OS Neutral Elite Dangerous Tips

[Huntn]

That means you'll buy 1 ton of gold at Yakabugai for 8236 and sell it at Eravate for 9100. You need to do some minor missions or scavenging before you can afford that sort of cargo, but it won't take long. Just stay away from the big stations so you don't get scanned and fined. Restarting for the sake of 500 credits won't make much difference, to be honest.

Ls (light seconds) is the distance that the station is from the hyperspace jump point. For scale, the distance from Earth to the Sun is about 500 light seconds, but it only takes a minute or so in game.

You can get some really nasty ones, which aren't worth bothering with. One of the first missions I took was to deliver something to Alpha Centauri - I didn't realise the station would be so far away that it took 90 minutes of real time to get there. Just left it going while I made some dinner (and then overshot by 5 minutes and had to turn around).

I've been asking questions over at the Elite Dangerous Forums. I've been told I can sell food as Ackerman is agricultural and that I should be able to sell food to McMahon which is industrial, and then sell stuff from there back to Ackerman.... However I'm lost having no idea where McMahon. Is it in the Eravate System? I've pulled up both the galaxie map and system maps, don't see a McMahon.

Looking on the commodities page for Algae at Ackerman Station it says Sell: 39, Buy 53, Cargo column shows a dot, Deman colum is blank. Over on the right side of the screen it says exported to: Chamunda, Kremainn, Yakabugai, and Potriti. McMahon is not on the list.

Does the above mean that they will sell it to me for 39 a unit, or I have to buy it from them for 53 a unit? Then if I plan on hauling it someplace, how do I know how much they will pay for it there?

Thanks!

 

[garnerx]

Ummm... maybe McMahon is the name of a station. I think you can only search by system (i.e. a star), but there may be many stations within a system.

The list is 'buy from market' (the price you pay) and 'sell to market' (the price you'll receive). Sounds like that station will sell you algae for 53 or buy it off you for 39.

So you need to find somewhere that wants algae. You don't know how much they'll pay until you land, which is time-consuming and costs fuel. Just look on the trading website under 'search' and you can find the info you need. Looks like Sylvester City in the Eravate system is buying algae for 238.

I'd advise doing missions or scavenging until you can carry more cargo, because the profits are small with a 4-ton ship. If you're still struggling, maybe I could fly over and meet you some time. I'd gladly donate a few tons of palladium, which I have a vast supply of.

 

[Huntn]

Ummm... maybe McMahon is the name of a station. I think you can only search by system (i.e. a star), but there may be many stations within a system.

The list is 'buy from market' (the price you pay) and 'sell to market' (the price you'll receive). Sounds like that station will sell you algae for 53 or buy it off you for 39.

So you need to find somewhere that wants algae. You don't know how much they'll pay until you land, which is time-consuming and costs fuel. Just look on the trading website under 'search' and you can find the info you need. Looks like Sylvester City in the Eravate system is buying algae for 238.

I'd advise doing missions or scavenging until you can carry more cargo, because the profits are small with a 4-ton ship. If you're still struggling, maybe I could fly over and meet you some time. I'd gladly donate a few tons of palladium, which I have a vast supply of.

So how did you locate Sylvester City? This is the puzzle I'm trying to figure out. If I buy Algae, I'd like to see who needs it without jumping through too many hoops and ideally before I launch. That way I'll know if I should buy it or not. On the commodities page, it said they were exporting to 4 locations. Does this mean they will play a profit for it and how do you know what they will pay before you get there?

I'm not quite ready to take handouts, but thanks for the offer!

 

[Huntn]

On the Galaxy map, I've figured out how to see trade routes, but it does not add up. For instance, Eravate exports grain, fish, tea, and apparently algae too. So when I select only that I can see what systems it's going to.

However, when I check the system view, none of the stations have those commodities listed as something they import. What am I not understanding?

 

[Janichsan]

However, when I check the system view, none of the stations have those commodities listed as something they import. What am I not understanding?

