy Map (it is also displayed in the info panel at the top right of the cockpit). Scoopable star classes are O, B, A, F, G, K, M. If you are not carrying a fuel scoop make sure on the Galaxy Map you route has a solid line to indicate you can make it on your current amount (a broken line indicates not enough fuel).
 
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Yaffle

Volunteer Moderator
Don't boost when docking

Don't boost when docking

Many new commanders have pressed 'boost' at a crucial moment when docking. Either debind this during docking (in the controls menu) or be very careful! It's an ignominious end.
 
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Use a USB keyboard for chatting with other CMDRs

This way communication is much faster AND you can type directly in the comms window without a chatbox popping up blocking your view.

And with the TAB button you can change your speech to Local, Wing, Private much faster.
 

rootsrat

Volunteer Moderator
Look at ED in micro-scale

Elite Dangerous is awesome in macro-scale. I mean, we have a whole 1:1 Milky Way to explore. But it's the micro-scale where the magic happens. So stop your ship, slow down and read the local news on a station you've just docked at. Look at all the factions in the system. Why is this cooperative faction at civil war with the religious fanatics? What is the cause od the local famine? How come there is only 1 political organisation and 5 anarchist factions in this central system? Answering these questions can be great fun to insert some mini-story into the game, so go for it and blaze your own trail with your own storyline, Commander. Think globally stellary, act locally!
 
Mind your keybindings!

Certain functions (like Jettison All Cargo) are better off accessed through the menu than via a button on your controller or HOTAS. If you feel compelled to bind those options, and you have a keyboard available, consider something like Ctrl-Alt-J that you are unlikely to hit by accident! Similarly, if you do decide to keybind silent running (Ctrl-Alt-S in my case), be sure you remember where you bound it. Accidentally activating Silent Running, and not knowing how to turn it off, can be fatal. Finally, assigning keybinds to your heat sinks and chaff means you don't have to use your limited fire group options for those utility functions!
 
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Javert

Volunteer Moderator
Play the Tuturials but don't get hung up on completing them all

Unless you played the original Elite games back in the 80s and 90s, you may find Elite Dangerous to have a steep learning curve.

There are tutorials available to teach you the basics. I would advise you to play the tutorials, but don't get too hung up on completing the combat tutorials - there is one in particular that is extremely difficult to complete, and I would advise just attempting that one a few times to get used to being killed (!) and then leaving it.

If you are struggling, these forums (especially the newcomers section) or Reddit are great ways to get help, as is the Galactive Academy Discord mentioned above ^^
 
Scoopable stars FOG-KBAM

When using a fuel scoop remember the phrase FOG-KBAM (driving in fog can cause a crash) Star classes FOGKBAM are the only stars you can scoop from. If you are low on fuel ensure your next star is scoopable (shown top right) if it's not a F,O,G,K,B,A,M then abort your jump and use the galaxy map to find a scoopable star in range
 
Remember the 6 Second Rule

When Supercruising to a location, use max throttle until the ETA timer reaches 0:10. At that point, throttle back to 50% of the blue area of the throttle and stay above 0:06. That'll let you travel as fast as possible without overshooting your destination!
 
Mind your Route-Plotting Mode

If, like me when I first started, you find your ship telling you it's going to take 40+ jumps to go 40LY or similar, you may need to set your route plotting mode in galaxy map to "Fastest Route" rather than "Economical".

You'll find that there are a lot of non-scoopable stars out there, and a huge patch of them next to the starter systems. If you're on economical route plotting in a Sidewinder, you're going to have a bad time.
 
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Read the fine print. Never accept a mission without checking how far the destination is from the jump-in point. Never take a criminal passenger unless you don't mind dodging cops and praying you don't get scanned and murdered. And never, ever accept a mission to Hutton Orbital in Alpha Centauri, unless you've packed a lunch and enough fuel to power a small star system for a year.

Be careful when flying in tight quarters. The Sidewinder is almost as agile as you think it is, and that almost can make all the difference between a smooth landing and a ramming fine, an angry traffic controller and an embarrassing repair fee.

Don't pick fights that you can't get out of. If you're just starting out, you're probably not going to be instantly awesome at combat, and are liable to find out the hard way that size and top speed are not directly proportionate to one another in this game. The Sidewinder is slow, some of the ships that can overtake you have guns bigger than your whole hull, and that insurance isn't getting any cheaper. Try not to make that mistake.
 
Just some basics to remember

Well, never fly without re-buy, ever.
Now that that's outa the way definitely do the training missions they will help with basic flight, landing, and nav. The srv one is helpful and fighter ok and pretty fun.
Also don't skip over those low level starter ships like the Eagle and Adder, can be great stater traders and explorers.
A good upgrade from there is the Cobra MKIII, not the best at anything particular but, pretty good for everything, trade, explore, hunt, combat missions, and bring a buddy if you want! In fact I still own mine.
Finally try everything! Go to the Formedine Rift, fight pirates, smuggle slaves, try it all.
The galaxy is big and there's alot to do and see, so don't forget a fuel scoop.
Fly safe Commaners o7
 
Left/Right Tab Pannels.
Remove their activation whilst freelooking around.
I always use the freelook when Im flying around and its nice not having the panels activate whilst Im doing it.
 
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Learn to fly, learn to outfit then learn to buy new ships

The biggest temptation in elite is to buy the next ship and it is a great feeling when you do! But as a new player spend your first hours learning how to fly then how to crash then how to hold your own if you blow up your sidewinder its free!

When youre ready start upgrading your ship a fully upgraded sidewinder will be better in a fight than a stock viper.

Then when you've got your head round it and have tried some things plan your next ship and get it when youre ready to outfit.

Remember there is no end game in elite an anaconda or cutter doesnt make the game better by default being a master of your own ship certainly does have fun and fly dangerous!
 
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