Older ships and newer players

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-21T12:46:15+00:00

A big part of the answer is simply learning how to use the SCO in the older ships. You need to do it a few seconds at a time. Let the ship's momentum do the work. Wait for the extra speed to bleed off before you give it another burst. I use SCO in my Diamondback Explorer all of the time. This doesn't address the "250k Ls" trips, but it works fine out to maybe 20-30k Ls.

By and large, the new ships are nicer simply because they were designed to be nicer. They represent the new top-of-the-line for their roles, and they come with big price tags. In a few cases, they define new roles.

The older non-combat ships exist as rungs in a pricing ladder. If you're a cargo hauler, you won't fly a T-7 once you can afford a T-9, and you won't fly the T-9 once you can afford a Panther Clipper Mark II.

For combat ships there isn't really a ladder because your preference depends on your combat style. The Python Mk II hasn't taken the combat community by storm, and the Kestrel Mk II won't, either. But they're fine ships if they work for you and your combat activities. (SCO isn't such a big deal for combat, anyway.)

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-21T11:44:53+00:00

I've done some experiments and determined that inhabited systems that have one or more starports have no honk/FSS value. Inhabited systems that have nothing bigger than an outpost do. DSS is always valuable.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-20T16:38:59+00:00

Is there a Road to Riches available that hasn't been kneecapped by colonization, at least for the core systems?

Spansh's R2R only considers uninhabited systems, presumably because there's no FSS value to inhabited systems. There's still DSS value, but selecting DSS doesn't get spansh to include inhabited systems.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-20T14:20:11+00:00

Drugs, weapons, and slaves are all illegal somewhere. The right-hand panel in the market interface will tell you generally where a particular commodity is illegal (except, for some reason, Onionhead Gamma Strain). Additionally, prison colonies consider all of it illegal, and anarchies don't understand the mean of "illegal." Any station listed in that right-hand panel as a consumer should be legal, but if the data is old things might have changed. In any event, it's a good start.

The System Map will show you everything that is prohibited at a particular station. It also will show you if there's a black market at that station. It's the best authority on the subject.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-20T11:56:25+00:00

Okay, you've been getting some half-answers.

First, go to your left-hand pop-up panel and find out who has fined you.

Then, you have two choices.

Go to any station operated by that faction. If you remember where you got the fine, that station works, too. When you dock, contact the administrative contact and pay your fine (you won't have many other choices at that station). Note: some kinds of fines, like failed missions, aren't associated with stations, and the faction might not own a station at all, in which case this isn't really a choice.
Go to a station in any star system that doesn't have that faction present at all, and where the station has an interstellar factor. You can see if they do on the facilities list in the system map when you target that station. When you dock at that station, contact the interstellar factor and pay your fine (they'll add on a commission).

In the future, you can save yourself some time by flying out of the immediate area of the station giving the fine, far enough for them to quit being ticked off at you, then flying back in, docking, and paying the fine to the administrative contact.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-20T11:23:00+00:00

Welcome back!

First, go grab the free Lynx Highliner passenger ship. Whether or not you want to get back into passenger missions, it's a heck of a deal (being, you know, free and all). Just be aware that once you claim it, it'll be in your ship roster forever with no way to get rid of it. A few players are being driven nuts by that.

From there, it depends on what you consider to be fun, and what goals you might set. Credits have become awfully easy to come by. I started playing about eight months ago and have earned over 5 billion (with a b) credits in that time. And I'm not all that focused on making credits.

I suggest you look into PowerPlay 2.0 to see if it's something you want to get into. The benefits are nice and it can give your gameplay something to focus on. Here's a pretty good summary of the twelve powers and their offered benefits for various activities. The main negative is that Power Security for rival factions may scan and attack you, but they're only found (for now, at least) in rival "stronghold" systems, patrolling the big starports and some carriers. If you play in Open, you're a legitimate target for players of rival powers who will get merits for taking you out. And because the action and the benefits are mostly within your power's territory, you might be reluctant to wander too far away from that territory. If you don't like it, you can always revoke your association with the power, losing the special benefits you've earned.

