New Pilot FAQ

Once you’re docked, open Outfitting. Swapping your thrusters and power distributor for D-rated modules improves your ship a lot for very few credits. Then try Delivery and Data Courier missions from the mission board. There are usually plenty going to nearby stations, and they build up your balance before you try anything harder. A few extra cargo racks let you carry more deliveries at once. More in Getting Started.

The Hauler is cheap and jumps further than anything else you can afford early on. Once you have a few more credits, the Cobra Mk III is the popular all-rounder. The first module to upgrade is usually the Frame Shift Drive, and you should always fit the largest size your ship takes. Aim for at least 10 ly of jump range. More in Ship & Outfitting, Ship Builds and the Shipyard guide.

Start with delivery and data courier missions, then pick the activity you enjoy. Missions pay well once your reputation with local factions grows. Mining pays well once you have a mining ship and know where to sell. Exploration pays you for scanning and mapping new systems. Community goals add a reward on top of normal pay. More in Missions, Mining and Exploration.

Each faction in a system offers missions on the station’s mission board, and the board refreshes every 10 minutes. You hand most missions in where you took them, and delivery missions at the destination station. Your left panel’s Transactions tab shows the details of every mission you’ve taken. Community goals are week-long events. Sign up on the Community Goals tab of a mission board first, because work done before you sign up doesn’t count. More in Missions and Community Goals.

Mining comes down to finding a hotspot, prospecting asteroids, collecting the fragments and selling the refined minerals. At minimum you need a refinery, cargo racks, a shield, a decent power distributor, mining tools and limpets. Prices differ a lot between markets, so check Inara or Spansh before you sell. More in Mining and the mining builds.

Start with Felicity Farseer. She is quick to unlock and one of the most useful engineers. Our engineering walkthrough unlocks her and collects the materials you’ll need later along the way. Most people finish it in about 3 hours, split into short legs. More in the Engineering guide and the Engineers list.

Federation and Empire ranks unlock ships and system permits. You gain rank by doing missions for factions aligned to that superpower, and missions with a bigger reputation reward give more rank. When your rank bar fills, a navy promotion mission appears from a faction that is at least cordial with you. More in the Federation and Empire Rank guide.

Open Options > Controls, pick the preset closest to your device and save your changes as a custom preset. Bind the galaxy and system maps, landing gear, cargo scoop, hardpoints, boost and the cockpit panels first. You can check your .binds file in our Keybind Viewer. More in Setting up your controls.

Fit a fuel scoop and set the galaxy map’s route plotter to fastest routes. You can only refuel from main-sequence stars: remember “KGB FOAM” (K, G, B, F, O, A and M). Scoop in supercruise close to the star, but not so close that you hit its exclusion zone. More in Exploration.

Request docking from the Contacts tab of the left-hand navigation panel, then fly to the pad number you’re given. For landing, set the throttle to zero and use your thrusters to move the ship. Charging the FSD, firing weapons and fuel scooping all add heat. Above 100% your ship starts taking damage, so watch the heat gauge next to the radar. More in the HUD guide and Getting Started.

You can fight it by keeping the escape-vector marker centred, or submit by setting your throttle to zero. In a weak ship, submitting is usually safest. It causes no damage and gives a short FSD cooldown. Then boost away and jump to another system instead of returning to supercruise. More in Interdictions.

Open the right-hand panel, go to Squadrons, search for NEWP and apply. When the “application approved” message arrives, go back and press Join Squadron. You aren’t a member until you do. Xbox and PlayStation players can search for NEWP the same way. More in Joining the squadron in-game.

Use Inara’s Nearest Outfitting search to find the closest station that sells a ship or module. Inara Ships lists every ship’s price and stats. More in Third Party Tools.