Elite: Dangerous

digitalscream

Either use your keybindings for next/previous subsystem or go to the subsystems tab in the left control panel. You have to target and scan the ship first, though.

Axe_meister

Shah not seen the subsystem tab

Nomad

I'll keep that in mind for v1.4.

Got a Cobra and upgraded some of it (mainly power, shields and weapons, and converted to a single 16 ton cargo bay), but haven't done any more combat. Its net value is about 1mil, and I now have 2.5mil in cash. I left the Sidewinder at a station, thinking I would be able to have it moved around by some haulage service, but that doesn't seem to be an option. If nothing else, it can stay there as a marker for the area where I started.

Does exploration data get more valuable as you move away from the area it pertains to?

digitalscream

Nomad said:

I'll keep that in mind for v1.4.

Got a Cobra and upgraded some of it (mainly power, shields and weapons, and converted to a single 16 ton cargo bay), but haven't done any more combat. Its net value is about 1mil, and I now have 2.5mil in cash. I left the Sidewinder at a station, thinking I would be able to have it moved around by some haulage service, but that doesn't seem to be an option. If nothing else, it can stay there as a marker for the area where I started.

Does exploration data get more valuable as you move away from the area it pertains to?

I don't believe so - however, you have to get about 20Ly away before you can sell it (I think, that number might be inaccurate).

That's unlike rare commodities, of course, where they continue getting more valuable (on a bell curve, I think) with distance - it's slightly different for all rares, but you generally end up at the best price 160-180Ly away from the source. I still think it's the best option when you're at the Cobra level - get yourself about 40 tons of cargo space and a fuel scoop, and get truckin'. If you fill your hold from Lave/Leesti/Uszaa/etc (they're all in close proximity to each other), you can head off a couple of hundred light years away and make 600k+ in a single trip.

Nomad

Yes, 20+LY to sell. They don't seem to be worth much so far, but I guess that could be because I've been in a pretty heavily populated area (around Eravate). Starting to move away from there, now, so I'll see if the value increases as things go on. At the moment, it really is small change (400-1000cr for a discovered thing).

I've been doing quite well with the not-dodgy-at-all 'courier services' if you look at it in terms of number of inter-system jumps. Pretty sure I'm matching around 600k over 15 or so jumps. The Cobra has opened up better paying jobs due to its bigger cargo capacity, and perhaps my improving trader rating is helping as well. I'm now tending to ignore jobs paying less than 50k unless I can fit it in with another going to the same place or nearby. It's certainly worth hanging around the starport for a while once a bigger paying job has been taken, to see if any more come up. Made at least 250k in a series of 4 jumps last night (going in a loop back to the system I started the cycle in). Next session, I'll try to remember the number of jumps I do, and see how much cash I get.

A question about interdictions - does the interdictor know anything about the ship they're trying to interdict, or is it a case of they just take their chances? I'm still playing in solo at the moment, and I've been wondering if the NPC would-be interdictors are likely to be tough to beat, or whether they're likely to be a reasonable match for me (still Harmless). I've been evading them on the assumption that the cargo for the current job(s) is likely to be more valuable than the likely bounty, so not worth risking losing it. On the other hand, if they know nothing about my ship, I could travel empty for a while and allow myself to be interdicted.

digitalscream

Nomad said:

Yes, 20+LY to sell. They don't seem to be worth much so far, but I guess that could be because I've been in a pretty heavily populated area (around Eravate). Starting to move away from there, now, so I'll see if the value increases as things go on. At the moment, it really is small change (400-1000cr for a discovered thing).

Yeah, scans with a basic discovery scanner aren't really worth much. To be honest, it's not worth it - that slot in your ship can probably be more usefully used for something else. With an advanced scanner, and getting out of inhabited space so you can scan earth-like worlds etc, you can pick up the big bucks.

Nomad said:

I've been doing quite well with the not-dodgy-at-all 'courier services' if you look at it in terms of number of inter-system jumps. Pretty sure I'm matching around 600k over 15 or so jumps. The Cobra has opened up better paying jobs due to its bigger cargo capacity, and perhaps my improving trader rating is helping as well. I'm now tending to ignore jobs paying less than 50k unless I can fit it in with another going to the same place or nearby. It's certainly worth hanging around the starport for a while once a bigger paying job has been taken, to see if any more come up. Made at least 250k in a series of 4 jumps last night (going in a loop back to the system I started the cycle in). Next session, I'll try to remember the number of jumps I do, and see how much cash I get.