Nothing. The import/export lists in the system view are simply unreliable and useless. The only useful information there is what goods are illegal.

 

[garnerx]

So how did you locate Sylvester City? This is the puzzle I'm trying to figure out.

On the trading website:
search > commodity > station buying > algae > location (eravate)

There are loads of results, Sylvester was just the first one. The game doesn't have any built-in tools that would let you see this information, you have to use the website.

Let me know when you want that palladium...


edit: here's starter trade for you (from the website)
Buy 4 tons of algae at Ackerman.
Supercruise to Sylvester, sell it for 740 profit.
Buy 4 tons of Clothing at Sylvester.
Supercruise back to Ackerman, sell it for 900 profit.

Rinse and repeat until you can afford a bigger ship. Your fuel cost would be negligible, since you're only supercruising around the same system.

 

[Huntn]

On the trading website:
search > commodity > station buying > algae > location (eravate)

There are loads of results, Sylvester was just the first one. The game doesn't have any built-in tools that would let you see this information, you have to use the website.

Let me know when you want that palladium...


edit: here's starter trade for you (from the website)
Buy 4 tons of algae at Ackerman.
Supercruise to Sylvester, sell it for 740 profit.
Buy 4 tons of Clothing at Sylvester.
Supercruise back to Ackerman, sell it for 900 profit.

Rinse and repeat until you can afford a bigger ship. Your fuel cost would be negligible, since you're only supercruising around the same system.

Ok, I think I'm getting it. Thanks greatly to you and Janichan! Last night I went from 500c to 3000c in about 5 runs, 4 of those were in system. I got bummed that most of the offered missions offered at Ackerman suck, so I am trying one of the systems I was at before, but the name eludes me at the moment.

On this trading site, http://elitetradingtool.co.uk please let me know otherwise, but I think you can also achieve this with the "Lists" Tab if I want to find out who is buying what. That is incredibly helpful. Hard to believe this tool is not in game. A commodities market would surely publish this info in some form.

Eventually I may go after bounties. Hauling freight is boring and a grind. Plus my little ship is limited to 4 cargo slots. I assume a bigger ship is in order eventually. I'm hesitant to strip out my weapons as I feel bounty hunting is in my future. When an unknown contact pops up ( top right of screen) how do you scan it to check for bounties? Will this scan also tell you if this guy out classes you in ship and skills?

Thanks again! More questions are certain!

 

[Huntn]

Nothing. The import/export lists in the system view are simply unreliable and useless. The only useful information there is what goods are illegal.

I've noticed that!

Of note, I'm being scanned at just about every port entry. So turning off all my modules makes a difference when entering port if I decide to become a smuggler? I don't get that. Obviously they know you are there, they granted you access. If there is a policy to scan ships, you'd think they would do it regardless of the settings of you modules.

 

[garnerx]

Eventually I may go after bounties. Hauling freight is boring and a grind. Plus my little ship is limited to 4 cargo slots. I assume a bigger ship is in order eventually. I'm hesitant to strip out my weapons as I feel bounty hunting is in my future. When an unknown contact pops up ( top right of screen) how do you scan it to check for bounties? Will this scan also tell you if this guy out classes you in ship and skills?

You're right, there's no point hauling when you only have four cargo slots. You can make much more in the early days from bounty hunting and missions.

When you want one of the really good ships, though, hauling gets you there in a fraction of the time. My current ship is the Asp, which is pretty awesome - handles like a Cobra, can fit bigger weapons, holds 120+ cargo, plus you get to sit in a glass bubble so you can see everything without the roof getting in the way.

But it costs 6 million for a barebones model. A big cargo bay is 300K, a better frameshift drive is 1.5M+, etc. And that's nothing compared to the ships further down the line. You can scrape 150K from a hour's bounty hunting or you can make twice that from 10 minutes hauling. The game is very unbalanced at the moment.

You don't have to sacrifice weapons for cargo space - only internal slots, like the discovery scanner, fuel scoop and so on.

