Elite Dangerous Horizons: A Beginner’s Guide offers aspiring commanders an expansive universe brimming with adventure, exploration, and perilous encounters. CONDUCT.EDU.VN provides crucial insights and strategies, paving the way for a successful and fulfilling career among the stars. Embark on a journey of discovery, mastering spaceflight, combat techniques, and trading secrets, while exploring the vast expanse of Elite Dangerous Horizons with confidence.
Table of Contents
- Joining the Community
- Financial Prudence
- Exploring the Codex
- Embracing Smaller Ships
- The Importance of Engineering
- Following Community Influencers
- Avoiding the Asp Scout
- Mastering the Throttle
- Utilizing the Navball
- Safe Station Conduct
- Docking Proficiency
- Supercruise Assistance
- Suit Selection
- Cargo Management
- Equipment Upgrades
- Third-Party Resources
- Handling Player Encounters
- Bartender Interactions
- Interdiction Procedures
- Settlement Operations
- Staying Informed
- Weapon Selection
- Virtual Reality Considerations
- Control Mapping
- Efficient Exploration
- Fuel Management
- Avoiding the Credit Chase
- FAQ Section
1. Embracing the Elite Dangerous Horizon Community
Elite Dangerous Horizons can feel overwhelming at first. Don’t hesitate to connect with fellow commanders. Squadrons and Player Groups offer camaraderie, mentorship, and shared goals. Online communities like the Elite Dangerous Community on Facebook or the official Frontier Developments Forums are also invaluable resources for asking questions, sharing experiences, and staying updated on game news and patch notes. These platforms are goldmines for learning advanced tactics, ship builds, or lore that enriches the experience.
1.1. Finding Your Squadron
Squadrons provide a structured environment to learn and grow. They often specialize in specific activities like combat, exploration, or trade. Joining a squadron can significantly enhance your gameplay experience, especially when tackling complex missions or navigating dangerous sectors. Here are a few groups:
1.2. The Power of Asking
Don’t underestimate the power of simply asking for help. The Elite Dangerous community is known for its willingness to assist new players. Whether you’re struggling with docking, combat, or understanding a particular game mechanic, chances are someone in the community has experienced the same challenge and can offer guidance.
Navigating the Milky Way Galaxy in Elite Dangerous Horizons requires community support, especially for newcomers venturing beyond the human bubble.
2. Financial Prudence: The Rebuy Rule
One of the most critical pieces of advice for any Elite Dangerous Horizons player is to never fly without your rebuy. The rebuy cost is the insurance premium required to replace your ship if it’s destroyed. It’s displayed in your right-hand “internal” panel, next to your credit balance.
2.1. Understanding the Rebuy System
The rebuy cost is calculated based on the value of your ship and its modules. If you can’t afford the rebuy, you’ll lose your ship and all its modules permanently. This can be a devastating setback, especially for new players.
2.2. Options When Short on Credits
If your bank balance is lower than the rebuy cost, you have a few options:
- Take out a loan: A small loan can cover the rebuy, automatically deducted from future profits.
- Deselect modules: This lowers the rebuy cost, but deselected modules won’t be returned with the ship and must be repurchased.
- Lose the ship: This is the least desirable option, resulting in the loss of your ship and requiring a full repurchase.
2.3. Maintaining Financial Stability
The easiest way to avoid this situation is to always ensure your credit balance remains above your current rebuy costs. This allows you to explore, trade, and fight with confidence, knowing you can recover from unexpected losses.
Maintaining sufficient credits to cover the rebuy cost of your ship is crucial, especially as you acquire larger and more expensive vessels, protecting your investment from unforeseen destruction.
3. The In-Game Codex: Your Galactic Encyclopedia
The Codex, accessible on your right-hand “systems” homescreen, serves as a comprehensive window into the Elite Dangerous Horizons galaxy. It contains a wealth of information, including:
3.1. In-Depth Statistics
Track your progress, achievements, and activities throughout the game.
