So, you want to get into Combat?
01 Nov 2023Mana Takakura
So you want to get into combat?E:D combat can be broken into two categories, PVE (against npcs) and PVP (against players)
Each has several sub-categories, but first we will work with PVE and it's most popular sub-category; Bounty Hunting
Bounty Hunting can be done in really anything, including the starter Sidewinder, so we will start there.
Bounty Hunting in a stock sidey, or any other please-dont-shoot-at-me ship involves a bit of finess in HOW you engage in it. The trick is to get a few hits on the wanted ship's hull before it dies, but to not pull it's aggro. Dont get shot!
To get started, we'll find a Resource Site that has Police Response, so a Low Res, Medium Res, or a High Res. These are spots within a planet's rings that have active NPCs as well as system police. Haz Res do NOT have police, so we will save those for later
Pop in, look for weapon fire, and boost over to the party! Wait for the police to get the ship low on health and open fire on the wanted ship. Get a few love tap in, and when it gets destroyed, boom! You get credit for taking the pirate down.
For more profit, scan the wanted ship with a Kill Warrant Scanner also earn the credits for any bounties the ship has in other systems. These can be cashed in at any station with Interstellar Factors, or at the system that put out the additional bounty.
Easy right?
Let's step it up a notch. Let's say you don't want to have to rely on finding a fight already in progress, but instead want to be able to pick a fight.
This next step requires a few questions you have to ask yourself; are you ready as a pilot to take on another ship alone? If you have the skill on your side, you can outpilot them in smaller ships with good hardpoints and take them out with minimal damage to yourself. If you don't quite have the skill but you DO have the credits to make a ship that makes up for the lack in piloting skills, then you can go big and become the schoolyard bully.
When you can stand on your own, a few more options become available to you for bounty hunting; Haz Res, CNBs, Pirate Activity, Weapons Fire, and Cargo Baiting, and Assassinations
Haz Res sites are like the Low, Medium, and High sites from before, but these have more NPC baddies combined with No response from police, so any fights out here and you are on your own. This is my usual bread and butter, and have designed my ships for long lingering sessions here.
Comprimised Nav Beacons (CNB) are densely populated Haz Res situations without the asteroids, and tend to be great for not having to move far to get into a fight, but only appear in Low Security systems.
Pirate Activity Signals are great for finding Massacre Mission targets in systems that dont have Res sites, but beware; these ships tend to be a step above the Res site NPCs and can pack a punch! Their difficulty sits firmly between Haz Res and High CZ. They can and will gang up on you, so you have to fly smart and know when to run.
Weapons Fire Detected signals can have NPC ships still in the area and are a good way to take on some baddies, but there have been times that i have popped in to find no ships, so it's hit or miss.
Cargo Baiting is a fun one. Put something in your hold. Anything really. They'll pirate bio-waste. They don't care. You can head out and fly in Superecruise, submit to the interdiction, and wipe 'em out
Cargo Baiting is also a useful tactic to have NPCs come and find you instead. Pop into a res site with cargo and watch the harassment start!
Asassinations are mission based, and you'll be taking the fight to them, so be ready for a hard fight. You'll want an Interdictor for this one. The mission will give you the target and the last known location, and when you get to the system, you'll head out and find them. They may be in SC, they may be in a Signal, but when you find them, target them and kill as fast as possible. their friends can be ignored, and the target CAN run, so be quick!
Now, let's talk about efficiency. The payouts for Bounty Hunting was increased a few months ago, and it is now a great way to make credits without dying of mining-psychosis or robigo-running-depression. But there's a trick to getting HIGH payouts per hour, and making the most of your time in the cockpit.
Massacre Missions are kill-orders picked up by just-past-fed-up-with-their-ish factions. These can be stacked, but only one from each faction at a time, so you will want to grab your maximum missions by getting one from each faction; if you double up form a single faction it only counts one kill at a time
That seems odd, but an example:
Let's say a faction wants to get rid of Xbal SIlver Exchange
Misison 1 wants you to kill 15 ships. Mission 2 wants you to kill 20. If you take both, it will count one for the first mission until you have 15, then will start counting on the second.
For the efficent way, we'll say that 4 factions want Xbal Silver Exchange dead
Faction 1 wants 15 killed
Faction 2 wants 8 killed
Faction 3 wants 20 killed
Faction 4 wants 16 killed
You kill one Xbal SIlver Exchange ship. ALL missions tick up by one. If you kill only 20 ships, ALL missions are fulfilled.
So instead of having to kill 59 ships, you only had to kill 20 but got paid as though you killed 59 ships. Efficient!
How do you find such profitable systems? There's a tool for that! (gotta love 3rd party tools, ED would be a slog without them)
To find a system near you ripe for bounty hunting:
[ http://elitedangerous.hozbase.co.uk/bountyhuntingsystems/nearest ]
To find systems for easy Massacre Mission Stacking:
[ https://edtools.cc/pve ]
finding as many sources per target as you can will drastically increase payout
For instance, if you wanted to jump in right now for easy stacking, an example would be Na Chem. The system has 16 factions nearby and in system that offer Massacre missions, so stacking 10 missions is a breeze!
[ https://edtools.cc/pve?s=Na+Chem&a=rt ] Na Chem's pve list