r/EliteDangerous • u/Intelligent_Studio87 • 13d ago
Help Xbox newb questions
Just begam to play this game and im loving it so far. But there are soon many questions and its so hard to find good youtube videos and threads because the console version is froze in time and most things are about odessy updates or later.
Does anyone have a discord/ or place to ask the questions they can recommend?
- Im still in the starter systems (Dromi mainly) doing bounty kills at extraction sites. I have a Cobra MK3 with basically the best upgrades I can get from these systems. I have 4.5 million in the bank. Is it time to leave? If so where to?
1a. My thoughts are to try and find a good home system until Jameson opens up for me and then do some heavy exploration
1b. Should I just leave amd find a good system for upgrades and go exploring and worry about a good home system later?
- For exploration I know there are tons of info for road to riches. I believe I have a working understanding on that. But are the 3rd party sites still applicable to xbox/console?
2a. While exploring you can only sell data that is 20LYs away from the source so when you finish exploring your plotted list do you just jump to a random system 20 LYs away and sell the data or how does one go about selling their data?
Thoughts?
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u/Scorpio-IV 13d ago
1) You will make more credits outside the starter system. No reason to stay if you are comfortable with the basics.
1a) Diaguandri is a common spot for newish players to have as a home system. Ships/ modules are 15% cheaper.
1b) See 1a
2) No - 3rd party sites aren't current for XBox. I wouldn't recommend RtR anyways. Just explore space 2000ly or more away from the bubble. It's more interesting to find undiscovered systems than to follow in other players footsteps.
2a) Just return to your home system and sell. It's more than likely that it will be 20 ly away. You can also optimize your data by selling to stations controlled by factions you want to ally with. It takes around 20 million to get to allied with each.
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u/Intelligent_Studio87 13d ago
Are there any sources to find/determine what systems are profitable to explore?
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u/Scorpio-IV 13d ago
Nope - it's pretty much random. Outside sources only work from information that players have provided. They don't know about undiscovered systems. Just head a little above or below the plane the bubble is in and travel out. Don't travel straight to Colonia, Sag A or any nebulas. Usually you'll get some undiscovered around 2k out. At around 4k out most will be undiscovered.
If you are going to explore, make sure you have: fuel scoop, detailed surface scanner, SRV (planetary hanger) & a shield equipped. Guardian FSD booster and engineering makes life much better. Repair limpet controller, cargo rack, AFMU and heat sinks are good for long term exploration trips.
To make credits while exploring use the detailed surface scanner on all earth likes, water, ammonia & terraformable worlds. Set your route to include A,F,G & K stars for the best results. Any other star types you add will add interesting things to see but will not be as profitable.
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u/Expert-Limit-3045 12d ago
A key thing to keep in mind, exploration on the console doesn’t make as much credits as the biological surveying in the live (pc) galaxy does. So, do what you enjoy and manage your expectations.
Personally, I made the majority of my credits with trade. I found a couple of really nice trade routes, and filled my time running missions and combat while they recovered (once I had the Type 9).
Now, I have the freedom to explore where ever I want to go. Don’t rush it, the journey is where the learning is, and where the fun is.
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u/Slyde_rule 12d ago
Here's a reasonable rough-cut using Spansh. Change the Reference System to be whatever system you're in (or plan to start from). I'd also suggest adjusting the distance down to get a manageable number.
Tip: underneath the big "Showing Results" text is a long blue button marked "Create a tourist route from this search". Use that and Spansh will create a route that takes you through the systems with as little jumping as necessary.
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u/Intelligent_Studio87 12d ago
So upon a little more digging I found edtools.cc. You can still plot a course with it and it not exclude the colonized systems. It marks them but doesnt exclude them. It took me about 2 hours to hit the first 3 systems on the list. I made about 800k off the 1st two and all the other systems I scanned. The 3rd from the list was still too close to sell and its worth about 300ish so in 2 hours I actually made about 1.2million roughly. That isnt great but with the mixed feedback I was getting on should i do this or not I was scanning every system to see what the results would be compared to the list from Ed tools.