3.2. Game Lore
Delve into the rich history and background of Elite Dangerous, understanding the events and factions that shape the galaxy.
3.3. Discoveries
Locate interesting phenomena, alien ruins, life forms, geological structures, and other unique features within specific galactic sectors.
3.4. Utilizing the Codex for Exploration
The Codex’s Discoveries section is invaluable for explorers. It allows you to pinpoint exciting areas within the vast playing area that might otherwise be easily missed.
4. Bigger Isn’t Always Better: Appreciating Smaller Ships
It’s tempting to immediately strive for larger ships like the Anaconda, Beluga, Corvette, or Cutter. However, smaller ships offer unique advantages and should be appreciated rather than simply used as stepping stones.
4.1. Financial Advantages
Smaller ships have significantly lower rebuy costs, making them more forgiving for new players.
4.2. Unique Gameplay Experiences
Small and medium-sized vessels offer distinct handling characteristics and capabilities. Experiment with different options to find ships that suit your preferred playstyle.
4.3. Avoiding the Grind
Focus on enjoying the journey rather than solely grinding for the largest ship. Explore the diverse options available and discover the unique strengths of each vessel.
Elite Dangerous Horizons isn’t just about acquiring the biggest ships; smaller vessels can be highly enjoyable, excelling in roles like racing and offering unique maneuverability.
5. Engineering: Unleashing Your Ship’s Potential
Engineering, accessible with the Horizons expansion, allows you to customize and enhance your ship’s modules. This is crucial for PvP combat, long-range exploration, and maximizing overall performance.
5.1. Unlocking Engineers
Engineers are located on planet surfaces and specialize in different areas of ship modification. You’ll need to unlock them through various in-game activities.
5.2. Benefits of Engineering
- Improved module performance
- Experimental effects that further customize your playstyle
- Increased jump range for exploration
- Enhanced combat capabilities
5.3. Engineering as Tuning
Think of engineering as similar to tuning in racing games like Need for Speed or Forza. It’s about optimizing your ship’s performance beyond simply buying better modules.
6. Stay Informed: Following Community Greats
In addition to Frontier’s official channels, follow content creators on platforms like YouTube and Twitch for news, opinions, and gameplay tips. They offer valuable insights and break down complex information into digestible content.
6.1. Finding Independent Voices
Look for independent, factual, and constructively critical voices within the community to get a well-rounded perspective on the game.
6.2. Discerning Opinions
Remember that content creators’ opinions are subjective. Form your own conclusions and adapt their advice to your own playstyle.
7. A Word of Caution: Avoid the Asp Scout
The Asp Scout is generally considered one of the least desirable ships in Elite Dangerous Horizons. Its performance is underwhelming compared to other options.
7.1. The Superior Alternative
The Asp Explorer offers significantly better performance and versatility, making it a much better choice for exploration and other roles.
When considering an exploration vessel in Elite Dangerous Horizons, the Asp Explorer surpasses the Asp Scout in capabilities and versatility, making it the preferred choice for long-range voyages.
8. Throttle Control: Mastering Maneuverability
Keeping your throttle in the blue zone provides the best maneuverability. This is crucial for combat and for avoiding overshooting your target destination in supercruise.
8.1. Supercruise Efficiency
When approaching a destination in supercruise, maintain full throttle until the timer reaches around 7 seconds. Then, reduce throttle to the lower half of the blue zone to avoid the “Loop of Shame.”
8.2. Combat Applications
Precise throttle control is essential for dogfighting. Keeping your speed in the blue zone allows you to turn and maneuver effectively.
9. The Navball: Your Guiding Compass
The Navball is a valuable tool for navigation. It indicates the direction of your targeted system or planet with a solid indicator in front and a hollow indicator behind.
9.1. Docking Assistance
The Navball also points towards your landing pad while docking, making the process much easier. This is a feature that many players overlook, even after hundreds of hours of gameplay.
9.2. Situational Awareness
Pay attention to the Navball to maintain situational awareness and avoid getting lost in the vastness of space.
