Pilots Guide

File:Viper Mk III Pilot Hangar.png

Viper Mk III and pilot in hangar

The Pilots Guide is designed to help new pilots get ahead in the galaxy. There are many career paths. You should choose a vocation that fits your play style and skills. The Sidewinder is the starter ship and used as an example. The concepts are applicable to all ships in Elite Dangerous. You can explore planets on foot, with a vessel or SRV. The Scarab is a staple vehicle for exploration. Veterans may find this guide useful to get up to speed. You decide your own adventure in ED. This guide has key things that you should know for a better journey.

Overview

File:Sidewinder-Cockpit-Interface.png

Sidewinder Cockpit Interface

If you've never played an open-world, space, trading, exploration and combat simulation game before then follow this guide to get your bearings.

Elite Dangerous has a steep learning curve with complex controls and minimal in-game guidance. There are basic tutorials, but the game expects you to figure out navigation, trading and survival by yourself. However, there are free Third Party Tools for optimal trade routes, track market prices, engineering materials etc.

You begin as a poor pilot with a loaned Sidewinder from a secret benefactor in the 34th century. In the ED: Odyssey expansion you begin an on foot tutorial that teaches basic mechanics like walking, interacting with terminals, using tools and handheld weapons. All independent pilots are licensed members of the Pilots Federation. Every pilot has the title "commander". Ranks are earned by completing activities to unlock perks in the auxiliaries of the Federal and Imperial Navy. All newbies start in the Pilots' Federation District. This protected zone has basic missions and outfitting. Once you've earned your first rank in combat, trade or exploration you are guided outside the district and the permit is revoked. Thence you must choose a path and make a living in the galaxy. What you want to do determines where you want to go.

The controls require learning dozens of key-bindings for thrusters, shields, landing gear and power distribution. You can customize the controls (mouse + keyboard, joystick/HOTAS or gamepad). By playing you will learn the basics like flight routines and gain muscle memory. Communication is primarily via the in-game Communications Panel, which splits messages into several specific chat channels. You can also use voice chat and emotes.

The Frame Shift Drive allows faster-than-light travel within star systems and via hyperspace. Newer ships are optimized for a more stable Frame Shift Drive (SCO). SCO lets you temporarily overcharge your engine for extreme speeds in supercruise. Landing roughly on a high gravity world or landing pad can destroy your ship.

The #1 golden rule is “Never fly without a rebuy”. This means you should always have enough credits to cover your ship's insurance if it gets destroyed. The Pilots Federation covers most of the cost, but you must pay the rebuy fee (circa 5% of your total ship and module value).

There are 3 game modes: Solo (single player), Private Group (with friends and invites), and Open Play (with everyone). Newbies are recommended to play in Solo or Private Group, because it is safer. Open Play has the risks of random encounters with other players and PVP combat. The majority of players are in Solo or Private Groups. You can find other players in hot spots or systems with community goals. Squadrons are organized groups of players, similar to a guild. They are useful to socialize and do cooperative content like Operations. Many supports newbies and teaches them the ropes. The player base is very spread out across the galaxy and in 1 of 3 game modes. Thus it is rare to meet other players.

There are over 50 flyable ships. These come in 3 sizes: small, medium, large. They can have specific roles like combat, exploration, trading or multi-purpose. These ships are highly customizable via outfitting. The ship's modules and performance can be engineered past the standard limits. The engineers can upgrade the tier of a blueprint in exchange for raw, manufactured and encoded materials. The capital ships cannot be piloted directly, instead the owner gives orders. Capital ships like the Drake-Class Carrier and Javelin-Class Carrier are end-game features due to the very expensive price and upkeep costs.

On foot lets you control your character from a first-person perspective. Such as explore a planet, moon, concourse in a station or settlement. You can also do combat as a mercenary and an explorer can take biological samples of alien species. You wear the Flight Suit by default. The Artemis Suit is designed for exobiology and exploration. The Maverick Suit is for salvage, stealth, and settlement missions. The Dominator Suit is meant for ground combat and conflict zones. Essential on-foot tools are the Profile Analyser to clone security clearances, the Arc Cutter to cut panels, and the Energy Link to power down or activate systems at a settlement. Various handheld weapons are available for personal safety or offensive missions.

The activities range from easy to complex. Space trucking, data courier and basic exploration are easy. Combat, deep-core mining, missions at settlements, powerplay and system colonisation are complex. Activities like long-distance space trucking and exploration require low attention so you can watch a movie on a second monitor. You can get a burnout by grinding the same activity. Take a break when you're fatigued or wait for the next game update.

