Overview
A comprehensive guide, covering the very basics right through to the roles that you can play in Elite: Dangerous
Pre-Guide Notes
Hello fellow Commanders!
Before I get started, I’ll like to explain my experience with Elite Dangerous, and explain how my guides can help you become a better pilot.
First off, you can find further informative videos, tutorials, let’s plays and more on our channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/nubgamerz1
I have been playing since the beginning of Premium Beta. I have watched and experience the game develop from a shell, with just you, a ship and just a few systems, right through to what we see now. A vast galaxy with tons of things to do.
The game can be quite complex, and it doesn’t provide much of a tutorial to help new players understand the core basics of the game. But luckily Elite Dangerous has a fantastic community, that can help players understand exactly what to do and how to do it.
This guide will be quite the long one. We will talk about Control Schemes, Initial setting off, Practicing being a pilot, roles you can play, in depth looks at specifics within the game.
Note that this guide is meant for new players. Or players who have picked up the game, and are still unsure of what to do.
If you already know how to play Elite: Dangerous, and know how the galaxy simulations work, and how each role fits within the game, then this guide may be re-iterating what you already know.
What I would like to accomplish with this guide, is for a new player to understand what they can do with the game, to enjoy themselves and choose their path in the galaxy
Please note, that some referenced videos that will be shown, will be recorded during the initial beta of the game. Now although the HUD and game is outdated, the information provided is accurate still to this day.
Controls & Power Distribution
Elite Dangerous hosts a number of ways you can control your ship.
You can use almost any input device, be it Keyboard and Mouse, Joystick, HOTAS or even your Xbox controller.
I started off with Keyboard and Mouse. As I suspect a lot of new players will do too.
Now, the default control scheme may seem very confusing.
Here is a video covering how I setup the controls on the Keyboard and Mouse.
Note that, this is really just a guide for controls. I don’t advise carbon copying what I have done, as you may not feel it comfortable for you… but maybe you will.
It’s up to you how to setup your Mouse and Keyboard, and hopefully these guidelines will help you set yours up the way you like them.
Alternatively if you have a HOTAS setup, then I’m sure you are already familiar with how to set that up. It is very similar to other Flight Simulators.
I run with an x52. I didn’t quite like the default scheme set for me, but here is how I set mine up:
Power Distribution plays a very important role in Elite Dangerous. With proper management, you will not only stay alive for as long as possible, but you will also be able to dish out sustained fire, while staying maneuverable.
Your distributor is split into 3 sections.
You have 6 “pips” to share among these sections.
SYS – Systems
Systems control your shields strength and manage your defensive modules.
The more pips you place into Systems, the more resilient your shields are.
The difference between having 3 pips to 4 pips can make all the difference when on the defensive.
Please note that, more pips in shields will NOT recharge your shields quicker.
Think of SYS as a preventative, rather than a recovery tool.
ENG – Engines
Self explanatory – Engines provide power to your engines.
The more pips you have in Engines, the faster your base speed will be.
Also note that your boost will drain power from your engines. So if you wish to boost more often (perhaps to try and escape a fight) then you will need to ensure you are managing power in your Engines to maximize boost capacity.
WEP – Weapons
Pips in weapons affect different types of weapons differently.
If you are using Energy weapons (such as Beam, Pulse, Burst lasers), having pips in Weapons will allow you to sustain fire for longer, before they overheat.
In some cases, especially with Pulse/ Burst lasers, having max pips in Weapons will allow you to sustain fire for an indefinite amount of time.
If you are using Kinetic weapons (muticannons. cannons), having pips in your Weapons will help speed up your reload times.
RST
RST spreads the 6 pips across all 3 subsystems. 2 in SYS, 2 in ENG, 2 in WEP.
Learning how to manage power in a dog fight is absolutely vital to survival. Practice knowing when to change your power, especially when different circumstances occur
An example of power distribution:
Q: You are in a battle. You are behind the target. The target is a large ship, slow moving, slow maneuverability, and is unable to get you in their line of fire.
You are not taking any damage from them… what do you do with your power?
A: 4 pips to WEP, 2 to ENG. Why?
Because you are not taking any damage, you do not need resiliency in your shields. You don’t need full pips in ENG, because the target is slow and you are able to keep up without further speed. You need to sustain maximum damage before reinforcements are called in.
Combat Scenario’s
When you first launch the game, the best thing you can do, is get into the combat scenario’s.