10. Safe Station Conduct: Obeying the Speed Limit
When flying around crowded space stations, keep your speed below 100 m/s. This is the speed limit within the station and its immediate vicinity.
10.1. Consequences of Speeding
Colliding with other ships above the speed limit can result in fines or even being wanted for murder if the other vessel is destroyed.
10.2. Maintaining Awareness
Be mindful of your speed and surroundings when approaching and maneuvering within space stations to avoid accidents and penalties.
Navigating space stations in Elite Dangerous Horizons requires adhering to speed limits and traffic regulations, even with unexpected celestial visitors.
11. Docking Proficiency: Mastering Manual Control
While docking computers can be convenient, practicing manual docking is essential for developing valuable piloting skills.
11.1. Muscle Memory
Learning to smoothly dock and depart manually builds muscle memory that can be helpful in various situations.
11.2. Ship Variations
Each ship handles slightly differently. Practicing with the Sidewinder, which has a minimal rebuy cost, allows you to perfect your docking technique with minimal risk.
11.3. Control Customization
Experiment with different control schemes to find what works best for you. Docking is a skill that requires practice and patience.
12. Supercruise Assist: A Traveler’s Friend
The Supercruise Assist module is invaluable for exploration. It prevents you from overshooting your intended targets and provides additional benefits.
12.1. Detailed Surface Scanning
The Supercruise Assist allows you to use the Detailed Surface Scanner while orbiting bodies, making exploration more efficient.
12.2. Automating Orbit
For larger gas giants, the speed required for orbit may prevent you from using the Detailed Surface Scanner manually. However, the Supercruise Assist will automatically fly you around the body while you map it.
13. Suit Selection: Choosing the Right Gear
In Elite Dangerous Odyssey, selecting the right suit is crucial for success on foot. There are four suits available, each with unique capabilities.
13.1. The Flight Suit
The standard Flight Suit provides basic protection but lacks special tools and has only one secondary weapon slot.
13.2. The Artemis Suit
Focused on science and exploration, the Artemis suit features the Genetic Sampler and the best jetpack in the game. It holds a primary weapon and a secondary weapon.
13.3. The Dominator Suit
Built for war, the Dominator suit has two primary weapon slots, a secondary weapon slot, and the highest damage resistance. It also has enhanced capacity for consumables.
13.4. The Maverick Suit
Perfect for scavenging and stealth, the Maverick suit has the highest carrying capacity and comes with an arc cutter for bypassing security plates.
13.5. Loadout Management
Save loadouts for each suit to quickly swap them out as needed while on a planet. This allows you to adapt to different mission requirements and environmental conditions.
Exploring the varied landscapes and facilities of planetary surfaces in Elite Dangerous Odyssey requires selecting the appropriate suit, as unprepared commanders may find themselves in hostile environments.
14. Cargo Management: Avoiding Accidental Ejections
If you’re playing on PC, unmap the “Eject All Cargo” function from your keyboard. This prevents accidental cargo loss, which can be devastating, especially when carrying valuable goods.
14.1. Protecting Your Investments
The risk of accidentally ejecting your cargo far outweighs the potential benefits of having this function readily available.
14.2. Customizing Controls
Take the time to customize your control mappings to suit your playstyle and minimize the risk of accidental actions.
15. Equipment Upgrades: Enhancing Your Capabilities
Upgrade your suits and weapons to improve your performance in on-foot missions. There are three ways to achieve this.
15.1. Purchasing Higher-Level Equipment
Find higher-level suits and weapons at quieter stations that haven’t been visited by other players recently. Third-party sites and player groups can help locate these stations.
15.2. Scavenging and Crafting
Loot and scavenge materials to upgrade your suit yourself. Visit Pioneer Supplies with the necessary materials to upgrade your equipment to higher levels.
15.3. Trading with Bartenders
If you don’t have the right materials, trade with bartenders who are available at most stations. They can offer valuable materials in exchange for unwanted items.
