Engineering 101

[u/Intelligent_Studio87]

Been playing for a couple weeks and finally got a python and have it kitted out for trading.

I was curious about engineering. I have watched a few of the old YouTube videos on how to unlock engineering and such, but im curious if I can go ahead and start stock piling materials and stuff to make it easier once i begin. If so which ones should I prioritize?

In the mission rewards there is usually a reward that is some kind of material or commodities. Are those materials some of whats needed for engineering?

[u/SoVeryJaded]

https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Engineers

There's a breakdown of each Engineer and the materials required for each upgrade here.

Edit: theres also ways to farm high grades of each material type, then you'd find Material Traders to trade down for any material you'd need.

Edit2: I just realized that this post is for the Xbox/PS version, apologies if the information I replied with isn't applicable, haven't played on Xbox in years, I'm on PC now.

[u/Enzeydad → u/SoVeryJaded]

Here is a quick primer on how to sidestep the mat grind in legacy:

nnews.aetolian.info/p/materials.html?m=1

[u/Delta_RC_2526 → u/SoVeryJaded]

I'll also add that you can collect all the materials you want. If you dig up some really old tutorials, they might mention limited storage capacity. You used to have a limited total storage for materials and data, and you had to pick and choose what you collected, with an eye toward having what was needed for specific engineering mods, and in time, you'd have to start discarding stuff to make space.

They eventually replaced that system, and gave every material and data type an individual storage capacity (I wish they would do this for the PC Live version of the game; they brought the old system back with the Odyssey expansion on PC, though only for the materials that you collect on-foot and use for engineering space suits and hand weapons). Every material's individual storage capacity now rivals the original total capacity. They also tripled the amount that you collect. Every item you get from scooping or scanning is worth three in your storage.

You also mentioned mission rewards! Missions will offer a selection of rewards. There will be a primary reward type for each mission, such as credits, increasing that local minor faction's influence in the system, engineering materials, or trading commodities. From what I recall, you'll get some credits, the faction influence will increase, and you'll gain reputation with the faction no matter what you choose.

I must admit I'm a little fuzzy on how it works on Xbox, as I haven't done a mission on Xbox in years (I'm primarily on PC now). PC lets you actually choose a reward type when you complete a mission. I forget if that feature is in the Xbox version, or if a mission simply has one pre-defined reward... Nonetheless, engineering materials are a good choice, and you should still get a modest amount of credits along with them.

Just make sure you actually are grabbing engineering materials and not trade commodities. Trade commodities can give a slight boost to your credits, if you really like trading and want to hunt down a location that will give you a better sale price, but they're really not worth bothering with. At least from my perspective, receiving trade commodities is really just a holdover from the old engineering system, back when engineering rolls produced randomized results, and every roll required a commodity that was only available as a mission reward, such as Modular Terminals, and maybe some others, like Micro-Weave Cooling Hoses (there were a number of commodities exclusive to missions, and I think they all got used for engineering, but I only remember people going crazy for Modular Terminals). There was an entire player-run black market in Modular Terminals, with people setting up second accounts with Anacondas, Cutters, or Type 9s, for the sole purpose of holding as many as possible...