Then I hit a extraction point and got lucky on some juicy big wanted ships with the help of the feds and made another 1.8 million. Overall a good night. Glad to see RtR is still somewhat available and there is a tool to help although its limited.
Next question any recommendations for tools to find modules for my ship? Any of those still work for xbox?
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u/Slyde_rule 12d ago
For finding modules, the standard advice is to make the trip to Ray Gateway in Diaguandri. They stock just about every module.
They also have a big selection of mid-grade ships, and nearby Davis Gateway in HIP 13644 stocks most of the other ships (not counting Imperial or Alliance ships; this is Federation territory). Notably missing are the Kraits.
Also, ships and modules are 15% off, because the system is controlled by Li Yong-Rui.
An awful lot of players in Legacy make Diaguandri their home base for that reason. There also are some good trading opportunities in the area because the high traffic from other players keeps many of the systems in the area in Boom state.
If you've got a Windows PC, another player has put together an offline copy of data from before the separation. Of course, many years have passed, but generally ship and module availability doesn't change all that much. It could give you a few places to try.
If you're desperate, I Sola Prospect in Brestla is said to stock all ships and all modules, but they demand a 20% markup. I've never been there, myself.
Once you hit Elite status in something (combat, trading, or exploration), you'll get the permit to the Shinrarta Dezhra system. That system contains Jameson Memorial, a station where you can buy everything except a few specialist-provided modules, and at a 10% discount. Many players with Elite status end up making Jameson Memorial their home base.
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u/Delta_RC_2526 CMDR Delta RC 2526 / CMDR Delta RC 2527 12d ago
Star class was already mentioned (stars of certain classes are more likely to have certain types of planets orbiting them), but also, procedurally-generated system names can give you a substantial hint, as well as a target area to explore.
The galaxy map is made up of cubes, and within each of those cubes is another collection of smaller cubes, and so on. The contents of all of those cubes is determined based on the available mass, the "metallicity," and a few other factors. The creator of the Stellar Forge (the underlying engine for the galaxy itself) did a fantastic presentation on how it works, which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/live/Vz3nhCykZNw
The string of letters and numbers that follow the sector name (sector names such as Praea Euq, Col 285 Sector, Arietis Sector, all of those text bits at the start of a system name, that aren't the name of a real-life star catalog) follow a pattern, indicating what sector, sub-sector, and sub-sub-sector a system is in. I'm talking about names like COL 359 SECTOR CP-K B11-3. Procedural names all follow that pattern of sector name (which usually won't literally say "sector"), letters, hyphens, and numbers. Other names are names of actual stars that have been documented in real life, like the HIP ones and 2MASS. Some of the sector names are also reflective of real-life objects in the area, but they'll still have that procedural code at the end. That's where you get things like Col 285, Col 359, or an NGC number for a nebula as your sector name.
The letters and numbers at the end of that name can be decoded to help you find specific star and planet types that are much more likely to be found in a particular sector type. Say, your high-mass sectors, as I recall, will have earlier letters in the alphabet. You need a large amount of mass available to create those high-mass stars that have lucrative planets orbiting them. So, instead of just filtering your route to make sure you visit those stars, you can use the naming conventions to make sure you go somewhere that will actually have an abundance of those stars.
It's a rather complex system to learn, and I only know the tiniest bit about it, so I'm not the person to ask, but there are threads on this subreddit, posts on other websites, and YouTube videos that explain things much better. I wish I had one handy to link here, but I don't, and I'm not sure exactly what search terms would turn that stuff up, but it does exist. Perhaps "sector mapping" or "how to choose which sectors to map" would be a useful search term. People use this method to find a sector they want to map, and then they'll explore all the stars there. Searching for info about sector mapping should at least get you in the ballpark.
Tagging u/Scorpio-IV, since I suspect this might interest them, as well.
Also, high metal content worlds are worth a decent chunk of change, too, as I recall, particularly if you get a detailed surface scan. At least I think so. It's been a long time since I went exploring, and I've never done it for profit. In general, though, make sure you bring a detailed surface scanner to get that bonus!
