Elite Dangerous | New Player Tutorial | Armor & Hull Reinforcement

A basic introduction to armor mechanics in Elite Dangerous, and how they influence the ships, weapons, and survivability of the different craft that can be flown.
Disclaimer: This is a mix of my opinions and available data on game modules as of Nov 27, 2020. Others in the game will probably not like these views, and have a different take.
Feel free to discuss in the comments below.

[@mwbgaming28]

I find the easiest way to end a fight with a large ship like a cutter, Anaconda, type 10.etc is to hit them with reverb cascade torpedoes to get rid of their shields, then dump missiles into their drives or power plant, then you're free to declaw them (destroy their weapons) or just lay into their hull and waste them
The number of CMDRs I have seen who don't use point defense on their ships is astounding
Or if you don't want to use cheap tactics like reverb torps and missiles
Efficient plasma accelerators with dazzle shell/dispersal field and overcharged cannons with high yield also work well

[@rocket2739]

Thank you so much, I've been playing the game for a while and had no idea about how the armor penetration mechanics worked exactly
I'm gonna start using Burst lasers instead of beam or pulses on my larger ships now (more DPS than pulse, and more AP than beams)

[@JG27Korny]

That is a very common way to stack resistances. However for fer de lance (and other medium ships) there are 2 other options that are used. One of the options is instead of the heavy duty reflective armor is to use thermal resistance reflective armor. In that way you have a lighter build for more speed and you do not have to balance resistances with hull reinforcements afterwards as everything is balanced (in that way you can either place heavy duty hull reinforcement or module reinforcement). The difference is terms of resistances is minimal. Another more pro modification is to use the light weight modification, in order to make the fastest build.

[@yrneh1974]

First one to explain this so I understand. Thank you

[@sanderlittle9275]

very useful tyvm, hope for more of this kind...

[@thomasquwack9503]

5:50 DBX has a large hardpoint. It flies like a brick, but that doesn’t stop me from outfitting it to eat FDLs

[@ilikemorestuff]

First of your videos I've watched, and enjoyed .. looking forward to seeing more :D

[@civicsilly]

Thank you for the video, much appreciated

[@sterlingroberts6240]

The Diamondback Explorer also has a large Hardpoint.

[@jangulorr7737]

Phenomenal video.

[@Arcade2799]

Thank you! I've learned a lot!

[@paoemantega8793]

length is good, make em longer with examples please. Ignore theweaklings that can't watch for 30 minutes - they will grow.

[@daurensarsembin5588]

Thank you, this is very useful video. I understand that this is in-depth tutorial and it will naturally will take time, but could you make it a bit shorter without losing information, using some images of graphs or something. Keep it up!

[@Shadow__133]

It's a lot of good info. Im sure it can be optimized if he has free time. I recommend using the 1.2x speed, but I learned a lot throughout the entire video.

[@MarsStarcruiser]

wo.. fed gunship is lower armor than fdl!? thought it was among the 70’s for some reason lol

[@Shadow__133]

I was surprised as well.

[@Sir-Complains-a-Lot]

a shorter video? quickley? man what have you been smoking?

[@AlexandreLollini]

Module reinforcements ?

[@DryHeatAndSand]

I'll get to those, but there is a lot less to talk about.

[@AlexandreLollini]

@@DryHeatAndSand as I understand, it's when some dps breach passed the armor, 60% of the remaining goes to damage the module reinforcement module instead of another module being hit. So I think having two of those is interesting. In real pve I can still fly with much less armor % (say everything looks okay @50%) without any malfunctionning module. When I replace those two with hull reinforcement, even with the hitpoints and resistance : I see module failure even when I am still at 98 - 95 %. NPC do not target modules but modules get damaged by random hits. I think having two module reinforcements is the fitting that gives the most playable time before retreat. (or shield recovery) I use one big (5) and one small (3, 2 or 1) and usually the grade 5 is damaged first, if that module dies, I fsd out.

[@DryHeatAndSand]

@@AlexandreLollini Your logic is sound, except that at one point there was a bug that could cause your second MRP not to be included properly in the damage calculation. I have not had a chance to look into weather or not that bug has been fixed.

[@AlexandreLollini]

@@DryHeatAndSand in general when I head back to station, I have one MRP deeply damaged and the second one with moderate damage, while the main display of the hull is around 50%.

[@FiveFootFall]

@@AlexandreLollini it is claimed that NPC enemies in conflict zones will definitely target modules. NPC's in extraction sites behave as you have stated.

[@d6rkw6lf67]

The Mamba is rad - learn to fly o7.