OS Neutral Elite Dangerous Tips

[quagmire]

Is the permit for SOL still worth it? If so, if you would not mind explaining the best way to get the permit. As I recall, you said something about doing missions on the edge of SOL to gain their trust?

I think it is worth it. Best place for BH in SOL is the RES's around Jupiter( again strange that there is no RES's around Saturn). Also have been getting more assassination missions( The $140K plus ones where you go kill a Pirate Lord or some baddy in an Anaconda) in SOL. While BH was screwed up with 1.1, it remains profitable enough to be in SOL for those assassination missions.

To get the permit, you simply do " Naval Progression" missions. Eventually you'll get the invite. Of course have to be allied with the Federation already.

On a side note, I found myself a conflict zone for the first time. God do players just swarm you once they notice a player has entered the zone. I had like 3-5 players on me at one time. I managed to escape each and every time, but no kills for me and no conflict zones unless I am in solo play. haha

 

[Janichsan]

Is the permit for SOL still worth it? If so, if you would not mind explaining the best way to get the permit. As I recall, you said something about doing missions on the edge of SOL to gain their trust?

Quagmire basically already answered this. You don't really have to be close to Sol to get the permit, just in Federation space. Do some missions for Federation affiliated factions until the Feds trust you enough, then you'll sooner or later notice the "Naval Progression" missions on the bulletin boards. When you have become a Midshipman (that's the third rank), you should get an invite to Sol sooner or later (also on the bulletin board). Accept that mission and you have the permit

If you kill another player, is all you get a measly 600 Cr fine?

Normally, you should get the same bounty for murder as for killing everyone else, so something around 10,000 cr.

 

[Huntn]

I think it is worth it. Best place for BH in SOL is the RES's around Jupiter( again strange that there is no RES's around Saturn). Also have been getting more assassination missions( The $140K plus ones where you go kill a Pirate Lord or some baddy in an Anaconda) in SOL. While BH was screwed up with 1.1, it remains profitable enough to be in SOL for those assassination missions.

To get the permit, you simply do " Naval Progression" missions. Eventually you'll get the invite. Of course have to be allied with the Federation already.

On a side note, I found myself a conflict zone for the first time. God do players just swarm you once they notice a player has entered the zone. I had like 3-5 players on me at one time. I managed to escape each and every time, but no kills for me and no conflict zones unless I am in solo play. haha

Thanks for the clarification on SOL permits! The conflict zone seems like a place to steer clear of. As you described its a losing proposition unless you don't mind shelling out credits for new ships. I wonder if they were all after you alone, or were they shooting at each other too?

Quagmire basically already answered this. You don't really have to be close to Sol to get the permit, just in Federation space. Do some missions for Federation affiliated factions until the Feds trust you enough, then you'll sooner or later notice the "Naval Progression" missions on the bulletin boards. When you have become a Midshipman (that's the third rank), you should get an invite to Sol sooner or later (also on the bulletin board). Accept that mission and you have the permit


Normally, you should get the same bounty for murder as for killing everyone else, so something around 10,000 cr.

Thanks! For accidentily shooting an authority ship it is $600c fine/bounty. So if you are killing citizens, I wonder if galactic justice is to just go pay your $10k bounty and all is forgiven? I remember some game (don't remember the name) where by attacking "authorities" you could reach a shoot on sight status.

 

[Janichsan]

Thanks! For accidentily shooting an authority ship it is $600c fine/bounty. So if you are killing citizens, I wonder if galactic justice is to just go pay your $10k bounty and all is forgiven? I remember some game (don't remember the name) where by attacking "authorities" you could reach a shoot on sight status.

Well, there's shooting and there's killing. Just shooting ("assault" in game) gives you a bounty of a couple of hundred credits, killing ("murder") at least a few thousands.

But yes, you can pay off all bounties to clear your criminal record.

 

[quagmire]

Thanks! For accidentily shooting an authority ship it is $600c fine/bounty. So if you are killing citizens, I wonder if galactic justice is to just go pay your $10k bounty and all is forgiven? I remember some game (don't remember the name) where by attacking "authorities" you could reach a shoot on sight status.

