Anybody play Elite Dangerous?

[steelo]

I downloaded this game last week and so far have put in about 4 hours play time. It is the VR version and I've attempted to set up voice commands via voice attack, with limited success (it only registers my voice input about 50% of the time) I'm also using a generic game controller, which allows me to input simple commands like deploying the hard points and flying around. At this point, all I'm really able to do is fly around, do frameshifts (barely) and leave dock. There's a billion 'guides' out there, but I'm looking for something that starts at the very beginning and shows me what the hell I need to be doing. This game looks like it could be awesome, but the learning curve is steeper than any game I've ever played!

[trufret]

Start by learning the controls for your ship, navigation with the galaxy and system maps, and docking at stations, what you do in the game to earn money after that is mostly up to you.

 

Options might be:

Bounty hunter

Miner

Explorer

Hauler (passengers or cargo)

etc...

 

Say you want to be a fighter pilot and bounty hunt pirates or take attack missions from stations, you probably don't care much about how a discovery scanner or refinery works so you can ignore those for now.

 

Look up guides on that specific role you want to play and learn that part of the game, then if you get bored with that role, try something new.

Their is so much info that may or may not have anything to do with your chosen role that it can get overwhelming. 

 

A joystick and throttle would be much preferable to a gamepad especially with VR. The Thrustmaster T16000M Hotas is probably the best bang for your buck hotas available right now and the stock ED mapping works pretty well for me with some minor tweaks,

[steelo]

4 minutes ago, trufret said:

Start by learning the controls for your ship, navigation with the galaxy and system maps, and docking at stations, what you do in the game to earn money after that is mostly up to you.

 

Options might be:

Bounty hunter

Miner

Explorer

Hauler (passengers or cargo)

etc...

 

Say you want to be a fighter pilot and bounty hunt pirates or take attack missions from stations, you probably don't care much about how a discovery scanner or refinery works so you can ignore those for now.

 

Look up guides on that specific role you want to play and learn that part of the game, then if you get bored with that role, try something new.

Their is so much info that may or may not have anything to do with your chosen role that it can get overwhelming. 

 

A joystick and throttle would be much preferable to a gamepad especially with VR. The Thrustmaster T16000M Hotas is probably the best bang for your buck hotas available right now and the stock ED mapping works pretty well for me with some minor tweaks,

Thanks for the help. Do you have any recommendations on what trade would be the easiest for newbies? At this point, I don't even know where to go to find work, let alone find a refueling station when I need one =(

[trufret]

35 minutes ago, steelo said:

Thanks for the help. Do you have any recommendations on what trade would be the easiest for newbies? At this point, I don't even know where to go to find work, let alone find a refueling station to gas up my ship

Pretty much any station you dock at will be able to refuel your ship for a fee.

Once you get into larger ships and more diverse weapon types then you may find not every station will meet all your needs.

 

First thing your going to want to buy for your ship is a fuel scoop so you can refuel by orbiting most star types.  This should prevent you from running out of fuel mid journey.

You could always end up empty at a star that isn't scoop-able but if you plan your trip accordingly and leave some reserve fuel you should be able to make it somewhere to refuel.

  

I usually have people start out by trading rare items between stations.

Use one of the ED databases online to find a couple stations with rare items that are over 100 light years apart and makes runs back and forth trading the rares from one to the other (assuming they are legal to sell at both stations).

They usually have a very low buy cost and a very high sell cost but they only come in small quantities and it takes time for the station to get more.

Usually by the time you get from the source station to the destination and back they have resupplied.

 

Since they are limited quantities and times they don't scale well so while it's a great way to make money in the beginning, it takes a lot more complex route planning if you have a ship with any decent cargo carrying capacity you're trying to fill.

 

Also note that any time you are carrying cargo you are a target for pirates.  Try and outfly them if they attempt to interdict you, or boost away until you can jump again if they do manage to pull you into regular space.  Trying to fight them on your own with a low level ship usually just ends in destruction.

 

Once that has made you some money you can look at buying and upgrading new ships for a purpose of your choosing. 

[steelo]

11 minutes ago, trufret said:

Pretty much any station you dock at will be able to refuel your ship for a fee.

Once you get into larger ships and more diverse weapon types then you may find not every station will meet all your needs.

