Lately, I’ve been obsessed with Elite Dangerous. I just love exploring the vast universe and making a bunch of credits doing it.
Even though I’m fairly new to Elite Dangerous, I’ve been learning a lot and trying so many different things in the game.
I’ve tried exploring, mining, trading, courier jobs, on-foot missions, salvaging, and pretty much everything the game has to offer.
And out of all those activities, Exobiology is the best activity that pays you a ton of money for very low effort.
It actually helped me earn over 500 million credits within the first few days. I was able to buy any ship I want and upgrade them to the max.
Today, I will share with you the simple method you can use to make money fast in Elite Dangerous. You can make billions in Elite Dangerous using this method.
The Easiest Money-Making Method
If you don’t want to bother with the details and prefer video guides, you can check out the quick video I made for my channel. And please consider subscribing to the channel too.
Exobiology is the new gameplay system introduced to Elite Dangerous with the Odyssey DLC. So yes, you will need the Odyssey DLC for this method to work.
It involves going to planets with biological signals, jumping out of your ship, and scanning plants. Then you can sell the data to make millions.
Follow the steps below to get started.
Step 1: Get The Equipment
Here is all the equipment you need to get into Exobiology.
First, make sure your ship is equipped with a Vehicle Hangar and an SRV. You’ll need it to explore planets.
Then visit the Pioneer Supplies store in any station and buy the Artemis Suit. This suit has the Genetic Sampler tool, which is required to scan plants. After you buy the suit, make sure to equip it in the loadouts.
If you have enough credits, you should also equip a Detailed Surface Scanner into your ship. It helps scan planets for biological signals.
Step 2: Find Landable Planets
You can only land your ship on planets and moons that have the icon that looks like a half moon. And plants only grow in planets and moons with an atmosphere.
So you need to find planets or moons that have both. But don’t worry, these planets are easy to find thanks to a special tool called Neutron Plotter.
Step 3: Use Neutron Plotter
Neutron Plotter is a great tool you can use to find planets and moons that contain plants that are worth a lot of credits.
Go to the Neutron Plotter website and switch to the Expressway to Exomastery tool. Now enter the following details.
- Source System: Enter the system you’re currently in
- Destination System: Enter a system you would like to go to. Or leave it blank
- Range: Enter the jump range of your ship
- Radius: Enter how many lightyears you’re willing to travel
- Maximum Systems: Enter the number of systems you’re willing to visit
- Maximum Distance To Arrival: Set it to 5,000
Usually, it’s best to start with a 50 to 100 lightyear radius and 5 to 10 systems. But the more you’re willing to explore, the more you will earn.
Once you enter the details, this tool will give you a list of systems and planets for you to explore. It will also show you exactly which plants you need to scan and how much they pay.
Copy the name of a system from the Neutron Plotter and enter it into your Galaxy Map to go there.
Step 4: Land And Explore The Planet
Once you arrive in the system and get close to the planet, you can scan the planet using the Detailed Surface Scanner. If you don’t have a DSS, you can still find plants without it.
Just slowly descend onto the planet and as you get closer, you’ll notice light gray patches on the planet.
Aim for these light-colored or gray areas and fly your ship closer to the ground until you see plants and stuff appear on the ground.
Now land the ship, get into your SRV, and go find those plants.
Step 5: How To Scan Plants
When you find a plant, get out of your SRV to scan it.
Press the 5 key on the keyboard to bring out the Genetic Sampler tool and scan the plant.
You need to collect 3 samples of the same plants to make it count as bio data. But, you can’t scan a different plant in this same area either.
You have to get a bit farther away from the area where you first scanned the plant and find a different spot to scan it again. Press the Right Mouse Button to see if a plant is scannable. If it shows up green, you can scan it.
You have to repeat this process until you have 3 samples. And follow the same steps to explore all the other systems you got from the Neutron Plotter tool and collect all the samples.
Step 6: Sell The Data
After gathering the samples, go to a space station and locate the Vista Genomics lab.
Go in there and sell all your data.
That’s all you have to do to earn millions in minutes.
Conclusion
This is by far the easiest money-making method I’ve found in Elite Dangerous.
Yes, there are other methods for earning more money, but they usually require big investments like buying expensive ships or carriers.
Even a complete beginner can use this method to get a good start in the game. In fact, that’s exactly how I got into this game. Hat tip to the YouTuber Tolakram for the gameplay videos.
