Elite Dangerous: Horizons |OT| Just scratching the surface

[Anton Sugar]

Also, one YT vid on mining I watched said that if you drop in and there's already a cloud of dust, then you may as well leave. I've found that to be the opposite. Was exploring my ring for about an hour and found four core'd asteroids (I suppose they generate randomly, never actually seen an NPC do it yet), but found 3 void opal cores. Got 47 tons :D

Made 100m today in about two hours and a good part of that was spent learning the right shape/color/etc. to pick out. I like to get a good view above the belt (not so far my scanner doesn't work, though), head off in a direction parallel to the ring, turn FA off, then nose down and scan away.

 

[schatuk]

Also, one YT vid on mining I watched said that if you drop in and there's already a cloud of dust, then you may as well leave. I've found that to be the opposite. Was exploring my ring for about an hour and found four core'd asteroids (I suppose they generate randomly, never actually seen an NPC do it yet), but found 3 void opal cores. Got 47 tons :D

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The core roids are persistent across all modes and the dust cloud means another CMDR has cracked a roid at that location recently including in a different instance/mode. That's also why you'll occasionally hear "ghost" core detonations.

 

[lacer]

gotta say this topic has me feelin the itch to bust out my cheap ass HOTAS again. i never really did mining before because it was so dull and unprofitable compared to trade CGs or Sothis/Ceo runs. now that it seems like it's worth the time i think i might have to go back in

 

[Volimar]

gotta say this topic has me feelin the itch to bust out my cheap ass HOTAS again. i never really did mining before because it was so dull and unprofitable compared to trade CGs or Sothis/Ceo runs. now that it seems like it's worth the time i think i might have to go back in

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I'm feeling the same. Mining was so boring before, now it's more like treasure hunting.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Well, my road to hundreds of millions seems more and more likely now. Made 130m in the past few hours of play.

The largest ship I've ever owned was a Python. Have also owned some of the Fed -ships, too. Any recommendations on what to go for? My military ranks are low, so Corvette/Cutter and the like are out.

I suppose I could maybe fix up a ship for exploration real good. Maybe focus on my Phantom engineering? I've never explored in a bigger ship before.

The core roids are persistent across all modes and the dust cloud means another CMDR has cracked a roid at that location recently including in a different instance/mode. That's also why you'll occasionally hear "ghost" core detonations.

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Ah, that explains it.

Well, at least where I have been, I haven't been able to find an indicator that a hotspot is spent or running low. I've found mother lodes in areas with detonated cores and without. Today I spawned in about 150km from the nav beacon for the hotspot. Set in FA off towards the beacon and found a gold mine about 50km in.

I'm feeling the same. Mining was so boring before, now it's more like treasure hunting.

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Yeah, it can try your patience sometimes and it also kinda tests your willpower. It's far too tempting to go after a "well, MAYBE that one is the right color" rocks. But then again, everytime I see a mother lode, I know for sure that it is one.

Makes me like The Prospector section of Buster Scruggs even more, haha.

 

[dsk1210]

I can't get my federation rank past cadet, Been at 100% for a long time but any time I take a navy mission for the promotion it won't register my Pirate kills.

Seems like a lot of people have had this problem for years and I can't believe it's still happening.

At least I have been making good money mining and got myself a fully kitted out Python.

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

I can't get my federation rank past cadet, Been at 100% for a long time but any time I take a navy mission for the promotion it won't register my Pirate kills.

Seems like a lot of people have had this problem for years and I can't believe it's still happening.

At least I have been making good money mining and got myself a fully kitted out Python.

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Here's a trick I found about rank missions (or really any linked mission)

If you see a rank mission that you don't want to do or that you can't complete. Exit the mission board and re-enter it. No need to log out, no need to wait for the 10 minute refresh. Linked missions seem to randomly refresh. I did it for most of my ranks until the linked mission happened to be something simple like a courier or cargo mission. Never had to do any fighting/base missions.

 

[wrongway]

Opals apparently took a hard down-turn in my neck of the woods today. From ~1.6M each to ~770k.

Still amazing considering how much money I had when I started this, but dang.

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

Opals apparently took a hard down-turn in my neck of the woods today. From ~1.6M each to ~770k.

Still amazing considering how much money I had when I started this, but dang.

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It's all driven by the BGS but it appears that the number of stations buying for high prices is getting bigger

 

[Anton Sugar]

Yeah, I was able to sell mine for 1.68m/t.

 

[wrongway]

It's all driven by the BGS but it appears that the number of stations buying for high prices is getting bigger

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Did some hunting around and found a place where I can mine and sell for 1.68 in the same system. Didn't even end up having to travel too far in the grand scheme of things. I'm also closer to Sol than I've ever been, so that's pretty cool.

