As far as individual missions go I think I had my most profitable one to date today. Deliver 3 consumer tech just 3,600Ls for 4,095,868 credits with a time bonus adding a further 450,000 credits. I could do those all day

Wow, I've never gotten a bonus like that. Well, maybe that's not true. I think since all the ones I paid attention to were so small that I stopped paying attention and just ignored them.

Last night I took two boom time deliveries, each for about 180 tons, one short jump (less than 11 light years) with short arrivals to planetary bases, and each were for 5m+. The highest paying boom timer I can recall was for 9m. The highest paying mission I did of any kind that I can recall was 13m for a sightseeing trip.

4m for just 3 tons is fantastic, since you can pack so much more on board along with it.

Ranking up the Alliance wasn't as big a job as I thought. It's that Elite trade rating that has me worried. 1 billion credits? Anyone got there yet?

Awesome stuff there Chucky.. Triple Allies! The galaxy loves you.

I know you said one of your goals was to have a billion credits. I suggest however that you scrap that idea and just go for 1 billion in assets which will free you to buy lots of ships

I'm toying with working on the trade rank but repeated runs can get very very boring. Plus,did I mention,it's a BILLION credits?

It may finally be time to explore other things the game has to offer. Engineers. Tea with the Thargoids. Maybe a little combat. I want to see a black hole (is that possible?)

I'm worried I may have burned out on the game a little. I may even have to go outside!

Yes, this is and I know where to find one if you want spoilers. It also happens to be in the same place you'll need to go to kickstart the whole engineer thing. Two birds with one stone.

Promoted to Ensign in the Federation. Can buy a Gunship now. And I might just do that once I decide it's time to hire a minion. That's one part of the game I have yet to try.

It will be a while before I attain any further promotions, as nothing's beyond 50% and getting more costly to raise all the time.

I'm sticking with the new save and enjoying it quite a lot.

I got into a Cobra quickly and raised the cash for the scanners. A quick exploration run gave me 26 mill to pimp the Cobra to the max (I think I have anyway) and rep me up at Sol.

That's the thing when you know the ropes,you can make money pretty fast as a 'noobie'. It probably took me months to make 26 mill when I first started.

I also have to report that last night I destroyed my first ship for about 2 years,could be longer than that. Submitted to interdiction and thought 'not this time' you ruffian.

Can someone run their eyes over this build please? Particularly the weapons and utility mounts. Don't forget,I'm not engineered.

2F Burst Lasers x 2 (turreted)
1G Multi-Cannon x 2 (turreted)

1C Shield Booster
Point Defense

Speed 304/434

Jump Range 19.06/20.09/21.07

Congrats on your victory

Personally I'm not a fan of turrets, especially so on smaller, maneuverable ships. They do less damage, and depending on which mode you run them in, your chance of hitting a clean ship is much higher with turrets. But my reasons aren't your reasons, and they are perfectly viable if you're willing to accept the drawbacks. Maybe with mouse and keyboard they may even be best, I dunno.

Shield booster. Why a C? If limited on power yes. But if you have the power to spare I'd swap for an A. Point defense is situationally useful, but I'd swap it for another booster personally. Extra mj is always useful, point defense only when missiles are inbound.

I do however like the burst laser/ MC combo.

Speed looks good. Jump range too, but I recall at the time I sold my Cobra it was getting 23 unengineered, so I think you can still increase that a bit if so inclined.

The shield booster was pushing the power limits,this was before I got an A power plant. I'll rectify that and see if I can get 2 boosters.

*edit* Just one A booster puts me up to 15.61 (available 15.60). 2 takes it to 15.81.

I'm running a 4A power plant and 3A power distribution. This looks like a fine balancing act which I've not mastered just yet.

Yeah, I can dig it and that's a good reason. But......

I haven't seen your build, do you use Coriolis? You may be able to reduce draw by swapping in a D-rated life support and D-rated sensors.

And do you use module priority? You can go over the power limit, usually up to about 10% with the proper priorities.

(written before your edit)

As you know I like building ships, so I couldn't resist.....

Cobra Mark Three

This build is well under max power, with two boosters, bi-weaves and gimballed weapons. I guess you are running a 4A shield generator? That's fine yes, but draws a lot more power. I was going to indicate the module priority but when I saw it was well under max power I didn't bother. However, what you want to do is put non-essential modules on lower priority. Like the FSD, fuel scoop and doodads. Make sure to fly out of the station and deploy hardpoints to make sure the ship doesn't shut down when you do so. better here than in combat

Edit: Forgot a fuel scoop

I did prioritise certain modules but I didn't know about the 10% thing. That's good to know.

I will look to swapping to D life support and sensors and yes,I'm running 4A shields. I'll also look over that build and see what you cooked up. Thanks for the guidance,always appreciated.

Ok,that worked! I can now have 2 x A shield boosters,power draw is 103% although I don't have the Bi-Weave shield generator,just the std 4A one.

I also did a black-box mission and I've got it sorted. It was the ship,not me.Scooping in the Cobra is so much easier. I dodged in and out 4 times to get the cargo and never lost a single % of hull integrity. I'm almost a pro

I say 10% but that's approximate. If you add the percentages of the stuff you're shuffling to lower priority than your combat modules it usually adds up to around 10%. It will be different with each build.

Great news on the black boxes. Glad you got it sorted.

When I activate hardpoints I lose the docking computer and the fuel scoop.I can live with that This is probably the best equipped ship I've owned and it only took me 3 years. I'm looking to be proficient in engineering by 2020.

That's awesome, feeling connected to your ship makes for good gameplay I think. Did you give it a name? The Cobra is a fantastic ship, I've always thought of it as the Python's little brother. Of all the early ships it's the one I hung on to the longest. I'll pick up another at some point, just to engineer the crap out of it and see what it can do.

So I whipped this up. A Cobra with some engineering. Pretty good. Speed is 441/631. This ship would be the fourth fastest in my fleet for top speed after the iEagle, Courier and the Orca (just 4 m/s slower) and the third fastest boost speed after the iEagle and Courier. 35 jump. Poor shields though. And not happy with thermal resist, a bit low. But that's a really good ship for 6 million.

Cobra Mark Three with Whizbangs

I think I may stick with the Cobra to see how far I can get. At the moment I'm working towards another 'Elite' status in exploring. I must be mad.

I called my ship 'Flounder'

No reason not to stick with it if you feel connected to it. I sort of envy that actually, as I am constantly switching ships. In any given night I'll have flown 3 or 5 of them. And a second point is that ships remain my goal most of the time. I find it difficult to formulate other goals aside from ranks. I know myself, and I know that once/if I reach triple Elite and have all the ships I want I will probably move on as I will lose my motivation to progress.

It's the same in RPGs. I find that if I play one and happen to reach max level before the game is over then I usually don't finish it. It's the progression that appeals I suppose. I don't grind and I don't focus on any one thing which helps keep it fresh to me, but I doubt I'd play much if I reach that point. And frankly I pretty much have the ships I want already, which leaves ranks as my main motivator at this point.

Reached a bit of burn out, which is expected with the amount of time I've put in to it. Haven't played Elite in two weeks. But we are to get the second installment of Beyond later in the month with a new ship! The Alliance Challenger is a heavier Chieftain from what I can gather so any new ship is worth a look. Plus the other new stuff that comes with the update, which frankly I don't give two hoots about, unless some of it has yet to be revealed.