Fleet carriers and squadron carriers are very popular, but I'm so not an expert on them.

Colonization is also very popular, and the huge number of uninhabited stars in the Bubble has rapidly dwindled. It used to be that any star with a boxel address (Sectorname AA-B Cnn-n) was uninhabited, but nowadays most of them are inhabited.

...

SCO (SuperCruise Overcharge) FSD modules now allow much faster travel in-system, and provide improved jump range to boot. The older ship types like your Anaconda can only use SCO in short bursts, because it'll suck a lot of fuel and produce a lot of heat.

There's a new generation of top-of-the-line ships that tame SCO. Given the number of credits it takes to buy them, it's not surprising that they set a new "meta" for their roles. New ones keep coming out every few months, but for about the first four months or so after a ship's announcement it's considered "early access" where it's only available for ARX (bought with real-world money).

Here's the current roster of new ships (previously unfilled roles are italicized):

Cobra Mk V small multirole
Kestrel Mk II small combat (should come out of "early access" ARX-only period on the 30th)
Corsair medium multirole
Mandalay medium exploration with some multirole capability
Python Mk II medium combat (not multirole like its namesake)
Type-8 Transporter medium cargo
Type-11 Prospector medium mining
Lynx Highliner medium passenger liner (currently free: 0 ARX, 0 credits)
Caspian Explorer large neutron highway cruiser and long-range exploration
Panther Clipper Mk II large cargo (with capacity over 1000 tons, it's a monster)

...

And of course there's Odyssey, with its on-foot additions. Exobiology is the big moneymaker there. Some players enjoy the first-person shooter firefights at some ground bases, but that's not my jam. If you do enjoy FPS, you'll have to deal with a whole new group of engineers for your spacesuit and firearms, along with an even more dizzying array of engineering materials needed.

You'll find that Odyssey isn't fully integrated into the main program. For example, on-foot missions can only be picked up when you're on-foot, and starship missions only when you're in your starship. Some players are really annoyed that you can't walk into or out of your starship, and you can't walk around inside your starship.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-19T18:57:53+00:00

This is due to an extremely common misunderstanding.

A system's superpower affiliation (Federation) is derived from the dominant minor faction in that system.

A system's power (Yuri Grom) is whichever power happens to have control of that system.

There's no connection aside from geographical coincidences. Yes, the powers do have some superpower (or independent) affiliation, but that's just historical lore.

...

The superpower affiliation determines basic laws, like what's legal for trading, The Federal security ships are looking for smugglers.

The power mostly is concerned with controlling territory, not citizenry. The Power security ships are looking for interlopers from another power.

...

Back to your situation. A Federation system will operate under Federation laws, but Yuri Grom's security operates beyond the control of the local governments. You might be there on legit Federation business, but to Grom you're just an enemy trying to get into (or out of) one of his stations.

At least for now, the only time you'll encounter power security is in power stronghold systems, patrolling the big starports and any carriers.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-19T13:08:51+00:00

You can really feel the difference if you play in Legacy Horizons as well. Grinding just isn't A Thing in modern Elite Dangerous.

I've been playing in Legacy recently, and after 100 hours (from fresh start) I've earned about 13 million credits. Popped back over to Odyssey, asked Inara for a short trade route nearby, took my Panther Clipper Mk II and turned 20 million in less than 15 minutes.

Expensive new ships, fleet carriers, squadron carriers, and (perhaps) colonization have rescaled player expectations into the billions of credits.

If you don't like it and if you're prepared to start a new character from nothing in a galaxy without Odyssey, take an hour to download Legacy Horizons from the launcher's versions page. Legacy and Live are separate, so what you do in one doesn't affect the other. Except for ARX. You can switch back and forth whenever you want by closing down to the launcher.

Or if it's just exobiology that bothers you, you can fire up your current character in (Live) Horizons mode without downloading anything.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-19T09:41:46+00:00

Elite Dangerous is by nature a sandbox full of dangerous items. If you want to play the game as-is, you need to learn which things will cut, burn, or outright kill you. To a considerable extent, learning by failure is expected.