In 1.1 they did some( welcomed) changes to how you get wanted for accidentally shooting an authority ship. If the authority ship wasn't your target and the weapon you use is not very powerful, and I believe if their shields are up, you will not get a wanted status/pricetag on your head.

Happened today to me. It was a good day in a REZ where all the wanted people were Anaconda's( ) and in a dogfight with one a Fed ship flew into my line of fire, but didn't get a wanted status put on me.

 

[garnerx]

I just got back from a trip through the Witch Nebula to Barnard's Loop, which took me about 1400 light years from inhabited space.

Exploring is really rewarding, although this seems like a well-trodden route, with almost every system I visited on the way out having already been discovered.

It's great to see the nebula getting bigger with each jump, until eventually you're inside it and you fly away from the glare of a star to reveal the clouds all around.

In this trip I visited about 200 systems, discovered primitive life on one planet and made around 1 million credits.

 

[quagmire]

Damn.... Today was a good day BH in SOL...... Every wanted person was an Anaconda today. Made easily $1.2 million in short order.....

 

[Huntn]

Well, that was a really nice trip. I decided to return to inhabited space, via Betelgeuse - which I'd wanted to visit since the beta but found it was just too arduous a journey with the old slow route planner.

Some holiday snaps:

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Kappa Canis Majoris. Looks cold, is quite hot.


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A triple star system. This was very nice looking, but how did that Adder get here? It's 350 light years from the nearest station and he has no fuel scoop.


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Betelgeuse. I wasn't sure how they'd convey scale in this game - after all, a star is just an orange ball on screen - but this one looks suitably fat. I'm in fuel scooping range here, which is 2,500 light seconds away (most stars it's about 5 ls). It's 640 times the size of the sun.

I forgot to mention, some great pics! It will be nicer when they allow 3rd person view.

 

[garnerx]

I forgot to mention, some great pics! It will be nicer when they allow 3rd person view.

Thanks! There are some amazing scenes in this game, I really hope they give us some way to take pictures without having a cockpit obscuring the view.

I'm on my second long-range journey at the moment. This time I hope to get all the way through the galactic core, although it's still about 20,000 light years away.

Left my ship parked next to a small black hole last night. I tried to take some pictures but, well, you can't really see it. There are no stars nearby, so the only way to locate it visually is to position it against the Milky Way and look for a sort of distortion effect as the ship moves around it.

 

[Huntn]

Thanks! There are some amazing scenes in this game, I really hope they give us some way to take pictures without having a cockpit obscuring the view.

I'm on my second long-range journey at the moment. This time I hope to get all the way through the galactic core, although it's still about 20,000 light years away.

Left my ship parked next to a small black hole last night. I tried to take some pictures but, well, you can't really see it. There are no stars nearby, so the only way to locate it visually is to position it against the Milky Way and look for a sort of distortion effect as the ship moves around it.

I realize some of this is repetition...
Last night I had earned $1,985,000 and decided it was time to blow Boswell Station and head for a more central location. The idea is to find a good base for trading and bounty hunting, some place where I can easily jump from bounty hunting in my Cobra, into my Type 6 hauler (which I have yet to purchase) and go trading. I'm looking for a high tech system in close proximity to RESs (extraction zones) so I can easily jump back and forth between the two activities. Yet to find that setup yet.

At this point, SOL does not even have to be the destination. I'd like to clarify if SoL has both the high tech and RESs? Sorry if this has been asked before or answered before.

Thanks!

 

[Huntn]

Damn.... Today was a good day BH in SOL...... Every wanted person was an Anaconda today. Made easily $1.2 million in short order.....

Damn! Was that in open play? What are you currently flying for BH?

 

[quagmire]

Damn! Was that in open play? What are you currently flying for BH?

Yeah that was in open play. Using my Viper still. My Cobra is all the way back in Kremain. Plus, I still favor the Viper over the Cobra for BH even though I have the Cobra fairly setup for BH right now. Maybe I will buy a Sidewinder to go back to Kremain, pick up my Cobra, sell the Sidewinder and bring the Cobra over to SOL so I can do cargo runs with the Cobra or give mining a try.

