Elite: Dangerous

[01101010]

Regarding shields, here where I read that putting pips into shields strenghtens them

http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Shield

Increasing System pips will increase the strength of the ship's shields. It is thus advisable to switch to 4 pips just before taking damage to maximize the shield's durability. Currently pips do not appear to increase the recharge or reactivation rate of shields, given that your System still has available energy for the recharge process to consume.[1]

The [1] leads to http://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/2r813l/shield_classrating_testing_results/

So, make of that what you will.

Ahh good stuff. I must have read some bad info. Thanks much for this.

[Ironwood]

Interesting chart ;  a Python with a 6A shield is the strongest you can get ?

[Sir T]

Python does not have any 7 class optional internals anyway, but ya.

(Only reason I know that is that I bought one today.)

[Samprimary]

that shield info appears really, really old. I think pips might work different now.

[Ironwood]

I'd be interested in up to date stuff.

[Sir T]

Well in the reddit thread they said that the devs saw it and they said they wanted it to be a linear strengthening rather than the exponential curve people observed. Anyway my own experience is that my shields are significantly stronger with 4 pips than 1.

[Miguel]

Shields definitely recharge faster with 4 pips, and recover faster once they are down if there are more pips.  So at least that information appears incorrect in the article above (or was once correct, and then the system was changed).

I haven't personally noticed that the shields stay up longer with more pips, but usually when the shields are being hammered I am worrying about other things. 

[Sir T]

In other news, A Python with 2 med and 1 small mining lasers completely rapes asteroids.

[Ironwood]

Sure.  Ok.

Whatever gets you off !

[Sir T]

The asteroids came onto me!

[Ironwood]

Phrasing !

[Pennilenko]

I just ordered one of these to replace my super cheap HOTAS.

Thrustmaster T.16000M FCS HOTAS Controller

As soon as it gets delivered, I am looking forward to diving back into this game.

[Sir T]

Nice joystick! I use one of these. http://gaming.logitech.com/en-roeu/product/extreme-3d-pro-joystick

[Ironwood]

My Planets, Bitches.



Not the first Icy Body I've ever discovered.

...

Wait, that doesn't sound right.


(Got the whole top row and going back for the rest of the system.)

[Sir T]

Yeah, I have a few systems I really should fill up with my name. I did grab a few planets the other day.

Anyway, I'm pissed off, again. I went to a system called Sothis, which I read on Reddit was good for getting up Federation rank (I decided I really like the look of the corvette.) But it and its Partner CEOS has been wrecked by what I have since found out is called "UA bombing." That basically is griefing. Ceos had a black market, which allowed some people to go in and load in Unknown artifacts into it. Seemingly if you pot too many Unknown artifacts into a station the whole thing gets wrecked. So since COES was bieng used as a good way to farm up rank in def and generate cash, it was wrecked.

https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/4ten9y/what_is_ua_bombing/

But also I picked up a passenger mission in Ceos, and then the game lost connection, and when I got back, the mission was not on my list, but the passengers are still in my Asps cabin. This basically makes my asp more or less useless, as I cant remove the cabin with people inside it. So I guess I'll have to sell the Asp and buy another one. Guess what station used to sell asps before it was wrecked by UA bombing?

And Sothis is 500 light years out in the middle of nowhere, so I can t just fly back and get another Asp. Well I could, but its a pain in the Asp to go there and back. Anyway the Sothis and Ceos place is a good way to grind boon data delivery and other similar missions, as they are constantly bieng generated between Sothis and Ceos which are 1 jump apart, so I might stick around there for a bit just to farm easy cash and standings. There is only 1 Fed aligned faction there so its not terrific for Fed faction grinding.

Grumble.

*edit* it gets better. It seems I cant even buy a new ship as I cant put a ship into storage with passangers aboard. So off to the nearest conflict zone I go, to die a heroic death. Woohoo!!

[satael]

You can always self-destruct to make it clear to those passangers that it was their fault... 

[WayAbvPar]

My Planets, Bitches.



Not the first Icy Body I've ever discovered.

...

Wait, that doesn't sound right.


(Got the whole top row and going back for the rest of the system.)

Very cool! How far out did you go?

[Ironwood]

That's not far at all and there were quite a few blank systems.

I pointed my nose towards the Coalsack Nebula and headed for God's Eye.  This was almost in the middle of it, so what's that ?  Over 300ly ?  Not that far away at all.

As I said, I haven't been back yet, so those other two rows of planets are up for grabs.  Make it an F13 System.


Which reminds me, when are we going to put in our application for the F13 Faction ?

[Sir T]

So, I decided to try and buff my exploration a bit as I realised I'm actually 2 ranks down from elite in exploration. How the hell that happened I dunno but anyway...