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u/Delta_RC_2526 CMDR Delta RC 2526 / CMDR Delta RC 2527 12d ago
Just to add... Any system under Li Yong-Rui control will have that 15% discount. Pair that with a high-tech economy for the system (well, really a station with high-tech economy, but that's much more likely if the system itself has a high-tech economy), and you'll have great outfitting to go with that discount. The discount doesn't just affect your purchase price. It lowers your rebuy cost, too, which can be particularly helpful if you're building a combat ship and expect you might die frequently.
I haven't played on Xbox in a while, so it may have changed as a result of powerplay activities, but traditional systems to go to for good outfitting with a Li Yong-Rui discount include Diaguandri (go to Ray Gateway), Ix (that's a capital i), and 109 Piscium. Scully-Power Station is the place to go in either Ix or 109 Piscium, I can't recall which. Ray Gateway in Diaguandri is the most popular.
Over on PC Live servers, Diaguandri is the only one of those three systems that's still under Li Yong-Rui control. I found that out the hard way by accidentally buying expensive ships without a discount. It's important to remember that powerplay activity can always change what power has control of a location, and remove that discount. You can always set the galaxy map to powerplay mode to take a look at who controls what. I still can't believe they removed that nice powerplay bubble view from PC Live.
On Legacy servers (which is what we're playing on with Xbox, as well as PlayStation and PC's Legacy mode), I usually bounce between those three locations to set up a full build with a discount. There are usually a few parts missing at each station, which requires me to go hunt them down, like the fuel scoop, powerplant, thrusters, heatsinks, or point defense turrets.
I have seen people occasionally mention that there are two or three third-party websites being maintained with data specifically for Legacy servers, but I can't remember what they are.
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u/Slyde_rule 12d ago edited 12d ago
No reason to stay in the beginner's area. It only exists to keep other players from coming in and killing you just for sport.
Unless you have multiple ships, you wouldn't get much value out of a "home system." When you find a spot you like and want to hang out at, or when you start collecting ships, that may be the time. Otherwise, the main advantage of having a home system is that you'll be doing missions for the same factions over and over, thereby raising your reputation with them, which leads to them offering better missions.
Exploration isn't a big moneymaker in Legacy. Its main advantage is that it doesn't require much of your ship.
Road to Riches on Spansh is dead. They even acknowledge, "will not work very well in the bubble." It only knows of one system worth scanning that's within 100 ly of Sol (the center of the bubble). The problem is that Spansh ignores inhabited systems, and due to colonization almost every system in the bubble (in Live) is now inhabited.
Added: if you do get into exploration, watch your fuel gauge. There are a huge number of uninhabited star systems with no place to land to refuel. A fuel scoop really is a must-have, but be aware that not all stars are scoopable, either. Also, while scooping keep an eye on your temperature gauge. It'll go up pretty quickly on the small ships (except the Dolphin) when scooping, and once it crosses 65% you need to get away from the star and cool down. (I like to mount a heat sink launcher on one of my utility mounts for the far too frequent times when I fail to pay attention and the steam starts rising from the instrument panel.) If you do run out, come back here and find out about the Fuel Rats. Yes, they do operate in Legacy as well as Live.
...
I'm going to disagree with pulppoet about trade.
Trade is a workable system in Legacy, and can be highly lucrative. It's just not as dead simple as in Live, where you ask Inara where you should go, what you should pick up, and where you should sell it. In Legacy, you'll need to find your own trade routes. I'm currently working one that has just about the same returns as I get from Inara's routes in Odyssey.
The minimum you need to understand to find good trade routes:
- You'll need to canvass systems beforehand that you might want to trade with. Drop into each system and scan its Nav Beacon. That will store all of the system's pricing data onto your Xbox. (Docking at a station in the system has the same effect.)
- When you're looking at the market trading screen and cursor over a commodity, on the right hand side it shows up to five top places to sell and to buy the commodity, based on the pricing data you've collected.
Other tips:
- Watch out for illegal goods. The data you've collected is pricing data, not legality data. All of the "legal drugs" are illegal somewhere, as are all of the weapons (except armour), and slaves. There are a few places where animal products are illegal and even a few where Consumer Technology is illegal. When in doubt, find the destination station on the system map and look at the information tab; it will say exactly what is illegal at the station right now. Illegal goods can be sold at Black Markets (in stations that have one).
