Elite: Dangerous. I broke down.

[Jarhead0331]

There have been times in the FDS where I've came out of jump and kind of wandered about killing shit without even seemingly being noticed - other times I've been jumped on by a multitude of Fed ships and don't even get a single kill before I'm getting the eject warning!

Yep. When you're jumped by 5 or more ships at once, it can get very dangerous very fast. It doesn't happen too often usually, but when it does it is frustrating. Worse, there is no way to communicate with the allied Eranin sidewinders to ask for help. I wish you form squadrons with them and coordinate when necessary.

[JudgeDredd]

Man...I SERIOUSLY pushed my luck in the FDS this morning.

I had already visited it twice and got my ass kicked because I was jumped on by a shed load of Fed fighters both times and dispatched quick smart.

I then went back and was jumped again...but with my shield gone and hull done to 12%...I thought "What have I got to lose?"...so I stuck it out, transferred power to engines to run...ran a bit and moved power to shields to build my shield back up and headed back in.

I got 17 kills and was just about thinking I had overstayed my welcome when I was mugged by a load of new incoming Feds.

I started running. I already had Azeban City locked (one of the first things I do when I get in the FDS - always have your egress!) - so I just had activate the jump drive right? Wrong. "Mass Locked!!" I couldn't jump. So I was jinking and turning, moving energy from shields to engine and back again, using my booster to try and get distance, frantically trying to operate the jump drive.

Eventually, my shields came back online - with 1% hull left! I moved energy back to engine, boosted again and operated the jump drive again. This time it engaged but was reduced by a factor of 10 because of Mass location or something.

I carried on jinking, diving, yawing all over the place until I left the mass lock and the jump drive eventually went into full charge....4....3....2....1... DONE!

I got back to Azeban City with 17 kills to retrieve and 1% hull!

[undercovergeek]

i think it will have been a proximity lock, not so much mass lock but if youve got ships around you, plus you overheat when you jump with an extended jump time and can explode apparently

[JudgeDredd]

That's what it was - a proximity lock. And yeah - I was lucky with the heat issue because I was using Boost a lot!

[Jarhead0331]

I've had some very similar experiences over the past few days.  Still, I've managed to raise over 100,000. Tonight, I plan on heading out to beagles landing to pick up a viper and equip her with some serious firepower. This time, however, I'll be sure to save at least 8000 to 10000 in the bank...just in case.

[undercovergeek]

ive been looking around for guides to upgrading ships, what weapons to get first etc but havent found any tips

i know im going to go hauler and then cobra but just need tips on the whole, heat sinks, missiles, lasers, cannons thing

[Jarhead0331]

ive been looking around for guides to upgrading ships, what weapons to get first etc but havent found any tips

i know im going to go hauler and then cobra but just need tips on the whole, heat sinks, missiles, lasers, cannons thing

Right. So I read about the weapon classes on the wiki to see how they operate in terms of power requirement and damage to shields and/hull. I applied this information to my play style, which is up close and aggressive and worked out what I think will be the best combo. It's still a learning experience though and I'm always trying new things.

[JudgeDredd]

For any of you geezers that don't make it up to the Share Your Videos thread...

This is trading and dying really fast!

[JudgeDredd]

oh...and I can't believe I paid 1000 credits to fix the hull, made 1000 credits on mt trade and then got wiped out immediately on jumping into the FDS - losing my 1000 profit, the 1000 I spent on repairs and my time :-)

[undercovergeek]

i responded there about the collisions - i see the problem now! none of the combat tutorials do that so i wonder if its scripted in the AI

[Jarhead0331]

i responded there about the collisions - i see the problem now! none of the combat tutorials do that so i wonder if its scripted in the AI

It never strikes me as a tactic the AI is doing on purpose.  The reality of combat in space is sometimes you end up on a head on collision course. Usually, either the player or the AI will break before impact, but sometimes you and/or the AI break away too late, or both parties break into each other.  Sometimes a collision just happens. I don't feel like the AI is ever really going kamikaze and it doesn't feel gamey or unfair to me. 

[JudgeDredd]

I agree...it's just an accident and whilst I would agree it's not "unfair", I don't like the total collapse of the craft on one strike. They're just too fast to often do anything about. So I'll be a huge fan if they tame that down...not by a lot - but enough that you can decide to bug out.

[undercovergeek]

anaconda meets lakon 9 - almost destruction!

[Jarhead0331]

I agree...it's just an accident and whilst I would agree it's not "unfair", I don't like the total collapse of the craft on one strike. They're just too fast to often do anything about. So I'll be a huge fan if they tame that down...not by a lot - but enough that you can decide to bug out.

I guess, but it doesn't strike me as unrealistic as is. Think about it. You have two vessels heading straight towards each other, each traveling approximately 150 to 200km/s. That is going to be a major impact.  I've had collisions that were not head on and survived with varying levels of damage to shields and hull. So, although harsh, I believe it is realistic and realism is something that I don't want the game to depart from.

What I'd like is the ability to cash in your vouchers from deep space. If I can cash them in electronically from my cockpit while docked, why can't I do this in space, as well?  If I could make a few kills here and there and then log into the security office from space to cash in the vouchers, I wouldn't feel pressured to break off all the time and fly back to port. Also, this would really give the player an option to pause from the action to avoid a catastrophe. If the player fails to do this and then dies, then the loss of the vouchers is on him. I think this is the best, and totally reasonable, solution to the issue.

[undercovergeek]

JH - saw this this and thought of you

http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6221

a post from a dev about multiple ship ownership and the purchase of hangars in space stations!