Grinds my gears, a Guide
12 Mar 2020Wes_7569
Begin Log: 0603.12Patience, one must have patience to get anything done in this galaxy. Going over all the grinds with the new commanders and I realized just how long I spent grinding to get what I have to include all the mistakes I made.
Collecting Raw Materials
You will need a SRV that you can pick up in most stations, I like to get the higher grade since it is half the weight. I try to target planets that have a higher gravity than 1.0. You can see this in the planet details in the system map and is near the top. Also in the planet details is what type of materials you will find on the planet. When you are in the SRV you will see a kind of sonar displayed in the cockpit. There are 3 types of bars that you will see on this display. When you see long bars connecting the top and bottom that means it is far away. When it is on the top, it is a refined metal, so a ship, container, base, settlement, things like that. When the bar is on the bottom it is taking you to a raw material. As you get closer to these the bars will go from being very wide to small and focused. Beware of the top bars though, crash sites, mining, or containers left behind sometimes have sentries with a black box you will see on your radar. You will be fined if you stay in this area to long.
My favorite planet is in the Alpha Centauri system which is next to the Sol system. It is the only planet in orbit around the 2nd star. Plenty of materials and the high gravity keeps them from flying away.
Collecting Manufactured Materials
You can find these at signal sources from low to high grade and get them from destroyed ships in general. What I like to do is bounty hunting. I have a limpet collection module on my ship and after I destroy the wanted ship I collect the materials left behind. The higher bounty ships usually have a few high grade materials to collect. So not only do you grind for the materials you also get a mission reward. If not looking for a credit reward, some missions have raw, manufactured, or data materials to collect.
Data Collection
Ships, wakes, beacons, and just about everything you can scan in the game with your ship or SRV along with mission rewards will give you data. Signal Sources in systems, abandoned settlements or facilities, crashed ships on planets, bases, all of these you do not need anything extra to scan. When you get a tip off or mission sometimes a code is given so that you can access the information. In abandoned facilities you may need to scan the supporting data points before the main one. When scanning a wake from other commanders jumping out of system, you need outfit your ship with a wake scanner. When scanning other ships, it will not give you data every time, but when at a base, port, mining, or tourist attraction, there will be plenty of ships to scan.
Unlocking Engineers
When you first start unlocking engineers I recommend beginning with exploring. I outfitted a Dimondback Explorer to be as light as possible. D rated modules are the lightest with the exception for the FSD and Fuel Scoop. I went A rated for long distance and taking in as much fuel as fast as possible. Dont forget to get a planetary scanner as well. I went out 10,000 Light Years the first time but you only need to go beyond 5000 for a start. I scanned everything and did the planetary scans when I found a system with no discovered planets yet. You can see this when you look at the system map. The reason to start with this is that it will help unlock the first engineers with access to the FSD and Thrusters. When you fully unlock them they will give you other engineers. Some you need reputation with factions. One engineer you need to mine a few hundred tons and then mine some hard to find material. If you use the Elite Dangerous data base site, it will help you find everything you need to unlock the engineers and a lot more.
Ranks
Empire and Federation ranks. any place that gives out missions, you will see if they are Federation, Empire, Alliance, or Independent. Right now only the Empire and Federation have ranks that will give access and unlock systems as well as ships that you can buy. When you com[plete these missions, choose the high reputation rewards when they have them. These rewards will increase your rank at a faster rate. When you get to 100% a navy mission will pop up. I recommend data, trading or bounty hunting navy missions when you see them. These are the easiest and if the mission disappears or fails, dont worry. They will pop up at random when you dock at any port or station.
Elite
Combat takes the longest. I went for Haz Res sites that you can find around ringed planets. The more heavily populated the system the better. In my cargo I would have a few tons of something high value, doesnt matter what it is. This will bring the pirates to you, so be ready. The higher the ranked the opponent, the more rank you will earn. However, if they are less than your rank you will earn little or nothing.
Trading and Exploration is simple. Easiest way is to do the trading and exploration missions. The exploration missions I went with black box and illegal black box since they earn you the most credits. Also the high the reputation you have with a faction, the higher the rewards will be. This is good for earning the Ranks with Empire and Federation as well so you can do both at the same time.
When you do get an Elite Rank you will get a notification for a system being unlocked as well as an engineer in that system. Be warned, when entering this system there are commanders or griefers that will attack without cause. Better to go solo when entering the system for the 1st time to check it out.
And those are the basic grinds, there are plenty more involving the Guardians, Thargoids, settlements, bases, and as you explore the galaxy it will become known to you and there are plenty of resources and the guidebook to help you get started on them.