New Commander Roadmap
The Commander Roadmap is a guided progression for a Commander who has completed the introductory tutorial and has just been released into the wider galaxy.
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 deliberately open-ended. The purpose of this roadmap is to answer the question most new Commanders have once the game stops telling them what to do:
Now what?
Use this page in two ways:
- as a reference for the broad early-game skills worth learning; and
- as a practical walkthrough for getting established before choosing your own direction.
- Designed for
- Brand-new Commanders
- Starting point
- Immediately after completing the introductory tutorial
- Required credits
- None
- Required ship
- Starter ship or any early ship
- Recommended
- Complete your introductory mission and learn where to find your ship's rebuy cost
- End state
- An independently capable Commander who can choose their own direction
- Progression length
- Open-ended; move forward when you feel comfortable, 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 discover an activity you enjoy, follow it. You can always return here later.
Phase 1 — Welcome to the Galaxy
You've finished the tutorial. Congratulations, Commander!
The galaxy is now wide open to you. When we say wide, we mean it. Elite Dangerous represents the Milky Way on a roughly 1:1 scale, with around 400 billion star systems containing stars, planets, moons, asteroid belts, and other astronomical bodies.
That amount of freedom can be a little overwhelming at first.
You may already be asking questions such as:
- What do I do now?
- Where do I get missions?
- How do I make credits?
- Where should I go?
- What ship should I buy?
These are all very reasonable questions.
The important thing to understand is that there is no single correct path through Elite Dangerous. You can become a trader, miner, bounty hunter, explorer, exobiologist, mercenary, pirate, Powerplay operative, colonist, or spend your time doing a little bit of everything.
Before worrying about any of that, though, let's get you established.
After the introductory tutorial, the game will normally give you an initial mission to complete before fully turning you loose. Finish it.
This is your first opportunity to learn how missions work in the live galaxy rather than inside a tutorial.
Pay attention to:
- where the mission destination is shown;
- how the route is plotted;
- whether the mission requires cargo or another objective;
- where the mission information appears in your Transactions panel; and
- what you need to do to actually complete and turn in the mission.
Field note
Completing the objective is not always the same thing as completing the mission. Many missions require you to return to a station, settlement, or mission giver and formally turn them in before receiving your reward.
Once you finish, take a moment to look at the Mission Board rather than immediately accepting everything that pays well.
Before accepting another mission, open one and read it carefully.
Look for:
- Destination — where you actually need to go.
- Distance — including both the jump distance and the distance from the arrival star.
- Requirements — cargo capacity, equipment, combat ability, suit requirements, or other conditions.
- Legality — some missions involve illegal cargo, trespassing, theft, smuggling, or hostile actions.
- Threat level — higher-paying work may also be considerably more dangerous.
- Time limit — some missions expire if you take too long.
- Reward — credits are not always the only useful reward.
Tip
Early on, simple courier and delivery missions are useful because they let you practise travelling between systems while earning credits at the same time.
Do not worry about maximizing credits per hour yet. The goal is to understand what you are agreeing to before you accept it.
See Missions for a full explanation of mission types, rewards, reputation, and failure conditions.
Before you start spending your first real credits, learn where to find your ship's rebuy cost.
If your ship is destroyed, insurance normally allows you to recover it by paying only part of its total value instead of purchasing the entire ship again.
That cost is not fixed.
As you move into more expensive ships and install more valuable modules, the value of your ship increases, and so does its rebuy cost.
Important
Never fly without rebuy.
Before leaving the station, make sure your current credit balance can cover your ship's rebuy cost.
If losing the ship would leave you unable to replace it, you are taking a much larger risk than you may realize.
This may not seem especially important while flying your inexpensive starter ship, but it becomes one of the most important habits you can develop as your fleet grows.
Field note
Certain Powerplay benefits can reduce rebuy costs under specific circumstances. You do not need to understand Powerplay yet; just know that these benefits exist if you decide to explore that system later.
For now, simply get into the habit of checking your rebuy before you launch.
