Elite: Game talk

Burstar
27 Mar 2021, 4:38pm
MeowersCombat rank, on the other hand... I'm living in CZs for six weeks or so. Not forcing up a rank grind, sticking to the task at hand (winning battles, doing missions, ensuring BGS faction advantage etc.), but yet doing average of 100 kills per day (up to 250 on some days when I have totally nothing to do except ED) of opponents no lower than Competent, and I'm still halfway from Deadly to Elite.


Yeah I found the Deadly grind to Elite was the worst. My tip:

I tried AX Scout farming, but that's been nerfed. I find CZs the killing takes too long. The pirate CGs this past month showed me the way to go is Pirate Activity Threat 6s (I prefer to focus on Anacondas). All the pirates in the zone are Deadly rank so you're guaranteed good xp for each kill. Occasionally you even get an unengineered ship that goes poof and the payout is better not even including the possibility of Massacre stacking. Food for thought.
Solanix
27 Mar 2021, 4:45pm
Sakashiro
Thanatos au GrimmusBefore taking the plunge, you may want to have a look at this article: https://www.windowscentral.com/elite-dangerous-fleet-carriers-good-bad-needs-improvement


What's the depreciation scale the article talks about? The wiki says voluntarily decommissioning a fleet carrier results in a full refund minus a fixed fee of 125 million Cr. The article however says:
And don't even get me started on the depreciation scale. This is Frontier insulting you for second-guessing yourself. Say you get a few weeks in, and you decide the Fleet Carrier isn't for you. Well, guess what, you'll be lucky if you get even 60% of your investment back.


This implies that if I buy a carrier for 5 billion Cr and decommission it a short time later, I'll get only 3 billion Cr back. If I'm lucky, that is.

Is the wiki wrong? Or is there something I'm missing?


I'm pretty sure that article was from before all the carrier rebalances. When tritium usage was double, and upkeep was much higher then now.
Tengri Umai
27 Mar 2021, 4:55pm
Burstar
MeowersCombat rank, on the other hand... I'm living in CZs for six weeks or so. Not forcing up a rank grind, sticking to the task at hand (winning battles, doing missions, ensuring BGS faction advantage etc.), but yet doing average of 100 kills per day (up to 250 on some days when I have totally nothing to do except ED) of opponents no lower than Competent, and I'm still halfway from Deadly to Elite.



Yeah I found the Deadly grind to Elite was the worst. My tip:

I tried AX Scout farming, but that's been nerfed. I find CZs the killing takes too long. The pirate CGs this past month showed me the way to go is Pirate Activity Threat 6s (I prefer to focus on Anacondas). All the pirates in the zone are Deadly rank so you're guaranteed good xp for each kill. Occasionally you even get an unengineered ship that goes poof and the payout is better not even including the possibility of Massacre stacking. Food for thought.


Best way right now is CNBs (Compromised Nav Beacons), but as I understand he/she/they is not grinding it. Just playing game in RP style so doing CZ.
But if you like threat lvl 6+ ships you can find it in a systems with civil unrests or lockdown state.
Sakashiro
27 Mar 2021, 5:08pm
WolfmanwolfIf you find that jet cone boosting is slowing you down, that’s probably because you haven’t nailed the technique yet. A jet cone boost should save you at least one or two jumps time-wise, which would be a couple minutes at least.

Well, it isn't literally slowing me down, it's just a lot more mental work. Normal jumping is about 30% interaction and 70% witch space animation. Passing by a star and aligning with a jump target is something I can do without thinking. Neutron jumping is more like 80% interaction and 20% witch space. Yes, the witch space part takes me four times as far, but the cost is more interaction, more things to pay attention to, less muscle memory and automation. The term "neutron highway" is a misnomer in my opinion, because it feels more like taking an off-road shortcut through mud.
Wolfmanwolf
27 Mar 2021, 5:26pm
Solanix
Sakashiro
Thanatos au GrimmusBefore taking the plunge, you may want to have a look at this article: https://www.windowscentral.com/elite-dangerous-fleet-carriers-good-bad-needs-improvement



What's the depreciation scale the article talks about? The wiki says voluntarily decommissioning a fleet carrier results in a full refund minus a fixed fee of 125 million Cr. The article however says:
And don't even get me started on the depreciation scale. This is Frontier insulting you for second-guessing yourself. Say you get a few weeks in, and you decide the Fleet Carrier isn't for you. Well, guess what, you'll be lucky if you get even 60% of your investment back.