It's more about how much time it takes - not just in terms of the number of jumps, but also how far the destination station is from the star. Credits-per-hour are what you need to be thinking

Nomad said:

A question about interdictions - does the interdictor know anything about the ship they're trying to interdict, or is it a case of they just take their chances? I'm still playing in solo at the moment, and I've been wondering if the NPC would-be interdictors are likely to be tough to beat, or whether they're likely to be a reasonable match for me (still Harmless). I've been evading them on the assumption that the cargo for the current job(s) is likely to be more valuable than the likely bounty, so not worth risking losing it. On the other hand, if they know nothing about my ship, I could travel empty for a while and allow myself to be interdicted.

NPC interdictions are generally for one of three reasons:

1 - Cargo - as long as you're hauling something, they want it.

2 - Power Play - you belong to an opposing power, and they want to kill you.

3 - Military/law-keeping inspections - you can just submit, boost away and get back into supercruise without letting them scan you if you want.

Player interdictions are a bit more hairy - they can see your cargo if they have a cargo scanner (all pirates will). In a Cobra, you're never going to win an encounter with even a vaguely competent CMDR pirate, no matter how well-equipped your ship is. Best to give in and negotiate. If you don't want to, then your best bet is to get the best thrusters and distributor you can - stick two pips into SYS and 4 into ENG, and perma-boost away from them until you can get into SC again; the Cobra is one of the fastest ships in the game. 

Just boost towards and past them, so they have to turn to catch up thus giving you a head start. However, don't try this if you're up against a Clipper or Fer De Lance - they're almost as fast as you, and have big enough guns to take out your shields and engines before you can get away.

digitalscream

Just had my first proper PvP victory - against CMDR Cillit Bang, no less (he's fairly well-known for being one of the best PvP pilots out there). I'm somewhat stunned.

Of course, the Vulture build I used for it is basically useless for anything other than PvP - no fuel scoop, no Kill Warrant Scanner, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't even have a toilet. I might start keeping PvP Vulture builds at all the main hotspots (Eravate, Lave/Leesti, Kamadhenu etc), and just hop between them when I fancy a fight.

Axe_meister

So what are your CMDR names?

I'm CMDR Axe Meister, currently in allegiance with the blonde young bird currently

based at her headquaters 

digitalscream

Axe_meister said:

So what are your CMDR names?

I'm CMDR Axe Meister, currently in allegiance with the blonde young bird currently

based at her headquaters 

I am, quite predictably, CMDR Digitalscream, pledged to Arissa. I'm doing less and less work for her lately, although I'm currently parked up at Rhea (Felicia Winters' HQ) killing any CMDRs who support the Federation.

I'm nice...I offer them the chance to defect first. None have taken that option yet...

Nomad

I'm CMDR Roganski, in allegiance only with my bank account, on the assumption that being neutral with everybody is less likely to constrain my choice of destination. I provide discreet courier services to a wide range of discerning clients. One day, I hope to go straight expand my operational portfolio and become a famous explorer. I'm currently near a Hi Tech world about 20LY from Eravate, mainly because it has a good toy shop.

Axe_meister

Is it back up yet. Was supposed to be available at 3?

digitalscream

Yep, it's up now. I personally suspect (not confirmed anywhere) that instancing is somewhat busted 'cos there are loads of CMDRs in stations but none in supercruise. Of course, it could just be that everyone's in the shipyard/outfitting and spending the rest of the time in CQC.

Axe_meister

Much fun had in CQC but I am crap at combat

Now rank 4 after 1.5 hours

Nomad

Got to Mostly Harmless tonight (and 5mil in cash, plus some more Cobra upgrades - good thrusters make a difference). What's the deal with kill missions? I seem to spend ages trawling around checking out signal sources and never finding my target. I do find other scumbags and engage them, but the primo scumbags I'm supposed to take out seem very elusive.

digitalscream

Nomad said:

Got to Mostly Harmless tonight (and 5mil in cash, plus some more Cobra upgrades - good thrusters make a difference). What's the deal with kill missions? I seem to spend ages trawling around checking out signal sources and never finding my target. I do find other scumbags and engage them, but the primo scumbags I'm supposed to take out seem very elusive.

I wouldn't bother taking assassination missions in a Cobra that's less than A-rated, and even then I'd think twice. They're usually Elite Clippers or Anacondas, which will probably make mincemeat of you unless you've got plenty of chaff and shield cells. For reference, I have trouble with some Elite Anacondas in my PvE combat-equipped Vulture. It's even harder now that you can't just target their power plants to make them pop; not only that, but the AI's much more capable now too.

Anyway, the assassination targets aren't only in signal sources now - they're just as often found in supercruise. Go to the system they were last seen in, and scan all the big ships you see in supercruise. Oh, and good luck

CabbageCat

I'm CMDR Connemara but I very rarely play it nowadays. I got disillusioned with the constant, constant gremlins in the background sim and the way FD just stomped all over players' plans.

