Things I Wish I’d Known!

Whenever you start something new, whether it’s a new game or a new venture, after a couple of days you always think to yourself, ‘There are so many things that I wish I’d known.’ Elite Dangerous is no different! There are so many things I wish I’d known before I started.

I started playing Elite Dangerous two years before I actually started playing Elite Dangerous. Let me explain what I mean by that. I had been looking for a space sim for a long time and Elite Dangerous was recommended to me, so I decided to give it a go. Wow! How complicated is this game . I seriously sucked at it! I managed to make a few hundred thousand credits and bought myself a Hauler to do some exploration and make more credits, so I could buy a DBX to make even more credits.

Yeah, right! That’s not how it worked out. I couldn’t leave the station (or land again for that matter) and once I’d worked out how, and successfully jumped to a star, I couldn’t fuel scoop (so I could go anywhere else) and then I couldn’t work out how to use the system scanner properly. It was a nightmare. I stopped playing and tried out Star Citizen. Just for the record, that was even worse!

To cut a long story short, two years later, I decided to give it another go and it turns out that by using some of the things I wish I’d know before, I’m actually doing OK and really enjoying doing it.

So, here are some of the things I wish I’d known before I started playing Elite Dangerous:

1: There’s a MASSIVE learning curve – be patient. There’s no hurry to get an Anaconda. Seriously! Take your time and just enjoy learning and playing.

2: You’re not alone (although sometimes in The Black it may feel that way). There are so many people who want to help and will. Join a Facebook group or get on the official, or Reddit forums. There’s so much great YouTube content out there too! Join a squadron and play with like minded people while they help you hone your skills.

3: There are some great websites out there that’ll help you and make life in The Black easier. You can find a few of them HERE.

4: Get an Advanced Docking Computer for your ship. Ok, the purists will tell you that you have to learn to take off and land on your own (they’re probably right and you’ll need it when you land on a planet for the first time – there’s a story I could tell!), but you don’t have to do it straight away. Anything that’ll make your first few days in Elite Dangerous easier is not to be turned down and, believe me, an Advanced Docking Computer in your ship will make a massive difference and take away a lot of frustration. This is one of the main things I wish I’d known was available. Learn more about them HERE.

ps. Also get a Supercruise Assist – no more slamming into a star as you exit your hyperspace jump. Ouch!

5: Get a Voice Attack voice assistant. Not only are they fun, not only do they help take away the emptiness you can feel in The Black sometimes, not only can you make your own custom commands, but they make your life so much easier in your first few days No more having to remember which key to hit to do whatever it is you want to do. Simply ask your voice assistant to do it! They’re very reasonably priced and are often on sale on Steam or the official website. You can find out more about Voice Attack and their voice assistants HERE.

6: You may have to set your Surface Scanner ‘yaw’ in the Elite Dangerous settings. Not sure what I mean, or why you’d have to do it? Learn what it is, why you might have to do it and , more importatnly, how to do it HERE.

7: Play in ‘Solo Mode’, while you learn at least. You don’t have to get ganked as soon as you leave the starter area. A bog standard Sidewinder is a target for those who get their kicks from spoiling other people’s fun. You get them in every game, so play in solo, or join a PVE only group. There are plenty of them out there and their numbers are growing.

These are the things I wish I’d known before I started playing, simply because they’d have made my first few days so much simpler and more enjoyable. If there’s something that you wish you’d known before you started playing Elite Dangerous, let me know in the comments.