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AndyRice

@AndyRice

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Joined seven months ago

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Take part in the underdog bounty hunting challenge!

in Elite Dangerous

15 rewards remaining

Well, I made it. And honestly speaking it's easier than I expected, probably because Threat 6 bounty is easier and Cobra Mk3 is more powerful than I expected.

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I'm not good at combat so the fight is not very beautiful lol, and I don't know why the target is marked as Threat 3 in the signal source, but you can confirm that It's indeed a Threat 6 target in the mission panel.

And here's my build:

Here're some basic idea for this build:

1.Use thermal resist shield: Cobra Mk3 is a small ship, and its armour hardness is low, don't expect it to be a hull tank. And high treat level targets like to use weapons like plasma accelerator and rail guns, these weapons have both kinetic and thermal damage, which means you need more thermal resistance on shield.

2.Use a reasonable weapons loadout: The weapons size are limited to medium, and you need to maximize the potential of your hardpoint to create more firepower. So I fitted two rail guns into the medium slot, because it's probably the most powerful and universal medium size weapons. The modifications are grade 5 short range blaster, since you're flying an agile small ship and it's easier for you to catch larger ships, which means you can sacrifice some distance for more DPS.

As for the two small slots, I install a g5 short range blaster burst laser with scramble spectrum, and a g5 short range blaster beam laser with thermal vent. Those two small slots can't create much DPS, but you can take good advantages of weapons' experimental effect, scramble spectrum disturbs target's sub-system and thermal vent keeps you cool.

Suggest some post-war activities for surviving pilots!

in Elite Dangerous

Closed

Well, first of all, thank you for choosing my picture as the cover—lol. Here, I’d like to share some activities I’ve been doing since the war ended.

1. Building Interesting Ships

The engineering and outfitting systems in Elite are truly remarkable. They allow you to customize almost any ship to suit your needs, even those that don’t seem powerful at first glance. Some ships are all-time favorites, such as the Alliance Chieftain, Fer-de-Lance, and Mandalay, while others are almost forgotten, like the Federal Dropship, Alliance Crusader, and Imperial Courier. These unpopular ships aren’t necessarily weak—they’re just not as powerful as other models, so most players tend to go for stronger alternatives. However, I’m particularly interested in these underappreciated ships. I enjoy creating specialized builds to make them viable.

For example, I’ve turned my Federal Dropship into an AX support ship. It’s equipped with repair and decontamination limpets, a Xeno scanner, and a shutdown field neutralizer. Its primary role is to provide battlefield maintenance for teammates. I tested it in AXCZ, and it worked quite well.

As for the Alliance Crusader, well, it’s slower than its siblings and lacks significant firepower, making it unsuitable for intense combat. So, I repurposed it as a Titan Salvager, designed to collect materials from fallen Titans. It still has enough firepower to deal with NPC pirates lurking in debris sites.

The Imperial Courier is one of the fastest ships in the game. When fitted with engineered Enhanced Thrusters, it can reach a top speed of 885 m/s. It’s practically born to be a racer and a true courier.

I’m sure many of you have made a fortune during the Titan conflict, so why not put those credits to good use? Buy some new ships, experiment with lesser-known models, and try out unique builds—you might be surprised by what you discover!

2. Fighting Thargoids

The war may be over, but if you still want to refine your AX combat skills or hunt Thargoids for profit, there are still plenty of opportunities. Maia has many Non-Human Signal Sources, where you can find isolated Thargoid Interceptors to practice solo combat. Meanwhile, the California Nebula still has some active AXCZs, attracting many AXI players. Currently, it’s one of the best places to engage in AXCZ battles alongside other commanders.

Here’s a video of me and my friend taking down a Basilisk in Maia. We’re both relatively new to AX combat, so our movements might look a bit clumsy—lol.

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Winner

Tell us why you play Elite Dangerous!

in Elite Dangerous

90 rewards remaining

I’ve always had a deep fascination with the universe since I was a young boy. I remember when I registered my Steam account in 2015 (back when I was in middle school), the first two games I bought were Kerbal Space Program and Space Engineers. Around the same time, I also discovered the concept of Star Citizen. It perfectly embodied my dream of being a citizen in the Space Age. However, a ship package was far too expensive for a middle school kid, and on top of that, I didn’t have a powerful enough PC to run the game. So, all I could do was search for alternatives.