To see if another ship has a warrant on it, just scan it with your targeting button. I've got those controls mapped to hat switches - under 'targeting' in the control options.

If you target a ship, the name, type, skill and wanted status appear to the left of your radar. Don't mess with 'elite' ones, as they'll annihilate you in seconds. If you want to see what gear they've got, you can map a control to 'cycle subsystem', which will scroll through all the equipment they have (this is what your weapons will be targeting, so you can blow open their cargo hatch or kill their thrusters, lasers, and so on). Very cool, just a shame it doesn't really pay.

 

[Huntn]

You're right, there's no point hauling when you only have four cargo slots. You can make much more in the early days from bounty hunting and missions.

When you want one of the really good ships, though, hauling gets you there in a fraction of the time. My current ship is the Asp, which is pretty awesome - handles like a Cobra, can fit bigger weapons, holds 120+ cargo, plus you get to sit in a glass bubble so you can see everything without the roof getting in the way.

But it costs 6 million for a barebones model. A big cargo bay is 300K, a better frameshift drive is 1.5M+, etc. And that's nothing compared to the ships further down the line. You can scrape 150K from a hour's bounty hunting or you can make twice that from 10 minutes hauling. The game is very unbalanced at the moment.

You don't have to sacrifice weapons for cargo space - only internal slots, like the discovery scanner, fuel scoop and so on.

To see if another ship has a warrant on it, just scan it with your targeting button. I've got those controls mapped to hat switches - under 'targeting' in the control options.

If you target a ship, the name, type, skill and wanted status appear to the left of your radar. Don't mess with 'elite' ones, as they'll annihilate you in seconds. If you want to see what gear they've got, you can map a control to 'cycle subsystem', which will scroll through all the equipment they have (this is what your weapons will be targeting, so you can blow open their cargo hatch or kill their thrusters, lasers, and so on). Very cool, just a shame it doesn't really pay.

You mean just click on them as you would for targeting to shoot them? I've seen the cycle-sub system button in the controls. How do you target specific parts of their ship? Any tips on finding ships, just fly around or there places to go that give you tips? Thanks!

 

[garnerx]

You mean just click on them as you would for targeting to shoot them? I've seen the cycle-sub system button in the controls. How do you target specific parts of their ship? Any tips on finding ships, just fly around or there places to go that give you tips? Thanks!

Yes, just target them and you'll see all their info in the bottom left. Cycle subsystems to target a particular part of the ship. I think I've got a hat switch assigned to target ahead (up), next/previous target (left and right) and cycle subsystems (down).

You can find ships in supercruise (they look like blue comets) but you have to have a special bit of kit (frame shift interdictor) to drag them out of supercruise. Otherwise, just stop at unidentified signals and see what's there. A lot of times you'll find wanted ships, sometimes being fired on by police. If you land a few hits and the police finish them off, you'll get credited with the kill.

 

[Janichsan]

Of note, I'm being scanned at just about every port entry. So turning off all my modules makes a difference when entering port if I decide to become a smuggler? I don't get that. Obviously they know you are there, they granted you access. If there is a policy to scan ships, you'd think they would do it regardless of the settings of you modules.

The docking permission and the scans are independent from each other. You get the permission from the traffic control of the station, while the cargo scan is done by the circling system security ships. I would assume that the traffic control informs the security about incoming ships, but the security will scan any ship that they find in the vicinity. On the other hand, the station's traffic control does not give a damn whether an incoming ship has been scanned or not. But who am I to tell them how to do their job?

However, the system security cannot scan your ship's cargo unless they have a proper, stable fix on you on their sensors. The sensors in ED detect other vessels by the heat the ships emit. And that's where shutting of modules comes into play: modules generate heat. The less modules are active, the less heat is produced, the less visible your ship becomes for the sensors.