My strategy was to tail the Anaconda( not to engage it so it wouldn't fire at me) and wait until it was noticed by all the NPC's. Then as it fought in that dogfight two things would happen. A) If that Anaconda killed anybody, it's value would increase( had one that was worth $75K when I discovered it and was worth $96K by the time I killed it) and B ) It's shields would be taken down. Since like 80% of ammo spent to kill an Anaconda is on taking its shields down, I conserved my ammo that way.

 

[Huntn]

Yeah that was in open play. Using my Viper still. My Cobra is all the way back in Kremain. Plus, I still favor the Viper over the Cobra for BH even though I have the Cobra fairly setup for BH right now. Maybe I will buy a Sidewinder to go back to Kremain, pick up my Cobra, sell the Sidewinder and bring the Cobra over to SOL so I can do cargo runs with the Cobra or give mining a try.

My strategy was to tail the Anaconda( not to engage it so it wouldn't fire at me) and wait until it was noticed by all the NPC's. Then as it fought in that dogfight two things would happen. A) If that Anaconda killed anybody, it's value would increase( had one that was worth $75K when I discovered it and was worth $96K by the time I killed it) and B ) It's shields would be taken down. Since like 80% of ammo spent to kill an Anaconda is on taking its shields down, I conserved my ammo that way.

Right now I'm pleased with my Cobra for BH, but I owe it to myself to try a Viper. My plan is to invest in a Type 6, hauler, make some money, switching off with BH, and then either upgrade to the next hauler or viper or whatever is above that for combat. I've participated in killing a couple of Anacondas and they are tough as hell, and it seems to take a squadron to take one down. They seem slow, although that could be a misimpression. I wonder how satisfying they'd be for bounty hunting and general combat? I've never seen one boost and maybe it's just the size that makes them look slow.

 

[garnerx]

I realize some of this is repetition...
Last night I had earned $1,985,000 and decided it was time to blow Boswell Station and head for a more central location. The idea is to find a good base for trading and bounty hunting, some place where I can easily jump from bounty hunting in my Cobra, into my Type 6 hauler (which I have yet to purchase) and go trading. I'm looking for a high tech system in close proximity to RESs (extraction zones) so I can easily jump back and forth between the two activities. Yet to find that setup yet.

At this point, SOL does not even have to be the destination. I'd like to clarify if SoL has both the high tech and RESs? Sorry if this has been asked before or answered before.

Thanks!

I think your destination will dictated by the price you're going to get for trading. Sol might have all those different things but it might not have a good trade route within your Type 6's jump range.

Since I imagine you'll be doing trading purely to grind towards a better ship (unless you really, really enjoy landing - it's actually quite good in a Type 6) then you should find the best trade spot and look for a nearby combat zone afterwards.

 

[Huntn]

...

Sorry to bug you, but did you say SOL has a High Tech station in system? I realize I can research that if the system map is not grayed out. Thanks!

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I think your destination will dictated by the price you're going to get for trading. Sol might have all those different things but it might not have a good trade route within your Type 6's jump range.

Since I imagine you'll be doing trading purely to grind towards a better ship (unless you really, really enjoy landing - it's actually quite good in a Type 6) then you should find the best trade spot and look for a nearby combat zone afterwards.

Easy for you to say, lol. Yep, I'm researching the Galaxy map. It's just so friggn spread out, it's hard to see a center. It's like a ginormous spider web that you can't see the big picture. My searches have been based on High Tech Systems as starting points.

 

[Huntn]

I just did some reading up on Factions and will be putting this into the guide, but in the mean time... Holy Crap.

Any Faction recommendations? I'd hate to abandon my group. We we talking aliens? More importantly can you be allied with all Factions or is there a case where rank with one mean war with another? How does this play into conflict zones? Is there a case where you'd want to be allied with one faction and killing members of another faction? And for those more experienced than myself, are there significant faction advantages?

