Elite Dangerous Wiki - User contributions [en-gb]

Neutron Highway

2018-08-24T14:10:29Z

209.93.180.191: grammar

[[File:Neutron-Highway.png|thumb|300px|Neutron Highway]]

The '''Neutron Highway''' is a network of charted and optimized routes that contain a high percentage of neutron [[stars]] and white dwarfs along the route; systems that temporarily allow ships to [[FSD Supercharging|supercharge their FSD]] via the neutron jet streams. These highways are a means for ships to traverse large distances between two set locations using far fewer jumps than the conventional method. This guide is courtesy of Erimus.<ref>https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/281825-2-2-Building-the-Neutron-Highway-Grid</ref>

== Are These Routes Faster than regular travel? ==

This really depends on the individual. Everyone has their own techniques when doing the [[hyperspace]] grind. Some are more proficient at the 'buckyball method' of traveling and using the map, where others are more cautious and methodical in their approach. Travel times can vary greatly depending on the player. For this reason it is proposed that neutron travel routes should be judged by the number of jumps they save in total, compared to the number that regular travel would take - and not based solely on the time it takes for individuals to traverse them. Looking at the number of jumps saved, and comparing it to your own experience, proficiency, and method of fast travel, should give you an idea of whether the route will benefit you or not.

But for an example, it has been proved that a 33 LY ship can travel almost 5,000 LYs in less than 90 minutes using a pre-defined route (see linked video below). This shaved around 1 hour off the conventional travel method for a ship of that range across that kind of distance. But this does not mean that everyone will experience the same results. As I say, a whole lot of other variables need to be taken in to account.

== What are the dangers? ==

Neutron travel can be deadly if you drop out of supercruise inside the neutron jet. This can occur by accident (pressing the drop out key bind by mistake), or by misjudging your position relative to the neutron star and hitting the automatic drop out zone while supercharging. You can avoid this 99% of the time if you zero your throttle during the hyperspace sequence toward a NS. You can also avoid being 'sucked into the drop out zone' by immediately turning away from the neutron star upon hyperspace exit, and gliding into the far edge of the NS plume to supercharge where you should have sufficient distance to ride the jet and exit the plume safely. But remember nothing is 100% safe with neutron skimming!

If you lose connection inside a neutron jet, do not log back in! Submit a ticket to game support and they will investigate your net log activity, if you genuinely lost connection, they will move you to a safe system (this info is based on forum comments circa Oct 2015). Alternatively you can attempt to low-wake out of the jet by selecting a celestial object within the system and initiating supercruise (this avoids the need to align-to-target 'high-wake' method, which is virtually impossible while caught in the turbulence of a neutron jet).

Other things to watch out for are FSD damage. Supercharging can damage your FSD and this damage mounts up. It is recommend to drop out of SC (away from a NS jet), and repair your FSD when it drops below 90% integrity.
Don't leave home without an AFMU if you intend to use the neutron grid!

Also be wary of 'continuous neutron hopping' - i.e. jumping from neutron to neutron and forgetting to hit a regular star once in a while to refuel!

== Creating a Route ==
At around 6,000 LYs from [[Sol]], and between 1,000 and 1,500 LYs below the galactic plane, a layer of neutron systems can be located. The closer to the galactic core you travel, the denser this layer becomes - making neutron hopping more and more viable the further coreward you go.

The 'Goldilocks' zone for creating a network grid of neutron highways, starts around 6,000 LYs from Sol and stretches all the way to the outer galactic core. Closer than 6K from Sol and the density of neutrons is not sufficient enough to make optimal routes, so the time investment does not pay off. Beyond the outer galactic core, neutrons are abundant all the way to the far edge of the far galactic core, so conversely, there is no reason to create routes when you can practically find them everywhere in those locations.

If you are thinking of creating a route, and want it linking up to the neutron grid, the intermediate galactic arms are the prime locations to do so.

== Tools ==

The tool [https://www.spansh.co.uk/ Elite Dangerous Neutron Router] plots between two different star systems. It will prioritize neutron stars so should be avoided for journeys which are lower than 500 light years.

== History ==
09/20/2016 - 2.2 "The Guardians" Beta 1 has begun. This new beta brought around a whole host of new changes, the more significant one being the updating of a star type, the "[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/elite-dangerous/images/2/2c/Neutron_star.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20180214114321 Neutron Star]". This new star type had giant jet cones spewing out heavy magnetic fields out the cones of the star, and when the ship was inside this cone, the FSD would be "Supercharged".<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/87j62f/a_brief_history_of_the_neutron_highway/ A Brief History of the Neutron Highway]</ref>

Well, when the Beta 1 came about, there was a decimal error when calculating the Neutron Boost. Instead of 25% as originally planned, the Neutron Star provided a 200% boost. This was not intended.