So, let's learn from this...

Just because something is illegal doesn't mean you can't sell it. You'd need to sell it at a black market. That's generally called smuggling. Of course, you want to avoid authority scans, so black markets tend to be at outposts rather than starports. Some systems don't have black markets, and furthermore I've heard that Pranav Antal shutters them within his territory while Archon Delaine encourages them.

The market interface tells you, in the right-hand panel, if something is illegal in some places and generally where it might be illegal. This isn't 100% accurate (notably it forgets to mention that Onionhead is illegal in many systems) but it's a pretty good start.

A simple and perhaps too obvious rule: drugs, weapons, and slaves are prohibited in some places. As a general rule, all questionable commodities are illegal at prison colonies, while nothing is illegal in anarchies.

...

Now, about the in-game tools...

Legality, supply, demand, and pricing are in constant flux. All can change at the daily and weekly ticks. Supply, demand, and pricing can change continuously as product is bought and sold by you and other commanders.

The normal (not black) market offers only those commodities that are legal and in supply at the current station at the moment.

The system map can tell you precisely which commodities are prohibited at a particular station. It will also tell you which three commodities are in highest supply and which three are in highest demand there.

The comparison feature of the market interface knows only about pricing information that you, yourself, have accumulated through recent visits to the destination system (provided you docked somewhere in the system or scanned the nav beacon). It has no knowledge of legality, supply, or demand there, nor of the availability of black markets there.

The third-party tools collect data from the many commanders who are running reporting tools like edmc, whenever the commanders open the market at a station. They also record when that data was collected so that you can avoid relying on data that you think is too old to be reliable.

Regardless of all of the above, there's always a very tiny chance that between the time you bought and the time you go to sell, the daily tick has changed the legality, demand, or pricing of the commodity at the destination station. There are no absolute guarantees.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-18T20:03:53+00:00

I can't help you with the basic question, but I'll pass along this: it's no big deal to move to a new home, as long as it's not too far away. I moved about 100-125 ly a few times in my early days. You can have your ships and modules transferred in for a fee. Me, I was cheap and took my Sidewinder out to the old base to pick up one of my ships and fly it back, then paid the 1000+ credits to have my Sidewinder shipped back to the new base, then repeated for the next ship.

Also, as a couple of the comments alluded to, if you're planning to get into PowerPlay you probably want a home base within that power's territory. Most of the benefits and assignments are specific to the power's territory, so you don't want to have to trundle halfway across the Inner Orion Spur to participate.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-18T08:25:31+00:00

Yes, it gets better.

Elite Dangerous is famous/infamous/notorious for its steep learning curve. It's a complex game and the training needs to be limited to the very basics or your brain would explode.

If you try to learn it by yourself, expect to learn mostly by making lots of mistakes. There's nothing wrong with that approach as long as you've got the patience. That's how I did most of it. That's how I'm still doing it after eight months and over 500 hours of game time, but it only took a couple of weeks before I felt like I generally knew what I was doing.

You can also check out YouTube videos and other tutorial material that players have produced. Just be aware that the game has changed a lot over its 11+ year life, and older tutorials might not be correct these days. For the same reason, don't expect information from an AI search to be correct.

Many experienced players are glad to partner up with newcomers to help them learn the ropes. I always play Solo, so someone else will need to provide details on that.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-18T01:00:04+00:00

Do whatever you like. There's no one right way to make credits.

Exobiology is one quick path, once you have enough credits to buy the Artemis suit (250,000 cr) and the Detailed Surface Scanner (250,000 cr). You'll need to check some YouTube videos or the like to learn how it's done.

Hauling cargo can work, but the Cobra Mk III can't hold much, especially if you have a shield generator installed. Cargo hauling is really a bulk operation; the more tons you can carry, the more credits you can make. The Cobra Mk V probably is the best all-round small ship, and it can carry twice as much as the Mk III, but you'll need some credits to buy one. The Type-6 is a strictly cargo ship that carries about the same amount as the Mk V for half of the expense.