Complete a few straightforward missions and begin building a reserve of credits.
You do not need millions before moving forward.
Your immediate goals are simply to:
- keep enough credits available for rebuy;
- have some money available for fuel, repairs, and basic equipment;
- learn how mission rewards work; and
- become comfortable travelling between nearby systems.
Avoid spending every credit the moment you earn it.
Field note
Having enough credits to purchase a ship does not necessarily mean you can comfortably afford that ship. A new ship may also need upgraded modules, equipment for its intended role, and enough credits left over to cover its rebuy.
Phase 2 — Get Established
Your starter location is only the beginning.
The next goal is to find an area where you can comfortably operate, earn credits, experiment with ships, and access the services you need.
Look for a nearby inhabited system with access to several useful services.
A good early operating area will usually have some combination of:
- multiple stations or settlements;
- several local factions offering missions;
- a shipyard;
- outfitting;
- commodity markets;
- contacts;
- refuel, repair, and restock services; and
- nearby inhabited systems within comfortable jump range.
You are not choosing a permanent home.
You are simply looking for somewhere useful to operate while you learn the game.
When you arrive, spend a few minutes deliberately looking through the station interface.
Find:
- Mission Board
- Passenger Lounge, if available
- Commodities Market
- Universal Cartographics, if available
- Vista Genomics, if available
- Contacts
- Shipyard
- Outfitting
- Advanced Maintenance
- Refuel
- Repair
- Restock
You do not need to understand every menu yet.
The objective is to know where these services are so you are not searching for them later when you actually need them.
Before travelling farther from your starting area, pay attention to your fuel gauge and jump range.
Learn the difference between:
- the maximum distance your ship can travel in a single jump;
- the route plotted by the Galaxy Map;
- how far your current fuel supply can actually carry you; and
- your laden and unladen jump range.
Your ship's jump range changes with its mass. An empty cargo hold gives you more range than a full one, and the difference can become significant on ships carrying large amounts of cargo.
Field note
Laden means your ship is carrying cargo, while unladen refers to its range without that cargo load. If you accept or load a large amount of cargo, check your route again before departing — a jump that was possible with an empty hold may no longer be within range once the ship is loaded.
Warning
Running out of fuel can leave your ship stranded between populated systems. Always check your route before committing to a long journey.
A Fuel Scoop allows your ship to replenish fuel from suitable stars while travelling.
Field note
The commonly scoopable main-sequence star classes are O, B, A, F, G, K, and M. Many Commanders remember these with the mnemonic KGB FOAM. See Fuel Scooping for the full procedure.
Tip
Out of fuel? Don't self-destruct. The Fuel Rats are a player-run emergency refueling service dedicated to rescuing stranded Commanders. If you run out of fuel and cannot reach a station or scoopable star, they may be able to come to you and get you moving again.
If your ship has already run completely dry and you see an oxygen countdown, take note of which system you're currently in, and exit to the main menu immediately to preserve your remaining life support time while you request assistance. See Fuel Rats for rescue instructions.
Open Outfitting and look at the modules installed in your ship.
Do not immediately replace everything.
Instead, think about what is currently limiting you.
For example:
- It takes me too many jumps to get where I want to go.
- First, check your route settings in the Galaxy Map. Economical Routes use shorter jumps to conserve fuel, while Fastest Routes favour longer jumps and usually require fewer jumps to reach your destination. If you are already using Fastest Routes, look at your Frame Shift Drive, total ship mass, and current cargo load. For longer journeys, external route-planning tools such as Spansh can also help calculate more efficient routes.
- I cannot carry enough cargo.
- Check how much space your Cargo Racks provide and which optional internal compartments they occupy. Larger compartments can hold larger cargo racks, but using that space for cargo means it cannot be used for something else, such as shields, a fuel scoop, or other equipment. Also remember that the cargo itself adds mass to your ship. A heavily loaded ship will usually have less jump range than the same ship with an empty hold, so check your route again after loading cargo.
- I cannot power everything I want to install.