The same day, 09/20/2016 - [https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/290165-Neutron-star-FSD-boost-info An official statement] was provided to the public detailing the mistake in the boost, drawing the public eye to the "bug" that had graced the first Beta. This bug would undoubtedly provide discussion and a large controversial subject in Elite, <em>when is a jump range too much?</em>

The Same Day, 09/20/2016 - The community was rallied into action! [https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/53o1r7/fdev_from_the_bottom_of_my_heart_i_plead_with_you/ Posts about the new boost] were suddenly littering the front page. The community needed to catch the eye of FDEV and reverse the "fix" to this bug. The Neutron boost was an amazing and very sought after feature for Elite Dangerous, for it provided a strong reason to finally explore deep into the depths of the [[Elite Universe]].

After a large number of posts were made, the community had won. The 200% boost was made a feature, and the beginnings of the Neutron Highway were born.

11/06/16 - [https://i.imgur.com/zSaF4pr.jpg Brave souls] attempted to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbC35HYeckY pioneer the Highway], bringing about the name of a new super lane to different parts of the galaxy. The highway was cutting down times to Colonia from Days to just hours, the current record is in [https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/345802-From-Bubble-to-Colonia-(21-800-ly 3 Hours and 16 minutes]. There were even brave souls making unfathomable times to Sag A*, some even reaching Sag A* in under 2 hours!

11/16/16 - The first [https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/308674-Neutron-Highway-long-range-route-planner Neutron Route Plotter] was born! Created by the amazing Spansh, this fresh new tool made custom routes to anywhere in the galaxy, making traveling a lot easier. Early Pioneers had to manually identify and mark custom routes, slowing the process considerably, but this new tool allowed Plotting for great distances while using the new boost.

This was the defined beginning of the Neutron Highway. Using Spansh (or your own eyes), a CMDR could traverse the galaxy in mere hours, cutting down travel times so significantly and making exploring more viable to those CMDRs not wanting to spend weeks in the black. From here, the Neutron Highway was used continuously for years, up until.....

08/17/2017 - [https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/371096-Elite-Dangerous-2-4-Closed-Beta-available-to-download-now-(changelog The addition of 20k LY routes] as well as the ability to make use of the Neutron Boost in your routing. This didn't put Spansh out of complete commission, but this solidified The Neutron Highway as a now "easy to use" feature for everyone.

== Videos ==
<gallery>
Elite_Dangerous_Guide_to_Neutron_Star_Jumping
Elite Dangerous - Demonstrating the Neutron Highway
</gallery>

== References ==
<references />[[Category:Guides]]

Smuggler

2018-06-02T11:40:17Z

209.93.108.207:

{{RoleInfobox
| risk = Medium
| reward = Medium
| timeinvestment = Low
| suggestedships = [[Hauler]]; [[Adder]]; [[Cobra MkIII]]; [[Asp Explorer]]; [[Python]]; [[:Category:Freighter|Freighters]]
| suggestedupgrades = [[Heat Sink Launcher]]; [[Power Plant]]
|image = Smuggler-Type-6.jpg}}
'''Smuggler'''s are similar to [[trader]]s except that they sell goods where it is illegal, on the [[Black Market|black market]]. Smugglers have to use stealth, cunning, and special equipment to outwit the Police and sometimes military authorities, especially around [[station]]s, to sell their [[goods]] at a profit while escaping fines and a criminal record. Smugglers can also be a special case of [[courier]]s, where the player is asked to transport forbidden items.

When dealing in stolen items looted from wrecks or from piracy, smuggling is also essential as cargo is tagged and detection of stolen goods on a ship will carry consequences as well. For this reason, most [[pirate]]s are also typically skilled in smuggling items into stations.

== How-to smuggle ==
Smuggling can be done in four ways, steal illicit cargo, pirate ships, transport wanted criminals or other secretive passengers, or buy goods that are allowed in one system and station, and sell it in another system where it is prohibited.

Buying goods from one system to another is usually between [[Empire]] and independent stations using [[Imperial Slaves]], but other goods and commodities are also profitable.

'''''If you are caught transporting wanted criminals, the penalty is very severe.''''' If you are scanned with a criminal on board an immediate bounty is placed on you and if you are inside a station when that bounty gets placed it means instant death. Many commanders have lost their ship to space station cannons whilst transporting wanted criminals.

