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Elite Dangerous: Simple Guide to Combat Weapons and Systems

CMDR_Seyton Dec 22nd, 2014 (edited) 1,396 Never
  1. THIS GUIDE IS BEING REPLACED: See Simple Guide to Weapons and (coming 'soon') Simple Guide to Modules instead.  
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  3. >Active utility
  4. Chaff > Shield Boosters > everything else
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  6. - Chaff are the kings of utility, they stop missiles (not dumbfire missiles, obviously), they stop gimbled (that means those annoying turrets), you get 30 charges, they last around 5 seconds. It speaks for itself.
  7. - Chaff when launched creates a physical cloud of junk which disrupts the enemies weapons. If you launch chaff while your enemy is in front of you it will have NO AFFECT AT ALL. You must launch it so the cloud is between you and your enemy. Imagine it as a smoke bomb, it will have no effect if it doesnt block your enemies line of sight to you. You can also sit inside the cloud of chaff and be immune to gimbled weapons. When fighting turreted ships you can use it by flying over the target and launching chaff, stopping the turrets from being able to track you as you fly away.
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  9. - Shield boosters are also useful, you can easily avoid damage that would otherwise kill you by using one at the right time. Remember you need to activate it BEFORE your shields die, they do nothing if your shields are down.
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  11. >Turrets
  12. - The anti missiles turrets stop missiles. The AI however will rarely use missiles, so if anything this is the best defence if you are having issues with players with missilesboats.
  13. - Dont forget turrets need ammo and have to reload like normal kinetic weapons
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  17. >Power
  18. This is a simple guide on power to help explain weapons systems below. You can effectively think of two power types, the total you have available (which can be seen and managed in your ship under modules or in a station) and system distributor power.
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  21. Power Plant
  22. -If you have too many weapons and modules and a weak power plant, you will go over 100% power consumption, as such some modules will not be able to be turned on. If this is the case, buy a better power plant or turn off unneeded modules.
  23. - You may have noticed (or more likely didnt) the order that can be set on modules. Setting something to a high number will mean that module will be turned off before other modules if power becomes an issue (Taking damage to your Power Plant will also reduce your maximum power). If you activate your weapons while over 100% power modules will be turned off, starting from the largest number, until enough power is available to power them. Basically its all very complicated and annoying, just upgrade your Power Plant so you are always below 100% power consumption and you dont need to worry about this (until you take damage to your Power Plant).
  24. - If you dont care about trading goods you can also turn off your cargo hatch to get about 5% more power out of your power plant. It will drop everything from your hold however.
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  27. System Distributor
  28. - The OTHER form of power is your power distributor. This is the icon in the bottom right of your HUD indicated by systems/engines/weapons. Increasing systems increases shield regen, increasing engines will allow you to boost more often as well as increase your maximum speed. Increasing weapons will increase the AMOUNT and the RECHARGE RATE of your weapons (which is indicated by the bar itself or next to the weapons you use)
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  30.  
  31. >What about system upgrades
  32. - Power Distributor. It is by far the most important aspect to your ship in regards to combat. Increasing it will increase the rate your shields charge, increase the rate your engines fill with power (for boosts) and increase both the maximum amount of charge available for firing weapons AND the recharge rate.
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  34. IMPORTANT: If you are running out of power on your weapons THIS IS THE SYSTEM TO UPGRADE. Also, do not forget to increase weapon power by using the arrow keys!
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  36. - Power Plants should be upgraded on a need basis. That being said they also reduce heat build up so keep that in mind.
  37. - Armor is expensive, heavy, and generally not worth it unless you have plenty of dosh. Work on protecting your shields and not exposing your subsystems to damage (even minor damage can ruin your thrusters)
  38. - Dont forget that putting all this sweet gear on your ship will lower your jump distance, upgrading thrusters and other bits will increase your range.
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  41. >Im a trader in a trade ship, what weapons should I go for?
  42. Dont bother, even an Eagle with a good set up will kill you no matter what in a fight. Your number one priority should be chaff and shield boosters to give you more time to jump away followed by improved shields and power distributor. If you are flying one of the multimillion dollar ships with lots of weapon slots/turrets then maybe you could put some weapons on, but your best defence is really defence when you are a trader. Obviously hybrid ships like the Cobra III that can hold their own in combat and trade are an exception to this rule.
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  44.  
  45. And remember, get a fuel scoop, dont get stuck in the middle of nowhere with no fuel :^)
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