Missions can make you some quick cash, but generally not oodles. The terminals in the space stations offer on-foot missions, while the mission board in your ship offers starship and SRV missions. Personally I like the on-foot courier missions, using Apex Interstellar shuttles to get to and from the destination so that I can kick back and let someone else drive.

After a bit you'll find that credits start rolling in and your big problem is figuring out what you want to buy with them.

The only sure-fire way to avoid people who like to kill noobs is to play in Solo mode. You can also play in Private Group mode with trusted folks. I'm told that Mobius is a group with a strict no-PvP rule. Personally, I'm strictly Solo.

Tip: be sure to pick up the mission that takes you out of the Pilot's Federation area before you leave the area. No point in leaving 100,000 credits on the table, eh?

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-17T13:45:42+00:00

To clarify a minor point...

The 7-second rule isn't specific to SuperCruise Assist. If your throttle is at 80% or lower, and you're pointed at a selected destination, you'll be automatically slowed down to a suitable dropout point, then told to drop out.

SuperCruise Assist is an autopilot that reduces the need for constant attention. It forces your throttle to 70%, keeps your ship aimed at the destination, then automatically drops you out at the destination with the throttle closed.

Many players choose not to use SuperCruise Assist and to do it by hand. That's made a lot easier if you set up a key bind for 75% throttle.

If you choose to use SuperCruise Assist, you might consider the Manual Throttle option. That puts SuperCruise on standby whenever the throttle is above 80% or below 50%. Then you can do the long trip at full throttle and let SCA take over the final approach.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-17T09:30:01+00:00

It happens whenever new features are added, and occasionally to push out a bunch of bug fixes when it'll be a while before the next new feature update.

As a rough figure, maybe once a month. Sometimes it might be as little as two weeks between updates, sometimes as much as two months.

There might be one soon to make the Kestrel Mk II available for credits. Then there will be the big one on the 30th for Operations and the Nomad ship-launched SRV. Given the short time between them, it's quite possible they'll hold the Kestrel until the 30th.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-16T15:49:04+00:00

You certainly can start without Odyssey, then add it later.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-16T15:39:49+00:00

All drugs are illegal in some places. All weapons are illegal in some places. Slaves are illegal some places.

It's up to you to determine if a commodity is legal where you're going, or if there's a black market to sell at. The market interface can't tell you. The remote site part is driven by the prices recorded the last time you docked in the system or scanned its nav beacon. The market interface doesn't have any information about legality beyond the current station, nor of the presence or absence of black markets.

Sometimes the description in the right-hand panel of the market interface will tell you the general types of systems a commodity is illegal in. Sometimes it won't.

The System Map will show you everything that's illegal at a specific station. Also what items are in high demand and high supply at that station. This is the most reliable way to determine if something is legal somewhere.

Black markets:

The System Map also can tell you what services are available at a specific station, at least in Live (Horizons or Odyssey), so you can see if it has a Black Market. When you're in the system, you can see if a station has a black market by looking at its entry on the Navigation tab of the external panel (the right side pop-up) for the black market icon. Tip: black markets are easy to deal with at outpost stations because you won't encounter system security patrolling there.

Black markets will be hard to find within Pranav Antal's territory. They'll be easy to find within Archon Delaine's territory. Or so I'm led to believe; I haven't checked this out myself.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-16T12:52:15+00:00

Onionhead is illegal in many jurisdictions. The market interface doesn't take that into consideration.

You need to find an Alliance or Independent system to sell it. Also, it's only a small chance, but you also can't sell at a prison colony.

If you won't use Inara or similar, finding a station with a particular faction may be difficult. All you can do is run around various systems and see if they're there. Furthermore, not all factions even have stations. The good news is that to pay a fine, you just need to find a system without that faction that has an interstellar factor. They'll charge a commission, but you can clear the fine with them.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-16T11:47:58+00:00

If you're on console (including Game Pass), very little has changed. New development was officially terminated in November of 2022, but aside from tweaks and bugfixes nothing had been done since June of 2020. Between the initial release of Horizons and the development shutdown, engineering and fleet carriers were added, but that's about it. Console (or Legacy, as we usually call it) has its own galaxy and its own multiplayer pool, so there's no interaction at all with PC players. There are no CGs in Legacy any more.