Powerplay is a multiplayer, grand-strategy system for territorial control in the galaxy. Players pledge allegiance to one of 12 galactic Powers. You can contribute to expand your faction's borders, fortify friendly systems and undermine enemy strongholds. Pledging to a power makes you a target for all other rival powers. You gain "hostile" status when flying through systems that are controlled or exploited by a rival power. The benefits of pledging to a power are lucrative perks like up to 100% rebuy reduction, 100% rebuy reduction if you're killed in hostile territory by an enemy faction, and exclusive rank decals. Every power offers passive income multipliers or cost discounts within their controlled territories. These benefits increase with your loyalty rank. There are 12 exclusive modules that can be unlocked with every power. Powerplay is optional and recommended for intermediate commanders.

Operations are mid-to-endgame scenarios, because you should have an upgraded/engineered ship and on-foot equipment. It requires tactical coordination with teammates to complete the objectives. It's hard to finish an operation solo. Managing a Squadron is a late-game social activity, because you should know how the Background Simulation works, Powerplay, pooling resources and coordinating squad-mates.

The galaxy has a gigantic 1:1 scale with around 400 billion star systems in galactic regions. Each region has species who live on planets or in space such as Lagrange Clouds. There are a wide range of characters from all walks of life. The most notable aliens are the ancient insectoid Thargoids and the extinct humanoid Guardians. Humanity won two major wars against the Thargoids: the First Thargoid War (3125–3151) and the Second Thargoid War (3303–3310). They can still be found at conflict zones and System Signal Sources in the California Nebula, Pleiades, Coalsack Nebula, and around Titan graveyards.

GalNet is the galactic news network and data aggregator in ED that broadcasts lore, market information, and political developments across the Milky Way. This official news is made by Frontier Developments. There are 3 superpowers: the Alliance, Empire, and Federation. There are many independent people. The galaxy has trillions of characters. The lore of ED is deep and related to previous titles in the Elite series. Terminology and acronyms are frequently used in wiki articles and lore. Learn the common terms in the glossary of Acronyms & Slang.

There are unsolved mysteries like Raxxla, Soontill, and the Formidine Rift. Certain aspects of the Guardians and Thargoids remain unknown. There are secretive organizations like The Club and The Dark Wheel.

Committing a crime (assault, murder, ramming ships) inside or near a station is met with lethal force by the surface and orbital Defence Turrets which destroy criminal ships in seconds. Security forces like Advanced Tactical Response are active in all system types except anarchy. Security is the lowest in anarchy systems which have a higher chance of PVP. Bounty hunters destroy wanted ships while pirates steal commodities and sell them for profit. Learn about Crime & Punishment to stay on the lawful side of society.

ED has beautiful music, but the limited playlist gets repetitive so you can play custom background music.

ED has no official winning state or final quest. There is no linear campaign or final boss to finish the game. It continues after earning the highest ranks. ED is an endless sandbox so you must set goals, "blaze your trail" and "leave your mark on the galaxy." Chasing achievements and the destination are less important. It's more about the journey, discovering the Milky Way, and life among the stars.

Codex

File:Elite-Dangerous-Codex-Commander-Stats.png

Commander stats in the Codex

The Codex shows information and stats of your findings, progress, session logs and a curated archive of your discoveries.

The Homepage has the most important stats with a full body image of your Commander. You can customize the appearance with Holo-Me.

The Discoveries section shows 42 galactic regions with things that players found and things that aren't discovered yet. For example within a star system there are stars, planets, terrestrials, gas giants, species, settlements, generation ships, text and audio logs etc.

The Knowledge Base has encyclopedia-style lore topics about e.g. historical events, important characters, factions and alien species.

The Pilot's Handbook has detailed information about possible activities, ship outfitting and more. There's also a news feed.

1st and 3rd person

ED is primarily designed as a first-person experience. By default you fly your ship in 1st person from the pilot seat. There is native support for keyboard & mouse, standard gamepads (like Xbox and PlayStation controllers), and dedicated flight peripherals including HOTAS, dual sticks, and rudder pedals. You can switch to 3rd person by activating the Camera Suite:

1. Activate Camera Suite: Press Left Ctrl + Left Alt + Space on PC (or hold B and press Right on the D-Pad on Xbox / hold Square and press Right on the D-Pad on PlayStation).
2. Switch to Chase Cam: cycle to the external view and adjust the camera behind your ship using your key bindings.
3. Enable Flight Controls: you can steer, boost, and fire weapons while in the external view, but there is no cockpit HUD.