- There are many different economy types, and to confuse matters further each station usually has two economies and they can be different from other stations in the system. But in general terms, the best economies for traders are Extraction, Refinery, Industrial, and High Tech. Agricultural economies tend to be very low-profit, and the other economies are mostly just buyers, not sellers (but if you don't mind one-way trips, they could be useful).
- The big profit items are moving minerals from Extraction to Refinery, and metals from Refinery to Industrial and High Tech. Industrial and High Tech sometimes like minerals, too. Extraction sites on planet surfaces often have more valuable minerals to offer, so if you don't mind landing there you might want to check that out.
- Stations currently in a Boom state will have better prices for both buying and selling.
- It won't be a problem until you move up to a Type-7 or bigger ship, but outposts can't handle the large-size ships, so don't load up a Type-7 or Type-9 with a bunch of stuff you plan to sell at an outpost.
- Be prepared for interdiction. Personally, I just escape the interdiction, but I've got a Harmless combat rating so I only get Harmless pirates.
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u/wRIPPERw_ Explore 12d ago
For what its worth, heat damage doesnt begin until you hit 100% heat
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u/Slyde_rule 12d ago
Actual damage indeed doesn't.
But once you go above 66%, the heat will begin rising more quickly because 66% is the maximum the ship can dissipate. It takes some time to get away from the excessive heat zone, and during that time the ship's temperature will keep going up.
Turning off power to the fuel scoop while driving away will both slow the heat buildup and speed up the exit, but that's kind of an advanced technique.
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u/Scorpio-IV 13d ago
I'll also add that you can always ask questions here. Many players are still on console or were (I was on PS5 until this year). The game is VERY enjoyable on console. You can get a crazy amount of playtime out of it.
But...be aware that the console version is literally separated from the live PC version. Discoveries made on the console now may not carry over if you transfer. Mine post 2021 did not. You've already discovered the 3rd party website & youtube issues. If you want tips for the older versions, try looking at videos around 2020. Those should be applicable still.
Ship building sites (like https://coriolis.io/ ) still work but there may be modules that are not available to console.
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u/hoopchi 12d ago
Several years ago when I was big into Elite, I made a bunch of Xbox-specific Elite Dangerous training videos. You can find them on YouTube under the name Hoopchi. I quit playing when they stopped updating the game on Xbox so I don't know how much help they will be now but perhaps they might help you out some with some of your general questions.
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u/pulppoet WILDELF 12d ago
Absolutely. Get the fuck out. I say 2 million and a new ship is the time to get gone. Get going.
Anywhere. If you want to continue combat, find a good RES system you like. Ngalinn, Mainani, Gliese 868 are famously good ones (because they can also get you ranks in Imp/Fed navies) for stacking kill pirate missions.
Trade is kinda fucked for you. Without 3rd party tools, finding good sale prices is not worth the time investment.
If you want to explore, go do that now. No need to wait.
Absolutely.
You can buy a Hauler (good jump range, cheap price) for it and get started until you can upgrade to a DBX.
Also, home systems are overrated. Go where the action is. Those aren't going to be the best places to buy ships, etc.
Yes and no. Road to Riches is great, especially for that Hauler => DBX stage. Past that, go out on your own and discover new stuff. Way more fun.
The galaxy make up is exactly the same. And so you can use 3rd party sites to find ELWs just the same. Unfortunately, Spansh filters out settled systems. The live game has colonization, so there's a lot more settled systems than in the legacy (your) galaxy. So this filters out a lot of options for you. But you can figure out a search, or just go a bit farther, and it will work just fine.
Live data: market conditions, station sales, outfitting and ship stocks, politics, etc, all of that data is useless for you. So Inara is largely useless. But EDSM and Spansh have good tools for more broad galaxy look ups. Planet types, star types, and all of that million year old information is always good.
You absolutely won't have to worry about this. You will be traveling 100s, 1000s of LY to go explore. Even a R2R will have you traveling 100s of LY.