These provide you the basics, such as flight controls, docking, fighting etc.
Now, they are a tad… well let’s say, not really informative. But they provide you a good chance to get the hang of the controls of your ship.
Controlling your ship in Elite Dangerous is like no other game. YAW speed is very low, and you also have to contest with Flight Assist (more advanced flying).
But, before worrying about such things, you should consider completing all the combat scenario’s, right up to Incursion.
When you go into the Tutorials menu, you’ll see this:
Now, Frontier themselves have provided videos on each combat scenario
You can view the entire playlist here… and trust me, these are most definitely worth the watch
Once you’ve made it through these scenario’s, you’ll come across one called Incursion.
Now I’ll be honest, I haven’t played Incursion since the beta, but if they have kept it the same, then you’ll be facing waves of enemies.
Each wave get’s more and more difficult, and these are not easy.
It will take a long time as a new pilot to complete this scenario, so don’t feel too bad if you can’t get through it. You can always come back to it at a later point.
What I will suggest for this scenario, is avoid losing your shields. I know it’s easier said than done, but staying behind the targets is necessary to complete this task.
Once you’ve completed the combat scenario’s (not including Incursion, but give it a go none the less!), you are ready to get into the open galaxy!
First Steps in the Galaxy
So you’ve completed the combat scenario’s.
You feel confident in your ability to control your ship, as well as defend yourself.
Now it’s time to start making some big money to get new ships, modules and more.
You’ll first start off in a sidewinder. The sidewinder is a sturdy, quiet little ship with a couple of small hardpoints.
It doesn’t have much cargo space, and not much of a jump range.
It’s really designed for local systems.
Don’t be put off by it’s size and durability. This ship can earn you quite a ton of cash!
You’ll start off with a tiny amount of credits. Really barely anything to go with, in fact, if you’re not careful, you won’t even be able to refuel!
So you need to take your first steps wisely.
Your primary focus when going into the game for the first time is making that starter cash, so that you are able to jump further, afford refuels and repairs.
In the following video, you will see the basics of making your initial cash.
If you have the mercenary edition of the game, you can sell of your rewarded ship for extra money.
If not, then don’t worry, there are plenty of missions in your local system to pick up on.
Missions
There are various types of missions in the game.
You will need to be aware of what missions you are taking. Especially if you are in a sidewinder (for example, you won’t want to take an assassination mission in a sidewinder).
Difficulty: High
Reward: High – Credits
These targets are usually Elite Anaconda’s.
You will need to have a relatively well equipped combat ship in order to win these battles.
They are not easy.
Difficulty: Medium
Reward: Medium – Credits
Difficulty: Low
Reward: Low – Reputation
You will be tasked with obtaining and delivering specific commodities to that station. These commodities must be legitimately obtained (not stolen). In reward, you will gain reputation with the local faction, as well as help boost influence in that system.
Difficulty: Low
Reward: Low – Credits + Reputation
You will be tasked with delivering a message to another system. The mission is easy, but the payout is very minimal.
Difficulty: High
Reward: Medium
Now the reason why this is difficult is that, these goods are not sold everywhere. You might be asked to obtain weapons. But buying weapons is illegal in some systems. But legal in others.
You will need to use your wits, and figure out what type of systems are selling the goods you require.
Difficulty: High
Reward: Medium
You will then need to smuggle those goods back to the station, but be careful not to get caught.
Difficulty: Low
Reward: Medium
You will need to pop into a lot of these signal sources to find these items, and when you do, you will need to scoop them up and bring them back.
Note that you will become wanted, if you are scanned with these goods. As they are not yours, and you did not obtain them through legal means.
So use your knowledge of silent runnings and speed, to dock quickly, and avoid the space police at all costs.
Difficulty: Low
Reward: Low
But these are very simple delivery missions. Be careful not to get interdicted by pirates, otherwise you may have to pay a fine if you lose those trade goods along the way.
There are other types of missions, like Faction Progression missions (to rank up) and Invitation Missions.
The faction progression missions usually vary across existing missions explain above, but the invitation missions, require nothing of you. They are a reward mission, and provide you access to a specific system, that you may not have had access to before.
Ranks & Reputation
Reputation in Elite Dangerous is what helps balance the politics at play.
You will notice there are 3 main factions in play:
Alliance
Rather than rank progression, the Alliance has a complex permit system, of which parts unlock as you progress.
