That’s still 222 million star systems that have been explored though, and the Elite community is nothing if not resourceful. Many fan-created tools make use of players’ game data to extrapolate game details that can be used to help the entire player base. Road to Riches is one such tool.
What Is Road To Riches
Road to Riches is one of many great ways to earn credits fast in Elite. It uses player data about systems—particularly the value of scanning them—to plot routes other commanders can use to optimize their exploration. It has a database of the values of all the systems and bodies that people have scanned.
Players enter a starting point, customize some options, and Road to Riches creates a route of systems to travel through for maximum earning potential.
How To Customize a Route
The tool itself is pretty simple to use, but getting the most out of it can be a challenge. The following are the fields in the tool and a brief description of what they do:
Source System: Enter the system to start the route from here. Road to Riches uses player-collected data. Since there’s definitely more data for systems in the bubble than outside of it, it’s best to stay in or around the bubble for maximum profits. Destination System: Enter a destination to discover if anything is along the way that might be worth the time to scan. Leave it blank to create a loop that brings the player back to the starting system. Range: Enter the unladen Jump Range of the exploring ship. Check out How to Get a 40ly Jump Range Quick for a quick ship build that can do this well. Radius: The Radius determines how far out the plotter will look for valuable systems. For a route, this customizes how far off-course the route will go to find value. For a loop, this determines how far around the starting system the route will go. Maximum systems: This determines precisely how long this Road to Riches will be. For short trips to earn some quick cash, three to five would be good. For long hauls trying to maximize earnings, 10 or more. Mapping Value: Check this box to use surface scanning values to filter results. With this checked, Road to Riches will prioritize systems with planets that have high surface scanning values. Loop: Check this to ensure the route planner ends back at the starting system. Maximum Distance to Arrival: This setting determines how far from the main star a planet can be to be checked for surface scanning value. Minimum Scan Value: This setting determines how valuable a planet can be to show up on the list. It has the biggest impact on the overall value of the route.
How To Use Road To Riches Effectively
It isn’t necessary to own the best exploration ship in Elite to get a lot out of Road to Riches. On the contrary, with the route settings customized appropriately, any ship with a surface scanner can be an explorer. A few of the settings can’t be helped, such as the Starting System or Range. Those are just based on where the player is in the game and what they’re flying. Destination system and Loop are also just details. However, the following fields, set accordingly, will have a large impact on the overall efficiency of the route:
Radius: Entering a high Radius here means that it’ll take more jumps to get to each system along the route. Try to keep this number as low as possible and only increase it if the results aren’t profitable enough. Maximum Distance to Arrival: This slider has a default value of 100,000ls. If every system gone through involves a 20-minute trip across it to surface scan its planets, the overall route will take many hours. Instead, try a value of 5,000 or less and each system will be much quicker. Minimum Scan Value: This slider is incredibly effective at increasing the total earnings in a route. Set it to something around 500,000 and the planets the route picks will only be the highest-valued targets. Just make sure that Mapping Value remains checked.
That’s Road to Riches: a brilliant tool with a lot of use. It’s a mainstay money-making method in most commanders’ careers. With its settings customized correctly, the earnings from a route will take half the time and pay double or even triple what it could if left at default values. That makes a big difference in Elite, since it’s easily one of the longest PC games ever made. Any way to shortcut the grind is a blessing. Road to Riches is a great way to build up credits early-on and gain Explorer ranks in the process.
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is available on PC.
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