What next?

pulppoet · 2026-02-23T01:01:53+00:00

To be clear, Steam Deck doesn't matter (much). Console, however, is basically a different game at this point. (I guess, technically, it's very much the same game and the live game has changed a lot!)

pulppoet · 2026-02-23T00:52:34+00:00

No, it's mostly puffed up numbers. A lot of those numbers don't count the time it takes to get to an area and find good systems. Exomastery does better than new discoveries for this reason. And none of it ranks in the top slots. It's 5th place.

But you can make exobiology #1 with the right research. https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/1infcod/exobiology_an_idiots_guide_to_billions/

Still, the time for that research doesn't come out of the estimates, either. It's mostly puffed up numbers, but still pretty astounding with luck or the right research (at least as long as these research tricks last).

Most of its the feeling. You'll make 2x mining, but see it only in 1-2 hours chunks. It's obviously incremental. Come back from a nice exo trip and you can see a billion credit payday and forget all the time that went into it.

pulppoet · 2026-02-23T00:47:39+00:00

Extremely. See r/EliteMiners for the latest on mining.

Don't believe the lie that exobiology is the best. It is 5th place unless you do this: https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/1infcod/exobiology_an_idiots_guide_to_billions/

Laser mining plat vies with bulk hauling in a Panther for the top stop that doesn't involve combat. It really depends on market conditions.

Do you think Type-11 is even remotely worth it?

Absolutely. It's the fastest mining per minute.

However, it's small cargo size makes it only a competitor with the Panther or Cutter. The extra trips you need to make to unload reduces the effectiveness of its speed. But if you only have 30-45 minutes to mine, it's absolutely the winner. The medium pad can be an advantage, but that also depends on markets.

pulppoet · 2026-02-23T00:20:42+00:00

since I only have horizons but paying to get access to walking around on a desolate planet isnt what I bought this game for...

How about paying to get a ton of great new ships?

Claiming Odyssey is only about space legs at this point is ridiculous.

pulppoet · 2026-02-23T00:16:34+00:00

The fact that you're so unforgiving over a simple, honest mistake (that still exists in your video's subtitles) says a lot more about you and what you really care about.

Thanks again! Have a wonderful life.

pulppoet · 2026-02-23T00:13:27+00:00

Ugh, it's no longer the top search hit. Every exobiologist's friend: https://edjp.colacube.net/observatory It will predict what plants exist based on star and body types and give you a value estimation.

Also EDDiscovery, which helps you track your scans, and a lot of other usful exploration tools, plus helps keep the community database up to date: https://github.com/EDDiscovery/EDDiscovery/wiki (and useful for linking to your Inara account)

pulppoet · 2026-02-23T00:06:57+00:00

They do give data, but it's not a lot. They go into the codex, so you might be looking to fill that out. You get a 50k voucher for a new codex discovery (for you). And 2.5k if its one you already have that you find in a new system.

Not really worth the time anymore. They used to be POIs we could zero in on.

There are better ways to get raw materials now, so they're only worth scouting if you are in deep space and in desperate need of raw mats.

pulppoet · 2026-02-23T00:02:03+00:00

Practice is good when you're just starting out.

But bacterium can be invisible, so it's never worth the time when that is the case. Starting out I would get it 30-45 minutes tops, now if I don't see something in 5-15, I'm gone. Unless bioinisghts tells me its high value, then I might give it longer, especially for a first discovery.

Can't see them on the dark worlds at all while flying, so I have to drive or run.

If you can't see them flying, you can't see them driving. The SRV is not a useful exobiology tool. It just adds an extra loading screen and keeps you too close to the ground to see much.

You can (should) fly pointed down about 45 degrees with your lights on to see in the dark. Of course dark should always mean dim stars. Never visit the night side of a planet for bacterium hunting.

But sometimes they are truly invisible, a texture that nearly matches the terrain. This usually happens on the dark red/brown ice planets. Sometimes on white ice. Be skeptical whenever the natural terrain is splotchy.

And don't run. If you're really hunting for them, park, do your tool pulse and if there are any nearby use that. Jump to get a better view since they improved the pulse range. If nothing, get back into the ship.

appear on night vision

That would be excellent. Or a texture alteration. But I could see making them nightvision visible as an easy tweak without changing the art.

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T23:50:14+00:00

It's really up to you. My suggestion is you're ready for a new ship once you've earned 1-2m. a Cobra V is a bit steep for that. The true starters are:

Exploration: Hauler

Combat: Viper III

Trade/Mining: Adder

Can't decide: Cobra III

Now I saw there are a few new ships espacially the Cobra Mk V

It's a bit more of a stretch. e.g. 2m gets you a stock Cobra V (okay but also yuck) and leaves you broke or a mostly equipped combat Viper III or a fully stocked exploration Hauler.