-Federation.
Authoritarian- The Federation is highly dependent on technology and is home to many huge and wealthy corporations. In the period of rebuilding after the end of World War 3 on Earth (circa 2044-2055AD) it was the corporations who became powerful and dominant. In modern times it is the corporations who are the life-blood and backbone of the Federation. It is rumoured that these corporations have such influence and power that they can even direct the Federal government. Perhaps even to the point deciding who to elect as President!
Corruption and bribery are rife in the Federation and law enforcement has been known to turn a blind eye if the price is right.

-Empire.
Totalitarian- The Empire is less technologically dependent than the Federation, choosing to keep and employ slaves for the work which machines would usually perform in other parts of the universe. The Empire is also a proponent of human cloning, a topic which the other factions find abhorrent and have officially banned within their own jurisdictions.
Law is seen and enforced by Senators who themselves are above the law. They can order executions, and can even kill people themselves, though sometimes (rarely) they may be held to account for their actions by the Emperor. In the Empire very little is illegal, but many things are frowned upon, like excessive use of narcotics.


-Alliance.
Militaristic, Democracy?- The Alliance was formed circa 3230 AD in Alioth, and portrays itself as a beacon of human rights and democracy in an increasingly autocratic universe.
The Alliance was formed from a number of independent systems with the goal of gaining strength in numbers and defending, where necessary, against the other major powers.
Militarily, the cooperation is successful. Each member system contributes a portion of its navy to the Alliance Defense Force. The Council of Admirals is unified and has powers to act swiftly without government approval. Vessels of the Alliance generally bear the decals of their own navy, but display an additional Alliance Defense Force decal while operating with the unified naval force.

 

[Janichsan]

I just did some reading up on Factions and will be putting this into the guide, but in the mean time... Holy Crap.

Any Faction recommendations? I'd hate to abandon my group. We we talking aliens? More importantly can you be allied with all Factions or is there a case where rank with one mean war with another? How does this play into conflict zones? Is there a case where you'd want to be allied with one faction and killing members of another faction? And for those more experienced than myself, are there significant faction advantages?

You can in fact be allied with all three factions. When you fight in conflict zones, you should get a reputation bonus for the side you are fighting for, and a malus for the other side. But these changes are quite minimal. You also cannot be demoted if you have a naval rank for one of the factions.

There's no real advantage for siding with one faction (yet?). If you progress far enough in the naval ranks of Empire or Federation, you can buy certain faction specific ships. But there's currently only the Federal Dropship and the Imperial Clipper. The Alliance does not have any special ships yet.

 

[garnerx]

If you trade in Empire systems you can sell Imperial Slaves - according to the in-game description they're people who have sold themselves into a fixed term of slavery to avoid the shame of family debt.

Slaves one way, some kind of valuable metal the other way, makes Empire systems good for quick profits via trading.

If you keep trading at the same station you'll find the station eventually turns green on the radar to indicate they consider you friendly. I don't know how this ties in to the factions thing, but I managed to get a few green stations in various parts of the galaxy.

 

[Huntn]

You can in fact be allied with all three factions. When you fight in conflict zones, you should get a reputation bonus for the side you are fighting for, and a malus for the other side. But these changes are quite minimal. You also cannot be demoted if you have a naval rank for one of the factions.

There's no real advantage for siding with one faction (yet?). If you progress far enough in the naval ranks of Empire or Federation, you can buy certain faction specific ships. But there's currently only the Federal Dropship and the Imperial Clipper. The Alliance does not have any special ships yet.

If you trade in Empire systems you can sell Imperial Slaves - according to the in-game description they're people who have sold themselves into a fixed term of slavery to avoid the shame of family debt.

Slaves one way, some kind of valuable metal the other way, makes Empire systems good for quick profits via trading.

If you keep trading at the same station you'll find the station eventually turns green on the radar to indicate they consider you friendly. I don't know how this ties in to the factions thing, but I managed to get a few green stations in various parts of the galaxy.

Thanks guys! When fighting in a conflict zone is a side chosen by a formal selection, or based on which ships you target? If the latter, could you just spread the love around to all factions?