This implies that if I buy a carrier for 5 billion Cr and decommission it a short time later, I'll get only 3 billion Cr back. If I'm lucky, that is.

Is the wiki wrong? Or is there something I'm missing?



I'm pretty sure that article was from before all the carrier rebalances. When tritium usage was double, and upkeep was much higher then now.


Upkeep was rebalanced only after the first beta, and after that it was never touched again afaik. Tritium usage was cut in half after the first beta, and then again in one of the update's patches.
Wolfmanwolf
27 Mar 2021, 5:28pm
Sakashiro
WolfmanwolfIf you find that jet cone boosting is slowing you down, that’s probably because you haven’t nailed the technique yet. A jet cone boost should save you at least one or two jumps time-wise, which would be a couple minutes at least.


Well, it isn't literally slowing me down, it's just a lot more mental work. Normal jumping is about 30% interaction and 70% witch space animation. Passing by a star and aligning with a jump target is something I can do without thinking. Neutron jumping is more like 80% interaction and 20% witch space. Yes, the witch space part takes me four times as far, but the cost is more interaction, more things to pay attention to, less muscle memory and automation. The term "neutron highway" is a misnomer in my opinion, because it feels more like taking an off-road shortcut through mud.


This might help if you haven't seen this already.
Meowers
27 Mar 2021, 5:52pm
Tengri Umai
Burstar
MeowersCombat rank, on the other hand... I'm living in CZs for six weeks or so. Not forcing up a rank grind, sticking to the task at hand (winning battles, doing missions, ensuring BGS faction advantage etc.), but yet doing average of 100 kills per day (up to 250 on some days when I have totally nothing to do except ED) of opponents no lower than Competent, and I'm still halfway from Deadly to Elite.




Yeah I found the Deadly grind to Elite was the worst. My tip:

I tried AX Scout farming, but that's been nerfed. I find CZs the killing takes too long. The pirate CGs this past month showed me the way to go is Pirate Activity Threat 6s (I prefer to focus on Anacondas). All the pirates in the zone are Deadly rank so you're guaranteed good xp for each kill. Occasionally you even get an unengineered ship that goes poof and the payout is better not even including the possibility of Massacre stacking. Food for thought.



Best way right now is CNBs (Compromised Nav Beacons), but as I understand he/she/they is not grinding it. Just playing game in RP style so doing CZ.
But if you like threat lvl 6+ ships you can find it in a systems with civil unrests or lockdown state.


Yeah, heard about CNBs and massacre-stacking-bh, but I'm not pushing on the grind, just doing stuff that I find attractive to me personally. Rank is a pleasant addition here. Of course when I hit Elite, I'll divert my attention to more profitable activity (one which I can do without defecting personal principles for the sake of "game of numberz and goodiez") to fill up the pockets, which will grant me Elite in Trading, then some scans to finish the Exploration rank, and back to CZs. Just... If I can hit Triple playing for three months and without any "inner controversies", then why don't do it? All the talk about rank was revolving around them being badly unbalanced, not "bwaaah can't grind elite plz help".

p.s. "She", if it isn't obvious.
Sakashiro
27 Mar 2021, 6:02pm
WolfmanwolfThis might help if you haven't seen this already.

That's exactly how I did it, always from the center outwards. Sometimes though, even at zero throttle, the turbulence throws you out of the cone before the FSD is supercharged, so you have to enter it a second time. And after one or two jumps without scooping, you have to scoop extra long to make up for it. And after a while you have to power on the AFMU and repair the FSD to prevent malfunctions. And you need external tools to plot the route.