You can map a dedicated "Enter Camera Suite" key in the Options > Controls menu. Once active, select one of the preset external camera views.

On Foot is also designed for first-person view. The camera suite provides a 3rd person, cinematic view of your character and surroundings. However, your Heads-Up Display (HUD) and crosshairs disappear. You cannot complete combat nor interact with objects while using the external camera view.

Virtual Reality is supported inside ships and vehicles, but not on foot. The fan-made patch EDVR fixes many issues.

Difficulty

Elite Dangerous seems ostensibly simple, but there is a steep learning curve and complex mechanics. Picking the right ship, outfitting, vehicle, vessel, tools, suits for an activity requires intermediate knowledge. Becoming proficient at a career takes tens of hours of practice. Mastering the flight controls, navigation, ship and on foot combat, system management and procedures to get the best results requires over 100 hours of hands-on experience. Some consider ED a slow, repetitive and badly explained game that requires the player to make concessions.

Flight mechanics and controls use physics with a fly-by-wire system. This requires precise throttle, directional management and memorizing the sheer volume of keybinds. Disabling Flight Assist allows near Newtonian flight. Learning a HOTAS setup (Hands-On Throttle-And-Stick) or a gamepad, keyboard + mouse takes a substantial time and dedication due to the sheer volume of buttons and keybinds.

System management is very important to balance power distribution between engines, systems (shields), and weapons during flight and combat vs NPCs, players or Thargoids. PVP combat can be the most difficult, because it's often a mismatch of skills, equipment and humans are less predictable.

The galaxy is humongous so it's easy to get lost. This makes navigation an existential and vast undertaking. Deep space will be true isolation from inhabited space like the Core Systems. Long-distance exploration involves coping with loneliness. Some people will suffer from space madness. You should know the different types of stars, planets and how to find valuable species of flora and fauna that are worth collecting with the Genetic Sampler. Star systems are sparse in the galactic edge and densely packed in the galactic core. There are severe consequences if you mismanage the fuel of your ship, run out of oxygen of your suit, land too hard on a planet or landing pad, or act criminally near a station or settlement. The Fuel Rats help those who are stuck without fuel. The Hull Seals repair ship and vehicle hulls.

Activities like deep-core mining and smuggling require specialized knowledge to do properly. Xeno Hunter requires being familiar with the Thargoid Scout, Hunter, Interceptor and variants. There are third-party tools to make it easier. The trader, system colonisation, powerplay and engineering paths are so deep that many pilots rely on third-party tools like Inara or EDSM to track data and utilize the economy.

Guides

Fan-made guides

New pilots should check the following fan-made guides. Note: some guides are outdated.

• Elite: Dangerous Pilot Training Tutorials
• Elite Dangerous: Horizons Training Guides
• Official Players Guide (latest version)
  • Official Players Guide (PS4) (latest version)
  • Official Players Guide (XBOX) (latest version)
• The Guide for Almost Everything
• An in-depth beginner’s guide to Elite: Dangerous
• A visual guide to exploration
• Odyssey Guide
• Squadrons Guide

Wiki guides

A list of recommended wiki guides to learn about piloting and traversing space.

• Acronyms & Slang
• Careers
• Crime & Punishment
• Docking
• Engineers
• Factions
• Flight Assist
• FSD Supercharging
• HOTAS Key Bindings
• HUD
• Hyperspace
• Supercruise
• Permits
• Powerplay
• Ranks

Support squadron

• New Pilots Initiative is a squadron that supports new pilots and develops their chosen career.

Support issues

For support issues check the following places before submitting a ticket:

• Official FAQ
• Official game support forum
• Official customer support
• Technical support
• The Galactic Academy is a portal for new Commanders to get help and support.

Pilot training

These official videos outline the basics of Elite Dangerous for new players.

• File:Elite Dangerous Pilot Training - Basic Flight Controls
• File:Elite Dangerous Pilot Training - Docking
• File:Elite Dangerous Pilot Training - Travel
• File:Elite Dangerous Pilot Training - Basic Combat
• File:Elite Dangerous Pilot Training - Galaxy And System Map
• File:Landing - Elite Dangerous Horizons Pilot Training
• File:Passengers - Elite Dangerous Horizons Pilot Training
• File:Elite Dangerous Pilot Tutorials - CQC

Fan-made video guides

These are fan-made video guides for newbies.