Nomad

Decided against the kill missions. Also joined the Mobius group (multi-player without ganking and the like, for those that aren't aware).

The Cobra is now pretty decently outfitted - a fair amount of A or B rated kit. I'm gradually switching over to exploration and have added the top system scanner and the detailed surface scanner. The rewards seem a bit unpredictable - had anything from around 700cr for a single planet (with surface scan), up to around 30k. It pays, but so far hasn't been anything like as lucrative as the discrete delivery services.

Still, I've been heading further away from the start region and am now about 270LY distant. The most noticeable thing is when I look at the galactic map - I'm just about at the boundary of systems that have an economy and those that are empty, desolate wastelands. In other words, if I angle it right, there are lots of coloured stars to the left towards the bubble, and lots of grey stars to the right. I clicked on a few systems to the right of this view to move the map's focus further out, and the uninhabited regions seem to continue for a good 150LY at least. In the current region (Hyades), the few inhabited systems all seem to be Anarchy governments. I'm planning to use the station I'm currently in as a base while I survey the uninhabited  systems nearby - plenty to choose from within 1 jump. I'll see how that goes, and then look into travelling further afield. As a side note, leaving the Sidewinder in Yakabugai was a good idea - the ship marker is always visible and helps to quickly orient the map and check that my proposed direction of travel is heading further away. It's worth considering buying the odd Sidewinder to use as a place marker.

I also got the automatic repair gizmo and gave it a try after I fried the ship somewhat when I got too near a sun while fuel scooping. The rate at which it uses its 'ammo' is a tad alarming, and I concluded that it isn't really suitable for running repairs to keep things in top condition. I'd say it's only really practical as an emergency repair thing to be used to get a damaged ship working well enough to jump to a station that has proper repair facilities (ie, fix critical systems needed for travel).

I was looking at the bulletin board in the current system and noticed that nearly all of the courier missions were back towards the bubble (generally 100LY+ runs), several paying quite well for small amounts of cargo. If and when I decide to head back in that direction, it should be worth stacking as many as I can and make a bit of cash.

digitalscream

I've never really been into the whole exploration thing - that said, it wasn't unusual for me to travel several hundred Ly when I was trading rares in my Cobra back at the beginning; the exploration data I got was quite handy for covering fuel costs.

At the moment, I seem to have gone from being a good, law-abiding citizen to straight-up murderer via frustration in my attempts to recruit Federal CMDRs over to the glory of the Empire.

I have quite the bounty on my head right now.

Nomad

Oh, I find exploration really exciting. I set off tonight to scout around the nearby systems, spent time surveying two of them before heading back to base to see what the payoff was going to be. I was astounded to learn that two systems with detailed surface scans of about 6 planets each (and the sun) would net me a very healthy 20K in total.

I then looked at the bulletin board and spotted several haulage jobs, most of which were entirely legit and above board, to a cluster of systems about 120LY away. I looked at the fees being offered and saw they were 200-350K a pop. I also saw that some of your Imperial Migrant Workers had new jobs in the same sector and, not wanting to deprive them of gainful employment, not to mention the small matter of 870K for the provision of my services, I promptly sold the scanners, bought extra cargo bays, set the first destination, and took the lot on.

Unfortunately, while fuel scooping along the way, I got interdicted and, while I managed to escape, the ship got a bit buggered during the evasion and jump, resulting in a busted cargo hatch and the jettison of a ton of scrap and two of the migrant workers. It was doubly unfortunate that I didn't notice this (systems reported all cargo intact) until I tried to deliver them. Shit, I says to meself, does this mean the client will have to make his own dinner? That would be terrible. I really must try to do something.

With time starting to run out (the staff relocation job was time-sensitive from the start), I searched the other systems I was delivering to in the hope of either finding a lower-paying job migrating more workers (take the job and redeploy the cargo to complete the 870K job), or possibly finding some for sale in a commodities market somewhere. Unfortunately, there was nothing doing until I delivered the last legit job and saw an anarchy system one hop away, and that hard-working Imperial staff weren't prohibited there. With 21 minutes left on the mission, I jumped over there, dodged a couple of interdictions (and had a game crash, which actually spared me a certain interdiction) and managed to find some in the market. Two jumps to the mission destination, and I had the job completed with 6 minutes to spare.

It was boring. I only made 4mil. I'm going back to exploring.

Maybe...

wave100

I'm Cmdr Wave 100 due to a startling lack of imagination. Currently hanging round the vicinity of Kamahednu as I'm allied to the MILF. Mostly doing bounty hunting and and CZ in my pimped up Vulture (I also have a Python but it doesn't get much use) 

I didn't really intend to get hooked up with the Empire as I disagree with their politics, it just kind of happened. Such is life.