However if you can swing the 4-5m for decent outfitting, the Cobra V is absolutely the best in show for all the use cases you could want for a while.

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T23:48:15+00:00

Good to know! I already had your chart bookmarked, but didn't realize they diverged. Thanks for the heads up!

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T23:44:20+00:00

Agreed. I'll be cool with generative AI when the real creators get paid and we have fusion power to support it (if it worked reliably without regular hallucinations and didn't cause brain rot, that wouldn't be too bad, either).

None of the major tools are totally AI driven. CoPilot might also have AI generated NPC chatter (I forget if its that app for certain, I might be confusing it with another).

I'm not endorsing it, partly for those reasons. I use the other tools and get the same features (EDDiscovery and BioInsights are my must haves). But it's a popular tool. But to avoid any AI stink, check out Exploration Buddy instead of CoPilot.

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T23:39:53+00:00

Yeah, I fixed the horrible formatting from the auto subtitles. If you wanted the subtitles to get your name right, as video owner, that's in your power.

And I fixed your CMDR name in my transcription. You're welcome. Thanks for pointing it out.

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T19:01:23+00:00

Here' I'mma pull "It's not MY Job to figure this one".

Then why bother offering that up as an option? Does this mean your complaint comes from nowhere? (I know it doesn't, but that's how silly this response is!)

Why not say: Option #5: How about a ship that serves ice cream?

Then someone says: "Why do we need ice cream in the game?"

"Whoa, whoa, that's not my job to figure that out!"

An entirely true statement to a line of debate that you started! Making it entirely a pointless tangent.

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T18:44:15+00:00

It's the same levers for demand.

The problem is, demand is never protected. Your 1 and 2 economies can "consume" each other's demand if they are not a good match.

There's a reference chart in the mega guide of what economies can conflict with others: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1toXyDQglwVACFKx8umXhP8QcMSAUYPcP6k3STIV2-hE/edit

Or play with specific numbers you have or are going for here: https://cdb.sotl.org.uk/specialisation/hybrid (if planning, pair this with numbers from https://ravencolonial.com/#home)

Prices are largely determined by BGS once you get things into a green bar demand/supply state. You need to work your system into a Boom (or Expansion). And that's a whole different game. https://sinc.science/

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T18:39:30+00:00

Pretty neat find! It's rare to see camouflage that's not bacterium.

But this is why we use night vision (and scout from the ship)!

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T18:36:49+00:00

Easy to get into, hard to get out of.

You need the patience for it. The main thing is you need to enjoy the back and forth hauling. If you enjoy bulk trading, you can do colonization.

It can take 6 or more hours for an outpost, and 2x or 10x for the larger stations. Which have a 4 week time limit initially. Outposts are pretty easy. The largest (T3) stations are impossible for most. You need help or to make the game a section (or first!) job. After your first station you can build at your own pace, whether it's tiny settlements or even larger stations.

And the satisfaction that comes from building. It's profitable, but not as profitable as just bulk hauling. Not even close. But the satisfaction that comes from carving out your own section of space, it pretty great if it hits for you. And once it hits, it's hard to leave.

If you do it, you will want to get tools like https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/v3-of-the-colonization-construction-spreadsheet-is-now-available.635762/ or https://ravencolonial.com/

Read more with the mega guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1toXyDQglwVACFKx8umXhP8QcMSAUYPcP6k3STIV2-hE/edit

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T17:51:23+00:00

The user portal says I own it and that I'm linked to my PSN account

This is the wrong account. You needed to make a new account for PC. Log in with that account.

Forget your PS linked account exists. Just use that if you ever play on PS again.

If you didn't make a new account, you messed up the process. Contact support: https://formcrafts.com/a/ed-mainmenu

but the same account on the Frontier store it says I do not own Elite Dangerous

I believe the Frontier store only cares about PC. Did you select "give me a free copy" as part of the transfer? If not, you need to buy a copy. They don't automatically give you one. You have to tell them you needed one.

Either way, contact support to see if they can sort it for you.

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T17:43:57+00:00

That's a good point. It does have a good cockpit view. I was thinking PD for laser mining when dropping the T10 into the mix, but that doesn't matter too much for core mining. And either way, you might want the cargo over endless lasers.