• File:🪐 Elite Dangerous Odyssey How to Have the Best Start New Player Beginners Guide 2025 SuperCut
• File:A Beginner's Guide to Elite Dangerous in 2025 - For PC & Console
• File:What to do in Elite Dangerous in 2025 - Overview, Guides, and Builds
• File:Elite Dangerous - Intermediate Tutorial - Into The Maelstrom
• File:Anti-Xeno Academy- Learn how to fight Thargoids
• File:Beginner's Guide to Maneuvering, Supercruise Quick Drop, SCO, and Quick Auto Dock - Elite Dangerous
• File:Elite Dangerous - New Player Tutorial - PIP & Distributor Management
• File:ELITE DANGEROUS - Settlement Raiding Guide for N00bz
• File:On Foot Combat - A Guide to Getting Started in Elite Dangerous Odyssey
• File:Top 10 Community MODS and TOOLS in Elite- Dangerous
• File:I played the most OVERWHELMING space game ever made - Elite Dangerous
• File:GUIDE- Essential New Commander FAQ in Elite Dangerous (Flight, Docking & Travel)
• File:How to engage with Powerplay - Elite Dangerous

Lore videos

• File:Fiction Diary -3
• File:Elite Dangerous Lore Introduction, a primer for all CMDRs.
• File:Elite Dangerous Lore, The Timeline Part 1
• File:Elite Dangerous Lore, The Timeline Part 2
• File:Elite Dangerous - Thargoid War Epilogue

Ship HUD

The HUD, also known as a "head-up display" or "heads-up display", is how all information inside of a ship is displayed in Elite Dangerous. <tabview> HUD/Center|Ship: Center HUD/Right|Ship: Right HUD/Left|Ship: Left HUD/Down|Ship: Down HUD/Odyssey|On foot (Odyssey) </tabview>

Gallery

• Cobra cockpit interface
  Cobra cockpit interface
• Sidewinder cockpit interface
  Sidewinder cockpit interface
• File:CenterHUDLayout.jpg
• Planetary Flight HUD
  Planetary Flight HUD

Third Party Tools

ED has a steep learning curve and does not hold your hand, save for a few in-game tutorials. You can learn to use 3rd party tools and websites to make the gaming experience more enjoyable and easier.

The Elite: Dangerous Codex has a complete list of Third Party Tools. You can bookmark it, and use tools that you find useful. There are dozens of websites about ED worth bookmarking. Check the Fansites for a list of related sites, tools, data and guides.

The game utilizes an API that allows all in-game data to flow to multiple websites, tools, and utilities so all real time in-game data can be presented in many different ways. For example, Inara helps players search the nearest stations, minor factions, bodies, profitable trade routes, commodity prices, engineer component trading, ships, modules and personal equipment vendors. By registering at these sites and tools with your personal game API they can track your entire history and game data.

ED also creates log files every time you play. These tools can pull that data in various ways to give you a detailed log of everywhere you go, buy and sell, and other player actions.

Ships for ARX

Buying ships or livery with the in-game currency ARX (real money) is completely optional. It supports the development of ED for new content, features and updates.

Early access

You can buy early access to newly released ships, vessels and vehicles for ARX in the ED Gamestore. After around 3-4 months it will be available for standard in-game credits.

Pre-Built Ships

Pre-Built Ships are ready-to-use and specialized for a role with pre-equipped modules, paint jobs, and ship kits. If the ship gets destroyed, the base pre-built ship can be redeployed at zero credit cost. This allows you to skip the grind to manually outfit it from scratch with in-game credits. Some jump-start ships have pre-installed engineered modules. The pre-built modules cannot be sold, stored or transferred to other ships. The bundles have Standard, Stellar, and Galactic tiers. These premium ships can be purchased with ARX.

Pre-built ships are convenient for new players, to switch careers or a second account. However, they're not necessarily pay-to-win (P2W), because it requires general knowledge and piloting skills to use properly.

CMDR Starter Pack

CMDR Starter Pack is a bundle intended to help new commanders get started faster. It has lots of content like: ship, A-rated spec, ship kit, paintjobs, decals (emblems and logos), ship weapon detailing, COVAS, suit and handheld weapon cosmetics. The ship can also be deployed at any shipyard. The starter pack can be purchased with ARX.