Guide (PC) by nemrac

Updated: 11/21/2021

Elite Player Guide

First things first: read the manual! It helps you a lot. If you don't have one

for whatever reason then usually it's piracy so no help for you, sorry. I mean,

then you have to figure out things on your own a little.

After loading for first time you should do some trading runs to understand how

the game works, how you deal with encountering enemies, how you can cope with

the 3D

Once you get the hang of it, run goods between safe planets such as the

Corporate States. This will build up some capital. You can potentially do that

for hours.

Getting Started

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

* When the game loads you will see a rotating space ship, The Cobra MK III.

It's the ship you have.

* Use the status screen to see information important during the game. You do
 not have to take notes about this as you can always access it again later.

* Open the galaxy map. Each dot is a solar system. Move the cursor around to

read info about the planets. The large cross is your current position. The

circle is the maximum jump possible if you have hyperspace fuel.

* The other chart shows your close-by surroundings in detail. You can also move

the smaller cross around and get details like on the solar map. You can also

see how far away the selected system is from the your location.

* You need to use these charts to plot hyperspace jumps once you are ready to

go out further to other planets.

First Trades

^^^^^^^^^^^^

* A trading place will have a list of goods available, showing how much they

cost and how many are available. You can switch to your inventory to see your

cargo inventory. You only start with some credits and hyperspace fuel so you

need to trade well to purchase more of the latter.

* Select how many you want to buy, totally 20 tons at the start of the game and

with little money you can't really fill all anyway.

many you want to sell off.

* Experiment around in your first trading runs how this works.

* I recommmend you always keep 30 credits on hand because being broke doesn't

buy fuel. You can go a little lower but it gets riskier.

* Upgrading your ship is important too, spending spare cash on it as you go.

Always refill fuel first then go for missiles etc. More on that later.

* More details on trading in another section.

Space Exploration

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

* As you exit the space space you will see a circle that is your compass and

your position to the station. The objects like the space station will change

color as you move around.

* Try to move around the space station to understand the compass.

* If you see other ships at this point they are other traders as this area is

safe. If you shoot at them they'll turn aggro so let's not do that! They
 could also speed away but that still does not benefit you in any way. Also

keep in mind that the space station might shoot at you if you turn rogue

nearby.

* Never, ever try to land on a planet. That's not possible. It's all about

space travel only. If you get too low to a planet's surface you will crash.

* The last thing to do is learn docking. Do this with the space station at the

beginning after departing, turn aroud and dock again. Better learn this now

than after spending a lot of time moving around only to find that you keep

crashing into the station.

Hyperjumping

^^^^^^^^^^^^

* As long as you have enough fuel you can hyperjump to any planet in range.

Make sure you have enough money or fuel to continue after arrival.

* You will not land directly at the planet and you still need to get closer. Do

not fly close to any sun you see in the solar system as the heat will kill

you.

* The compass is still set on the planet you selected so you can fly closer.
* The system will pick up the space station signal when you get close enough.

* Not every system is friendly! Some may be corporate, friendly, and others

of Democracy or Confederacy are still friendly unless attacked but some like

anarchy or feudal are definitely going to attack you. There is also a chance

of running into pirates in less stable government systems.

* Approach the space station to dock. The space station dock always faces the

nearby planet.

* Always approach slowly! You may slowly bump into the station and get away

with it but a fast approach will always crash and burn.

* Now that we have successfully hyperjumped to a new system and docked you can

start trading again. Refuel and get some extra stuff as you have money for.

Space Combat

^^^^^^^^^^^^

* Your main weapon is the laser. It will destroy most things. You have a heat

gauge for this and it it gets too high you have to wait for it to cool down.

* Note that destroying ships or asteroids is better done with missiles.

always home into the target and usually destroy it too.

* You can switch your view from Front, Back, Left and Right to get a better

view or aim. When you start the game you do not have any lasers anywhere but

the front but you can buy upgrades to facilitate it and it's very useful.

* Missiles can be locked on in any view.

* The laser can upgraded to be even more powerful.

* Your ship comes with a shield, front and back. They will take damage and can

be recharged from the energy banks. If your ship's energy is depleted you

are destroyed. The energy is also used up by the laser or ECM.

* If your shied's are down the damage will directly reduce the energy levels of

your ship. The computer will let you know the damage taken and remaining

energy. If it's dangerously low you get a big warning.

* Enemy ships have lasers and missiles too. This is why you don't want to be a

sitting target in space fights. Only big ships tend to have missiles and when

they are fired your computed will let you know. You can either use the ECM to

destroy it or outmanoeuvre it skillfully (not easy). Third option would be

to shoot it with your laser which is not easy either. Missiles will do huge

damage so try to avoid that!

consider it your safe haven.

Trading

^^^^^^^

* The core of the game is trading as you will need to earn money, ugprade

your ship and buy fuel to keep going.