Federation
The Federation aim to keep structure and order in the galaxy. By gaining ranks with the Federation, you will first gain access to Sol, the birthplace of the Human Race. Further ranks will give you access to other systems, where special missions are available.
Empire
Gaining reputation with the Empire provides you access to specific systems, as well as coveted ships.
Each populated system will have local factions. These local factions are usually aligned with one of the 3 major factions listed above.
Your reputation with these factions will help your influence on the system in question.
But note that not all local factions are aligned, some are independent. They follow their own rules. You will find that with enough of a push with player interaction (completing missions for local factions) it may cause a local conflict between the local factions.
If this happens, you may find a nearby major faction try to take advantage of this conflict to establish dominance in that region.
Remember, that by having a strong reputation with either a local or major faction, you will be able to gain access to better, higher payout missions, as well as cheaper goods in some locations.
The Pilot’s Federation oversees the vast majority of the actions taken by privately-owned vessels in human space, but which does not directly involve itself in political affairs.
They reward you with the ranks that you obtain through Combat, Trade or Exploration.
Here are the ranks available:
When you hit the rank of Elite in any one of the 3 main areas, you will gain access to a place called Shinrarta Dezhra, AKA Founder’s World.
Founder’s World is a place that is locked out of access for most players, until they hit the rank of Elite, or are a Kickstarter Backer.
In Founder’s World, you will find a place called Jameson Memorial. There you will find all weapons, all ships, all with a 10% discount!
So when you hit that rank of Elite, be sure to check that place out!
Roles
As you start getting more comfortable in the game, you will want to start focusing towards a specific role within the Galaxy.
Now, you have a number of roles you can play, and you are not limited to them either. So you can easily play all of them, provided you have the cash to purchase the required ships for the roles and of course the time to explore them all.
I would recommend focusing on one or two roles at a time, since a couple go hand in hand.
Here a bunch of videos covering some of the main roles you can play.
Please refer to the videos for more in depth explanations and hints.
Recommended Ships: Asp, Hauler
Exploration plays a big part in Elite Dangerous. Since you can explore pretty much the entire Milky Way (almost over 300 billion star systems) you will never run out of places to explore.
Exploring not only provides monetary rewards by selling data discovered, but also provides a reward in itself, as you will be able to see some remarkable sites, from Gas Giants through to Black Holes.
If you really want, you can even attempt to travel to the centre of the Galaxy!
Recommended Ships: Cobra, Viper, Vulture, Python
Bounty Hunting is certainly a fun role! But also very risky.
There are two types of Bounty Hunting.
Standard Hunting, where you can go to Nav Beacons and RES (Resource Extraction Sites), target a ship and see if they are wanted. Then proceed to attempt to shoot the ship down, and claim the bounty.
Anarchy Hunting, where you will go to an Anarchy zone. In Anarchy, there is no jurisdiction from any faction. Meaning that basically, anything goes in those systems.
You will find more lucrative pirates in these systems, but in order to claim bounties, you will need to purchase a Kill Warrant Scanner.
This will scan the ship, and report on if the ship has a bounty and where the bounties can be claimed.
You may find ships, with bounties in multiple jurisdictions. So although the payout may be more, the traveling will be more too.
Recommended Ships: Hauler, Lakon T6. Lakon T9, Anaconda
Trading by far is the most profitable and for the most part safest role in Elite Dangerous.
Although you are subject to piracy, it’s not too difficult to escape these potential fights, alternatively, you can give in to those pirates demands, and still come away unharmed.
Trading for some can be very boring. Since you will be traveling a long way, pretty much all the time. There are external tools available to use to help you discover routes.
Recommended Ships: Hauler, Lakon T6. Lakon T9, Anaconda
Very similar to Trading, but rather than focusing on standard commodities, you will be focusing on obtaining rare commodities which are only available in specific stations, in specific systems.
The trick is to build a route that brings you round in a circle, to provide maximum profits.
Recommended Ships: Sidewinder, Vulture, Viper
Smuggling is not very popular, and for good reason. You will be aiming to obtain goods illegally (or even purchased legally) and import them into systems where they are banned. You will then sell those goods on the black market.
The risk vs. reward is not very well balanced at this time for smuggling. But I would recommend coupling this role with either Bounty Hunting or Piracy.
