Elite : Dangerous

[cptwhite_uk]

Ttaskmaster, you know you can find what you're looking for using

http://inara.cz/galaxy-outfitting

You can even put together a shopping list of all items you want and it'll provide a list of stations that have everything?

[Dashers]

Can you not just ship it to them?
Serious question, as I haven't bothered going to any yet...

This is my first crack at Engineers too. For my first upgrade, I had to go to the polar opposite side of the bubble to buy a piece of cargo. You then have to buy all the upgrades on sale (which inevitably require other unique items) before you can unlock the next tier of the one you're interested in (you could also buy that upgrade several times, but will still need fresh materials).

So after that hideously boring evening, I figured I'd look out for everything I need for each upgrade I want and went about my search. I've got some things I need for the last level but have yet to stumble upon the stuff I need at a lower level, so currently it's useless. Given how rare and hard these things are to come by, I don't want to chuck them away.

So of course, I'm not interdicted at every turn whilst trekking around for more stuff that you can't just buy on the open market. You know, crazy things like, iron. Which also excludes me from bounty hunting with friends as I don't fancy the "1 piece of cargo in a compromised nav beacon" challenge.

[kalniel]

You then have to buy all the upgrades on sale (which inevitably require other unique items) before you can unlock the next tier of the one you're interested in (you could also buy that upgrade several times, but will still need fresh materials).

No, you don't. Almost all engineers have some manner of increasing Rep aside from crafting mods (any mods, can be same upgrade time and time again - discarding) - check if they'll accept exploration data, trading or bounties. I usually just craft level 1 mods with common materials which gets you up quite far in their rep, then use the explore data/trade/bounties plus maybe two lvl 3 or 4 (whichever has easiest to obtain things) mods to get lvl 5 access.

[cptwhite_uk]

As I regular player I to feels it's somewhat too difficult to obtain the Engineer's modules.

Take level 5 dirty drives for example....you have to rank with one engineer, which then unlocks another engineer, then you need a permit to go the the system the 2nd engineer is based in by doing missions for the control faction of Sirius (in outlaying systems they have a presence in). Now you can go to the engineer and start grinding the resources you need for level 5 dirty drives.

That's some serious grind investment to obtain the upgrade.

[Ttaskmaster]

You can even put together a shopping list of all items you want and it'll provide a list of stations that have everything?

I didn't know that, no...
To some extent, I feel I shouldn't know, either... But at the same time I do use Slopey's BPC and have used things like Google and YouTube (Kornelius Briedis is a GOD!!!), to fill in the voids of information that I believe Frontier should be posting on the game's front page... like Community Goals.

I may check that out, although it feels like cheating compared to the delightfully long game mechanic of sorting GalMap on High tech systems of certain population and then chancing it that they have all/part/anything what I want.... :roll_eyes:

I still think maintaining a stockpile of frequently used modules that I will want/need when I add to my personal fleet would be useful. I like having everything based at one place.

I've got some things I need for the last level but have yet to stumble upon the stuff I need at a lower level, so currently it's useless. Given how rare and hard these things are to come by, I don't want to chuck them away.

Ahhhhhhhh, right I see. OK, picture received in full 4K res. Cheers!

[Dashers]

That's some serious grind investment to obtain the upgrade.

It's not a grind, it's the game. Once you've done said grind there isn't anything left to do.

[cptwhite_uk]

I guess it's a matter of perspective. It's a very specific set of requirements you need to perform to get the upgrade, not something that would happen by chance over the course of playing the game without specific goals in mind.

[Lowe]

So.... there's a huge rebalance on the way with pretty much everything getting tinkered with. It'll be "beta'd" first but will eventually hit the main game. Looks like they're trying to stop one single form of fighting being a pure META. Good luck with that!

[cptwhite_uk]

I noticed the great perks of rapid fire pulse lasers the other day, started aiming towards engineering them, now they're being nerfed

Look at Grade 5 here:

http://inara.cz/galaxy-blueprint/104

Potentially 166% more DPS, and 50% less Distributor Draw (so with increased fire rate around 83% normal distributor draw). That's ignoring potential secondary bonus values and experimental effects!

For basically no down sides other than minor jitter. But when your firing so rapidly, who cares?

[Dashers]

I never liked the fact the game had gimballed lasers in the first place. Should have been an option of fixed or completely unmanned turrets (for the trade ships) - with dedicated hard-points. None of this auto-aim malarkey.

[kalniel]

I never liked the fact the game had gimballed lasers in the first place. Should have been an option of fixed or completely unmanned turrets (for the trade ships) - with dedicated hard-points. None of this auto-aim malarkey.

I don't know - I'm much more accurate with keyboard and mouse - but it's not as fun as flying with a joystick. Gimballed gave me the option to still have fun and not suck quite so badly. Don't think the nerf will affect that too badly though.

I went with the Python for my mining fix in the end. It's pretty tedious, but fighting in asteroid fields is fun - the Python feels like quite a lumbering ship but not excessively so.

[Lowe]

I never liked the fact the game had gimballed lasers in the first place. Should have been an option of fixed or completely unmanned turrets (for the trade ships) - with dedicated hard-points. None of this auto-aim malarkey.

Agreed, though part of the problem is the convergence of some of the hard points - if it was purely fixed it means you can't actually hit stuff with some of the ships. (Gutamaya designs, I'm looking firmly at you!)

[cptwhite_uk]

Kalniel, have you got Dirty Drive upgrades? You can get up to Grade 3 with in Deciat / Felicity. It makes the Python from slighty cumbersome into something you find acceptable. Boost speed around 380m/s and acceptable turn rate...do it if you haven't already. Think my jump range is around 20 odd Ly as well.

[scaryjim]

... the problem is the convergence of some of the hard points - if it was purely fixed it means you can't actually hit stuff with some of the ships. ...

They could probably have coded in fixed with custom convergence that could be adjusted when docked, so they act like fixed lasers when flying but can be set up well regardless of the ship they're attached to. Isn't that essentially how fixed aircraft guns work in the real world, anyway?

[kalniel]

Kalniel, have you got Dirty Drive upgrades? You can get up to Grade 3 with in Deciat / Felicity. It makes the Python from slighty cumbersome into something you find acceptable. Boost speed around 380m/s and acceptable turn rate...do it if you haven't already. Think my jump range is around 20 odd Ly as well.

Only got grade 1 dirty drives due to stupid materials requirements Jump range is a more palatable 27 lyrs or thereabouts though - stuck in a spare grade 5 FSD from my Asp rolling.

[Lowe]

They could probably have coded in fixed with custom convergence that could be adjusted when docked, so they act like fixed lasers when flying but can be set up well regardless of the ship they're attached to. Isn't that essentially how fixed aircraft guns work in the real world, anyway?

Yes that's how WW2 aircraft worked. It's frustrating to say the least, when Elite's ship designs aren't functional unless you resort to gimbals or turrets. Even the Cobra Mk3, the most classic of Elite ship designs needs two gimbals to be able to hit a smallish ship. Then there's the issue of hitscan vs projectile weapons. If you want to target a specific area of a ship using both, you need to have a gimbal on one type else your fire isn't focused properly. Still, even with poor sensors I doubt that'll be a problem since if you were in that situation I guess you're already pretty much on target if you're using fixed hit scan weapon...