==Smuggling as a Player==
The goal is simple: enter the station without your hold being scanned by either players or police forces. There are multiple ways to get inside of a station without being scanned, which differ based on pilot skill, ship type, and station. It is far easier to smuggle in a smaller vessel, and larger ships will find the task to be not only difficult without detection, but extremely dangerous to the ship.
* '''Ship loadout'''
** The important thing with smuggling is to get your ship under 20% heat, this reduces the range that other ships can scan giving you a larger window to fly through.
** Buy a heat efficient ship
*** Asp Explorer is optimal with it's excellent cool running and medium cargo capacity
*** Diamondback Explorer is also a good heat efficient ship and a good option if you're on a budget, but has less cargo space.
*** The Python has much larger cargo capacity, however the 7A power plant costs more than a fully A-Rated Asp Explorer.
** Upgrade your power supply based on Heat efficiency
*** Heat efficiency is measured in terms of Per Watt Used. Turning your systems off to use less MWatts will generate less heat.
*** A Rated power supplies are the most heat efficient.
*** All A Rated power supplies (A1, A4, A7 etc) have the same [[Power Plant#Specifications|heat efficiency]].
** If you have access the following Engineer blue prints, they will aid your smuggling
*** Low Emissions Power Plant (Roll high Heat Efficiency)
*** Clean Drive Tuning (Roll low: Power Draw)
*** Life support (secondary Roll: Low Power Draw)
*** Enhanced, Low Power Shields (Roll low: Power Draw)
** If you use shields to protect your hull from damage while docking (to prevent your passengers from complaining for example) the lightest powered shields will allow your ship to run cooler. This is based on power draw, the less power your shields use the cooler your ship will run, but conversely the weaker your shields will be. It's more efficient in terms of shield strength per Watt to use E or D rated shields, than to use A rated of a class below.
** Have as few systems as possible, every system you fit is another system to turn off before you dock and another system to turn on again once you are clear of the station.

* '''When at an Outpost station and on Planets'''
** When landing at an outpost, or on a planet, you do not have a mail-slot that stops your scan. To be un-scannable in these situations you must land and retract your ship underground. Outposts in general have low occurrences of patrol ships. If there are patrol ships, enter supercruise fly a little bit then return the chances are the patrol ships will have left the area. Planetary landings usually come supplied with patrol ships flying around the surface near the space port. The number will depend on the Security rating of the system you are in.
** There is significantly more risk in smuggling to outposts and planets, it is preferred to smuggle to starport stations.
* '''When at a [[Starport]] station''' such as the [[Orbis]] or [[Coriolis]]:
**
*Note that there is significant controversy over the effectiveness of the following technique, given that law enforcement officers tend to fly with very high end scanning equipment, able to detect you when your heat levels are incredibly low*
** At maximum range (7.5km) request docking clearance. Approach station from the side with the docking slot, as lined up as possible, and be sure that no large ships will be in your way. Be sure that you don't draw too close during this process.
** Disable all but the following modules: Life Support, Thrusters. Allow your ship to cool below 20% heat if possible. A Heat Sink Launcher aids in this.
** Head towards the docking slot at speed. As soon as possible, engage [[Silent Running]] (Delete key by default). This closes the heat vents on your ship to help hide it, but makes heat build-up inside; this is why we allowed the ship to cool. 'Ship Scan Detected' does not mean the scan was completed. Scanning takes a moment, and if you enter the docking ring or escape before it can be completed, the scan will fail (thus no [[fine]] or reputation loss).
** Enter the docking bay, disable silent running, and slow down as quickly as you can. Your shields will be offline, so any impact can easily cripple or destroy you.
*'''A sufficiently-skilled pilot '''is able to accomplish the task of entering the station without any special preparations, by requesting docking at a distance and then entering the station at considerable speed. This method is, when performed by a skilled pilot, by far the fastest and most likely to succeed, but carries the highest consequence when failed: impact with the station and immediate destruction.

==Penalties==
If the Police finish a scan on the player's ship while it is holding [[Illegal Goods|illegal]] or [[Stolen Goods|stolen]] cargo they will be [[fine]]d and their reputation with the system's controlling faction will drop. It is recommended to not smuggle in systems where the controlling faction is one that you want to continue to be friendly with.

'''''If you are caught transporting wanted criminals, the penalty is very severe'''''. If you are scanned with a criminal on board an immediate bounty is placed on you, and if you are inside a station when that bounty gets placed it means instant death.

==Notes==
* In the vast majority of cases, NPC ships will not be able to finish any scan they've started once you are inside of the docking ring, however, players can continue to scan you through the station if they so choose. It is also important to note that once landed and have entered the hangar, you are safe. You are scannable when you have touched-down on your pad, but not once you "enter hangar/go down".

==Videos==
<gallery hideaddbutton="true">
File:Elite_Dangerous_How_To_Make_Money_Smuggling_The_Hauler
File:%27Elite_Dangerous%27_Gamma_v1.04_-_Freebooter_(Flight_Assist_Off)
</gallery>

==References==
[https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=81550 The current state of smuggling (and a guide to new players)]
<references />
{{Stub}}
[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Commerce]]