Silent running shuts a ship's heat vents, so it no longer emits most of the produced heat. That does not necessarily turn your ship completely invisible to another ships sensors, but makes it very difficult to get a decent fix on it. But unless you disable all modules, your ship still produces heat. Since that heat is no longer emitted into space, it builds up and will finally reach critical levels. That not only leads to damage to your ship, but also make your vessel emit enough heat to get detected again, even with shut heat vents.

 

[Huntn]

The docking permission and the scans are independent from each other. You get the permission from the traffic control of the station, while the cargo scan is done by the circling system security ships. I would assume that the traffic control informs the security about incoming ships, but the security will scan any ship that they find in the vicinity. On the other hand, the station's traffic control does not give a damn whether an incoming ship has been scanned or not. But who am I to tell them how to do their job?

However, the system security cannot scan your ship's cargo unless they have a proper, stable fix on you on their sensors. The sensors in ED detect other vessels by the heat the ships emit. And that's where shutting of modules comes into play: modules generate heat. The less modules are active, the less heat is produced, the less visible your ship becomes for the sensors.

Silent running shuts a ship's heat vents, so it no longer emits most of the produced heat. That does not necessarily turn your ship completely invisible to another ships sensors, but makes it very difficult to get a decent fix on it. But unless you disable all modules, your ship still produces heat. Since that heat is no longer emitted into space, it builds up and will finally reach critical levels. That not only leads to damage to your ship, but also make your vessel emit enough heat to get detected again, even with shut heat vents.

So in a nutshell, turn off all modules and go silent running when within how my clicks of the station you intend on docking at? I assume this is not full proof, just increases your odds of not being scanned? Thanks!

 

[Janichsan]

So in a nutshell, turn off all modules and go silent running when within how my clicks of the station you intend on docking at? I assume this is not full proof, just increases your odds of not being scanned? Thanks!

That's the gist of it. Although, turning off all modules will leave you without means to maneuver and only a few minutes of oxygen.

 

[Huntn]

That's the gist of it. Although, turning off all modules will leave you without means to maneuver and only a few minutes of oxygen.

So leave the engines and O2 on, but select silent running?

 

[Janichsan]

So leave the engines and O2 on, but select silent running?

If you are quick with docking, you could also turn off life support. Otherwise yes.

 

[Huntn]

If you are quick with docking, you could also turn off life support. Otherwise yes.

How much of a warning and time do you have to work with if the O2 is off? I don't imagine that system would cause much of a signature, would it?

 

[garnerx]

There's a little graph to the right of the radar showing how visible you are. Looks like a soundwave or something like that. The flatter it is, the more stealthy you are.

 

[Huntn]

I just realized why I like WoT so much. When my tank blows up, I don't have to buy a new one.

 

[Janichsan]

How much of a warning and time do you have to work with if the O2 is off?

That depends on the quality of the life support installed. I think, two and a half minutes are the shortest time. You also get a very noticeable timer on screen.

 

[Huntn]

That depends on the quality of the life support installed. I think, two and a half minutes are the shortest time. You also get a very noticeable timer on screen.

Thanks! Have not yet decided if I'll smuggle, but that is hand info. One very big difference in silent running between a sub and an ED ship is the former is not self destructive if you do it for too long.

 

[Huntn]

OMG, went and collected bounties for about 2 hours, figured I had about 30k and then I picked a fight with the wrong guy, I went poof and so did my vouchers. Bastardos! Someone online, said stay away from adept or expert? I was fighting those and holding my own. One bounty was 20k. I think the last guy was rated a "master". His ship looked like a sidewinder, but he had missiles, yikes. At one point I tried to bug out but I was too damaged to flee.

Will try it again tomorrow.... <shakes head>.

 

[antonis]

I'm still on the training tutorials yet (I don't want to jump into the game without mastering the basics like docking, fighting and traveling). What is the penalty for being destroyed ? Losing everything including ship and credits ? Also, how irritating/frustrating is the fact that you need to watch for ship's fuel capacity and refill when needed ? Is it something that gets in the way concerning gameplay ?