Up to 680M! :D

 

[SmartBase]

I want to mine with my Cutter but I can't find a decent, concise equipment guide to finding and breaking rocks. I've been on an Elite binge ever since I got a Rift a few months ago and now I'm feeling a bit of a credit crunch.

Actually never mind, found a good one I think

 

[schatuk]

Actually never mind, found a good one I think

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Looks decent bar a couple of things. 1) until they patch out the multiple fragments bug, it's worth running as many abrasion blasters as you have slots/power for. 2) don't forget to set up firegroups which is a job of work given the number of modules involved

 

[strudelkuchen]

I'm very much out of the loop. What is planned in terms of (paid?) content for the next season of which I assume will be 4.0?

 

[schatuk]

I'm very much out of the loop. What is planned in terms of (paid?) content for the next season of which I assume will be 4.0?

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Nothing been announced yet

 

[Mengy]

Core mining really is great fun. I made a half billion credits over the past week before stopping to get ready for DWE2. More importantly though it's very fun.

Once I get back from the DWE2 later this year my exploration data will be worth so much that I won't have to worry about credits ever again, lol.

 

[williamsan]

I've just got some guardian weapons on my ship and I'm going to try fighting a cyclops I think. Nervous, and I forgot to fit a disruption jammer thing, but I'm hopeful.

I really want to take part in DW2 but I just started getting into the AX part of the game and it's really fun, I don't want to stop.

 

[wrongway]

Crossed the 1 billion mark and hit elite trader status. Crazy how fast this got after my dumb ass finally realized that all the core-bearing asteroids have the same model.

I'm also glad that NPCs in the area I'm in are so bad at interdictions, because one of them tries it on almost every one of my return trips, and I've since stripped the guns off my ship. :V

 

[Anton Sugar]

Got my Krait Phantom up to 55ly range. Now working to get the Guardian FSD boost.

Anything I should make sure I do or scan while I'm already out at the ruins?

 

[oipic]

Got my Krait Phantom up to 55ly range. Now working to get the Guardian FSD boost.

Anything I should make sure I do or scan while I'm already out at the ruins?

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I just did the Guardian ruins 'cycle' a couple of times, enough to gather the materials needed for the FSD, and also the shield reinforcement (which I ended up not using)... but I think that's about it - just scan and gather anything you can while enjoying some shooty fun with the rather hapless Guardian sentinels.

 

[Cantaloup]

Is there an ERA squadron? I'd like to get the trophy for joining.

 

[StonedRider]

Thinking about diving into the game again. Last time I played was right after Thargoids appeared, so many changes in the game since. What I want is go out exploring. But there is so many new stuff I want to check before going into the void. I made little checklist of what should I do:

- Make dedicated mining ship and try new mining mechanics. Are void opals gold rush still relevant?
- Visit all engineers and try new experimental effects and upgrade everything to grade 5. I've read somewhere all my former grade 5 modules are grade 4 now, so there is a lot of work. And I need to spend some time gathering materials for it.
- Buy Krait Phantom and make new exploration ship instead of my "Grasshopper" Asp Explorer
- Check technology brokers and obtain guardian modules. FSD booster is a must, maybe module/hull/shield reinforcements
- Make dedicated Thargoid hunter ship and kill some xenos.

Did I miss something?

Also, a couple of questions for explorers.

We usually make our ships as lightweight as possible. Low shield, small power unit, weak thrusters. Could Thargoid hyperdicion be an issue? Should my ship be faster now to be able to outrun Thargoids after hyperdiction? Should I give it better shields? And, more important, do guardian tech modules (FSD booster, for example) make Thargoids hostile and increase chance of hyperdiction?

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

Took a trip out to VY Canis Majoris to test out the Distant Worlds II ship build and all seems well.

Man, is it big...

6,000 Light Seconds is about halfway between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Distant World-ers, what ship are you running with right now? This is pretty close to mine--hopefully I'll get the FSD booster added soon:

I just did the Guardian ruins 'cycle' a couple of times, enough to gather the materials needed for the FSD, and also the shield reinforcement (which I ended up not using)... but I think that's about it - just scan and gather anything you can while enjoying some shooty fun with the rather hapless Guardian sentinels.

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Cool, that's what I figured. I'll just run around and grab as many mats as possible.

Is there an ERA squadron? I'd like to get the trophy for joining.

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I don't think so. I'm on X1, but yeah, I don't think we have any Squadrons.

