Ralph ThumAt this point I had one of my famous stupid questions, which was then answered by a tutorial video.
So I just want to wish you all a great day.
You could have wished us all fabulous wealth.
Elite: Game talk
22 Jul 2024, 8:05pm
You could have wished us all fabulous wealth.
24 Jul 2024, 3:41pm
Vasil VasilescuRalph ThumAt this point I had one of my famous stupid questions, which was then answered by a tutorial video.
So I just want to wish you all a great day.
You could have wished us all fabulous wealth.
Ya, I would have. But where would be the incentive to make an effort?
25 Jul 2024, 6:44pm
I've done Level III EXPLORER Elite in no time in comparison, then TRADE Elite II was almost as easy despite the fact that it is my least favorite, Combat ranking is way, way more difficult...
Oh yeah, I forgot... I engineered and tested the Viper Mk III. Definitively, I'm NOT a light fighter pilot (Best in a DCS Mirage 2000).
My Corvette remains my favorite by a fair margin.
Last edit: 25 Jul 2024, 6:51pm
25 Jul 2024, 8:01pm
ThinderDamned it, I'm passed 40.000 bounties claimed and I still struggle to get 48% (just now) for COMBAT Rank Elite level 1...
I've done Level III EXPLORER Elite in no time in comparison, then TRADE Elite II was almost as easy despite the fact that it is my least favorite, Combat ranking is way, way more difficult...
Oh yeah, I forgot... I engineered and tested the Viper Mk III. Definitively, I'm NOT a light fighter pilot (Best in a DCS Mirage 2000).
My Corvette remains my favorite by a fair margin.
It's similar for me, only many levels lower. I knock dozens of pirate gangs out of the sky and my rate climbs in slow motion.
I wish you continued success and a "fly high, fly far" for levelling.
25 Jul 2024, 9:19pm
A shame, because bounty hunting is the most fun, but the difficulty doesn't scale high enough to allow for reliable bounty hunting of Elite pilots.
You could try ground combat as well, I forget what the ranks are like, but the body count clocks up much faster.
25 Jul 2024, 10:39pm
Aunty SledgeIf you aren't killing Elite pilots it will go up very slowly. Thargoids are the way to go, combat zones are slower, and bounty hunting slowest.
A shame, because bounty hunting is the most fun, but the difficulty doesn't scale high enough to allow for reliable bounty hunting of Elite pilots.
You could try ground combat as well, I forget what the ranks are like, but the body count clocks up much faster.
I target only E.M.D.D.E but I never saw an Elite target in any Extraction Site or Combat Zone, I would take them on if I could...
I Tried TARGOIDS, I don't really relate to this part of the game, I'm more of a fighter pilot if you see what I mean, and you're right it is fun!!!
I have an issue with foot combat, I play in VR and the PoV is real poor, box-like, before I start doing it, Developers will have to sort that out.
Ralph Thum
It's similar for me, only many levels lower. I knock dozens of pirate gangs out of the sky and my rate climbs in slow motion.
I wish you continued success and a "fly high, fly far" for levelling.
Yeah it's hard, I'm doing Combat zones too and I noticed I can gain <> 1% in about 2 days, about your own rank, you probably haven't flown as many sorties as I did so don't worry about it, plus the higher your rank, the harder it gets...
Last edit: 25 Jul 2024, 10:52pm
26 Jul 2024, 2:37am
Thinder
I target only E.M.D.D.E but I never saw an Elite target in any Extraction Site or Combat Zone, I would take them on if I could...
I have seen a few Elite Anaconda pirates flying around in high or hazardous resource sites, and occasionally Elite in a small ship like an Eagle or DBX/s (or Sidewinder, they always amuse me because they explode almost faster than anything else), but they are often far and few between.
Combat is also the only “original” Elite rank that is (still?) ‘difficult’ to attain that it takes a good bit of time even when you’re actively trying to go for it, because it is not credit based. Takes something like a couple thousand kills and that’s if you only target the higher ranking NPCs, or equivalent ones. You may get more Elite targets through spec ops spawns in CZs but they are appropriately tough.
