Elite Dangerous
Cheat Sheet

The glue module. Fuel and the KGBFOAM scoopable stars, full shield mechanics & formulas (credited to Down To Earth Astronomy), crime tiers and notoriety, beating interdictions, Background Simulation bucket states and timings, synthesis recipes, economy types, useful numbers, tool directory, and rules of thumb.

Federal and Imperial navy ranks with what each unlocks, how promotion works, the fastest rank grinds, every obtainable permit (navy, faction, and Elite), Pilots Federation rank names and credit thresholds, engineer invites that need a rank, and the fastest Pilots Fed grinds.

The complete directory of Elite Dangerous community resource sites: databases and market data, route plotters, ship builders, engineering and material trackers, mining and combat tools, exploration aids, colonisation and carrier dashboards, BGS and science maps, voice companions, HUD mods, and rescue groups.

The complete Elite Dangerous timeline, from the ancient Guardian–Thargoid war millions of years BCE through the rise of the Federation and Empire, the secret INRA genocide, and the modern real-time era of the Second Thargoid War. Scroll and filter by era.

Every named system in the Elite Cheat Sheet in one place. Engineer bases, material farm sites, megamarkets and vendors, rank grind loops, Guardian sites, Thargoid graveyards and conflict zones, money loops, Fleet Carrier vendors, and deep space destinations — each with why you go and how far it is from Sol.

All 48 flyable ships by pad size and price, rank-locked ships, the best pick by role, build templates for exploration/combat/trading/passengers, launched craft (Nomad, Rhino, SRVs, fighters), and where to buy.

Every ship engineer, the unlock tree, where to engineer each module, the Core Eight path, and the best blueprint + experimental per module.

How to farm every engineering material: HGE manufactured, Jameson Crash Site encoded, and Crystalline Shard raws — plus storage caps, trader math, and the full raw run route.

Human and Guardian Tech Broker unlocks, pre-engineered SCO FSD costs, the priority list, Powerplay modules, and other special module sources like Rescue Megaships and the Caspian Explorer.

The complete damage pipeline: two health bars, four damage types, resistance multipliers, effective HP, diminishing returns, hull hardness vs piercing, corrosive shell, absolute damage, and worked examples.

Flying and fighting in a ship: pip management, the blue zone, flight assist off, reverski and positioning, subsystem targeting, utilities, where to fight, bounty hunting rules, and the combat rank XP table.

The complete on-foot reference: the three settlement levers (Power, Alarms, Authorization), keybinds, suits and the damage triangle, a full weapon tier list and stat table, consumables, settlement anatomy and NPC behavior, every mission type with best approaches, deep dives on Reactivation/Restore farming, the tech asset farm, covert theft and heist, massacre and raid, on-foot conflict zones, loot priority, relog farms, and the ship that makes it easy.

Odyssey suit and weapon engineering: Pioneer Supplies upgrades, the 13 on-foot engineers, which engineer does which mod, best mod picks per suit, and on-foot material farming loops.

Guardian site types and layouts, the materials each drops, ship and SRV kit, the best blueprint sites for Module/Weapon/Vessel, the blueprint and Ancient Key loops, the no-combat component farm, the obelisk data loop, fragment counts for everything, and suggested trip plans.

What Thargoid content is live vs gone, the 8 Titan graveyards and scavenging loops, Thargoid parts for engineer and PESCO unlocks, how to find Thargoids and AX Conflict Zones, Thargoid ship types, the AX gear meta, proven builds, and how an AXCZ plays out.

The best credit methods in 2026: exobiology, carrier and colonisation hauling, commodity trade loops, pirate massacre stacking, platinum mining, exploration data, passenger missions, Operations, and Community Goals. Which old named loops still work, money by budget, and how to squeeze more credits per hour.

The four mining methods (laser, core, subsurface, and the new Rhino SRV surface mining), ring types and what they hold, the commodity cheat table with prices, the laser and core loops, the Type-11 Prospector multiminer, ship builds, selling, and side money.

Exobiology rules and the colony range table, the full money species list with base and First Logged values, Stratum Tectonicas and water atmosphere hunting strategies, the exobiology and exploration scanning loops, neutron and jumponium jump range tricks, ship kit, and big trip destinations.

How Powerplay 2.0 works, the merit modifiers and system states, the six merit loops (Platinum mining, tourist settlement data theft, assignments, megaship scanning, combat, and everything else), the 12 Powers and their perks, ranks and rewards, Stronghold Carriers, and the gotchas.

Squad-based scenarios for up to 4 commanders, how to start and the Operations Runner hub, Mercenary vs Powerplay modes, the 7 operations, what to bring on foot and in ship, rewards and the Merc Coin economy, MercGear modules and blueprints, and the gotchas of a beta feature.

The colonisation core loop and claim rules, primary port options and commodity lists, the tier and construction points game with escalating costs and point-saving tricks, economy design and the 2025 rework, playstyle build chains, system scouting and superpower alignment, hauling logistics and architect payoffs.

Buying and owning a Drake-Class Fleet Carrier: the 5 billion cost and weekly upkeep, specs and landing pads, the full service roster and which ones the owner gets free, Tritium fuel economics, jumping and lockdown rules, cargo and market mechanics, when a carrier is worth it, expedition and decommissioning checklists, and the gotchas of carrier ownership.