Elite: Dangerous PvE - Mobius

I think it probably is. For someone who has been playing the game as long as I have, I lag far behind what most people would have achieved by now. I joined the game at the Beta stage, but just as the game went live I suffered a long and disabling illness and only got back to the game in late February this year, so I can effectively be called a new starter as from then because at that point I had a sidewinder that had never been out of the hanger and 1000 credits, although I do remember how the game was before Engineers and Wingmen etc.

I am not a natural combat pilot, but I do ok. I have tried to spend some time in the Haz-Rez every week to chip away at the combat rank, and as of a month or so ago when I got my second conda that became an A rated combat ship, I still found combat very challenging. However since then I now have a wingman and the ship is engineered to grade 5. I never have to run, my shields never go down and very rarely even get bent, and the targets fall like flies. It has nothing to do with me being a good combat pilot, but the fact that my ship is far superior to any computer pilots ship. I spend the same time in the Haz-Rez now as I did a a few months ago. My combat percentage as a Master pilot is raising twice as fast as it did per hour as an Expert.

Don't get me wrong, its still a long grind from where I am now to combat Elite, and I will still feel like I have achieved something when I reach it, but I think its probably a lot easier for me and the people who have had then benefit of engineering and wingmen than it was for the commanders who did not?

DarkMere wrote:I think it probably is. For someone who has been playing the game as long as I have, I lag far behind what most people would have achieved by now. I joined the game at the Beta stage, but just as the game went live I suffered a long and disabling illness and only got back to the game in late February this year, so I can effectively be called a new starter as from then because at that point I had a sidewinder that had never been out of the hanger and 1000 credits, although I do remember how the game was before Engineers and Wingmen etc.

I am not a natural combat pilot, but I do ok. I have tried to spend some time in the Haz-Rez every week to chip away at the combat rank, and as of a month or so ago when I got my second conda that became an A rated combat ship, I still found combat very challenging. However since then I now have a wingman and the ship is engineered to grade 5. I never have to run, my shields never go down and very rarely even get bent, and the targets fall like flies. It has nothing to do with me being a good combat pilot, but the fact that my ship is far superior to any computer pilots ship. I spend the same time in the Haz-Rez now as I did a a few months ago. My combat percentage as a Master pilot is raising twice as fast as it did per hour as an Expert.

Don't get me wrong, its still a long grind from where I am now to combat Elite, and I will still feel like I have achieved something when I reach it, but I think its probably a lot easier for me and the people who have had then benefit of engineering and wingmen than it was for the commanders who did not?

Maybe not easier but faster to reach combat Elite.

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As has been mentioned many times.
The combat rank is nearly meaningless.

It only considers the targets rank vs yours and awards points accordingly.
Sounds like to me it's you who has gotten better, and since rank progression is point based and not credit based, if you get profeccient at engaging higher ranked targets you get more points.
Full point sheet is here:
http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Combat
For instance at Master you get one full point for every Master ranked npc you kill, but a novice ranked only give you 0.25 points, no points below that. So kill 4 novices or 1 Master.
An elite npc will give you 1.75 points however, deadly 1.5.

And ship doesn't matter. Elite level anaconda is 1.75, elite sidewinder is 1.75.

So if you just want to knock this out, the most efficient way would be to visit a compromised nav beacon.
These often abound with smaller type ships ranked dangerous to elite.
I got my last 50% in a cnc with my corvette, mostly shooting deadly and elite level eagles.
It's not something you do for money but it is effective.

The end result of being elite however means you will get interdicted by elite level ships exclusively.
Or ships a full size above if you fly something smaller.
For example. In a large ship I see elite conda's exclusively.
In my python, elite pythons, fd's and deadly ranked conda's.
My vulture gets elite ranked ranked Fas's or deadly pythons. Etc.

TorTorden wrote:The end result of being elite however means you will get interdicted by elite level ships exclusively.
Or ships a full size above if you fly something smaller.
For example. In a large ship I see elite conda's exclusively.
In my python, elite pythons, fd's and deadly ranked conda's.
My vulture gets elite ranked ranked Fas's or deadly pythons. Etc.

With respect to Tor's experience, this isn't entirely so; my Python has just been interdicted by a freelancer an Elite Vulture (as opposed to an interdictor commissioned to intercept a mission - I was only carrying trade goods).

Interceptors who are intercepting a mission can come in all shapes and sizes and ranking.

It's usually fairly easy for escape these interceptions, but if the interceptor is a large ship it is more likely to continuously intercept you (in the same system) as it is likely to have a FSD Interdictor installed that can reach a long way. Smaller ships are easier to evade on your way to a station (in theory - NPC pilots seem to have hypersensitive reactions).

Pesky piartes, dispatched Agents do come in all different ranks and ship classes, usually they will pursue until they are destroyed by player/security. These agents have some sort of magical ship am sure many commanders can relate to a pursuit with a FDL that can chase you for 7 or more High Wakes, or when low waking out that drop you out again in less than 10 seconds. There can me more than one if you are doing cargo, passengers, courier missions, or a combo run.

I wasn't considering mission generated npc's.
Those are generated by the mission system and is completely seperate, and tie mostly in with the recommended mission rank, or something else and utterly random.

The last I read from a dev on the topic was that the non-mission NPCs are normally capped at your current combat rank+1. If you have trade or exploration elite, they will be at your combat rank + 2.

Cometborne wrote:The last I read from a dev on the topic was that the non-mission NPCs are normally capped at your current combat rank+1. If you have trade or exploration elite, they will be at your combat rank + 2.

I believe I read the same, and as Tor says mission NPC are linked to the mission rank.

Than when?