Pilots Guide
This 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.
Overview
If you've never played an open-world, space, trading, exploration and combat simulation game before then follow this Pilots 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 e.g. optimal trade routes, track market prices and engineering materials.
You begin as a poor pilot with a loaned Sidewinder from a secret benefactor. Thence you must choose a path and make a living in the galaxy. All independent pilots are licensed members of the Pilots Federation. Every pilot has the title "commander". Ranks are earned by completing activities and to unlock perks in the auxiliaries of the Federal and Imperial Navy.
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).
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.
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.
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. Certain Squadrons support newbies and teach them the ropes.
Landing roughly on a high gravity world or landing pad can destroy your ship. 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.
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.
The galaxy has a gigantic 1:1 scale with around 400 billion star systems in galactic regions.[1] 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.
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.
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. Capital ships like the Drake-Class Carrier and Javelin-Class Carrier are end-game features due to the very expensive price and upkeep costs. 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.
Activities like long-distance space trucking and exploration require low attention so you can watch a movie on a second monitor. Elite Dangerous has beautiful music, but it's a limited playlist and gets repetitive so you can play custom background music. You can get a burnout by grinding the same activity. Take a break when you're fatigued or wait for the next game update.
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 galaxy so you must set your own goals. Chasing achievements and the destination are less important. It's more about the journey, discovering the Milky Way, making memories and maybe friends along the way.
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:
- 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).
- Switch to Chase Cam: cycle to the external view and adjust the camera behind your ship using your key bindings.
- 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.[2]
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.
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.
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.
Wiki guides
A list of recommended wiki guides to learn about piloting and traversing space.
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 and inexperienced Commanders to get help and support.
Pilot training
These official videos outline the basics of Elite Dangerous for new players.
Fan-made video guides
These are fan-made video guides for newbies.
Lore videos
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
- Sidewinder cockpit interface
- 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.
References
- ↑ Milky Way Galaxy: Facts, Location & How to See It From Earth - Starwalk - 30 June 2026
- ↑ EDVR Unofficial Patch - Ok-Mud-9379 - 11 August 2026 - Reddit