Elite Dangerous tips

Things I have learned in the past year of playing the beta:

Docking Tips

Learn to dock
Docking is something you do a lot in the elite series. This time around the Docking computer is quite terrible and not worth buying. Luckily docking is no where near as challenging as the first game.

1. Afterburners should only be used to get closer to the station. It may seem cool to come in full speed but you look like a idiot when you smear yourself against the hull of a Anaconda.
2. When learning, lower you gear early. This slows you down quite a bit making it easy. It also disables afterburner.
3. Coriolis Stations show arrows on the target view pointing which direction the docking port is
4. The compass radar will show the direction of the landing pad once requested. Handy inside larger stations if you get assigned one right near the entrance. 
5. Lights on the side of docking ports show which side you should be on. You should always be on the green side.
6. Larger ships can fill the entire port, always check its clear before entering/exiting a station
7. There is a docking tutorial, which is a lot less expensive than trying to dock in the game.

Ship Control

1. Go over your key mappings. With my setup I have mapped a button to engage/disengaged the frame shift drive with a single click. Moved Afterburner to the stick for more Battlestar Galactica feel and remapped some misc keys like lights to other switches on the controller.
2. Fly you ship like a plane, always keep moving, don't stop and turret in one place.
3. Roll not yaw. Rolling so your target is above you and pulling back is the fastest way to turn.
4. The blue area on your speed hud shows where your optimal turning radius is.
5. Learn to use your lateral thrusters. If flying towards a target, you should also be moving another direction so your not so easy to hit.
6. You can avoid interdiction. First you can see ships approaching on your radar and avoid them. Second if you get interdicted then look for the escape vector and chase it. If its not in front of you slow to optimal turning and turn in the direction your hud has turned. Once its in view, throttle up and keep it in your cross hair.
7. When in frame shift / supercruse, watch your ETA under your cross hair. Try to keep it between 6 - 10 seconds to avoid over shooting.
8. If avoiding pirates don't fly the direct route to the destination. Fly off at a angle and then correct 50% of the way there. Speed is the key with pirate systems so don't worry about overshooting to much and watch for any ships appearing in front. 

I'll be doing some more tips on trading and missions once I have a good understanding of the changes since the beta. So far missions seem to pay a lot more than beta 3 and I have in under half a hour gone from the starting 100c to 13,000c