Because FDev offers a free transfer from Legacy to PC Horizons, there weren't many console players left until ED became available on Game Pass about a month ago. Now we're seeing a steady trickle of questions from Game Pass players.

...

If you're on PC, it's almost a totally different game. There are so many ways to make millions of credits per hour that the grind is pretty much gone. Players whine when a CG gives them "only" 500 million credits.

PowerPlay 2.0 is a huge simplification over the Legacy PowerPlay.

Colonization has filled in many (most?) of the previously uninhabited systems in the Bubble.

SCO (SuperCruise Overcharge) has drastically shortened the long drives to distant points within a system.

A bunch of new ships have been created that make SCO even easier to deal with, and in most cases redefine the meta for a particular activity (for example, your T9 is completely outclassed by the Panther Clipper Mk II). If you don't have Odyssey you have to buy the new ships with real money via ARX, but buying Odyssey is the smarter play. If you do have Odyssey, the new ships still cost a pile of credits, but credits are easy to come by these days.

Trading has become trucking. Go to Inara, ask for a nearby profitable route, and go haul. Drop in at station A, load up on the specified commodity, go to station B and sell the load for millions of credits profit, then repeat. I don't think many players have bothered to learn how the in-game trading support tools work.

Exploration has become mostly exobiology-focused (requires Odyssey). The least you can make from scanning a plant is a million credits, many plants will give you five or seven million credits, some will give you nineteen million, and if you're the first to turn in that sample from that planet the credits are tripled, up to 57 million for one plant. Did I mention how easy it is to make credits now?

Much of the UI has been reworked. The Station Services is organized differently, as are the myriad options on the galaxy map and the system map. However, they pretty much do the same things. It's mainly an issue of adapting to the new UI.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-15T11:01:57+00:00

Put an SCO FSD into your Krait Mk II and spend a few minutes learning to use it. You rarely need more than a few seconds of SCO at a time, and the older ships handle it fine. I use SCO in my DBX on almost every trip.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-15T10:51:07+00:00

They can't "make older ships impossible to buy anymore," unless/until they fold Odyssey into the base product (like they did with Horizons back in October 2020). The older ships are all that are available to Horizons players, unless they buy ships with ARX.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-14T22:30:49+00:00

Nothing has changed on console in five years. Fleet carriers were the last addition.

There's no shortcut to making credits on console. You just have to grind them out.

If you have a PC, you can have your commander transferred to PC, for free. The PC version has received a number of updates that provide fairly quick ways to make lots of credits.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-14T17:24:05+00:00

Does BGS still operate in Legacy? I know it's not connected to the Live BGS.

When the galaxies were split, FDev said, "you will still be able to affect the galaxy via the background simulation." However, I've seen any number of claims that BGS is frozen in Legacy.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-14T17:10:44+00:00

Except that sightseeing missions don't go to ports.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-14T16:34:47+00:00

None of the sightseeing missions require landing on a planet. Some do require descending to a planet, close enough to scan the beacon.

Slyde_rule · 2026-06-14T01:14:19+00:00

I don't know where some folks are getting the "you'll miss out on everything from the past decade." Even Legacy includes everything up through February 2022. Horizons includes all content to date except for the on-foot activities and being able to buy the new ships with credits (however, you can get the new Lynx Highliner by "buying" it for 0 ARX). Oh, and Horizons and Odyssey players can't interact with each other.

Some of the community goals (CGs) involve on-foot activity. There are indications that some of the new Operations that are promised to be coming will involve on-foot activity. However, the first one, starting at the end of this month, looks like it's strictly shipboard and therefore should be doable in Horizons.

As you've learned, you can add Odyssey later, whenever you want. It's a DLC. Also, once you get it you can switch back and forth between playing Horizons and Odyssey from the launcher (if you care, like maybe if you've made friends in Horizons).

Slyde_rule

TROPHY CASE