15.4. Engineering Suits
Suits above the first level can be further upgraded with engineering. This adds features like night vision, enhanced sprint duration, and dampened footsteps.
Upgrading your suits and weaponry is crucial for survival in hazardous environments, allowing commanders to face challenges with confidence and increased effectiveness, especially in combat zones.
16. Third-Party Resources: Expanding Your Knowledge
Elite Dangerous is a complex game with a vast amount of information. Third-party sites can provide valuable tools and resources that aren’t available in the game itself.
16.1. Recommended Sites
- Inara: A comprehensive database with information on ships, modules, commodities, and more.
- EDSM (Elite Dangerous Star Map): A community-driven star map that tracks player exploration data.
- Others can help track your progress, build ships, find items in game, share your adventure and more.
16.2. Data Integration
Some sites, like Inara and EDSM, can pull your data directly out of the game on both PC and console, providing personalized insights and tracking.
17. Handling Player Encounters: Staying Safe in Open Play
Playing in Open mode exposes you to both the best and worst of the Elite Dangerous community. This includes the possibility of being attacked and destroyed by other players.
17.1. Open Play Awareness
Understand that in Open play, anything goes as long as it’s within the game’s rules. This includes attacking other commanders for any reason.
17.2. Minimizing Upset
If you’re attacked by another commander, avoid posting about it online. This is exactly what griefers want. The best approach is to ignore it and move on.
17.3. Alternative Modes
Solo and Private Group modes offer safer alternatives where the risk of player attacks is minimized or eliminated entirely. However, Open play offers a unique and exciting experience that is worth exploring.
Maintaining composure and resilience is essential in Elite Dangerous Horizons, as unexpected encounters with other players, both friendly and hostile, are common occurrences in the vast galaxy.
18. Bartender Interactions: Scavenging Material Exchange
Bartenders in Elite Dangerous Odyssey don’t serve drinks, but they do offer a valuable service: trading scavenged materials.
18.1. Upgrading Equipment
If you’re short on materials for upgrading your suit or weapons, visit the bartender to see what you can barter with. You might be just a few minutes away from a valuable upgrade.
18.2. Material Conversion
Bartenders allow you to convert unwanted materials into those you need, making it easier to acquire the resources necessary for upgrading your equipment.
19. Interdiction Procedures: Escaping Hostile Encounters
Learning to handle interdictions is crucial for minimizing danger in the game. Here are the recommended steps:
19.1. Radar Assessment
Check the radar. A solid contact indicates an NPC, while a hollow contact indicates a commander.
19.2. Submission
If it’s a commander, lower your speed to zero to submit to the interdiction.
19.3. Power Management
Set 4 pips to shields and 2 to engines.
19.4. Evasive Maneuvers
When you drop, turn 180 degrees, boost, and set your throttle to maximum.
19.5. System Plotting
In the Navigation menu, select the nearest system and engage hyperdrive.
19.6. Defensive Actions
Ensure you’re pointed at the system, fire chaff or heat sinks if you have them, and hope for the best.
19.7. Understanding the Mechanics
Submitting to the interdiction shortens your FSD cooldown. Prioritizing shields provides the best regenerative power. Evasive maneuvers force the attacker to perform a sharp turn. Jumping to another system makes it much harder for the attacker to track you.
Preparing for interdiction scenarios and mastering evasive maneuvers can significantly improve your chances of survival in Elite Dangerous Horizons, especially when facing hostile commanders.
20. Settlement Operations: Infiltration and Data Acquisition
Sneaking into and around settlements is a rewarding activity in Elite Dangerous Odyssey. Here are some tips for success:
20.1. Terminal Exploitation
Terminals can provide valuable information and control over settlement systems. Restore power to them using your energylink device. A working power regulator can restore power to the entire settlement.
20.2. Data Acquisition
Use powered terminals to locate buildings, people, and items of interest. These will then appear on your HUD.
20.3. Security Subversion
Powering down or crippling security for active settlements can provide significant benefits. This requires disabling alarms and security clearance requirements.
