I knew this part of my trip in Elite Dangerous was going to be the quietest and it’s turned out that way with the grind coming down to the usual pattern of jump, scan, refuel then repeat. Finding systems that you can scan with just a flyby feel like the most exciting stops simply because you know you’re already done and are flying off to the next system!

Despite the grind it’s been one of the least risky parts of the whole trip believe it or not because of the abundance of fuel stars. The bubble, where the Core Systems like Lave, Sol, etc reside, is located along one of the galaxy’s spiral arms (known in game as the Inner Orion Spur) and has a lot of open space where it can be easy for players to get stranded among stars which they can’t refuel from. It’s very easy to get caught out and even recently I’ve made that mistake. Having that issue removed from my trip at this time is a nice luxury to have.

The galaxy map has been a constant source of validation for me by letting me easily see how far I’ve progressed. And every time I recalculate the route to Sagittarius A* the process runs a little faster as the number of jumps gets smaller so there’s a bit of reinforcement there that’s keeping me enthusiastic in reaching my destination. At this point of the trip I’ve also decided to add another stop on my trip after Sag A* and take a detour on my return to visit the Great Annihilator which really exists. In the galaxy of Elite Dangerous it contains a pair of black holes that will be worthy of more screenshots. After the time it’ll take to get there I’m wanting some REALLY good pictures!

With my progress so far and based on my recent play time I’m still more than a week away to my destination but I’ve shaved the distance down to less than 200 jumps. With me taking my time and scanning everything the estimate continues to be around 10-12 systems an hour so hopefully that is doable within that time frame.

As for not blowing my ship up I’ve been VERY conservative with my fuel scooping by keeping my distance from stars and it has helped me from making too many dumb mistakes and damaging my ship. Which means it’s still running well with little to no damage to any key systems and I’ve not yet needed to fire up the Auto Field Maintenance Unit. That’s a bit of a record for me… let’s see how long it lasts. 😉