* Not every planet has the same stocks. An agricultural planet has food. An

industrial planet has high-tech good but needs food, and reversely the

farming planet requires the tech.

* Trade items and the plaecs you can buy it, making sure they do not overcharge

you.

____________________________________________________________________________

TRADE ITEM AVERAGE

PRICE /CR

____________________________________________________________________________

Food Agricultural 4.4 / tonne

Textiles Agricultural 6.4 / tonne

Radioactives Agricultural 21.2 / tonne

Liquor/Wines Agricultural 25.2 / tonne

Luxuries Industrial 91.2 / tonne

*% Narcotics Agricultural 114.8 / tonne

Computers Industrial 84.0 / tonne

Machinery Industrial 56.4 / tonne

Alloys Agricultural 32.8 / tonne

* Firearms Industrial 70.4 / tonne

Furs Agricultural 56.0 / tonne

Minerals Agricultural 8.0 / kg

Gold Any 37.2 / kg

Platinum Any 65.2 / kg

Gem-stones Any 16.4 / g

& Alien Items (Artifacts, Weapons etc.) 27.0 / tonne

___________________________________________________________________________

* Trading this is illegal so you are taking a risk to get attacked by some

governments

^ Some games only have robot slaves

% Somes games change this to Rare Species

& Not in all versions

Ship Upgrades

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
* Obviously you must be docked at a space station to upgrade your ship and only

some spaces have high tech upgrades.

* Every station has fuel else you could easily get stuck somewhere.

* You can buy up to 4 missiles and every station has them for sale.

* You can extend the cargo bay to 35 tons. Very useful if you are just doing

safe trade routes.

* Tech Level 8 allows for an extra energy unit which is HIGHLY recommended.

* ECM is available at tech 2 and allows for destroying any missiles on screen,

including yours. Other ships, usually traders, also have this protection. You

do not need this right away but it's nice to have.

* Laser guns (Pulse Lasers) are available at Tech 3. You can fit them at other

sides of the ship.

* Beam Lasers are even stronger than the pulse laser but will overheat quicker.

Only available at Level 4. If you upgrade from a Pulse Laser you will get the

money for the Pulse Laser back in exchange, think of it like a trade in.

* Some version of Elite have additional lasers, and the Mining Laser is used
 for quickly destroying asteroids so you can scoop up the materials.

* Fuel Scoops will allow for collecting hyperspace fuel when flying close to a

sun at high speed - something that is risky but you get "free" fuel out of

it. It also allows for picking up items from wrecks, usually done by pirates.

* Escape Capsules allows for an extra ship if yours gets destroyed, like an

extra life - so that the game isn't as cruel for killing you instantly

(although there is always saving the game frequently). You do not get the

cargo back when the ship was lost and that escape capsule is used up.

* Level 7 allows buying an energy bomb. You can only carry one and it destroys

all small ships with some exceptions, asteroids and missiles. Does not work

on space stations.

* At tech 9 you can buy a docking computer. This makes docking a lot easier

and should really be at lower tech because it's super convenient for new

gamers. On some versions where you would need to pay docking credits this is

now waved too.

* The top tech to buy is a Galactic Hyperdrive. When you use it it will be gone

and you find yourself in another galaxy and a random system in it. As the

game has eight galaxies you will cycle through them all and the eight jump

returns you to the starting galaxy.

ITEM TECH LEVEL PRICE / CR

___________________________________________________________________

Fuel All Varies

Missile All 25

Large Cargo Bay All 400

ECM System 2 500

Pulse Laser 3 400

Beam Laser 4 750

Fuel Scoops 5 425

Escape Capsule 6 1000

Energy Bomb 7 450

Extra Energy Unit 8 800

Docking Computers 9 750

Galactic Hyperdrive 10 5000

___________________________________________________________________

Misc

^^^^

* You do not need to play the game as a trader. You can become a pirate! Arrgh.

* Firearm trade is very lucrative but dangerous. You can choose to go this

route and you will make lots of money at high risk. Find anarchy systems that
 want to buy weapons and be prepared to fight off pirates constantly, or

police raids.

* Because being a pirate causes you to be effectively banned from nice space

station governments you need to rely on fuel scooping instead. It also means

you need to be good at space combat of course.

* Bounty Hunting is the most elite gangster mode in the game. By destroying

pirates that prey on trade convoys you can earn big bucks but these pirates

do not go down without a fight.

* By destroying a known bounty your ship will automatically take care of the

paperwork and earn the credits for you.

* Bounty hunters will also chase you if you decided to be a pirate or trade

illegal goods, Mr. Notorious! You will find them disguised as trade ships in

a Cobra class vessel and if you attack them they'll retaliate.

* Asteroid mining requires a special Mining Laser. Shoot the asteroids with it

and scoop up the materials afterwards, often resulting in fuel scoops. You

will see other ships doing that too.

Elite (c) Copyright 1987 for Frontier Developments.

nemrac@[Link]