EVERYTHING You Need To Know for Engineering in Elite Dangerous | Tutorial / How-To

By popular demand, here's everything you need to know about Engineering in Elite Dangerous, from unlocking Engineers to using the ED Engineer app to plan your upgrades, and getting the materials you need.
Link to the ED Engineer tool: edcodex.info/?m=tools&entry=435

[@Recon_19D3x]

I engineered my FSD and Thrusters, then quit playing after I realized what kind of grind was ahead of me. This guide though is really concise and leaves out all of the extra garbage of complaining, recommendations, tricks etc. and explains Engineering simply. That's a great thing. Now.... about that grind...

[@Mile13Gaming]

Thanks, I really appreciate that!

[@BigDaddyWes]

It gets easier to swallow when you realize that these upgrades are just a result of you playing the game, rather than the end goal itself. I think some people view having a fully engineered ship as the "end game" but in reality, they're just things that make the rest of the game a little smoother/easier. If you don't enjoy the gameplay, you aren't going to enjoy it more after upgrading as much as possible. That grinding mentality will always lead to burning out and giving it up. I hope that makes sense. It can certainly get discouraging when you make the decision to engineer out your modules, only to realize how long it will take you to achieve that. Personally, I don't recommend newer players focusing on engineering for quite a while. After you've played for a fair bit, you'll have a feel for what play styles, ships, and builds you actually enjoy and then by the time you commit to a path, you'll likely already have the majority of the necessary materials to get the upgrades you want. Much less "work" to do it that way then to focus on optimizing your ship before you know what to do with it. Elite Dangerous isn't a game that you win. It's a spaceship simulator. It's entirely about the journey. The only real "destination" is wherever you're currently flying towards, but you get to decide where that is and you get to set the pace. Don't rush it.

[@Recon_19D3x]

@@BigDaddyWes That's a great way of explaining it. I'm not super new. I have a few hundred hours in with some engineering. However while you can definitely play the game without grinding, you're also left out of a lot of the game, especially current events. Even after the engineering I've done with my ASP X, Krait Phantom, Cobra Mk III etc I don't even participate in any of the thargoid story or anything else going on. I won't last 20 seconds.

[@pablo.gonzales945]

@@BigDaddyWesthat’s a great way of putting it!

[@IncomitatusExcelsior]

​@Recon_19D3x You can't fight the Thargoids solo, but AX weapons are available for purchase, and good A-rated ships working in a wing can hold their own. I know there's some guides about how to attack the titans without engineering, too. Alternatively, you can rescue people from attacked starports. You can also run supply missions to repairing starports. Not being engineered places some restraints and creates extra challenges, but it doesn't absolutely lock you out of current events.

[@tenforeword129]

Such a good job on this video. Concise, thorough, no tiresome editorializing, even a chill background jam. Really refreshing work.

[@Mile13Gaming]

Thanks so much! That means a lot!

[@funkyburns6381]

concise and informative. instantly became one of my favorite ED channels. subscribed :)

[@hyper-viper]

I've been playing ED since release in 2014 and didn't know about skipping rhe grades as soon as the next level unlocks until about a year or 2 ago. I also didn't know about the EDO:Materials Helper tool. Will definitely be using that. Thank you!

[@cruorr]

appreciate the time you took to make a relevant guide to this stuff man. subbed

[@Mile13Gaming]

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

[@hawk2million]

Great guide. Been playing for years but still learned a lot from you, thanks.

[@Mile13Gaming]

Absolutely! Thanks for watching!

[@selbie]

I'm dreading going back to the bubble to work on engineering, but this video has been great to take away all of the confusion. It also highlights what FDev need to get right with the future improvements. Great work!

[@Mile13Gaming]

Same - Really interested to see how (or if) things change this summer.

[@demus89]

This guide is a big help thanks!

[@Mile13Gaming]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching!

[@eoconnor2000]

Clearest description of engineering I have seen. Looking forward to more videos - combat and mining would be great.

[@Mile13Gaming]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback! I have one in the queue for mining - one of my favorite parts of Elite.