Foot rank is dodgy, because you mostly get “Mercenary” rank through the settlement conflict zones but you can cheese the space combat rank by running “Defend X/Y/Z canister” missions* and shooting the NPCs spawned there because that apparently counts toward it instead of the mercenary one. Which is itself credit based, I think, based on combat bonds earned in on-foot CZs(though scavenger bounties may get you through one of the earlier ones, too).
*Which I have not done myself and don’t intend to, because it seems a bit stupid, as well as boring.
26 Jul 2024, 9:40am
Best advice I can give is equipping a shieldless medium/large ship with AX multi-cannons and lots of hull reinforcements. Find a station in an invaded system that is in a CZ. You can pick up kill missions from the station and repair/reload in the CZ. There is no swarm to worry about. Go after the scouts, and a quick tap on interceptors who most people will be focusing on. You'll still get the reward for killing interceptors but you'll helping other by keeping the scouts off your team mates backs who have weapons better suited for Interceptors. Lots of kills, and all of them Elite. The best CZ where you can just roll up in Open and everyone helps one another. People form wings with anyone around, it's a lot of fun.
Also, I would only engineer A-rated modules. A-rate everything in your ships (long range D-rated sensors are the only valid alternative, but my OCD goes full A-rated).
26 Jul 2024, 12:49pm
Kasumi Goto
I have seen a few Elite Anaconda pirates flying around in high or hazardous resource sites, and occasionally Elite in a small ship like an Eagle or DBX/s (or Sidewinder, they always amuse me because they explode almost faster than anything else), but they are often far and few between.
Combat is also the only “original” Elite rank that is (still?) ‘difficult’ to attain that it takes a good bit of time even when you’re actively trying to go for it, because it is not credit based. Takes something like a couple thousand kills and that’s if you only target the higher ranking NPCs, or equivalent ones. You may get more Elite targets through spec ops spawns in CZs but they are appropriately tough.
The best way to find high ranking targets when bounty hunting is to go to a Compromised Nav Beacon. Those tend to attract the highest ranking pirate targets, at least that has been my experience.
26 Jul 2024, 1:14pm
Now I pay more attention in CZ trying to spot Elite pilots, I saw a few including in an Extraction Site when I tested a new weapon solution.
26 Jul 2024, 4:13pm
However, you won't gain any piloting skill which, IMO, is the whole point of ranking up.
So, with that in mind, why?
(I chased Combat rank to a point while getting Engineers unlocked, but only to that specific point.)
Is there a reason you'd like to achieve that rank quickly? Completion?
26 Jul 2024, 4:54pm
IndyYou can also farm Combat rank using ground CZs in Odyssey. High Intensity ground CZs will get you ranked up fast.
However, you won't gain any piloting skill which, IMO, is the whole point of ranking up.
So, with that in mind, why?
Yeah, all the ground CZs teach you is how to get on top of objects and shoot down at the enemy bots since they do not know how to use boosters to jump onto things without stairs that they can walk up.
26 Jul 2024, 11:56pm
IndyYou can also farm Combat rank using ground CZs in Odyssey. High Intensity ground CZs will get you ranked up fast.
However, you won't gain any piloting skill which, IMO, is the whole point of ranking up.
So, with that in mind, why?
(I chased Combat rank to a point while getting Engineers unlocked, but only to that specific point.)
Is there a reason you'd like to achieve that rank quickly? Completion?
I purchased Elite Dangerous for the ships, combat is perhaps the most exiting part of it, as I stated I have achieved ranks in Exploration and Trade, Combat is next.
As for ground combat, it never was my interest in this game, plus playing in VR I'm left with a PoV which looks like I have my head boxed and the whole picture is also smaller, it's a let down by Developers, I can't really enjoy walking around like this even in my Carrier which was one of the reasons why I purchased it in the first place.
It's just frustrating to get over 40.000 bounty claims and not been at Elite Level 1 already...
Having said that, I played 2 other modern space-based games and when it comes to flight, E.D is the best I know of, we might not be able to walk the ships and cockpits, and Developers have made a few choice which are not always convenient to me (Combat Ranking and VR), I never get tired of doing Bounty Hunting and CZ... In VR, the game looks awesome and it only can get better.