- Every module draws power from your Power Plant, and upgrading or adding equipment can eventually push your ship beyond what it can supply. In Outfitting, compare your ship's available power with the amount required by your modules. A more capable Power Plant may provide additional power, but module power requirements and power priorities also matter. You do not necessarily need every module running at the same time, and learning how to prioritize essential systems can keep a ship functional even when power is limited. See Power Management for a deeper explanation.
- My ship feels weak in combat.
- Weapons are only one part of a combat-capable ship. Look at your shields or armour, Thrusters, Power Distributor, Power Plant, weapons, and utility modules together. Better weapons will not help much if your distributor cannot keep them firing, your thrusters cannot keep you in a good position, or your defenses collapse before you can finish the fight. You also do not need to turn every ship into a fighter — for traders and explorers, improving survivability and being able to escape may be more useful than carrying heavier weapons. See Combat and Ships and Equipment when you are ready to build specifically for fighting.
Important
Choose modules for the job, not simply by price.
At this point you have two perfectly valid choices:
- improve the ship you already have; or
- begin saving for another ship.
There is no need to rush into a larger or more expensive vessel.
A smaller ship fitted properly for its role can be considerably more useful than a larger ship filled with expensive modules that do not work well together.
The same applies to individual modules. More expensive does not automatically mean better for every build. Modules come with tradeoffs involving performance, mass, power consumption, heat, and cost. An explorer may deliberately choose lighter equipment to preserve jump range, while a combat ship may accept additional mass and power draw in exchange for stronger defenses or better weapon performance.
The goal is not to install the most expensive equipment you can afford. It is to choose the ship and modules that best support what you want to do.
If you decide to buy another ship, remember:
- the purchase price is only the beginning;
- outfitting can substantially increase the total cost;
- more expensive modules can also increase the ship's rebuy cost; and
- you should still have enough credits left over to comfortably cover at least one rebuy.
Field note
Having enough credits to purchase a ship does not necessarily mean you can afford to properly outfit and operate it.
See Ships and Equipment when you are ready to start comparing vessels and modules.
Phase 3 — Find Out What Kind of Commander You Are
Now that you can travel, complete missions, manage your credits, and understand the basics of your ship, it is time to see what the galaxy actually offers.
You do not need to try everything on this list.
The purpose of this phase is to experiment until you discover something that makes you want to keep playing.
Important
There is no single "best" activity in Elite Dangerous. Profitability, difficulty, equipment requirements, and personal enjoyment are all different things. Try what interests you.
Move legal cargo between two markets and attempt to make a profit.
Trading introduces:
- commodity markets;
- supply and demand;
- cargo capacity;
- market prices;
- jump range;
- route planning; and
- the relationship between ship size and earning potential.
You can begin through cargo missions or by purchasing commodities yourself.
Continue to Trading when you want to learn how markets, trade routes, and specialized cargo ships work.
Find a low-risk opportunity to fight an NPC ship.
Early combat should be about learning:
- target selection;
- identifying wanted ships;
- deploying hardpoints;
- managing SYS / ENG / WEP power distribution;
- shield and hull damage;
- weapon range;
- maneuvering; and
- when to disengage.
Warning
Do not fire on a ship simply because other ships are attacking it. Scan your target and confirm its legal status before opening fire.
Low-threat combat and assisting system security can be useful ways to practise before accepting serious combat missions.
Continue to Combat when you are ready to learn about weapons, shields, armour, bounty hunting, and dedicated combat ships.
Mining lets you extract valuable commodities directly from asteroids.
Your first goal is not to build an optimized mining vessel.
Your goal is simply to learn the basic loop:
- Find a suitable location.
- Locate a resource.
- Extract it.
- Collect the material.
- Refine it into cargo.
- Return safely.
- Sell it.
There are several forms of mining, each with different equipment and procedures.
Continue to Mining for an overview or Laser Mining for a guided introduction to the most straightforward mining method.
Pick a destination outside your immediate operating area and deliberately explore along the way.
