Pilots Trade Network Elite: Dangerous
This (in)famous way of making money was first introduced to the community by CMDR theBlitz and has since become a reliable staple for many CMDRs who wish to generate credits but are short on actual play time. The concept is similar to Wing Mining Missions: take Wing missions that you can complete solo, then optionally share them with other CMDRs to increase your profit when handing in. Like with WMMs, a lot of effort is expended in going to various stations and searching the mission boards for precisely the right kind of missions. Unlike WMMs, however, the actual mission completion can be done entirely while AFK.
This guide is originally from our Discord server, from where it has been reproduced with slight adaptations. You will need to be on our Discord server in order to find other CMDRs to share missions with.
All names with a # in front of them are references to channels on the server, likewise all names with an @ in front of them are referances to roles. You can find this guide in #📕laser-afk-t10-guide. Click here to join our Discord server.
This strategy relies on using a Type 10 Defender (yes, really), outfitted with as many turrets as possible and a fighter bay with NPC pilot. Buy-in is steep at 700m credits, and rebuy is 36m credits, so this is something you’ll only want to try once you already have a good chunk of savings in-game.
For the build, note that Point Defence must be in utility slots 3, 4 and 5. For fighters, any will work, but a Gelid F Gu-97 is particularly good for high skilled pilots. (For low-skill crew, Aegis F can help with keep them alive and Gelid G helps their DPS.)
For NPC crew, you can either hire a pilot at Expert then fire them before handing in your missions, or you can train a pilot up from Harmless and keep them on retainer. Hired pilots take a cut of every single credit you earn in-game, no matter the source, but pilots trained up from Harmless take a smaller cut when they reach top rank than pilots hired already at top ranks.
Overview: It’s possible to use a completely unengineered ship, but expect more babysitting and more rebuys.
Overview: You don’t need a lot of engineering to be successful. This build will be more than sufficient 95% of the time, and you’re extremely unlikely to encounter any rebuys. If you don’t have the guardian modules listed, no problem – just use Hull Reinforcement Packages instead of Shield Reinforcements, and a regular power plant with enough engineering to power everything in the build.
Pips: Use 3÷0÷3 for best results.
Overview: Complete overkill, but if you want the best… this is it.
Use the LIVE versions of Elite Dangerous: Horizons 4.0 or Odyssey 4.0. When getting together for sharing we recommend the use of Elite Dangerous Horizons 4.0 since everyone has access to it.
Fly to the systems/stations pinned in #laser-death-barge-disco-parties in a SMALL ship to gather WING MASSACRE missions targeting pirates (NOT smugglers). Missions from different factions can be progressed simultaneously if they target the same enemy faction, so you want to spread missions out across several giver factions. You can use the pinned spreadsheet to keep track. You can hold up to 20 missions and board refreshes happen every 10 minutes.
When starting out, prioritise Rep++++ rewards as this will result in being offered better missions. You can also receive shares from other CMDRs in #laser-death-shares to help you max out your rep quickly.
Gathering a complete stack of high-payout Wing Missions can take a very long time so it’s recommended you grab the best available and don’t try too hard to get all 20 missions at max payout – it’s more credits overall if you get a mix of good, OK and ‘meh’ missions that you can complete sooner rather than waiting hours and hours to try and get 20 great missions.
Bounties gained can add a little bit to your income but DO NOT redeem them in the mission-giving systems as this will negatively affect their stability and thus the future availability of Wing Massacre Missions. Instead, hand them in at a nearby Interstellar Factor.
The important thing to remember is that you do your “wing” missions alone, in SOLO PLAY. After they are complete you can share them with other CMDRs to maximise your collective rewards. If you manage to share a full stack with three other CMDRs who also have full stacks, all of you get the full benefit of handing in 80 missions, even though each one of you only individually completed 20. (Note: waiting to find a full wing of CMDRs who all have 20 missions can reduce your income potential, it’s best to share with whoever’s available as soon as possible then get your next stack started.)
When your missions are completed, travel to the stations you got them from (in a small ship again) and begin handing them in. You must be in the PTN Private Group (see #join-our-private-group on the Discord server for details) and in a wing with the other CMDRs you want to share with – use #👀looking-to-share and #🚣laser-death-shares to find your wing.
To share, select a mission from your Transactions panel for your current station, click “Share”, and wait for the rest of your wing to accept it (you’ll hear little audio peeps as each CMDR accepts and can track acceptance status by re-opening/closing the mission in the panel). When everyone has accepted, turn the mission in. Repeat this for all missions across all stations. Receiving shares works similarly – you’ll get an in-game message alerting you to the share, at which point you have to go to your Transactions panel and accept the mission. Once the sharing CMDR has turned in their mission, it’ll disappear from your panel but be recorded in your in-game mail. You then have 30 days to go to the mission giver and ‘turn in’ the shared missions to receive your rewards.
1. Log into SOLO play and swap to your Type 10.
2. LOAD YOUR CARGO HOLD WITH A VALUABLE CARGO as bait. Almost anything works, Agronomic Treatment, Rare Metals, even Biowaste.
3. MAKE SURE YOUR NPC CREW is set to active.
4. Take your Type 10 to the system pinned in #laser-death-barge-disco-parties.
5. Find a LOW RES site to drop in on and position yourself ~5km from it (not too close to the asteroids).
6. Deploy your hardpoints and your NPC fighter. Make sure your turrets are in your fire group and set to ‘Fire at Will’. Put your pips 4÷0÷2 or 3÷0÷3.
7. Check you aren’t about to be overwhelmed with enemies (fresh spawns on dropping into an instance can sometimes be quite heavy) and then – go AFK!
8. Depending on your stack size and spread, your missions should compete within 4–6 hours.
9. (If on console: you can wedge your controller against something to induce a slight roll so that you don’t get booted for being AFK.)
Problem: Hatch breaker limpets stole your cargo. Pirates will scan you, find no bait and ignore you.
Solution: Pick up more cargo from a nearby station (or try to pick up one of yours again if they are still floating around)
Problem: You get blown up by too many foes or just some unlucky anaconda spawns.
Solution: Exit to menu and reenter. If you were truly afk: rebuy and fly in again (have enough for another rebuy)
Problem: Your ship drifts away from the RES marker
Solution: Disable your Thrusters in the modules panel
Problem: There are no enemies spawning and scanning you.
Solution: Exit to the main menu and log into your solo session again and see if the spawns change. Note: You can actually spawn pirates in great numbers this way if you aren’t currently afk. Kill them all then exit to the main menu and log back in.
Many thanks to the crew in #laser-death-barge-disco-parties for collaborating on this guide.
To gain access to the channels mentioned in this guide you first have to join the PTN discord server (https://discord.gg/ptn). Make sure to read the rules when you first join. To see the #🚣laser-death-shares channel locate the #👀looking-to-share channel (It’s near the bottom of the list under the Wing Mission Sharing section), then use the button in there for afk shares.