Last edit: 27 Jul 2024, 12:24am
27 Jul 2024, 8:29am
Ralph ThumThinderDamned it, I'm passed 40.000 bounties claimed and I still struggle to get 48% (just now) for COMBAT Rank Elite level 1...
I've done Level III EXPLORER Elite in no time in comparison, then TRADE Elite II was almost as easy despite the fact that it is my least favorite, Combat ranking is way, way more difficult...
Oh yeah, I forgot... I engineered and tested the Viper Mk III. Definitively, I'm NOT a light fighter pilot (Best in a DCS Mirage 2000).
My Corvette remains my favorite by a fair margin.
It's similar for me, only many levels lower. I knock dozens of pirate gangs out of the sky and my rate climbs in slow motion.
I wish you continued success and a "fly high, fly far" for levelling.
I was thinking if it's not already done...
Get yourself an NPC pilot from Harmless level and train him/her. It will take time but the result is worth it when your pilot reaches Elite status and still have the same profit share of 10%, mine is really efficient, she rarely miss and is good at taking down target shields (Elite rank, flies an XG9 Lance).
If you're worried about him/her taking credit for a kill, give the order to stay in formation before the kill, he/she will stand down and regroup (I use HOTAS for everything).
I tried a few ships for bounty hunting or in occasional combat situation, the best by a fair margin is the Corvette, it is expensive and needs work to get and engineer properly but once you're there you'll never look back. Especially good in CZ, my fit combines maneuverability, combat endurance (shields) and firepower.
It took me a lot of time to find the right balance but there is a constant: The faster you kill your target, the less shield you loose.
There are tools to find CZs, I use this. Elite Dangerous Conflict Zones
I hope this help...
For those who have questions about my Corvette fit...
I carry her around in my Carrier so I do not need range and Jump range, so in order to achieve the best weight saving for maneuverability, I fitted the smallest fuel tank and a 2D Frame Shift Drive, unfortunately, NO (SCO) because they cannot be downsized.
I find the corvette to be very sensitive to weight differences in terms of axis rates, particularly important (Pitch/Roll) for increasing time on target and taking advantage of her very high weapon DPS.
The whole fit is designed to increase her efficiency this way => weight saving => Shielding and Combat persistence, => DPS.
Last edit: 27 Jul 2024, 11:29am
27 Jul 2024, 10:01am
Thinder
I purchased Elite Dangerous for the ships, combat is perhaps the most exiting part of it, as I stated I have achieved ranks in Exploration and Trade, Combat is next.
As for ground combat, it never was my interest in this game, plus playing in VR I'm left with a PoV which looks like I have my head boxed and the whole picture is also smaller, it's a let down by Developers, I can't really enjoy walking around like this even in my Carrier which was one of the reasons why I purchased it in the first place.
It's just frustrating to get over 40.000 bounty claims and not been at Elite Level 1 already...
Having said that, I played 2 other modern space-based games and when it comes to flight, E.D is the best I know of, we might not be able to walk the ships and cockpits, and Developers have made a few choice which are not always convenient to me (Combat Ranking and VR), I never get tired of doing Bounty Hunting and CZ... In VR, the game looks awesome and it only can get better.
Hi Thinder, Like you I like to play exclusively in VR and share the frustration with ground and carrier imaging. Funny though how when the carrier jumps, for a few precious moments we are treated to the full VR effect. So maybe there's still hope for the devs to come up with a better vr experience out of the pilots chair.
I also find taking out Thargoid scouts is the quickest way to increase the Combat rating. Im elite @ 4% on my way to Elite 1 , but am concentrating on trying to get my explorer rank up to Elite 1 first.
I use a T-10 - The Bard of Tionisla which is set up for AX combat and carry plenty of limpets to wash of that green stuff. It don't move well but can take a lot of aggro whilst I am taking out the scouts one by one. I usually bug out when I get the ' interceptors incoming ' warning and then just drop back into the CZ , rinse and repeat.
It's not Top gun but it gets the job done.
O7
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