Thinking about diving into the game again. Last time I played was right after Thargoids appeared, so many changes in the game since. What I want is go out exploring. But there is so many new stuff I want to check before going into the void. I made little checklist of what should I do:

- Make dedicated mining ship and try new mining mechanics. Are void opals gold rush still relevant?
- Visit all engineers and try new experimental effects and upgrade everything to grade 5. I've read somewhere all my former grade 5 modules are grade 4 now, so there is a lot of work. And I need to spend some time gathering materials for it.
- Buy Krait Phantom and make new exploration ship instead of my "Grasshopper" Asp Explorer
- Check technology brokers and obtain guardian modules. FSD booster is a must, maybe module/hull/shield reinforcements
- Make dedicated Thargoid hunter ship and kill some xenos.

Did I miss something?

Also, a couple of questions for explorers.

We usually make our ships as lightweight as possible. Low shield, small power unit, weak thrusters. Could Thargoid hyperdicion be an issue? Should my ship be faster now to be able to outrun Thargoids after hyperdiction? Should I give it better shields? And, more important, do guardian tech modules (FSD booster, for example) make Thargoids hostile and increase chance of hyperdiction?

Click to shrink...

1. Void Opals are still in a rush!
2. I hadn't really messed with engineers in a while and it seems pretty easy to get things upgraded, esp. since you can turn in exploration data and other stuff there.
3. Yeah, I need a xeno ship. I was investigating a contaminated research vessel when they jumped in and zapped me. Destroyed my fighter but I got out with 22% hull lol

I am a little worried about encountering thargoids on this trip, but I suppose it's pretty rare.

 

[StonedRider]

1. Void Opals are still in a rush!
2. I hadn't really messed with engineers in a while and it seems pretty easy to get things upgraded, esp. since you can turn in exploration data and other stuff there.
3. Yeah, I need a xeno ship. I was investigating a contaminated research vessel when they jumped in and zapped me. Destroyed my fighter but I got out with 22% hull lol

I am a little worried about encountering thargoids on this trip, but I suppose it's pretty rare.

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I already have the name for my future Thargoid hunter ship - "Xenophobe" (played a lot of Stellaris lately).

I hope Thargoid hyperdictions in the void are rare, but there will be a lot of jumps and just one encounter can destroy everything in slow ship made of paper. I think I'll sacrifice my jump range a little for better thrusters . It could help landing on high g planets too.

 

[Anton Sugar]

As an exploration ship, it seems like Clean Drives are better than Dirty Drives. I know almost every other time you'd choose Dirty, but does it make more sense for Clean? Better heat management for scooping.

It could help landing on high g planets too.

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Ah yes, I didn't consider this.

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

Ready for lift off tmrw.

 

[Volimar]

I still prefer dirty. Managing heat for scooping isn't that big a deal unless you're getting a fairly subpar.

Ready for lift off tmrw.

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Oh a redhead, how shocking. :p

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

Oh a redhead, how shocking. :p

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😉 Everyone's got their fetishes, this one is mine.

 

[Volimar]

😉 Everyone's got their fetishes, this one is mine.

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I'm not complaining. Your commander looks like my avatar from Warframe even. :p

 

[Deleted member 12317]

Anton Sugar I prefer Clean Drives for my exploration ships, you spend 95-99% of the time in FSD when exploring, so the thrusters are not that useful, thus I prefer less heat. Clean Drives can achieve good results.

I'm ready for tomorrow too (I'm the Krait Phantom) :

 

[Anton Sugar]

Hanging out at the Distant Worlds 3302 tourist beacon, waiting earlier today. Seems like something's up with the servers now?

Anton Sugar I prefer Clean Drives for my exploration ships, you spend 95-99% of the time in FSD when exploring, so the thrusters are not that useful, thus I prefer less heat. Clean Drives can achieve good results.

I'm ready for tomorrow too (I'm the Krait Phantom) :

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Cheers!

 

[wrongway]

I am officially scared of flying at speed with collector drones out. I had them do that thing where they warp out in front of me, which isn't unusual, but this time they happened to be perfectly lined up and I plowed right into them at full burn. Completely collapsed my shield. D:

and apparently the Distant Worlds fleet mass jump just exploded the servers lol

 

[Anton Sugar]

Lol forgot about the different launches for time zones. Was freaking out that I got the time wrong and then traveled 1000ly before I remembered the NA launch time is 7pm central time. Back I go.

 

[Blade30]

So I've been playing it a bit for a while, started during the holiday season and have been playing it more in the last week mostly as a courier and a bit of bounty hunting to get a feel for the game and save a bit money. I've finally got the ASP Explorer I've been eyeing on since I wanted to do some exploring now. Is it just me or is getting out of the stations via the docking entrance difficult compared to going in? I always get a proximity warning flying out and I have the feeling that my ship (even with the Sidewinder) barely fits through the entrance.

@Distant Worlds II:

I haven't been keeping up with the news so I don't know much about this except it being a huge community event. How long is this event? I might sign up for this.