20.4. Infiltration Tactics
Gain access to buildings by copying clearance using the illegal form of the profile analyzer, cutting the panel and using the energylink device to overload it, or simply waiting for an NPC to open the door.
20.5. Data Theft
Disable security clearance requirements at the appropriate panel and then immediately remove the stolen security clearance. Also, disable the settlement alarms. This limits the scope of any hostile encounters.
20.6. Stealth and Awareness
Avoid being directly observed while performing nefarious actions. As long as nobody sees you, you’re free to explore and download data at your leisure.
21. Staying Informed: Following Social Channels
Follow Frontier’s social media accounts for Elite Dangerous and overall development to stay up-to-date on official news, announcements, and giveaways.
21.1. Community Engagement
Engage with the community on social media to share your experiences, ask questions, and learn from others.
21.2. Platform Variety
Frontier uses various social media platforms to disseminate information. Follow the channels that best suit your preferences.
Staying informed about game updates and community events through official channels and social media platforms is crucial for adapting to new challenges and opportunities in Elite Dangerous Horizons.
22. Weapon Selection: Balancing Thermal and Kinetic Damage
Choosing the right weapons is crucial for combat effectiveness.
22.1. Weapon Mix
A good mix of thermal and kinetic weapons is essential. Thermal weapons are effective against shields, while kinetic weapons are effective against hull damage.
22.2. Fire Groups
Separate thermal and kinetic weapons into different triggers and fire groups for tactical flexibility.
22.3. Aiming Assistance
Gimballed weapons automatically track your target, making them easier to use, especially for new players. However, they come with a damage penalty.
22.4. Fixed Weapons
Practice with fixed weapons to improve your aiming skills. While they are more difficult to use, they inflict more damage than gimballed weapons.
22.5. Damage Penalties
The easier it is to target your foe, the less damage you’ll do. This is a trade-off to consider when choosing between gimballed, turreted, and fixed weapons.
23. Virtual Reality Considerations: A Word of Warning
If you’re on console, this is easy, as Elite has no VR capability. If you’re on PC, though, this becomes a little trickier. Avoid VR on PC. If you fail to do this, you may lose all contact with your family and friends. You will also almost certainly lose many hundreds of pounds from your bank and every waking hour from your days. Elite is an absolute flagship VR title and immersive beyond what you could imagine. You will lose everything. It would still be worth it.
23.1. Immersive Experience
Elite Dangerous in VR is an incredibly immersive experience that can be highly addictive.
23.2. Time Commitment
Be prepared to dedicate a significant amount of time to the game if you play in VR.
23.3. Financial Considerations
VR equipment can be expensive, and Elite Dangerous may require additional purchases.
24. Control Mapping: Customizing for Comfort
Especially prevalent when playing on consoles where Boost and Landing Gear functions are very similar. Remap the boost function as soon as possible to ensure it’s something you can’t hit accidentally. This is of course something I have never ever done myself, no sir. Not me. Nuh-uh.
24.1. Preventing Accidents
Remap the boost function to prevent accidental activation, especially when docking.
24.2. Personal Preference
Customize your control mappings to suit your playstyle and preferences.
24.3. Console Considerations
Pay particular attention to control mappings on consoles, where certain functions may be mapped to similar buttons.
25. Efficient Exploration: Maximizing Discovery
If, like me, you are heading into exploration, there are a couple of things you can do to make your life easier.
25.1. Target Next System
Ensure you have a button mapped for “target next system in route”.
25.2. Supercruise Assist
Another step for explorers is to fit the Supercruise Assist module.
Embarking on exploration voyages in Elite Dangerous Horizons can be both daunting and rewarding, requiring careful preparation and a sense of adventure to venture into the unknown.
26. Fuel Management: Avoiding Stranding
Elite is a very simmy sim, and if you don’t keep an eye on your fuel levels you could be truly stuck. Without fuel you can’t jump, and eventually even life support will run out.
26.1. Route Planning
When plotting a route on the Galaxy Map a solid line indicates a journey which you can complete with the current fuel load. A dashed line indicates a plotted route which you do not have enough fuel for.