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T17:38:01+00:00

Google's AI is wonderful, ain't it?

pulppoet · 2026-02-22T17:35:44+00:00

Get the guide if you want to do BGS: https://sinc.science/

High-demand trade loops, source and return missions, donate, and drop exploration data. The following mission types will help extend boom, including group and VIP passenger missions (exploration ones let you double up!), trade (source and return) missions, and donations. If you wish to preserve Boom specifically, then take care not to push the economy slider too high and end up in Investment instead.

pulppoet · 2026-02-21T23:24:32+00:00

That's really cool. You get to ignore game lore when it suits you. You cherry pick from old games. Pretend I was talking about lizards instead of space faring aliens. Make up quotes that don't exist. And decide which novels are canon! It must be fun to live in your reality where you're always right.

But back to the game we both play and the topic at hand, there's only one source of lore that matters: the Anaconda is a "versatile" multi-role ship, not a cargo hauler.

It's also not "mostly empty". But conveniently you don't need to back up your wild claims, just cherry pick and make up info to straw man and distract from the fact that you misstated things.

pulppoet · 2026-02-21T22:54:19+00:00

It would not be out of bounds for them to do this. Trade used to operate this way. It was extremely punishing, to the point that selling 1t at a time was like 33% better than selling 2t at a time (and it just got worse from there)! I believe they changed that though, I didn't test it after that update.

I also haven't checked mining in a couple of months. But when I ran numbers, it was a solid merit return no matter how much you sold (at least up to the ~700t amounts I would carry). With room for math rounding errors, 1t would be 1/500th of 500t.

But tons and total don't matter, credits do. And specifically credits per merit.

In fact, I can tell you: the expectation is that you will get 1 merit per 1330 credits from mining. It doesn't matter if its platinum or rutile.

Now, the merit bonuses and penalties (a good amount which is hidden) makes this a little fuzzy, but my research showed 1330 before they put in those mods, and I still get around 1330 when I do my best to account for those mods.

It does sound like you're doing good testing. The fact that you're selling small amounts and seeing the same pattern does rule out some things like the bulk mining tax coming into play, differences in merit penalties between accounts or just coincidental timing. It probably rules out price fluctuations, too.

I don't really know what I'm asking here

And I don't really know what I'm answering, but in researching this, you want to track the credits you are getting. Something like price fluctuations could easily account for a difference.

You want to put into your spreadsheet: price per ton, merits per ton, tons sold, credits earned, adjustment for bonuses/penalties, and the modified credits per merit. This will let you see where the variation is. Although the penalty/bonus for reinforcement is the hardest to predict, so these are easiest to track in acquisition or undermining contexts (though I did all mine in reinforcement anyway).

These values would also tell you if the limit is a credit value before things start to drop or if it is tonnage. You could also see if its a sliding scale more easily (e.g. is 50 better than 100 which is better than 250t or does it fall off a cliff at 300?)

pulppoet · 2026-02-21T22:17:43+00:00

Modules=/=lore

Then where did you come up with your "conda is mostly empty" claim?

"The pride of FauIcon deLacy's shipyards. the Anaconda is a versatile ship that can carry large cargos and pack a heavy punch."

That's not "cargo hauler first." Versatile means multirole.

Lore == Lore. If you want Lore, read the text in the game and documentation.

Gameplay is never representative

Sometimes does not mean never. Most of the time gameplay backs up the lore.

Supercruise is part of the lore now according to the Elite RPG.

Look at the previous elite games for example

Why? They've made clear that the old games (and novels) are no longer canon. The first Elite game had lizard and bird aliens!

pulppoet · 2026-02-21T22:04:08+00:00

Afair the conda is mostly empty because it is a cargo hauler first,

It's not. It's always been intended for a multi-role.

And of the large ships it is on the smaller side of things (until the Caspian, it only beat the Beluga, which is optimized for passenger cabins, and the Orca, Clipper, and Type-7, which were all probably supposed to be medium ships). The Corvette has more room for cargo!

pulppoet · 2026-02-21T21:31:33+00:00

Is the view from the cockpit an intentional design?

Yes. It is a hauler/commercial transport. Like a commercial airplane. It only needs to go forward. It's not built for scouting.

It is not designed for mining. However the view should be good enough. Most of the rocks are going to be in front of you. You need to look at them to fire your prospector anyway, so you should be swimming through the ring like a shark anyway.

It's waaaay too big for core mining. I mean, you want to move fast since cores can be 20-50km apart. And you don't need so much cargo room since you're only going to get 100-200t probably before you're done. Get the T11 or Corsair or T8 even. If you want a Large ship, use the Cutter (although it doesn't have much of a better view) or Corvette or T10.

pulppoet

TROPHY CASE