*** The Official Elite: Dangerous Thread ***
- Thread starter Zefan
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But is it fair to say that if you want to get the edge in the game (especially in solo) you really need engineers?
For Pvp, absolutely. Pve it's just nice to have.
Ok so Ive now managed to get a Level 5 Charger power distributor! Certainly an improvement.
But generally speaking how many pulses can I expect to run whilst maintaining a higher charge rate vs energy usage?
It's not just nice to have though is it? When you know that there are people with FSDs that can eat through 55ly jumps and you can barely make 14ly jumps in your fully-laden ship, it makes a huge difference to how you feel when you play the game. And my FSD example is just a single aspect of this. There are weapon changes, shield upgrades, everything can be modified and you feel like you have to do it just to enjoy the game properly.
I looked at the Engineers stuff and thought I'd give it a go, but man, the grind is ridiculous just to get to a point where you then have to rely on randomness to get something decent. When you don't have a huge amount of time to play a game in the evening, it really is an unnecessary hurdle to the game.
Soldato
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I'd suggest that a full HOTAS is pretty essential for VR, unless you want to keep lifting the HMD to see your keys.
What the Season pass gives you is a LOT more than what the description sounds like.
Just remember to enable all the VR assist graphics options, else you'll may get quite sick bouncing around planetside!
Who is getting 55ly jumps fully laden? And what ship? 55ly is within reach of an empty asp with engineering (they do about 40ish without) but I don't think any ship could carry an extra 100+ tons and do that.
My point was that you can still succeed in the game without them in pve. In pvp you really can't. It's up to you whether to spend your limited time on engineering or just carry on without them. Whatever you enjoy more. I didn't mind pottering about picking up mats. It gave me a bit of focus to my meandering.
Thanks for the tip. I'm thinking I'll try to get the hang of playing on screen initially, learning to fly using a controller at the moment. Then hopefully when I try in VR I can deal with the confusion. Played an hour or so at the weekend and I can already see the benefit of a HOTAS. Will keep an eye out for a cheap second hand one maybe.
Soldato
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Definitely play on a normal screen while learning the game.
You'll also want a period of that when learning the HOTAS, mainly so you can look down and see/remember where you assigned all the different controls, but once you've got to the point where you don't need to look, that's when VR really comes into its own.... and those ships are freakin' HUGE. You don't really realise until you get that headset on!!
For cheap HOTASes, the Thrustmaster T16000m is my preferred budget option. All the functionality and can be had with just the stick, included with throttle, or as a 3-piece with rudder pedals if you want. New, it's about £100, but 2nd hand much cheaper.
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PLus I keep mentioning it but Voice Attack really helps too. Being able to give voice commands to standard things really adds to the immersion and also helps free up keys from your HOTAS (although most of mine are still mapped anyway)
Still can't beat saying 'Engage!' and hear the engines spin up and the warp effect kick in
Still can't beat saying 'Engage!' and hear the engines spin up and the warp effect kick in
Learning in 2d is a good plan. Ideally you would assign every function to your HOTAS so you never need the keyboard.
Elite allows you to assign a shift key to assign multiple functions to a single button, and I recommend doing this for VR. There are some good templates out there to that end. I used to keep a pdf of the key layout on my 2nd monitor while I was learning and it was very handy. Now it's all second nature in VR.
I'm a fan of the thrustmaster tflight x as it has served me admirably for the last few years and can be had very cheaply.
Elite allows you to assign a shift key to assign multiple functions to a single button, and I recommend doing this for VR. There are some good templates out there to that end. I used to keep a pdf of the key layout on my 2nd monitor while I was learning and it was very handy. Now it's all second nature in VR.
I'm a fan of the thrustmaster tflight x as it has served me admirably for the last few years and can be had very cheaply.
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I picked up a Thrustmaster T16000m on the high street for £25. I just googled and the game shop still has them listed for the same price
Soldato
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^ This definitely!
I have three finger buttons on my CH throttle, mapped to CTRL, ALT and SHIFT, which gives me four times the range of control combinations.
Not a fan of Voice Attack personally, as it takes longer to speak commands than to just push a button, although it is good fun.
Soldato
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Humble Bundle has Elite 60% of at the moment for those interested.
Soldato
I picked up a Thrustmaster T16000m on the high street for £25. I just googled and the game shop still has them listed for the same price
Is that the green one? No throttle with that one is there?
I'd definitely recommend the T-flight hotas x, I picked one up from the MM, got everything except for chat mapped to it and it makes the game so much more immersive
Thanks for the heads up, will pick up Horizons for £10
Correct me if im wrong but isn't the green center slider under the stick a throttle?
I'm tempted by this. As a casual ED player in VR will it do for a basic set up? Would like it to have a throttle adjuster though so if any one can confirm that would be great.
Soldato
I was using a stick with a mini throttle like that before (saitek cyborg 3D) and imo the hotas x is far better (and has more accessible buttons)
Obviously a bit more expensive, so depends what you're prepared to spend