At first, I tried No Man’s Sky. I even pre-ordered it, expecting it to be a great game. As you all know, the release was disappointing—though NMS is a fantastic game now, it was terrible when it first launched. It didn’t satisfy my space fantasy at all. Then, in 2017, I discovered Elite Dangerous on Steam. The game was quite expensive at the time, and it also required a decent level of English proficiency (English isn’t my first language). But wow, the concept of the game was incredible. You could pilot your own ship in a hardcore, real-time simulated universe. You could venture into the void, exploring the unknown, and engage in all kinds of thrilling activities. Even though you couldn’t leave your ship and walk on foot back then, the game still fulfilled my space fantasy. I bought it without hesitation.

And it truly is an amazing game. It has almost everything I could ask for in a space simulator. I’ve been playing Elite Dangerous since 2017—for eight years now—and I’m still not tired of it.

Curated

Share your best solo PvP ship build!

in Elite Dangerous

40 rewards remaining

I’ve never tried PvP combat before, but recently, I’ve been learning some techniques, like turning Flight Assist (FA) off. I’ve also built a few ships that might work well in PvP battles. I’m more than happy to hear suggestions and advice from others.

UES – Razorback


I turned my Fer-de-Lance into a railgun fighter and named it Razorback after the ship from The Expanse. The Fer-de-Lance is probably one of the most popular PvP ships. It’s agile, has strong shields (great for PvP), and features a size 4 hardpoint. However, it’s a bit pricey and only performs at its best when FA is turned off, making it less suitable for beginners. Still, when used properly, it can handle many PvP scenarios effectively.

Let’s start with weaponry. The Fer-de-Lance has one huge hardpoint and four medium hardpoints, making it ideal for a railgun sniper build. Since railguns are only available in small and medium sizes, the more medium hardpoints, the better. I equipped all four medium hardpoints with railguns, each modified with class 3 long-range engineering. Two have the Feedback Cascade experimental effect, and the other two have the Super Penetrator effect. Feedback Cascade disrupts shield cell banks and reduces shield regeneration, which is crucial against shield tanks. Super Penetrator increases bullet penetration, making it easier to damage internal modules on enemy ships.

For the size 4 hardpoint, I mounted a 4A gimballed multi-cannon with a class 5 overcharge modification and Corrosive Shell experimental effect. The multi-cannon is excellent for dealing with hulls, and the overcharge modification enhances its damage output. Corrosive Shell reduces enemy hull hardness, temporarily making them more vulnerable to all damage—perfect when paired with railgun strikes. The railguns are effective at breaking shields, and the combination of railguns and multi-cannons ensures strong performance in most situations.

Survivability
There are two general types of combat ships: shield tanks (like the Fer-de-Lance) and hull tanks (like the Federal Assault Ship). Shield tanks are usually better for PvP because shields regenerate and offer better protection for internal modules. Shields also have higher resistance to kinetic and explosive damage, while hulls are only more resistant to thermal damage (except with reactive armor). Additionally, shield cell banks can quickly restore large amounts of shielding, which can be frustrating for opponents.

UES – Rocinante

Yes, another ship name inspired by The Expanse. I turned my Federal Assault Ship into a close-range fighter. Many argue that the Chieftain series is better than the Core Dynamics Federal series, but I personally prefer the Federal ships. The Federal Assault Ship is an excellent fighter—it’s extremely fast and agile, compact and hard to hit, and comes with two large and two medium hardpoints, providing sufficient firepower to take down enemies. Most importantly, it’s affordable compared to the Fer-de-Lance. This build isn’t too expensive, and it performs well even with FA on.

For weaponry, I equipped the two large hardpoints with 3C gimballed fragment cannons, each with class 5 overcharge modifications and incendiary rounds experimental effects. Large fragment cannons are devastating against hulls, offering incredible DPS. Incendiary rounds convert part of the damage into thermal damage, improving effectiveness against shields. The two medium hardpoints are fitted with 2D gimballed fragment cannons with class 5 overcharge modifications and Screening Shell experimental effects. Screening Shell reduces reload times, increasing combat efficiency.

I haven’t tested this build in PvP yet, but I’ve tried it in combat zones and RES sites. It performs well against all kinds of enemies.

Survivability
Although not as durable as the Fer-de-Lance due to being a hull tank, the Federal Assault Ship is still incredibly tough and can withstand significant damage in combat. And FAS is relatively weak when powering a shield, so I use a Bi-Weave Shield, which allows it to quickly regenerate when the shields is broken.

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