 

[Janichsan]

I think the last guy was rated a "master". His ship looked like a sidewinder, but he had missiles, yikes.

Oh, yeah. Missiles are very dangerous, especially when you shield's down.

What is the penalty for being destroyed ? Losing everything including ship and credits ?

Usually, the only things you'll lose for sure are your cargo, collected but not yet cashed in bounties, and exploration data. If you have your starter ships with starter equipment, you won't lose any money. If you have upgraded equipment and/or bought a new ship, you will have to pay a small percentage of its worth to replace it. If you don't have enough money to pay that percentage, you can take a loan up to 200,000 credits. You will only start risking bankruptcy when the rebuy cost of your ship exceeds this maximum loan and your total amount of money taken together.

Also, how irritating/frustrating is the fact that you need to watch for ship's fuel capacity and refill when needed ? Is it something that gets in the way concerning gameplay ?

It's not irritating or frustrating at all. The amount of fuel in a full tank you have will usually suffice for quite a few hyperjumps. Just learn to remember to refuel on a regular basis.

 

[Huntn]

I'm still on the training tutorials yet (I don't want to jump into the game without mastering the basics like docking, fighting and traveling). What is the penalty for being destroyed ? Losing everything including ship and credits ? Also, how irritating/frustrating is the fact that you need to watch for ship's fuel capacity and refill when needed ? Is it something that gets in the way concerning gameplay ?

With a starter ship and no upgrades, a new ship is free, however last night I figure I lost somewhere between 30-40k in bounty vouchers. One was 23k and another was 15k plus some smaller ones in the 2-5k range. This was huge! Prior to that my largest mission payout was 12k and largest commodity trading profit was about 2k.

I'll be honest, the thing that prevented me from playing Eve was huge death penalties, and if anything, it will be the reason I don't stick with ED. Janichan, please correct me if I'm in error...

Even with insurance you are talking big money and a grind to maintain a bank account big enough to cover insurance. My understanding is for upgrades, the insurance fee is 10% which for a $5m ship is $500k. That's a whopper of a death penalty in my book. But I'm not done. If your ship is heavily damaged but not destroyed, I'm not sure about the fee, for module repair. One article which I misplaced the link for, indicated that if you docking $4500 computer needs to be replaced, that the fee would be $225 which is 5% of the value. So if you have a ship plus upgrades to that ship, the safe amount to have in the bank, to also allow not to be broke would be more like 20%, so a million credits in the bank for operating in the $5m ship. Excessive?

And let's say you are used to the high times in your $5m ship, lose it, reacquire it, but you only have $50k in the bank. Do you take it out, or revert to a lesser ship to re-establish your million credits in the bank? What happens due to misfortune you lose your $1m ship? You'd need $200k for that. So really to be safe, you'll need to revert to your Sidewinder and have to grind back up to $200k, then jump to the next ship and grind another $800k before you are safe pulling the big boy back out of the garage. Harsh death penalty? Lol.

Oh, yeah. Missiles are very dangerous, especially when you shield's down.

Last night I was bounty hunting in an extraction zone, wher the miners hang out. (Look in the galaxie map, pick a system and then select system map. Extraction zones along with stations will be displayed.) I noticed a couple of system authority ships tooling around the extraction zone. I got into a couple of fights where they seemed to assist me. It seemed that once I turned a pirate red by firing on him, I may have not gotten the last shot, but it appeared I still got the bounty. Can you can confirm how it is supposed to work?

For fear of not getting bounties, I had turned off the "report crimes" selection in the ships interface. This feature is what alerts the authorities I belive even when you start a fight with a "wanted" individual. The last fight were I lost was a long fight and in hindsight, I could have surely used the System Authorities help.

Regarding ship and module replacement, I assume when resurrecting a ship with upgrades, the only time you get the insurance break is when you appear back at the station after your ship is destroyed. It must be paid for then. It and module replacement with the benefit of insurance rates can't be deferred until a later date? Thanks!