Pay attention to:
- system scanning;
- unexplored bodies;
- fuel;
- jump range;
- route plotting;
- the Full Spectrum System Scanner;
- the Detailed Surface Scanner; and
- selling exploration data.
You do not need to travel thousands of light-years away to begin exploring.
Continue to Exploration when you want to learn about scanners, valuable worlds, exploration ships, neutron stars, long-distance travel, and expeditions.
If you own Odyssey, exobiology allows you to search planetary surfaces for biological life.
Your first objective is simple:
- Find a landable world containing biological signals.
- Land near a suitable biological specimen.
- Equip an Artemis Suit.
- Use the Genetic Sampler to collect the required samples.
- Return the data to Vista Genomics.
Exobiology introduces planetary navigation, surface exploration, suit equipment, biological signals, and a completely different style of exploration.
Continue to Exobiology for the full guided procedure.
If you own Odyssey, visit a station concourse or settlement and explore the on-foot side of the game.
You can:
- accept on-foot missions;
- visit settlements;
- use Apex Interstellar transport;
- salvage equipment;
- perform legal or illegal operations;
- participate in ground combat;
- upgrade suits and weapons; and
- explore locations outside your ship.
Start with straightforward legal work while you learn how settlement security, restricted areas, trespassing, alarms, and crime work.
Continue to Odyssey for the broader on-foot guide.
Phase 4 — Build for What You Enjoy
Once you have found an activity you enjoy, build a ship around that activity rather than trying to make one vessel perform every possible role.
Decide what the ship is actually supposed to do.
Examples include:
- short-range trading;
- long-range trading;
- exploration;
- exobiology;
- laser mining;
- core mining;
- bounty hunting;
- mission running;
- passenger transport; or
- general-purpose travel.
The clearer the job, the easier the outfitting decisions become.
Different activities place different demands on a ship.
- Trading — cargo capacity, jump range, and survivability.
- Exploration — jump range, fuel, heat management, scanners, and recovery equipment.
- Exobiology — range, planetary handling, landing footprint, and surface access.
- Mining — hardpoints, limpets, refinery capacity, cargo space, and distributor performance.
- Combat — weapons, shields or armour, distributor, power, heat, and maneuverability.
Use the activity's EDFM page to determine what equipment actually matters.
Modules are identified by both a size and a rating.
These affect things such as:
- performance;
- mass;
- power consumption;
- heat;
- cost; and
- compatibility with your ship.
Do not assume that simply purchasing the highest-rated module available is always the correct decision.
Different builds often deliberately use lighter, cheaper, or lower-power modules to achieve a specific goal.
See Ships and Equipment and Outfitting for the full system.
Change a few things, then fly the ship.
Check:
- jump range;
- power usage;
- heat;
- handling;
- shields;
- cargo capacity;
- fuel endurance; and
- whether the ship actually performs the job you built it for.
Do not spend your entire balance building a ship you have never tested.
And, as always, keep enough credits available for rebuy.
Phase 5 — Expand Your Reach
As your ships improve and your confidence grows, the galaxy becomes much easier to navigate.
This is a good time to begin learning systems that support almost every career.
If you intend to travel regularly outside densely populated space, learn Fuel Scooping properly.
Understand:
- scoopable star classes;
- heat management;
- safe approach distance;
- route plotting;
- fuel-star filters; and
- what to do if you become stranded.
Fuel scooping turns long-distance travel from something you depend on stations for into something your ship can often sustain independently.
The Galaxy Map can optimize routes for different purposes.
Learn how:
- jump range affects routes;
- ship mass affects jump range;
- cargo affects jump range;
- route filters work;
- economical and faster routing differ; and
- neutron-star routing works before attempting it.
Continue to Galaxy Map and Route Plotting for deeper guidance.
You do not need one ship capable of doing everything.
As your credit balance grows, it often makes more sense to keep different ships equipped for different roles.
For example:
- an exploration vessel;
- a cargo ship;
- a miner;
- a combat ship; and
- a general-purpose transport.