[@eoconnor2000]

I am using the ED Engineering tool but it is not giving me the right amounts- did you have this problem.@@Mile13Gaming

[@Hal-Mi_Swjac]

ED Engineer is good, but, especially after the latest update, I'm liking the EDO:Materials Helper for engineering.

[@Mile13Gaming]

I've heard this from a few folks - I'll check it out soon! Thanks!

[@torquaymouse2236]

Thanks very helpfull.

[@Mile13Gaming]

Thanks!

[@sinntaxdagreat]

This is very well done, a must share for your noob friends...

[@Mile13Gaming]

Thanks! So glad you found it helpful!

[@sinntaxdagreat]

@@Mile13Gaming Keep it up

[@petezzzz]

Mats come easily if you just do some of everything. A little mining, Pew, SRV, DavsHope, Crashed Cobra/Conda, Murdering tourists. Then hit the traders.

[@pperretjr]

Nice thanks.

[@Mile13Gaming]

Thanks for watching!

[@makroshlyta]

Some missions are really great to give materials too...

[@rolinthor]

“Pointless grind? Yes, have some.” -ED devs

[@Sir-Complains-a-Lot]

Important work, well done! Engineering is much easier and faster as many a forum dad makes you think. PSA: dont finish the grades, jump to the next one when its unlocked! Farming HGEs is by far the fastest way to gather manufactured, for raws its the limpet & flak method either at crystaline shards or brain trees. For data just scan every ship infront in supercruise or while docking at any station, it will accumilate over time, but for the first upgrades visiting Jamesons crashed Cobra and potentially relogging provides a basic stock. Cant wait to see you do some pew pews with the lads in that FDL 🙂

[@Mile13Gaming]

Yup, I made it a point to call out that you can move onto the next grade without finishing the previous one at @9:40. Saves a lot of time, materials, and frustration. :)

[@JoePreston-dt7jr]

Yay 🎉

[@Tepnox]

Little late for me but thx for it anyway. Did not know I could jump straight to the next grade when available. Thought the grade effects were straight additive in numbers. Oh well, at least learned something. The farming methods are still a pain in the ass and I don't see the encouragement of normal folk doing those kind of repetitive work for stupid materials. At least the material traders give some options for exchanging mats when needed.

[@Mile13Gaming]

Yup. I made a video about farming Manufactured mats at Hot Jupiter. At least that one's kind of fun in a sadistic way. :) Driving around at Dav's Hope and relogging, meh.

[@zontarr8812]

This guys portraits the image that the grind is not that hard😂 for the new players, good luck with that, this is just the resume.

[@h.n.t.d7963]

Thargoid traumatize ne on my 10hour of gameplay, and now i want some revange, but before that i need to engineer me ship, Than there is the grind💀 I think revenge not that good anyway💀

[@Volkaer]

Certainly not complicated, but holy crap the grind is insane XD

[@vtubersubs3803]

You must have never played a game with a real grind. This is literally nothing lmao

[@leemills6825]

after a month slowly unlocking them i still had no idea you can skip the last rolls soon as you unlock the next grade

[@Mile13Gaming]

Yep, I didn't realize that until too late either - That's one of the big reasons I put that in here. Hopefully save someone else a lot of time and frustration, LOL.

[@leemills6825]

@@Mile13Gaming perhaps you can have a video ready for the summer update as it should bring in quite a lot of new cmdrs, and lots will be different by then surely

[@oxomoclimbing]

o7

[@TheTitanFind]

No way can you engineer to a 224ly jump range though!

[@Mile13Gaming]

LOL, I was wondering if anyone was going to comment on that! No you can't, but you can engineer high enough that a neutron boost will get you 224ly (and more)!

[@LuxDez]

Everything you need to know: Engineers are another interesting mechanic that doesn't work properly. 90% of the improvements proposed by engineers are useless. The ships in the game are still not adapted for engineers. The result is an FDL with huge shields that doesn't pay for it at all, and an FDS that simply doesn't get shields and is 100% useless. As an example. 🎉

[@snowghost70]

Well you're a bit late it's 2024 sir

[@docrock3234]

To anybody in the comments: Whats the biggest change you would make to this game? Or What did they do all wrong?