So I looked around for a decent guide and ran across this http://www.alpha-orbital.com/news/the-ultimate-guide-to-elite-dangerous-exploration It has a few setup and so I set up an Asp for 34 LY jump range. Off I went. It recommends heading for Clookie UO-Z D13-22. That's a start of a large field of Neutron stars, at least 1000 LY around it, that will generate lots of cash if you scan them and get back to a station.

On the way I was half dead from the tedium. So More reading and I ran across mention of Jacques station. WTF is Jacques station? I cried. So more research. Yes its a full station in the deep black with all services and whatnot, in the system of Colonia.

https://eddb.io/station/42041

And looking at the factions there I found that there are other stations that they are running

https://eddb.io/faction/75116

There is a listing of several different systems to BM here. They all have a planetary base that you can dock to and sell exploration data, and they have RES locations in the system as well, so there is opportunities for mining and combat. The snag is that they don't have outfitting services there so you would have to haul your mining or combat ship out there as is, or summon it with credits after flying out in an exploration ship.

Anyway they basically give you a spot to dump your exploration data and repair and reload yourself out in the deep black. If you BM the system you will realise they give you a line of systems to bounce along about 3000-4000 LY apart on the way to Colonia, or you can use them as a hopping off point for Sag-A.

I'm currently heading for the big Neutron Star cluster from the Gru Hypue KS-T d3-31 station, and I'm running across Neutron, White Dwarf. and Black Hole Clusters that no-one has found before. Its tedious as hell though.

[satael]

I decided to make my Cutter into a Flying Fortress and equipped it with long-range modded multi-cannons (and an efficient beam laser into the huge hardpoint). It's kind of fun to see all 6 multi-cannons spread streams of death when you set them on the fire-at-will mode. 

Also the fighter seems pretty good when the npc pilot gains some experience and isn't shred to pieces in the cross-fire (had it take on an npc anaconda and win without any help since the conda seemed to be fitted with fixed weapons and was unable to get the fighter in sights)

[Sir T]

I've heard people say that Dropping fighters in a combat zone is the best way to instantly lose fighters. 

[Samprimary]

I have two different fighter types in my bay. One: Imp Fighter with fixed high-DPS weapon for taking out enemy fatties. Two: Imp Fighter with high track weapons for sniping enemy fighters.

[satael]

Decided to take a trip to Colonia and actually managed to get to the first outpost without too much trouble (except typoing Blu Thua Al-A as Blu Thua AL-A and so taking a 1000+ly sidetrip)

[Sir T]

Well, you can copy the name on one window and then paste it into the search window to find the system.

Anyway, here is the list for easy reference

Blu Thua AI-A c14-10

Lagoon Sector NI-S b4-10

Eagle Sector IR-W d1-117

Skaudai CH-B d14-34

Gru Hypue KS-T d3-31

Boewnst KS-S c20-959

[satael]

I used a tablet to look up the outposts while in-game so managed to typo the first one. Luckily the rest seem to be correct judging by where they are on the galaxy map 

[satael]

Managed to get to the outpost on Skaudai and discovered a nice planet on the way there.

[Ironwood]

That must have been a cash winner.

[Samprimary]

Decided to take a trip to Colonia and actually managed to get to the first outpost without too much trouble (except typoing Blu Thua Al-A as Blu Thua AL-A and so taking a 1000+ly sidetrip)

common rookie mistake. haven't we all Blu Thua AL-A'd shit at least once?

[Sir T]

I know sometimes I FAS DO RUH instead of FUS DO RAH.

I found this speadsheet that lists what you get for scanning an object and what they look like. Very handy.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17fKT0APR88qtIzmdA1JTDA9gxInjJP8qtJRdXQr-BRA/edit?pli=1#gid=1568606424

[satael]

Interesting read on how the shield boosters etc will (probably) work after 2.3: What lies beneath Shield Health

[Samprimary]

Interesting read on how the shield boosters etc will (probably) work after 2.3: What lies beneath Shield Health

I saw this coming but I'm still gonna really miss having an indefatigable 3k+ prismatic shield wall

[satael]

Made it to Colonia so I guess it's time to consider the trip back home (maybe swing by the Conflux for a look at the Dynasty Outpost) 

[Ironwood]

I'm truly confused why people want to go there.

What's the draw ?

[satael]

I'm truly confused why people want to go there.

What's the draw ?

Because it's there?

[Sir T]

That's pretty much it. Sagittarius A* and the Great Annihilator are basically just 2 big Black holes, but people still want to see them.

By the way, I suspect in my tin foil hat moments that the Conflux is basically just Frontier making shit up to string players along. If there was anything to it other than random stuff people would have figured out by now. But if there really is nothing they can beat the Autistic hive mind of Gaming.

Not that I'm faulting them for it. It give people gool things to look at, and keeps them playing.