Elite: Dangerous. I broke down.

[JudgeDredd]

I don't know mate tbh. I saw the option, on the menus, and thought I'd give it a go. You and UCG were the only two I could recall had the game at the time, so I tried both and you came up.

[undercovergeek]

follow the JH method, tool up and head to the distress signals

Indeed. Tooling up helps, but it isn't even necessary. I was very successful in the distress signal zone with the free sidewinder you get when you start the game. So long as you side with the Eranin and hunt the federals, you'll make steady progress. After three or four sorties I was able to afford an eagle. Another two sorties and I had her equipped with some serious lasers. I'm now operating an Eagle armed with two Burst Lasers under the wing mounts and a Pulse Laser mounted on the top turret. I can run all three without losing power to life support. The combo runs out of power pretty quickly, but tears down shields and hulls. I would say I got about 22 kills last night with this weapon combo in under 30 minutes.

My plan is to shop around for either a Viper or Cobra, new classes of weapons, or maybe even upgrade my Eagle to reinforced hull armor.

is there a sub class of freighters or is it just a question of using the cargo holds on the eagle/viper/anaconda?

[undercovergeek]

I don't know mate tbh. I saw the option, on the menus, and thought I'd give it a go. You and UCG were the only two I could recall had the game at the time, so I tried both and you came up.

sent you a friend request apparently

[Jarhead0331]

follow the JH method, tool up and head to the distress signals

Indeed. Tooling up helps, but it isn't even necessary. I was very successful in the distress signal zone with the free sidewinder you get when you start the game. So long as you side with the Eranin and hunt the federals, you'll make steady progress. After three or four sorties I was able to afford an eagle. Another two sorties and I had her equipped with some serious lasers. I'm now operating an Eagle armed with two Burst Lasers under the wing mounts and a Pulse Laser mounted on the top turret. I can run all three without losing power to life support. The combo runs out of power pretty quickly, but tears down shields and hulls. I would say I got about 22 kills last night with this weapon combo in under 30 minutes.

My plan is to shop around for either a Viper or Cobra, new classes of weapons, or maybe even upgrade my Eagle to reinforced hull armor.

is there a sub class of freighters or is it just a question of using the cargo holds on the eagle/viper/anaconda?

No. There are dedicated haulers. Currently pilotable in game is the Lakon Type 6, the Lakon Type 9 - heavy, the Zorgon Peterson Hauler.  The Cobra and Anaconda have a serious bite, but also boast noticeable cargo space, as well.

Lakon Type-6

The Lakon Type 6, like the much larger Lakon Type-9 Heavy is a freighter vessel mainly used for trading and hauling.

Lakon Type-9

The Lakon Type-9 Heavy is a heavy freighter featured in Elite: Dangerous. Currently it has the largest capacity cargo hold of any ship available making it the ideal trading and hauling vessel. As a result of this it suffers from poor maneuverability and can have difficulty in shaking smaller ships from its blind spot. Although with five weapon hardpoints the Lakon Type-9 Heavy is not without defenses and can equip heavy armament.

It first appeared in the development diary videos and in some of the live streams done by Frontier. Later it appeared in the early Alpha stages and is one of the four ships that was in the first release of the Premium Beta.

The ship itself is often seen as a freighter, although it can be a potent threat if equipped with the right weapons. It can, with good aim and piloting take down a Sidewinder in one pass. Yet, the role of this ship is most likely going to be a trader as it is incredibly slow and lumbering. Also note that it has problems fitting through the narrow gates of the Coriolis space stations and can therefore be very expensive to fly if the pilot is not sufficiently skilled.

Zorgon Peterson Hauler

The Zorgon Peterson Hauler, more commonly known as just "The Hauler" is a light freighter designed to give pilots a ship with a sizeable cargo hold for a relatively low price. This is countered by the Hauler featuring only one weapon hardpoint making it very weak in combat.

[Gusington]

I officially now have a hard on for this game. Using this thread as my manual. Purchase is imminent. Never had a chance to play the first one on my C 64 so this will be doubly sweet.

[Jarhead0331]

I officially now have a hard on for this game. Using this thread as my manual. Purchase is imminent. Never had a chance to play the first one on my C 64 so this will be doubly sweet.

It took 31 pages of this to give you wood? I hear doctors are actually prescribing copies of Elite: Dangerous in lieu of Viagra.

[bob48]

^ROFL ;D

[Gusington]

I'm the shy type.

EDIT: will a physical copy be available at launch? Anyone know?

[undercovergeek]

he's in.......... like taking candy from a baby

you a fighter or a trader?

[bob48]

Can you form guilds or such like in MP?

[Gusington]

I think I'd like to start as a trader.

[Con]

Ok I am getting slowly sucked into the vortex as well

It's a bit pricey though
$75 for the game
$120 for new saitek x52 controllers
$140 for trackir (it's too cool not to have with this game)
Total $335

So to try and save costs I see someone is selling a saitek x52 on Craigslist here in boston for $60 (joystick and thruster) supposedly in excellent condition. Any advice if I should go with the used one and save $60 or am I only going to get headaches buying this used?

Thanks
Conrad

[RooksBailey]

Cool vid of the astrophysics at work (two hours condensed into 30 secs):

But I am still prepared to wait a bit more before jumping in.   :)

[Grim.Reaper]

came across 5 or 6 guys today just doing their trading, heading from a - b, no animosity, one guy sent a message with what he was carrying and what the prices were - all very friendly

used the stick for the first time today - something happened that i didnt expect, although the mouse and keyboard were fine, it didnt feel like i was flying my ship, it felt like i was using tools to move something around on screen, but with the stick - its my ship, im in it and im flying it, docking and landing feel awesome - cant explain why, it just feels great, breaking through the blue haze of the entry port and seeing the inside and then finding your bay, and the music change - its just great

not doing much at the mo, just haulin' fruit and veg to Beagle and bringing back tech to Azerban, going to note some prices as ive seen the hauler at 22k - i need some more sexy products to shift

all in all - awesome

Did I miss it earlier, what flightstick did you end up buying?

[Grim.Reaper]

Ok I am getting slowly sucked into the vortex as well

It's a bit pricey though
$75 for the game
$120 for new saitek x52 controllers
$140 for trackir (it's too cool not to have with this game)
Total $335

So to try and save costs I see someone is selling a saitek x52 on Craigslist here in boston for $60 (joystick and thruster) supposedly in excellent condition. Any advice if I should go with the used one and save $60 or am I only going to get headaches buying this used?

Thanks
Conrad

Wow...your going all in from the start!