You can switch ships when your objective changes instead of repeatedly rebuilding the same vessel.
Phase 6 — Begin Engineering
Engineering allows you to modify ship modules beyond their standard specifications.
It is powerful, but it can also become overwhelming if approached as a giant checklist.
Do not begin by trying to unlock every Engineer or fully engineer every module you own.
Start with one useful improvement.
Engineering modifies individual modules using blueprints.
Blueprints are divided into grades, and higher grades generally provide stronger modifications.
Many modules can also receive an Experimental Effect, adding another property to the finished modification.
The important early idea is simple:
Engineer a module because you understand what improvement you want from it.
Engineering does not normally use ordinary cargo commodities.
Instead, it uses materials divided into categories such as:
- Raw;
- Manufactured; and
- Encoded.
These materials are stored separately from your cargo hold and remain with your Commander.
Material Traders allow you to exchange materials you have for materials you need.
Continue to Engineering Materials and Material Trading before beginning major engineering projects.
Pick one improvement that solves a problem you already understand.
Common examples include:
- increasing Frame Shift Drive range;
- improving thruster performance;
- strengthening shields;
- increasing weapon effectiveness; or
- improving power or distributor performance.
Follow the relevant Engineer's invitation and unlock requirements rather than trying to unlock the entire network immediately.
See Engineers for the full progression.
After progressing with Engineers, you can eventually pin useful blueprints.
Pinned blueprints allow certain upgrades to be performed remotely instead of travelling back to that Engineer every time.
There are limitations, and experimental effects still require Engineer workshops.
Continue to Engineering for the complete system.
Phase 7 — The Galaxy Is Yours
By this point, the roadmap stops being linear.
You should now understand how to:
- find and complete missions;
- manage credits and rebuy;
- travel between systems;
- manage fuel;
- use station services;
- outfit a ship;
- try several activities;
- build a ship for a specific purpose; and
- begin improving that ship through Engineering.
From here, choose whatever interests you.
There is no final destination.
At this point, the Field Manual stops telling you what you should do next and starts helping you accomplish whatever you decide to do.
Common problems
- I do not know where to get more missions.
- Dock at an inhabited station or settlement and open the Mission Board. Different local factions offer different missions, and available work changes with location, reputation, economy, and system conditions.
- I bought a new ship and now I am almost out of credits.
- Avoid immediately taking unnecessary risks. Check your rebuy cost before launching and rebuild a credit reserve before investing in additional upgrades.
- My route says unavailable.
- Your ship may not have enough jump range, the route filter may be unsuitable, your ship may be carrying too much mass, or the destination may require a permit. Check the Galaxy Map and your ship's current jump range.
- I keep running out of fuel.
- Watch your fuel gauge before plotting longer trips. Refuel at stations when available and learn Fuel Scooping before travelling far from inhabited space.
- The station will not let me dock.
- Make sure you are within docking-request range, have requested docking through the Contacts panel, and are attempting to land somewhere that can accommodate your ship.
- I accepted a mission I cannot complete.
- Read the mission details again and identify what requirement was missed. Check the destination, cargo requirements, legality, threat level, required equipment, and time limit. If the mission is impractical, abandoning it may be better than risking your ship.
- I do not know which career is best.
- There is no single best career. Try several activities and follow the one you enjoy. Credits are useful, but they are not the objective of the game.
- What ship should I buy next?
- There is no mandatory ship progression. Decide what you want the ship to do first, then compare ships that perform that role well. See Ships and Equipment.
When are you no longer a new Commander?
There is no rank, ship, credit balance, or achievement that officially marks the point where a Commander stops being new.
A more useful measure is independence.
You are becoming self-sufficient when you can:
- decide what you want to do;
- determine what ship and equipment are appropriate;
- understand whether you can afford that ship;
- travel where you need to go;
- manage your fuel;
- recover from common mistakes;
- recognize when a mission or activity is beyond your current preparation;
- find the information you need; and
- understand enough of the game's systems to make your own decisions.