Frontier's space sim models the Milky Way at 1:1 scale, roughly 400 billion star systems, and starts every commander in a Sidewinder with 1,000 credits. There is no story path, only careers: hauling cargo, hunting bounties, mining, exploring, sampling alien plant life on foot, or fighting Thargoids. The learning curve is the game itself, and most of it is systems knowledge rather than stick skill.
Starting Elite Dangerous can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Elite Dangerous is a simulation game built around Frame Shift Drive travel and Ship outfitting and rebuy. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Trader | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Bounty hunter | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Explorer | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Miner | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Exobiologist | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Bounty hunter. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Exobiologist as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Frame Shift Drive travel
One drive handles both hyperspace jumps between systems and supercruise inside them. Jump range depends on drive class, ship mass and fuel load, which is why explorers strip every module they can before a long trip.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Frame Shift Drive travel works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Sol
Humanity's home system, permit locked behind a Federal Navy rank. Earth, Mars and the outer planets are all modelled, and it remains one of the most visited destinations in the bubble.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Multi-cannon: it's the most accessible early upgrade. Kinetic rounds with a large ammunition pool, low heat and low distributor draw. Weak against shields, strong against hull, and forgiving of imperfect aim compared to fixed weapons.
Step 4: Understand Ship outfitting and rebuy
Modules come in classes 1 to 8 and grades A to E, with A the most capable and usually the heaviest on power draw. Insurance rebuy is roughly 5 percent of the total ship and module value and must be paid in cash.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Shinrarta Dezhra
The Founders World system, permit granted when you reach Elite rank in combat, trade or exploration. Its Jameson Memorial station sells effectively everything at a discount.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Frame Shift Drive travel
One drive handles both hyperspace jumps between systems and supercruise inside them. Jump range depends on drive class, ship mass and fuel load, which is why explorers strip every module they can before a long trip.
Ship outfitting and rebuy
Modules come in classes 1 to 8 and grades A to E, with A the most capable and usually the heaviest on power draw. Insurance rebuy is roughly 5 percent of the total ship and module value and must be paid in cash.
Engineering modifications
Engineers upgrade modules in exchange for materials and reputation, and each one has an unlock condition. Felicity Farseer in Deciat handles Frame Shift Drives and is almost every commander's first stop, because jump range gates everything else you might want to do.
Exploration scanning
The Full Spectrum System Scanner maps a system's bodies from supercruise, while the Detailed Surface Scanner fires probes to map individual planets for a far larger payout. Mapping a terraformable or Earth like world is worth many times the basic discovery scan.
Background Simulation and Powerplay
Populated systems host minor factions whose influence shifts based on player missions, trade and combat. Powerplay 2.0 layers pledged Powers on top, with commanders earning merits for work inside their Power's territory and unlocking exclusive modules.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Flying without the rebuy in the bank
Losing an expensive ship with no cash reserve drops you back into a free Sidewinder with nothing to rebuild from.
2. A rating every module on a hauler
A rated power plants and thrusters add mass and cost on a ship whose only job is carrying cargo, and D rated core internals jump noticeably further.
3. Skipping engineering because the material grind looks long
An unmodified Frame Shift Drive roughly halves your practical range and doubles the time every single trip takes.
4. Treating supercruise as a straight line at constant speed
The 0.22 light year run to Hutton Orbital in Alpha Centauri takes well over an hour precisely because supercruise speed depends on distance to the target.
5. Buying the biggest ship you can barely afford
A well outfitted Python or Krait Mk II earns more per hour than an Anaconda you cannot fit properly or insure.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Frame Shift Drive travel and Ship outfitting and rebuy
- Choose Bounty hunter as starting build
- Clear Sol main content
- Acquire Multi-cannon or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Shinrarta Dezhra
- Unlock Felicity Farseer in Deciat before any other engineer. She needs exploration rank Scout and a donation of one Meta Alloy, and a grade 5 Increased Range Frame Shift Drive changes every other activity you will ever do.
- Fuel is free once you know which stars to visit. Filter the galaxy map to scoopable classes, remembered as KGBFOAM for K, G, B, F, O, A and M, and plot routes through them so you never pay for refuelling again.
Tips for New Players
- Unlock Felicity Farseer in Deciat before any other engineer. She needs exploration rank Scout and a donation of one Meta Alloy, and a grade 5 Increased Range Frame Shift Drive changes every other activity you will ever do.
- Fuel is free once you know which stars to visit. Filter the galaxy map to scoopable classes, remembered as KGBFOAM for K, G, B, F, O, A and M, and plot routes through them so you never pay for refuelling again.
- Rebuy is roughly 5 percent of the total ship and module value and has to be paid in cash. Keep that amount liquid at all times, because losing an expensive build without the rebuy means starting again in a free Sidewinder.
- Shinrarta Dezhra unlocks when you hit Elite in combat, trade or exploration, and Jameson Memorial there sells ships and modules at a 10 percent discount. Grinding one career to Elite pays for itself across every ship you buy afterwards.
- The Detailed Surface Scanner earns far more than the initial system scan. Probe terraformable and Earth like worlds rather than jumping straight out, because a single mapped high value body can be worth millions on its own.
- On foot exobiology is the highest paying exploration work in the game. Take three samples of a species at the minimum separation the Genetic Sampler shows, and top tier finds like Stratum Tectonicas sell at Vista Genomics for close to 20 million credits.
- Interdictions are survivable if you decide early. To escape, throttle into the blue zone and follow the escape vector, and if you drop out anyway, boost, deploy chaff, then high wake to a different system rather than trying to outrun them in supercruise.
- Powerplay 2.0 rewards work inside your pledged Power's territory with merits, and merits unlock exclusive modules such as Prismatic Shields from Aisling Duval. Pledge deliberately rather than for the first Power that looks interesting.
- System colonisation arrived with the Trailblazers update and lets commanders claim unclaimed systems and build stations. It takes enormous amounts of hauling, so treat it as a squadron project rather than something to attempt solo.
- Fleet Carriers cost 5 billion credits plus weekly upkeep and jump 500 light years at a time. They are a logistics tool for established commanders, not a goal to chase in your first hundred hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is the galaxy in Elite Dangerous?
It is the Milky Way at 1:1 scale, roughly 400 billion star systems. Sagittarius A* sits about 25,900 light years from Sol, and Beagle Point on the far rim is around 65,000 light years out.
Do I need the Odyssey expansion?
Horizons content is included in the base game. Odyssey is the separate expansion that adds on foot gameplay, settlements and exobiology sampling, which is where much of the current exploration income comes from.
What is the best beginner ship?
The Cobra Mk III. It costs a few hundred thousand credits, carries cargo, fights adequately and jumps far enough to explore, so it covers every career while you decide which one you like.
Is Elite Dangerous still being updated?
Yes. Powerplay 2.0 reworked faction gameplay, the Trailblazers update added system colonisation, and Frontier has continued adding ships including the Panther Clipper Mk II.
How do I make money as a new commander?
Take on courier and cargo missions from a single station until you can afford a Cobra Mk III, then pick one career and specialise. Mining and exobiology both pay far better once you have engineered a ship for them.
More Elite Dangerous Guides
- Elite Dangerous Elite Dangerous Overview
- Elite Dangerous Best Builds
- Elite Dangerous Tier List
- Elite Dangerous Walkthrough
- Elite Dangerous Tips & Tricks
- Elite Dangerous Weapons Guide
- Elite Dangerous Combat Guide
- Elite Dangerous Boss Guide
- Elite Dangerous Maps & Locations
- Elite Dangerous Crafting Guide
- Elite Dangerous Classes & Characters
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