The First-Time Flyer Guide#

Hello! And thank you for joining! Glad to have you aboard, Commander. We're a group of mostly casual players with enough knowledge to be Dangerous. So we're here to help you get out there in the galaxy to start your own big adventures in your own fleet of ships made personal to you. If this is your first time joining the Academy, this guide should help point you in the right direction of how you can learn or how you can help teach others.

A Note About Odyssey DLC

It is important to know that we expect all pilots to have purchased the Odyssey DLC that allows Commanders to exit their ship as infantry and explore planets and stations on-foot. You will not be able to join our game session if you do not have this DLC installed. The DLC is included in the Deluxe Edition of the game for just $5 more than the base game when not on sale. The Deluxe Edition has also been known to go for as low as $10 when on sale.

"I'm a total beginner and don't even know how to fly a ship."#

If you've never booted the game before, the first thing it will have you do is complete the tutorials. These will give you a very rough idea of what the game has to offer, but this will likely be information overload, so don't worry too much if you only just manage to complete it.

I strongly recommend sticking to a Solo or Private Group Session when you're just starting out as a new player as pilots can and will be unforgiving at times in Open Play. Once you load into the game, you will be given the option to choose a system to spawn into. I recommend the LHS 3447 system on Trevithick Dock. It's worth mentioning that once you leave your starter system, you will not be able to return to it, as this is designed specifically as a beginner area. Your friends also cannot join you in this area unless they have also not yet left this starting area.

You will start out in a Station with a Sidewinder Mk I. This excerpt from the Wiki sums up the ship well:

Overall, the Sidewinder fulfills its purpose as a starter ship perfectly. It is capable in most roles, but is one of the worst choices in each individual role, even when specialised for them. The Sidewinder lets pilots come to grips with what exactly they want to do to earn credits before upgrading to something better, though experienced and wealthy pilots may enjoy keeping one on hand for joyriding.

You're welcome to experiment with it, but I recommend getting yourself in something more capable right away. This is where the Squadron comes in. Your trainer will help you with going through the red tape and provide a starting minimum stipend of 15M Credits to help fast track your training. They are welcome to provide more as they see fit. This will give you enough to get your first capable ship, a Cobra Mk V Beginner Explorer as well as some starting equipment. Alternatively, your trainer can fly nearby your starting system and have you make a short-distance jump in the Sidewinder and guide you through the process as a passenger.

Once you've settled into your new ship, your trainer will help you make the relatively "short" journey of 131 LY to the VAMM system, which should only take a few jumps in your shiny new ship. The easiest way to do this is the follow the automatically favorited bookmark for OMNIGON found in your Galaxy Map bookmarks. Once you make your way to the carrier, feel free to take some time exploring it. More information about the Carrier can be found below.

Now that you've found yourself at our home station, you'll want to stock up on some basics at Pioneer Weapons for any future on-foot missions.

Tier 1 weapons are all low-cost and underpowered, but are readily available aboard the Carrier. Normally, you would have to jump to multiple different stations to track down the full range of available weapon options. The offerings from Manticore are a good starting point for new players, so it's recommended to pick up one of each of their weapons (Executioner, Intimidator, Oppressor, Tormentor) as well as a Karma L-6 and any other weapons that you find intersting.

You'll also want to pick up one of each of the suit types: Artemis, Dominator, and Maverick. These offer a range of capabilities for different activities in the game. You can find higher quality versions of these throughout the galaxy, but these will get you started. Lastly, fully stock up on all Consumables (Frag Granades, Medkits, Energy Cells, Shield Disruptors/Projectors). You will need to purchase E-Breaches later in an Anarchy system.

This should be enough for your trainer to start pointing you in the direction of more specific lessons and get you started on your way in the galaxy. Thank you for joining, Commander, and good luck! o7

Final Checklist#

Refer to the Syllabus for an outline view of this process

"I want to get better at a specific skill or career."#

For a full listing of the lessons offered, take a look at our Syllabus.

It's worth keeping in mind: just because a discipline you're interested in isn't listed here doesn't mean we're not willing to help you learn it. We just might not have existing knowledge or expertise on the topic.

As the squadron is still relatively small, training is done by request. Reach out in the Discord and we'll work with you to set something up. As the server scales, this will become more official as needed.

"I'm already a pro, but want to teach other players."#

If you already have a firm grasp on the game's mechanics and instead want to help other players learn these skills, reach out to CMDR OTACON239 to discuss becoming a trainer.