26.2. Fuel Scooping
It’s worth having a fuel scoop for any journey of a decent length, or which takes you outside the bubble (human inhabited space).
26.3. KGB FOAM Stars
Even if you do have a fuel scoop, only certain stars can help to recharge your tanks. These stars are all of class KGB FOAM. When viewing a route on the Galaxy Map it will point out your “fuel star” this is the last KGB FOAM star which is within your current range of fuel.
26.4. Fuel Rats
Lastly, if all else fails and you are sitting there with no fuel waiting for your CMDR to die, the Fuel Rats. This is a group which formed early in the history of Elite Dangerous, dedicated to helping stranded commanders. If you have run out of fuel, head over here to request help. They will dispatch a pilot as soon as possible to come and refuel you and let you get about your journey.
27. Don’t Chase Money: Enjoy the Journey
It’s always easy to go for the next bigger thing, and chasing credits is a part of that. I would definitely suggest avoiding things like mining and other cash heavy pursuits until at least a little way into your game.
27.1. Enjoy the Experience
Enjoy the smaller ships, enjoy the sights and the gameplay. Elite has a lot to offer you, and in my opinion very little of it is based on the balance of your bank.
27.2. Long-Term Engagement
One thing which has led to having so many hours in game is simply doing what I’ve felt like instead of chasing after funds.
Taking in the vastness of the Milky Way Galaxy and experiencing the wonder of space is a key aspect of Elite Dangerous Horizons, offering a sense of awe and accomplishment beyond monetary rewards.
28. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1: What is the rebuy cost, and why is it so important?
The rebuy cost is the insurance premium you must pay to replace your ship if it’s destroyed. It’s crucial because if you can’t afford it, you lose your ship and all its modules permanently.
Q2: How do I find squadrons or player groups to join?
You can find squadrons and player groups through online communities like the Elite Dangerous Community on Facebook, the Frontier Developments Forums, or websites dedicated to Elite Dangerous squadrons.
Q3: What is the Codex, and how can it help me?
The Codex is an in-game database that contains a wealth of information, including game lore, in-depth statistics, and locations of interesting phenomena. It’s a valuable resource for both new and experienced players.
Q4: Why should I avoid the Asp Scout?
The Asp Scout is generally considered an underperforming ship compared to the Asp Explorer, which offers better versatility and capabilities.
Q5: What are the benefits of engineering my ship?
Engineering allows you to customize and enhance your ship’s modules, improving performance, adding experimental effects, and increasing jump range.
Q6: How do I handle interdictions by other players?
The best strategy is to submit to the interdiction, manage your power distribution, and use evasive maneuvers to escape.
Q7: What is the Fuel Rats, and how can they help me?
The Fuel Rats are a player group dedicated to rescuing stranded commanders who have run out of fuel. They will dispatch a pilot to refuel your ship and get you back on your way.
Q8: What are the different suits available in Elite Dangerous Odyssey, and what are their specializations?
The Flight Suit is a basic suit, the Artemis Suit is for science and exploration, the Dominator Suit is for combat, and the Maverick Suit is for scavenging and stealth.
Q9: How can I find the best deals on ships and modules?
Check out third-party sites like Inara to compare prices and find the best deals on ships and modules.
Q10: Is it better to play in Open, Solo, or Private Group mode?
Each mode offers a different experience. Open mode is the most dangerous but also the most rewarding. Solo mode is the safest but also the least social. Private Group mode offers a balance between safety and social interaction.
Elite Dangerous Horizons offers a vast and rewarding universe to explore. By following these tips and utilizing the resources available, you can embark on a successful and fulfilling journey among the stars. Remember, CONDUCT.EDU.VN is here to provide further guidance and information as you navigate the complexities of this incredible game. Visit us at 100 Ethics Plaza, Guideline City, CA 90210, United States, or contact us via Whatsapp at +1 (707) 555-1234. For more information and resources, visit conduct.edu.vn.
