New Commander Roadmap

i

Draft

This article is still being written and may be incomplete.

Uncertain: Some activity-specific details still need screenshot-backed verification and expansion.

Status

Draft

Last reviewed

never

Reviewer

none

Game mode

Live

Version coverage

unspecified

Source quality

unassessed

Known uncertainty

Some activity-specific details still need screenshot-backed verification and expansion.

The New Commander Roadmap is a guided progression for a Commander who has just started Elite Dangerous. It is not a mandatory path and it is not a checklist that must be completed before the rest of the game becomes available. Elite Dangerous is open-ended: the purpose of this roadmap is to help a new Commander become self-sufficient, understand the major systems, and choose a direction with confidence.

Use this page in two ways:

• as a reference for the broad early-game skills a Commander should learn; and
• as a practical walkthrough for what to do next when the galaxy feels too open.

Roadmap at a glance

Designed for

Brand-new Commanders

Starting point

Immediately after training or the first live session

Required credits

None

Required ship

Starter ship or any early ship

Recommended

Complete the flight tutorials and keep enough credits for rebuy

End state

An independently capable Commander who can choose their own direction

Progression length

Open-ended; move on when you understand the skill, not when a timer says so

Related pages

Start Here, Field Procedures, Game Reference, Ships and Equipment, Engineering

Important

This roadmap is guidance, not a required progression route. If you find an activity you enjoy, it is fine to follow that thread early and return to the roadmap later.

Before you start

Before you start

Required

A ship with a working Frame Shift Drive — every interstellar activity depends on travelling between systems.

Required

Enough credits for rebuy before taking risks — rebuy is the insurance cost to recover your ship after destruction.

Strongly recommended

Complete the basic flight tutorials — they let you practise movement, docking, and combat without risking your live ship.

Strongly recommended

Learn where refuel, repair, restock, outfitting, missions, and contacts live in station services.

Optional

Use docking assistance while learning — it is acceptable to reduce workload while you learn navigation and game systems.

Phase 1 — Learn to fly

The first phase is about control, navigation, and confidence. You do not need a better ship yet. You need to understand how to leave a station, travel somewhere, and return safely.

1Complete the flight tutorial

Open the training section from the main menu and complete the basic flight tutorial. Pay attention to throttle control, landing gear, ship orientation, and the difference between normal space and supercruise. The goal is not mastery; the goal is to make the cockpit feel less unfamiliar before credits and cargo are at risk.

2Launch and dock successfully

Launch from a station, clear the mailslot or pad area, then request docking and land again. During this exercise, learn where the compass dot appears, how speed affects control, and how your ship behaves near large station geometry.

Tip

If docking feels stressful, use a docking computer at first. The important early skill is understanding what docking is doing, not proving you can manually land on day one.

3Travel to another system

Make your first deliberate interstellar trip.

1. Open the Galaxy Map.
2. Select a nearby inhabited system.
3. Plot a route.
4. Return to the cockpit.
5. Align with the target shown on your HUD.
6. Throttle up and charge the Frame Shift Drive.
7. Watch your fuel gauge before and after the jump.
8. On arrival, move away from the star before checking panels or maps.

Field note

Fuel use is part of navigation. Some stars can be fuel-scooped and some cannot. Main-sequence stars of spectral classes O, B, A, F, G, K, and M are the common scoopable classes; see Fuel Scooping for the full mechanic.

4Return and use station services

Fly back to a station and deliberately use station services. Refuel, repair if needed, inspect the mission board, open outfitting, and check contacts. You are learning where recovery and preparation tools live before you urgently need them.

Phase 2 — Become self-sufficient

A self-sufficient Commander can travel, recover from common mistakes, and prepare a ship for a basic job.

1Understand fuel before travelling farther

Before accepting missions or plotting longer routes, check whether your ship can reach the destination and return. Learn the difference between a single jump, a plotted route, and your total fuel tank endurance.

Warning

Running out of fuel can strand your ship. If you are low on fuel, stop taking new risks, look for a station, or learn the Fuel Scooping process before continuing deeper into unknown systems.

2Practise a simple station loop

Pick a nearby station and practise a complete loop: launch, supercruise, approach, request docking, land, refuel, repair, and restock. This loop is the foundation for missions, trading, mining sales, combat recovery, and exploration returns.

3Try basic outfitting changes

Open outfitting and inspect your core internal, optional internal, hardpoint, and utility slots. Do not buy random modules yet. Learn the ideas of module size, module rating, power draw, mass, jump range, shields, and optional internals.

Important

A ship is a tool. Early on, understanding why a module is fitted matters more than buying the most expensive part available.

4Accept a low-risk mission

Choose a simple mission with a destination you can reach and a consequence you understand. Read the destination, cargo requirements, legality, time limit, and reward before accepting. Complete one mission slowly rather than stacking many missions you do not yet understand.

5Learn interdiction and recovery basics

Sooner or later, another ship may attempt to pull you from supercruise. Learn what the interdiction tunnel looks like, how to submit or evade, and how to escape after dropping into normal space. Link deeper reading to Interdiction once that article is available or expanded.

Phase 3 — Try the galaxy

This phase introduces careers. The goal is not to choose the best one immediately; the goal is to try several loops and discover what feels rewarding.

1Try trading

Move a small amount of legal cargo between stations. Learn commodity markets, cargo space, supply, demand, profit, and why losing cargo can matter. Continue to Trading for the full activity.

