Your first weeks in the 'verse

1. Phase 0

   Before you spawn

   About 20 minutes. Nothing at risk.
   • Pick your home with the ranking above. It is locked until the next patch.
   • Bind your controls and fly a few minutes in Arena Commander's Free Flight. It runs offline, and nothing you fly there can be lost.
   • Say yes to the tutorial when the game offers it. Only the four Stanton cities have one. It pays 15,000 aUEC for each of its first two parts and lends you a C8 Pisces for the first flight. Each part is once-only, so do not abandon it. If you skip, you start in your hangar next to a ship terminal.
   • Want a person to show you around? Request a volunteer through the Guide System on Spectrum or from the launcher.

   Done when: your stick, throttle or mouse does what you expect in Free Flight.

2. Phase 1

   Hab to orbit and back

   Your first session.
   • Get out of bed with Y. Open doors and panels with F, your mobiGlas with F1 and your inventory with I.
   • Put on a suit and helmet before you leave the city.
   • Ride the tram to the spaceport and call your ship at an ASOP terminal. Note the hangar number it gives you.
   • In the pilot seat, press U for Flight Ready. Ask for takeoff clearance through mobiGlas Comms. Check third-person view with F4 first, because the hangar exit may be above you.
   • Climb until the altitude marker disappears. Hold B to switch to NAV mode and quantum to an orbital station.
   • Land at the station (N drops the landing gear), store the ship, then fly home and land there too.

   Done when: you can go from bed to ship to orbit to a station and home again without looking anything up.

3. Phase 2

   First paid work

   Sessions 2 to 4.
   • Buy a multi-tool with a tractor beam attachment. Covalex tells its haulers to bring one.
   • Take one intro contract for the career you want to try. Each one opens that employer's ladder.

     • Hauling: Covalex Trainee hauls. A sample 4 SCU run pays 25,000 aUEC.
     • Bounties: Tracker Training Permit Certification. 500 aUEC fee, one very-low-risk ship.
     • Security on foot: Security Work Assessment for Crusader Security. Pays 10,000 aUEC.
   • Set your regeneration point at a clinic near where you are working.
   • Keep your CrimeStat clean. The intro contracts require CrimeStat 0 to 2.
   • Carry kit you can afford to lose. Leave the good armor at home until you stop dying.

   Done when: you have finished five contracts for one employer.

4. Phase 3

   Build up

   Weeks 1 and 2.
   • Climb one ladder until your current ship is the limit. See Careers for where each ladder outgrows a starter.
   • Rent the next ship before you buy it. Rental terminals are at major spaceports. Three days is 10 percent off and seven days is 25 percent off, and the clock keeps running while you are logged off.
   • Learn what losing a ship costs. Since 4.10, claim timers scale with the ship's value and fitted weapons add to the claim price.
   • Plan your fuel. 4.10 shrank hydrogen tanks and raised hydrogen and quantum fuel prices.
   • Keep a cash float and expect wipes. The last full wipe was 4.8.0 on 14 May 2026. A wipe resets aUEC and ships bought in game. Ships pledged with real money stay.

   Live until 4.10.2Orison Relief Support is open to anyone and suits this phase. Covalex and Ling run medical supply hauls from New Babbage and Port Tressler to Orison, Foxwell runs security contracts, and Cornerstone runs rebuilding work. Progress is personal and unlocks six SecondWind weapons and armor sets.

   Done when: you could lose your ship and its cargo once and keep working.

5. Phase 4

   Specialize

   After that.
   • Move into a ship built for your career. The third rung of each ladder below names them.
   • Chase blueprints as well as aUEC. Recco Battaglia pays in mining modules and ore pod blueprints, and Adagio pays in scraper module blueprints. You craft from them at an Item Fabricator.
   • Try squad content. Siege of Orison is a private instance for up to four. Tactical Strike Group in Nyx is built for seven or more ships.
   • Weigh Pyro and Nyx. Contracts there tend to pay more, and nobody polices other players.

   No finish line. Re-pick your home at the next patch to match what you do now.

Also in the game: refuelling contracts (the intro ones ask for hydrogen only as of 4.10.1), crafting at Item Fabricators, and racing inside Arena Commander.