January 18, 2016
Elite: Dangerous Ship Progression.
If you read the official forums and/or the sub-reddit you will find it full of people asking what your ship progression should be. I didn’t follow the advise and I am glad I didn’t.
When I first started playing E:D I started out with a sidewinder, Just like everyone else.
The Sidewinder is the default craft offered throughout the game. and if at any time the ship is destroyed you can get a free Sidewinder. New players who still struggle with learning the game, may find themselves flying in a Sidewinder for a longer time or going back to it often.
Although the Sidewinder is cheap, it is not harmless; it is among the top when it comes to manoeuvrability compared to other ships. In particular, it can out-turn most other ships, being topped supposedly in that category only by the Eagle, Vulture, and Imperial Courier, and has solid lateral thrust.
It is, however, one of the slowest-moving and weakest-hulled ships in the game; only the Anaconda and certain pure trade ships have slower maximum speeds, and only the Eagle has a weaker hull.
Once I was ready to move up I like most went looking for advise and like any game there is always that elite group that will rant and rave if you don’t play it they way they think you should play it. I wanted a ship that I could use for most aspects but the elitist said that in order to be good at this game I need to pick one tier and stick to it no way was I going to be able to do it all. I need to pick a career and stick to it. So according to them if I wanted to continue to bounty hunt I needed to get an eagle next. I decided I wanted the next multi-purpose which is the Cobra MKIII. There are multi-purpose ships why couldn’t I stick to this line and be able to do it all. This is what I set out to do.
The Cobra’s carrying capacity, being more than double that of the Hauler, In addition to its large cargo hold it has much better combat potential than freighters and can defend itself or run away from hostile interdiction. So I continued to bounty hunt and run missions in my sidewinder until i could afford the cobra plus its insurance buy back.
Because I needed to be able to do combat my Cobra was fitted with military Bulkheads and A-spec’d to the brim. I was more maneuverable and being able to target subsystems of the largest ships all I had to do was stay in the blind spots and snipe the subsystems while the NPC police forces kept them distracted. By this point in the game I decided to take a break. 4 months to be exact. I came back when I heard about planetary landings.
I jumped back in only to learn I was not nearly as good with the Cobra I once was and for all things considered I thought it was just rust. no matter what I did I just couldn’t get back into the groove with the Cobra. I looked up the available ships I saw the Diamondback Scout and decided to give it a go with its better maneuverability and better weapon placement this was the way to go.
The Diamondback Scout is a long range combat and reconnaissance ship which was released in the Powerplay update. The ship has a relatively low heat output, great speed that makes for the ideal shieldless stealth build. If you are able to manage the heat properly you can stay in silent running for a very long time and loading this thing up with a couple Railguns or plasma accelerators makes this ship a bounty hunting beast.
I had found my new ship. It held its own in combat zones and High Intensity Resource Extraction Sites. It is not quite good enough to be able to run in the hazardous sites with no NPC police forces. If you were winged up with players you are fine.
I was getting bored with just bounty hunting and that’s all the scout was good for I decided I wanted to try mining. at this point I was able to purchase and spec out a type-6 with out needing to trade in my DBS.
The Type-6 Transporter, one of three freighters is mainly used for trading and hauling commodities throughout the galaxy. Prior to my 4 month break Mining was very tedious job. At some point the Developers added collector drones and prospector drones which make the job of mining quite easy and relaxing. Mining is my zen when I am frustrated with everything I go mining.
I got to the point that my type 6 just was not big enough Especially for the Mining community Goals that take place in game. so I moved to the next ship on my list the type 7. The Type-7 Transporter is a large and moderately armed freighter. While it has the potential to defend itself from small ships, the Type-7 is not designed for combat and thus it is recommended to anyone flying this ship that they should avoid combat whenever possible.
Unfortunately due to this ship requiring a large Landing Pad, the Type-7 cannot dock at Outposts. This was not a problem for me as I just wanted to mine in it and it did a great job. Between Mining CGs and bounty hunting I was able to make enough credits to purchase a new combat ship the Federal Assault Ship. My DBS just was not cutting it any more and I wanted to hunt bigger game. so I grinded out my rank a bit in the federation and was able to obtain the FAS.
The Federal Assault Ship was introduced in the CQC update and is a more combat oriented craft. it has better speed and maneuverability It has fewer Internal Compartments than the Federal Dropship, which makes it more of a fighter than a multipurpose ship. The FAS is a hull tanking beast.
With two large and two medium hardpoints plus its ability to move and its high armor it is my favorite combat ship to date. I still run this ship when I want to do combat. Between mining and bounty hunting I was able to amass more credits enough to buy my first large multi purpose ship the Python.
The Python is a heavily armed and well-protected craft, being quite manoeuvrable (considering its hulking size) and potentially useful in a variety of roles.
It is considered by some to be the most effective balance between firepower, maneuverability, and protection currently available. In addition to being capable of holding its own against the larger Anaconda in a toe-to-toe frontal battle through its substantial protection and firepower, the Python is generally agile enough to comfortably deal with smaller fighter classes without having to rely on turret mounts.
The Python can also serve as a heavily armed freighter in that it can carry 284 tons of cargo. However, the downside to trading with a Python is its short jump range when fully loaded. This ship however made mining and trade a blast. Now we come to this last week.
I finally pulled the trigger on an Anaconda. I traded in my python and I lost the ability to land on outpost. However mining in the Anaconda has been fun. its not combat fitted its is a trade/mining loadout and that is what I use it for. combat I use my FAS. The Anaconda is currently the second largest ship that is able to be piloted by a player in Elite Dangerous, only being surpassed in size by the Imperial Cutter.
The only downside is the cost to upgrade and maintain the ship. the Anaconda’s relatively low maneuverability makes the choice of fixed weaponry rather inefficient and unwieldy, as it can take a considerable amount of time to properly line up shots. The Anaconda what the first long term goal i had set thinking I would never reach that goal. I was not wanting to grind and then one day it hit me I was enjoying the grind and once i quit thinking about the grind I started making credits left and right. I have also found myself helping those in need in the community.
When I come across some one asking the same question I did back when I started I tell them this: “Elite: Dangerous is about playing the game the way you want to play it in order for you to have fun you gotta make it your game and play it the way you want to. Here is how I got to the point I am in game. in no way am I suggesting this is the best method or the correct method this is the method that works for me. There are a lot of players here in the community that will disagree with my methods. If you are a fraid of grinding a bit or find it boring you are not playing the way that is working for you or maybe this game isn’t for you. I truly believe Elite has something for everyone you just gotta find it.” and I go to explain basically what just did in this article.
So there you have it my ship progression and how I got to where I am … o7 fly dangerous …