2Try exploration

Plot a short route away from your starting area, scan systems as you travel, and sell exploration data after returning safely. Notice how jump range, fuel, and route planning affect comfort. Continue to Exploration and Fuel Scooping.

3Try exobiology if you own Odyssey

Land on a suitable planet, use the Artemis suit and genetic sampler, and turn in biological data. Focus on learning approach, landing, surface movement, and sample spacing rather than maximizing profit. Continue to Exobiology.

4Try mining

Outfit only the basic equipment needed for the type of mining you are attempting. Learn the difference between finding a resource, extracting it, collecting fragments, refining cargo, and selling the commodity. Continue to Mining and Laser Mining.

5Try combat carefully

Start with low-risk combat training or low-threat targets. Learn pips, shields, hull, hardpoint deployment, target selection, and when to leave. Do not take high-threat combat missions just because the reward looks attractive.

Warning

Combat can destroy an early ship quickly. Keep rebuy credits available and leave before shields, hull, or situational awareness are gone.

6Try on-foot gameplay if you own Odyssey

Visit a concourse, inspect terminals, take a low-risk legal mission, and learn shuttle or ship travel to settlements. Pay attention to legal status and trespass warnings. Continue to Odyssey when ready.

Phase 4 — Build a purpose-built ship

After trying a few loops, build a ship for one job instead of forcing one ship to do everything.

1Choose one role

Pick one immediate role: short-range trading, basic exploration, beginner mining, courier missions, or low-risk combat. Define the job before buying modules. A purpose-built ship is easier to understand because every slot has a reason.

2Plan around the limiting systems

For the chosen role, identify what limits the ship.

• Trading cares about cargo capacity, jump range, and survivability.
• Exploration cares about jump range, fuel, scanners, heat, and recovery tools.
• Mining cares about hardpoints, collector/prospector limpets, refinery, cargo, and distributor capacity.
• Combat cares about weapons, distributor, shields or armour, power, and agility.

3Upgrade gradually and test

Make a few changes, then fly the ship. Check power usage, jump range, heat, handling, and whether you forgot a required module. Avoid spending all credits on a build you have not tested.

Shipbuilding links

• Learn the slot system in Ships and Equipment.
• Use role pages such as Exploration, Mining, Trading, or Combat to decide what the ship must carry.
• When engineering becomes relevant, continue to Engineering.

Phase 5 — Begin engineering

Engineering improves ships, but it can become a grind if approached too early as a completion checklist. Treat your first engineering as a targeted upgrade to solve a problem you understand.

1Learn what engineering changes

Engineering modifies modules through blueprints and grades. Experimental effects add one additional special property. The important early idea is simple: choose an upgrade because it helps your ship's job.

2Understand materials

Engineering uses materials rather than normal commodities. Materials have categories, grades, and storage separate from cargo racks. Learn where your material inventory is and how Material Trading helps convert excess materials into needed ones.

3Choose one useful first upgrade

Pick one practical goal, such as improving Frame Shift Drive range for travel or making a commonly used module more comfortable. Follow the relevant Engineer invitation and unlock requirements rather than trying to unlock every Engineer immediately.

4Pin a blueprint when available

When an Engineer allows it, pin a useful blueprint so future upgrades can be applied remotely. Learn the difference between workshop engineering, remote engineering, grades, and experimental effects.

Phase 6 — Choose your direction

At this point the roadmap stops being linear. You should know how to travel, dock, recover, outfit a ship, try activities, and follow linked references. Choose a direction and let EDFM guide you deeper.

Choose a route into the Field Manual

• Explore: Exploration, Exobiology, Fuel Scooping
• Earn through cargo: Trading, Mining, Laser Mining
• Fight: Combat, Interdiction, Anti-Xeno combat when prepared
• Improve ships: Ships and Equipment, Engineering, Material Trading
• Work on progression: Federal and Imperial naval progression, Engineers, Guardian technology
• Play the galaxy layer: Powerplay, Background Simulation, Operations, System Colonisation, Squadrons
• Long-term ownership: Fleet Carriers and major personal projects

Common problems

My route says unavailable.

Your ship may not have enough jump range, the route filter may be unsuitable, or the destination may require a permit. Try a nearer system, check route settings, reduce ship mass, or improve jump range.

I keep running out of fuel.

Plot shorter routes, refuel at stations, and learn Fuel Scooping. Watch both the current tank and the route line before every long trip.

The station will not let me dock.

Make sure you are close enough, targeting the station, using the contacts panel correctly, and not blocked by pad size, hostility, or legal status.

I accepted a mission I cannot finish.

Read the mission details again. Check destination, cargo, legality, time limit, and required equipment. If the mission is not practical, abandon it and learn what requirement was missed.

I do not know which career is best.

There is no single best career. Try several short loops, then build a ship around the activity you actually enjoy.

When are you no longer a new Commander?

There is no official line where a Commander stops being new. A practical sign is independence. You are becoming self-sufficient when you can:

• decide what you want to do;
• determine what ship and equipment are appropriate;
• travel there safely;
• understand your fuel situation;
• recover from common mistakes;
• find the information you need; and
• understand enough of the game's systems to make your own decisions.

Continue exploring EDFM

• If you want a broad index, return to the Main Page.
• If you want practical procedures, browse Field Procedures.
• If you want mechanics and reference pages, browse Game Reference.
• If you want to improve ships, start with Ships and Equipment and Engineering.