Last night I pulled up the Galaxy map with the intention of moving away from Boswell (LTT 18386). My first goal was to locate a good system with a high tech station, likely RESs (ringed planet) and with an eye on trading, an agriculture station the same or a nearby system. Although I acknowledge that moving metals to refinerys might be a bigger money maker. Daunting I tell you!

Then for trading, I looked for a section of the spider web (Galaxy trade routes) where there were many systems close to one another, ideally in the vicinity of a high tech system. One problem with the Galaxy map is that it's too large and spread out. You can select a system, which moves the center of the map, but because the map is so big, it's hard to keep your bearings. I've been trying to find something in the direction of SOL, just because, but realize there could be other areas more suited for trading. In my starter location, LHS 3447 there seems to be a density of systems, but no close by high tech systems. I want to have my eyes open before I relocate 70Ly away. With a 11LY jump range, that distance seems daunting, yes doable, but still quite a commitment.

 

[garnerx]

I want to have my eyes open before I relocate 70Ly away. With a 11lY jump range, that distance seems daunting, yes doable, but still quite a commitment.

70 light years is a short haul! Even with such a small jump range, seven jumps should take you about three minutes. And you can always find your way back if you make a note of your system name.

You should definitely get a better frameshift drive. A Cobra can make 20 light years in one jump, no problem.

 

[Huntn]

70 light years is a short haul! Even with such a small jump range, seven jumps should take you about three minutes. And you can always find your way back if you make a note of your system name.

You should definitely get a better frameshift drive. A Cobra can make 20 light years in one jump, no problem.

Seems to be a perception issue, but you eased some of my hesitancy. I plan on making the move, once I have confidence, I'm heading in a viable direction and not wasting my time. Is there such a thing as a good central location for trading or is it just all too spread out with too many places that offer good trading opportunities?

 

[Janichsan]

Thanks guys! When fighting in a conflict zone is a side chosen by a formal selection, or based on which ships you target? If the latter, could you just spread the love around to all factions?

It's a formal choice. On the right-hand panel, under "Functions" you can select the faction you want to fight for with the top-most option.

 

[garnerx]

Seems to be a perception issue, but you eased some of my hesitancy. I plan on making the move, once I have confidence, I'm heading in a viable direction and not wasting my time. Is there such a thing as a good central location for trading or is it just all too spread out with too many places that offer good trading opportunities?

I think it's quite random, so any part of the galaxy is as good as the next. Maybe buy a big frameshift drive so you can zip around the galaxy easily, then sell it to buy a Type 6 at your new home.

 

[Huntn]

I think it's quite random, so any part of the galaxy is as good as the next. Maybe buy a big frameshift drive so you can zip around the galaxy easily, then sell it to buy a Type 6 at your new home.

I found a Type 6 at Ackerman in Evarate, so I played around in that system tonight. With a 100 ton cargo capacity, it certainly changes the financial dynamics. Round trips between two stations 193 LS apart was netting about $85k, taking about the same time as 2 or 3 dogfights. That was making a profit of $600 per ton one way and $250 per ton the other. I'm sure in the world of ED that's peanuts. Now I have to figure out how to do Seeking Luxuries or rare items.

 

[garnerx]

I found a Type 6 at Ackerman in Evarate, so I played around in that system tonight. With a 100 ton cargo capacity, it certainly changes the financial dynamics. Round trips between two stations 193 LS apart was netting about $85k, taking about the same time as 2 or 3 dogfights. That was making a profit of $600 per ton one way and $250 per ton the other. I'm sure in the world of ED that's peanuts. Now I have to figure out how to do Seeking Luxuries or rare items.

That's not bad for such a short distance. If you get a longer jump range you can open up bigger profits - you should look for a bare minimum of 1,000 CR each way, on average. Trading is dull, so you might as well get it out of the way as quickly as possible.

I'm enjoying the game a lot more now that I've found a new activity, but I needed to do all of that trading to make it possible. Currently 4,000 light years from home - I don't know if I'll ever see a space station again...

edit: Here are some of my stats. I was saving for a Python but I just ran out of steam with the trading. It took so long, and at no point could it ever be described as exciting. I've no idea how those Anaconda pilots managed it.