Recommended Ships: Cobra, Python, Imperial Clipper, Asp
You will want to look and be scary as a pirate. Pirating really only works in Open Play vs. other players. By using a Frame Shift Drive Interdictor, with a Cargo Scanner and Hatch Limpets, you will be ready to demand goods from other players.
If open play isn’t your style, then piracy is still possible. But it would require a tad more force. By shooting the cargo hatch of the target ship, you can forcibly eject a bunch of their cargo. Hatch Limpets will also do this for you.
Recommended Ships: Hauler, Asp, Lakon T6, Lakon T9, Anaconda
Mining, very much like Trading, can be boring for some, but relaxing for others. You need to mine through asteroids, collect the chunks of ore that are released, and by using a refinery, combine the rocks to make a ton of metal.
These metals can vary in prices, so try to get Gold or Palladium, the most sought after metals in the Galaxy.
Weapons
There are numerous types of weapons that you can use in Elite Dangerous. Each of them have their own purpose.
You will find some weapons are good against shields, others are good against hulls.
The last thing you want to do, is use your weapons at the wrong time.
In this video, we are talking about the different types of weapons and armour you can use on your ships.
Pay close attention to the descriptions of the weapons, as you don’t want to waste your hard earned cash on weapons that won’t work for you.
Hull Damage: Low
Shield Damage: Very High
Use Laser weapons to smash through shields as fast as possible. You can use them on hulls too, but you’ll find them less effective.
Hull Damage: High
Shield Damage: Low
Basically the opposite for lasers.
Avoid using these against shields, as the one thing you have with Kinetic weapons, which you don’t with lasers is ammo.
For longer fights, you need to conserve your ammunition as much as possible. So don’t waste that ammo against shields.
Hull Damage: Very High
Shield Damage: Very Low
Missiles used to be strong all around. But due to exploitation in builds, Frontier nerfed missiles so they are now only effective against hulls. You are very limited on the number of missiles you can carry, so use them wisely.
Hull Damage: High
Shield Damage: High
An all around good weapon, but with limited ammo, a charge up time… it can be very difficult to hit your target. Be sure to practice with this weapon before taking it out on the battlefield.
Hull Damage: Very High
Shield Damage: Very Low
A space shotgun. ‘Nuff said
Hull Damage: Extremely High
Shield Damage: Very High
This beast of a weapon is expensive, very hard to control and has very long recharge times. Usually best equipped on an Anaconda with it’s Class 4 hardpoint. A Class 4 Plasma Accelerator will tear through any target, provided you hit it.
Community Goals
CG’s (Community Goals) are randomly places in the galaxy when a big event is going on.
By checking the Galnet Newsfeed often, it will provide hints of upcoming CG’s, and existing CG’s.
Think of them as a collective mission. Where there is a target, and in order to reach that target, there needs to be input from a huge number of players.
For example, a CG requires 10 Billion credits worth of Combat Bonds to be handed in.
No one man alone can achieve this in the time frame given. So you can sign up as a participant, and take part in the massive scale mission, collecting as many combat bonds as possible.
CG rewards are substantial. In most cases, they will pay out in the millions, depending on your contribution.
It will also provide a global reward for everyone who took part, which can be anything from ship discounts, to cheaper commodities.
Each reward tier is split up. The closer you get to the target, the higher tier reward is given out.
And that reward tier, is split up into sub tiers depending on your contribution.
So, let’s say, a CG you are participating in has reached the 4th Tier.
If you are in the top 100% of contribution (so, even by handing in just one item) you could get a reward of 60,000 credits + Global Reward.
If you are in the top 5% of contribution, you will earn 10,000,000 credits + Global Reward
In between is split up between different contribution percentiles.
Since CG’s can be quite a lot to explain, and I’m sure you don’t particularly want to read everything, here is another Getting Started video, covering Community Goals.
For your entertainment, here is another video explaining further one of the better payout community goals
Post Guide Notes
If you’ve made it this far then congrats! It was a long read wasn’t it? 😀
I sincerely hope this guide helps you with your endeavour’s in Elite Dangerous.
It’s a very complicated game, and often players get confused with what to do and how to do it.
So I do hope that what you have read and watched here today helps you.
If you want to learn more about Elite Dangerous, watch informative video guides, let’s plays and the likes, you are more than welcome to come over to:
https://www.youtube.com/user/NubGamerz1
Our community is more than helpful. If you have questions that I can’t answer, then someone else in our community will be more than happy to help!
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment 🙂