How to make money fast in Elite: Dangerous in 2020

Be ready to get your hands dirty.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Elite: Dangerous is a fantastic game that I’ve recently gotten back into — we’ll have more on it coming soon, don’t worry. But with the launch of the Fleet Carriers, many players are left staring at the buy cost with jaws dropped, and not in a good way. Developer Frontier Developments has since drastically reduced the total costs, but it’s still a massive investment, especially upfront.

So, that has left people asking: how do I make enough money to even think about buying one, let alone maintaining and fueling it? Elite: Dangerous is a live service game, and the economies change every so often as supply and demand wax and wane. This is good for content creators who stay up on how to rake in the credits fast but can be frustrating when you have to switch up your money-making routine (like when Void Opals fell out of favor).

How do I make money in Elite: Dangerous?

There are plenty of ways to earn credits in Elite: Dangerous, but there are a few standout options.

Long-time players of Elite: Dangerous will be familiar with mining, an in-game profession all of itself. I’ll be honest, I resisted the call to mining for years, preferring bounty hunting or exploring. And while you can make good money doing those things, they pale in comparison to what mining can bring in during the same period. Newer players can also benefit from this, but you’ll want to make sure you get into a more massive ship as soon as you can afford it.

Still others will remember the glory days of Robigo Mines. I’m happy to tell you that it’s back on the menu and, though less profitable per hour than Low Temperature Diamond (LTD) mining, you can net multiple millions in just 10-15 minutes.

But running passenger missions is dull. Let’s do some mining.

Subsurface Mining

The Borann mining spot is no more, Commanders, but something else has risen in its place. It’s called Col 285 Sector CC-K A38-2 1. Doesn’t that just roll off the tongue?

Get the Windows Central Newsletter

All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.

I expected some excellent results when I finally made it out there, but I wasn’t prepared for how profitable this would be. Whereas Borann A 2 was all laser mining with the occasional deep core, the jackpot here in Col 285 Sector CC-K A38-2 1 is subsurface Low Temperature Diamond mining.

Before heading out to Col 285 Sector CC-K A38-2 1, which is just over 200ly from Sol, you’re going to need a few things. I did my runs in my Python equipped with:

Ideally, you’d want one of each for the Seismic Charge Launcher, Subsurface Displacement Missile, and Abrasion Blaster. Although we’ll be focusing on subsurface mining, you will come across the occasional core asteroid that you can crack. Oh, and you definitely need a Detailed Surface Scanner.

Otherwise, my ship was outfitted for maximum cargo, plus collector and prospector limpets. Make sure you stock up in the Advanced Maintenance section before making the journey! Here’s a quick rundown on how to rake in some serious money.

Whether you’ve filled up your cargo hold, gotten bored, or run out of limpets, it’s time to make the money. UsingInara, check the system with the highest prices (Hajo in my case), set a course, and touch down. Restock on limpets, return to Col 285 Sector CC-K A38-2 1, and repeat.

Passenger Missions

Your first task is to get yourself some passenger cabins. Find a system near you (check Inara) that has them and fill up most of your optional internal slots with them. I used a Python for this, so I had plenty of cabin space. However, I tried it in my Asp Explorer and did fine, too. If you have a smaller ship, then use what you can. Ideally, you want a ship with a jump range of at least 30ly so that you can make the jump to Sothis in just two hops.

Before we get started, bear in mind that these passengers that we’ll be ferrying back and forth are considered illegal. If you get scanned, that’s a big problem. Luckily, you aren’t likely to get scanned whatsoever doing this run.

It’s worth noting that the best missions come from being allied with the three factions at Robigo Mines. If you’re not, grinding out rank is pretty straightforward. Just do missions and lower-paying passenger missions for them, and you’re fine.

Mining is king

It sure didn’t take the Elite: Dangerous community long to find a new mining spot. While less convenient than Borann was, I made significantly more money a lot faster than Borann A 2 ever netted me. With a few hours of work, you can be in the billionaire’s club. I just wish Col 285 Sector CC-K A38-2 1 was easier to type, but just bookmark it in your galaxy map, and you can get back to it pretty easily.

The other bummer thing about this spot is just how many brown dwarfs are around, making refueling a bit more difficult for the journey out to Hajo. If you have a Fleet Carrier, it’s not such a big deal, but not all of us are rolling in money.

Once new money-making opportunities pop up, we’ll be sure to update this guide as soon as we test them for ourselves. I hope you found this helpful, Commanders. Good luck out there and fly safe.

Fly safe

Take to the stars in this massive 1:1 scale Milky Way galaxy. Pilot a variety of ships, choose your profession, and engage in power plays, exploration, battles with aliens, and much more.

Jordan is a long-time gamer and PC hardware enthusiast. From the mid-90s on, he has constantly tinkered with computers and played every game he could get his hands on. Coming from a varied background, he found his passion in writing about Android in 2016, which also launched his writing career not long after. Now, Jordan is an avid gamer who just loves sitting down with tea or a glass of cold water to play whatever game has his attention (or he’s reviewing), and he’s lucky enough to make a living out of doing so. You can find him on Twitter if you want to chat:@jccpalmer.