Going in debt and bankruptcy

[gorba]

My problem has two parts:

1. I'm approaching Elite Dangerous (ED) like it's another space game.
2. I'm racking up debt that could put me close to bankruptcy.

I've played plenty of space games like Wing Commander: Privateer, Freelancer, EverSpace 2, Starfield, and Star Control, so I thought I'd have a good handle on Elite Dangerous (ED). But ED has so much more manual handling, which throws me off. For instance, when I buy a new suit or ship, nothing automatically transfers over—and there's no option to transfer my gear after purchase (I just assumed it would be). So I'll head out on a mission, only to realize that my brand-new combat suit has no weapons attached. Then, I had to trek back to where I had bought it to pick up the gear.

It's the same with other items like grenades. If I don't grab them from the right spot, I hunt through stations to find them again. And when I switch to a new ship, I might forget that the auto-docking module isn't installed, which turns landing into a real hassle. I'll end up parking in the wrong place, get fined, and suddenly NPCs turn hostile. Next thing I know, I'm sprinting back to my ship to escape!

After spending about three hours like this, I still need to complete my missions, but I need to stop playing. So I log out, and when I log back in, I've got "anonymous access" because of my fines. I can't access station services to transfer my auto-docking module to my active ship. So I fly to another station with a ship transfer service, but there's no NPC at the desk when I get there.

Four hours in, I've just accrued penalties for incomplete jobs, and I can't equip any weapons because I'm locked out of the stations. I have 4K credits, and I'm facing a 75K credit penalty I can't afford. It's a frustrating cycle!

I'm a complete loser! 😅

😭

[Fefo +]

In my experience, take advantage of these first hours to try everything you can and make mistakes to learn, whenever you want you can always delete your character and start from scratch with a new one. But this time using what you learned from your mistakes

[Sighman]

Originally posted by gorba:

For instance, when I buy a new suit or ship, nothing automatically transfers over—and there's no option to transfer my gear after purchase (I just assumed it would be). So I'll head out on a mission, only to realize that my brand-new combat suit has no weapons attached. Then, I had to trek back to where I had bought it to pick up the gear.

Actually, this is incorrect. All the gear is with you at all times, but you have to create a loadout to use it. You can swap weapons on a loadout, but you can't swap suits in a loadout so new suit = new loadout.

You can do this from any terminal, in a taxi or in your own ship or SRV.

As for the rest, you can either reset your account and start over with what you've learned, or try to dig yourself out of the hole. I'd do the latter as it's even more of a learning experience.

[gorba]

Originally posted by Fefo +:

In my experience, take advantage of these first hours to try everything you can and make mistakes to learn, whenever you want you can always delete your character and start from scratch with a new one. But this time using what you learned from your mistakes

I have the Elite: Dangerous - Premium Beta, which gave me an Eagle ship, and I just bought the Bounty Hunter Jumpstart Vulture. Starting over might be a good idea since I haven’t really "played" much yet, other than a few carrier runs. I managed to earn about 350K credits, which I spent on a combat suit and upgrades for the Eagle, but right now, I feel like I’m not making much progress with this first character.

[Sighman]

If you have the vulture bounty hunter, go to the rings of a gas giant, look for a RES [Low] and kill any ships with Wanted. (You need to aim at them and wait for the scan to automatically complete lower left)

Half an hour of that and your debts will easily be cleared.

[martin77]

if you have anonymous access on space stations due to a fine,
you can land there and in contacts you can pay the fine (really not much).
after this you can use all things like before.

[Talby]

Back in the day, I did "road to riches" to get funds early on, nowadays it's exobio scanning but either one that works when you are down and out...

FSS/DSS guide
https://cmdrs-toolbox.com/guides/exploration

R2R
https://gamerant.com/elite-dangerous-guide-road-to-riches-get-rich/

exobio scanning
https://cmdrs-toolbox.com/billionaires-boulevard

[Kobs]

Do a couple of days of exobiology to get back on your feet, lately without breaking a sweat I do 100 million every time I sit down and spend a few hours
Talby's exo link...

[Ahlos]

If want to get money for a good start i suggest that once can get Asp Explorer with a grrade A FSD, go and explore, land on evry planet that have Biological and scan those down. You get millions.

If its a first discovery to, you get ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ more. I spent 2 days out, doing first discoveries, and i have around 1b worth of data atm.

But then again, if you dont want to explore, stick to one minor faction, get high reputation with them, then they giver better pay for missions.

[Turbo64]

Start with an easy job, like delivering items to someone in a star system or station. Each job pays around 50k-70k credits (remember to choose money as reward), but you can take on several at once. (but don't go to a far system) By combining them, you can earn 200k-300k credits fairly quickly. While it might not seem like much, save some for emergencies, just like in real life. Try to keep at least 500k credits on hand in case of unexpected fees or issues. Also, avoid fighting other ships at first since you’re unfamiliar with the system, and your ship might not be ready to handle stronger enemies.

[Paradox]

Get a DBX with a surface scanner. Scan all the things and love the journey. Everyone needs a DBX and they are cheap too.

[Jane The Cat]

We all have rough starts, don't worry! (That's the cope I give myself, at least)

Ever since my early days, I've always recommended data courier missions for simple, easy starting cash. They usually pay around 20-50k, and just require you to fly from one station to another, easy as that. There are similar ground based missions, which ask you to make deliveries to people in person, too!

IMPORTANT: Never take a courier mission that pays more than 80k! They're usually paying much more because the destination is a ridiculous distance from the arrival star, and it'll eat up a good 30 minutes sometimes, time better spent elsewhere. When selecting missions with high payouts, be sure to check the galaxy map in the mission select window to check where exactly they're asking you to deliver. The destination will usually have light seconds (LS), and you'll want anything low. Anything above 10,000LS is probably not a great pick

I'd suggest trying these to start out with. They don't require any special gear or items, and can be done just about anywhere. With your fines, don't worry too much about them. They just deny you access to the stations governed by the people who gave you the fines, so if you leave their general area (usually just a few jumps), you'll find plenty of fresh stations to earn the money you need.

If you can't find the original systems to pay off your fines, and the relatively minor penalties they provide, use a site like Inara to search for Interstellar Factor systems. Here, you can go to the contact panel to pay off any fines, anywhere in the galaxy, but at a % markup overall for the convenience

Auto-dock is a very useful system, especially in the early game, but when you feel comfortable, I recommend trying to fly without it. Docking without a computer is much faster when you get good at it, and it saves a class 1 slot for other, more useful things! There's no rush on that, of course, so take your time to learn the ropes before giving it a shot

Hope this helps at least a little!

[Kobs]

Start a new game, do a few data transport jobs till you can buy a ship that can carry a scarab, buy an artemis suit and go do exobiology, that's all you need to do a great start. you'll be swimming in millions in no time.

https://cmdrs-toolbox.com/billionaires-boulevard

[gorba]

FINES AND BOUNTIES

FINES

70,000 CR FINE BY REVOLUTIONARY PARTY OF CHAMUNDA
60,000 CR FINE BY TRADITIONAL CHAMUNDA NATIONALISTS
200,000 CR FINE BY CHAMUNDA CRIMSON TRAVEL EXCHANGE
70,000 CR FINE BY LOAN SHARKS MERCENARY CORPS

I need a drink! 🍺😅

[gorba]

I deleted the character and started over.

[Barcaza151]

ohhhh.... good luck.