It's a pain in the ass.
Sakashiro
27 Mar 2021, 6:28pm
Tengri UmaiBest way right now is CNBs (Compromised Nav Beacons)

Agree about CNBs. Less travel time compared to pirate activity signal sources, plenty of Deadly or Elite ships in close proximity, none of them engineered.

The only (minor) downside: Some CNBs (e.g. the one in Sirius) are within a star's scooping range and may cause heat damage during combat or when charging the FSD.
Wolfmanwolf
27 Mar 2021, 6:42pm
Sakashiro
WolfmanwolfThis might help if you haven't seen this already.


That's exactly how I did it, always from the center outwards. Sometimes though, even at zero throttle, the turbulence throws you out of the cone before the FSD is supercharged, so you have to enter it a second time. And after one or two jumps without scooping, you have to scoop extra long to make up for it. And after a while you have to power on the AFMU and repair the FSD to prevent malfunctions. And you need external tools to plot the route.

It's a pain in the ass.


Using a larger ship like an Anaconda helps because it isn't thrown around as much. Also you don't want to go too low on your throttle or you will get thrown out or even stuck in the cone (which will definitely kill you in most cases). You need some momentum to keep inside the cone without getting thrown out, but also enough to make it out. You shouldn't need to dive into the cone more than once unless you screw it up.

I know the longer scoop times might seem like it slows you down, but it really doesn't.

I'll be honest, I go all the way to Colonia without having to use an AFMU. Yeah my FSD malfunctions, but whatever. It just reboots the hyperdrive part of the FSD. The malfunctions maybe take 5 seconds each time, and then only become super frequent once you get below like 40% health on the FSD? They only start happening once you get below 80%, and each supercharge should take 0.5%-0.75% of your FSD's health.

You're using a DBX, right? Might wanna consider using something bigger to get the hang of it.
Sakashiro
27 Mar 2021, 6:44pm
SakashiroIt's a pain in the ass.

Forgot to mention the dangers of neutron-jumping near the edge of the galaxy, because you can easily pass the point of no return.
Rat Catcher
27 Mar 2021, 6:51pm
Those on the fence about buying a Fleet Carrier and concerned over Tritium or Upkeep costs - I'd suggest that you don't bother at all and just skip about in a single ship at a time, not having to be concerned about leaving the game for a couple of years...

I have 2 accounts with FCs - They go between the bubble & Colonia quite frequently too. On my first the upkeep exceeded 30 million a week with every module installed, with the modules I actually get use from I'm looking at considerably less...

Tritium useage: I think I use around 5.5k tons out and slightly less return... As it is free fuel, there is no cost involved. Although for a recent trip I did buy a couple of kiloton as insurance. (If you don't know how to get free Tritium, think about it - It isn't only by mining)

But, seriously, if anyone is even slightly worried about the 'cost' of owning a FC, don't bother as those millions being used for 'nothing' will be a bitter pill to swallow.

(I decommisioned my first carrier to get rid of existing bookmarks on it - I 'lost' around 600 million I think)
Sakashiro
27 Mar 2021, 6:58pm
WolfmanwolfAlso you don't want to go too low on your throttle or you will get thrown out or even stuck in the cone (which will definitely kill you in most cases). You need some momentum to keep inside the cone without getting thrown out, but also enough to make it out. You shouldn't need to dive into the cone more than once unless you screw it up.

I didn't even know it's possible to get stuck in the cone!

You're using a DBX, right? Might wanna consider using something bigger to get the hang of it.

I dumped my DBX a while ago because of its small fuel scoop. Next time I go to Colonia, I'll use either my Anaconda or an AspX with the new double engineered FSD.
Sakashiro
27 Mar 2021, 7:05pm
Rat CatcherIf you don't know how to get free Tritium, think about it - It isn't only by mining

Piracy?
Flyermate
27 Mar 2021, 8:13pm
I have a connection issue between Frontier and Inara on Xbox One. I tried linking thru Frontier with no joy. Does Inara require direct llink thru Xbox One instead for data updates. I am a "Some times" intermittent player.

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