So, I picked up a bounty for a character in another system. Flew there, but how do I find the ship?
Used to be that they were limited to Unidentified Signal Sources. Since 1.3, you might encounter them in Supercruise.
Careful, though. Taking on a bounty too early is hazardous to your health.
Use the reward offered as a guide to how well armed the target will be. Three figures, chances are they’re in at least in an Anaconda. Promotion in the Federation Navy and it’s likely a Federal Dropship.
Thanks, I think it was just 30k. Seemed like a beginners level challenge. I did investigate a nav beacon, and got my butt kicked in short order. heh
To be clear, “three figures” is in thousands; six total. 
Missions sending you to find loose cargo such as black boxes, artwork, antiques, battle plans, trade data, etc., you want to look in Weak Signal Sources for those. If one station is giving multiple missions for the same cargo, go ahead and take them: you might find enough of the cargo at your first stop to satisfy all of 'em. They don’t care where you find the cargo.
The ones I’ve seen seem to involve stolen or black market goods. I’m not sure of my ability to evade the authorities either 
I should try some of those though, thanks!
Re “3 figures”, Yeah I knew what you meant.
Yeah, scooping up loose cargo is considered theft. Taking such missions from an outpost is generally safe, they don’t do cargo scans and are hardly ever patrolled by the local authorities. Likewise for any station with no operating government (i.e.: Anarchy).
These don’t come up often but sometimes you’ll find some minor faction offering to pay for slaves in a station that sells slaves. ~20K profit and you don’t need to go anywhere!
I got one to find stolen beer. Can’t find where it’s supposed to be. heh
You’re on your own with stealing goods that are normally sold in the markets. Maybe you’ll luck into getting some trader to drop their brewskis.
Yeah, what are the odds I’ll find beer floating around i space? heh
I’m liking the game so far. Thanks for all the advice!
Yeah, I’ve seen the “no space turrets” excuse, but it sort of rings hollow since it’s (a) stupid, (b) unrealistic and makes a spaceship fly like a plane, (c) allows you to do the same thing they’re claiming to want to prevent, except on a different axis, (d) directly leads to the bizarre default mapping that makes new players say “I can’t control my ship” and quit for Evochron Mercenary instead, and (e) stupid.
The first mechanic that realizes that he can buy a second pair of pitch thrusters and mount them sideways is going to rule the galaxy.
I play with a Microsoft Xbox 360 style wired controller.
So when people first want to upgrade from the starting ship, what do they look for? I’m thinking cargo. Cobra I think it was, had more cargo space and better all around. Is Eagle good f you want to focus on fighting?
I went Sidewinder -> Hauler -> Cobra -> Type 6. Type 6 + 10M from exploration = my current Asp.
I picked up an Adder last night. Haven’t had a chance to try it out in combat. I may try some mining in it.
The best place to mine is a metallic planetary ring with pristine reserves but they’re difficult to find. I heard about HIP 93377 4 on Reddit.
Is the best “metallic” or “metal rich?” I’ve found both in my travels, and assumed the latter was better, but…
Metallic > Metal Rich > Rocky. Same thing with planets regarding their exploration value.
You can mine rocks in any ring or belt but the further left on the scale, the more you’re likely to encounter high value fragments.