 

First thing your going to want to buy for your ship is a fuel scoop so you can refuel by orbiting most star types.  This should prevent you from running out of fuel mid journey.

You could always end up empty at a star that isn't scoop-able but if you plan your trip accordingly and leave some reserve fuel you should be able to make it somewhere to refuel.

  

I usually have people start out by trading rare items between stations.

Use one of the ED databases online to find a couple stations with rare items that are over 100 light years apart and makes runs back and forth trading the rares from one to the other (assuming they are legal to sell at both stations).

They usually have a very low buy cost and a very high sell cost but they only come in small quantities and it takes time for the station to get more.

Usually by the time you get from the source station to the destination and back they have resupplied.

 

Since they are limited quantities and times they don't scale well so while it's a great way to make money in the beginning, it takes a lot more complex route planning if you have a ship with any decent cargo carrying capacity you're trying to fill.

 

Also note that any time you are carrying cargo you are a target for pirates.  Try and outfly them if they attempt to interdict you, or boost away until you can jump again if they do manage to pull you into regular space.  Trying to fight them on your own with a low level ship usually just ends in destruction.

 

Once that has made you some money you can look at buying and upgrading new ships for a purpose of your choosing. 

Thanks so much, I'll give it a go tonight. I should probably learn how to dock first though.

[steelo]

16 hours ago, trufret said:

Pretty much any station you dock at will be able to refuel your ship for a fee.

Once you get into larger ships and more diverse weapon types then you may find not every station will meet all your needs.

 

First thing your going to want to buy for your ship is a fuel scoop so you can refuel by orbiting most star types.  This should prevent you from running out of fuel mid journey.

You could always end up empty at a star that isn't scoop-able but if you plan your trip accordingly and leave some reserve fuel you should be able to make it somewhere to refuel.

  

I usually have people start out by trading rare items between stations.

Use one of the ED databases online to find a couple stations with rare items that are over 100 light years apart and makes runs back and forth trading the rares from one to the other (assuming they are legal to sell at both stations).

They usually have a very low buy cost and a very high sell cost but they only come in small quantities and it takes time for the station to get more.

Usually by the time you get from the source station to the destination and back they have resupplied.

 

Since they are limited quantities and times they don't scale well so while it's a great way to make money in the beginning, it takes a lot more complex route planning if you have a ship with any decent cargo carrying capacity you're trying to fill.

 

Also note that any time you are carrying cargo you are a target for pirates.  Try and outfly them if they attempt to interdict you, or boost away until you can jump again if they do manage to pull you into regular space.  Trying to fight them on your own with a low level ship usually just ends in destruction.

 

Once that has made you some money you can look at buying and upgrading new ships for a purpose of your choosing. 

So, I put in about an hour last night and figured out at least how to get a job after docking with the Dawson station. I am to pick up fish from somewhere and deliver it to a destination - or maybe she already gave me the supplies to deliver? I don't know? The question is, how do I know where the heck to go. I looked at the in-game guide regarding trading and it says you need to pick up supplies from a low price, low demand area and deliver it to a high price, high demand area - I don't know if that's relevant to this though. It also explains that there should be a blue icon next to the system where it is in high supply. On my left destination panel, I don't see anything resembling this?

[trufret]

1 hour ago, steelo said:

So, I put in about an hour last night and figured out at least how to get a job after docking with the Dawson station. I am to pick up fish from a high supply area and deliver it to a low supply, high demand area - or maybe she already gave me the supplies to deliver? I don't know? The question is, how do I know where the heck to go. I looked at the in-game guide regarding trading and it says there is a blue icon next to the system. On my left destination panel, I don't see anything resembling this?

Their is some trading info using galaxy map filters but I find it easier to use one of the ED database websites and look up your commodities there.

 

[steelo]

1 minute ago, trufret said:

Their is some trading info using galaxy map filters but I find it easier to use one of the ED database websites and look up your commodities there.

 

Ah okay, I'll try to look this up. How do I know if I actually have the cargo on board or if I have to pick it up?

[trufret]

13 minutes ago, steelo said:

Ah okay, I'll try to look this up. How do I know if I actually have the cargo on board or if I have to pick it up?

Look at your info panel on the right side of the cockpit.  One of the tabs will have information about your cargo capacity and what you are currently carrying.