 

[Anton Sugar]

18 weeks I believe. There are different sub groups in it, each with their own goals and jobs. Some are hauling to build a station out there, some run security, some repairs, etc. There are weekly way points to meet at, activities, etc.

 

[Blade30]

Oh nice, I think I will join too but I'll have to inform myself more about DW first and outfit my ship accordingly etc.

 

[Mengy]

Hah, the servers crashed right after the mass jump out of the DWE2 today. I guess Frontier just wasn't prepared for that many ships jumping at the same time!

 

[Anton Sugar]

A few pics. Only made it to The View so far but it's crazy how fast you travel with a 60ly ship :D

 

[wrongway]

Aww, I was the first person to discover something. That's so cute. It's a system so close to Sol though, which is also kind of sad. Makes this little place feel so lonely.

Those big fleet screenshots are cool as hell you guys, thanks for sharing :D

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

Is it just me or is getting out of the stations via the docking entrance difficult compared to going in? I always get a proximity warning flying out and I have the feeling that my ship (even with the Sidewinder) barely fits through the entrance.

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The mailslot is the same size going out as it is going in.

 

[Volimar]

Part of me really wants to go along with the Distant Worlds people, at least far enough to take part in the CG to help build the station.

 

[Anton Sugar]

Today/last night:

Part of me really wants to go along with the Distant Worlds people, at least far enough to take part in the CG to help build the station.

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Join in, especially if you have a ship built for exploration already! We're not far.

Some more pics today. Gonna reach the rendezvous a few days ahead of schedule, even visiting all the recommended checkpoints. Maybe I'll explore around Omega in the meantime, see what the Cartography group is up to.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

good luck on your trips, explorers!

 

[Dary]

I went in the complete opposite direction, chasing down a star cluster I could see on the southern edges of the galaxy.

...and the bloody thing was permit locked.

If only there was a way to point at a star and have the map locate it, then I would've known in advance XD

 

[Anton Sugar]

lol

"The View" already claimed 33 ships with its high gravity.

Just got to the Omega Mining Station--this thing is amazing! Turned in 15m or so in exploration data and had a few first discoveries, too! Though nothing cool like water or earth-like.

 

[Deleted member 32679]

Just got this game on PS4 and am loving the immersive qualities and sound design. Any starter tips on making money and general things?

 

[Blade30]

Just got this game on PS4 and am loving the immersive qualities and sound design. Any starter tips on making money and general things?

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I'm still new to the game but aside from the official tutorials I'd recommend ObsidianAnt channel, lots of good tips there.

General tips:
If you plot a waypoint and want the fastest rout make sure you select the option on galaxy map, it uses much more fuel (instead of the economic route which is the default) but if you just want to go to your destination that's the way to go (I had manually targeted the system from ship console).

If you want to buy a new ship and sell the old one, sell the ships module first (and buy low rate modules of you core modules in exchange for your high rate module) you'll get more money (you can see your ships total assets on the codex). Oh and this is very important, keep track of the insurance cost of your ship when you buy modules/new ship and that it stays above it so when your ship is destroyed you can go back to your current ship otherwise you'll get the starting ship sidewinder.

Transferring stored modules and ships from another station (and systems) takes time and money depending on how far away it is.

 

[schatuk]

I'm still new to the game but aside from the official tutorials I'd recommend ObsidianAnt channel, lots of good tips there.

General tips:
If you plot a waypoint and want the fastest rout make sure you select the option on galaxy map, it uses much more fuel (instead of the economic route which is the default) but if you just want to go to your destination that's the way to go (I had manually targeted the system from ship console).

If you want to buy a new ship and sell the old one, sell the ships module first (and buy low rate modules of you core modules in exchange for your high rate module) you'll get more money (you can see your ships total assets on the codex). Oh and this is very important, keep track of the insurance cost of your ship when you buy modules/new ship and that it stays above it so when your ship is destroyed you can go back to your current ship otherwise you'll get the starting ship sidewinder.

Transferring stored modules and ships from another station (and systems) takes time and money depending on how far away it is.

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All good tips.

The first (and arguably only) incontrovertible Golden Rule is: Never fly without rebuy (or preferably 3 rebuys).

In other words, never deplete your cash reserves so much that you can't afford to rebuy your ship in the event it gets destroyed. The more valuable your ship/modules, the higher the rebuy. Your current rebuy value can be found in the right hand panel

EDIT I just read back and you already mentioned that. Need moar coffees...

 

[Volimar]

Watching the Obsidian Ant stream and someone said that FDev is going to import all the mining equipment over to the Omega Asteroid system Outfitting in time for the CG. I might take my Conda out to mine then.