Connecting to the Squadron#

You trainer will send you a Squadron Invite request.
Accept the invitation and submit your application - You don't need to fill out any details.
Once your trainer accepts the application, you will finally need to choose the option to Join Squadron.
You now have access to the Squadron and Fleet Carrier, OMNIGON, which will automatically populate in your Galaxy Map bookmarks.
All of our gameplay takes place in a Private Group Session owned by me, CMDR OTACON239. To join, simply reach out to me via Discord and I will send you a friend request and Private Group Invite in-game.

Note

Most steps in the Squadron application process take a few minutes to complete. Be patient if you don't see your application/acceptance right away.

The Fleet Carrier, `OMNIGON`#

A Drake-Class Fleet Carrier, as the name implies, allows players to haul multiple ships at once across large distances. While not dramatically faster than a single ship jumping, no other method allows you to bring multiple ships into the Deep Black with you. This carrier is owned, maintained and operated by myself, CMDR OTACON239. While I am the owner, I am very willing to use it for community projects and help with the Sqaudron Goals. The carrier offers several onboard services:

Refuel
Restock
Repair
Shipyard/Outfitting - Store your ships and modules on the carrier so that all of your gear travels with the crew
- Note: There is no on-board stock - Anything you need to purchase will need to be at a Station
Universal Cartographics - For submitting star system and planet data
Vista Genomics - For submitting Exobiology scans
Redemption Office - For redeeming Combat Bond Vouchers, Trade Dividends, Bounty Vouchers, Powerplay Salaries, and Codex Vouchers
- Note: You cannot pay open bounties on yourself here. For this, you need to find an Interstellar Contact that is with a faction you're on good terms with. The closest one is shared as a Squadron bookmark.
Pilot's Lounge - While currently this is purely aesthetic, this will later offer Infantry Suit/Weapon Engineering Materials

Fleet Carrier Taxes and Fees

The Fleet Carrier needs funding to help with the cost of operation. One of the ways this is collected is through taxes and fees. 100% of taxes are provided back to the carrier where fees are non-configurable and benefits are split between the carrier and service provider.

Service	Tax/Fee
Refuel	100% Tax
Restock	50% Tax
Pioneer Supplies	50% Tax
Repair	25% Tax
Universal Cartographics	25% Fee
Redemption Office	25% Fee
Vista Genomics	No Tax/Fee

The Fleet Carrier spends most of its time in orbit of what is considered our home planet, VAMM B 2 B. This planet was chosen for several reasons:

Atmospheric
Ringed
Landable
Nearly tidally locked (Sunset/Sunrise takes a couple of days!)
Two reasonably stocked Planetary Ports
Less than 20 LY from Raw, Encoded and Manufactured Material Traders
60 LY from Jameson Memorial
Has plants, which can be used to introduce new players to Exobiology

The only major downside to this location is its 22K LS distance in Supercruise. It is highly recommended to get Supercruise Overdrive installed on as many of your ships as possible to avoid a very long trip out each time.

The tourist beacon for VAMM reads:

A binary pair of water worlds is a rare treasure, and these have boosted the system's tourist economy. Part of that success is driven by the locals highlighting the differences between both worlds, and so compelling tourists to visit both.

Requesting a Fleet Carrier Jump#

You may find that you want to make a long-distance trip, but either don't have a ship capable of great jump range, or maybe you just want to have the Carrier available when you're doing some exploration in the Deep Black. Whatever your reasoning, you can request a Fleet Carrier jump by reaching out to CMDR OTACON239 and we can plan a trip.

Jumps must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance, unless the trip will take less than 2 days and is less than 500LY from VAMM to give the opportunity for other players to prepare if needed.

Info

Trips that take less than 2 days and are less than 500LY from VAMM do not require an announcement ahead of time, but will still be posted in the #carrier-itinerary channel.

We request that you cover the cost of the jump. Use this calculator to determine how much fuel your trip will take. Each unit of Tritium is worth a market average of 50K Credits. Each max-distance jump of 500 LY uses roughly 70 Tritium, costing approximately 3.5M Credits. Keep in mind you will also need to cover the cost of the return trip.

For example, a trip from our home system, VAMM to the Guardian site Synuefe PX-J C25-8, which is around 650 LY away, costs 90 Tritium one-way, then doubled for the return trip, brings the cost to 9M Credits.

You can request to bring the carrier to orbit around any planetary body within a system, but only if I have personally visited that system before or after the carrier has made it to that system. It will take another 20 minutes to make a jump within the system if I haven't already been there, so only request this if you have a specific need for it.

The Carrier itinerary can be found in the in-game Squadron Bulletin Board as well as the dedicated #carrier-itinerary chat channel.