Ship Build
https://s.orbis.zone/o0oo https://edsy.org/s/vWd8qW1
Note: The collector limpets can be removed, keep it if you want to collect engineering mats while AFKing (better if you are at your pc and can occasionally send new limpets)
Equip ship with a Taipan and F63 Condor and EQUIP CREW MEMBER WHEN LEAVING
(Might be better to equip a Gelid F Gu-97 instead of a F64 Condor)
Preparation
Drop into a Low RES and look for the sidewinder wave. According to PTN: position yourself ~5km from the marker (not too close to the asteroids). (Below taken from PTN’s discord server)
A Sidewinder Wave is a certain pattern in NPC spawns, where only a short range of small ships (listed below) is produced, but with a very high spawn rate (~0.7/min).
The Sidewinder Wave consists of the following ships ONLY: - Sidewinder - Eagle / Imperial Eagle - Viper Mk III / IV - Cobra Mk III - Diamondback Scout / Explorer - Adder - Asp Scout / Explorer - Imperial Courier. Here are steps that you need to catch the wave:
- Once you drop into the Low Res, look for a Sidewinder among the hostile “Welcoming Party” spawn. It may be alone or in a wing. But it MUST be among the FIRST ships that you see in the Res.
- If there are ANY OTHER ships other than a Sidewinder, OR after a few waves, OR You’re welcomed by a ferocious attack of ANY OTHER ships, OR nothing happens for 3-5 minutes, then run. Supercruise away or log out to Main Menu and try again from step 1. The benefits of catching the sidewinder wave are obvious:-
- You will have a persistent and regular queue of a weak ships that cannot damage your shields above the “point of interference” (ie, when you must jump in and help your ship survive).
- Consistency in spawn rate, allows Commanders to calculate (approximately) the time on the res required to finish the stack of missions they have.
- Optimal ship build may be less expensive, than is usually recommended for AFK Challenge or pinned here, because they may appear overpowered for those small ships, that going to spawn. If you decided to try and catch the sidewinder wave - Do not take cargo missions with the threat of “Enemy ships may be sent after you”. Put something worth 100k to your cargo bay and install two Point Defense turrets around the Cargo Hatch. The idea is that those small ships, that are supposed to be in the wave, will absolutely be unable to break in.
Useful Tools
If you know how to setup node projects, you can use this to get notified if your shields go down, fighter dies, missions are completed, etc.
Other Tips
https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/z1pan0/afk_tips/
2 - I found that the cops were taking all my kills. As soon as the pirate would threaten me the cops would somehow know and the cops would start shooting him. I had turned off crime reporting so I guess when the npc broadcasts his message that he’ll let me live if I give him cargo the cops see the message and know he’s upto no good. Well they would come and shoot him before he shot me. Which meant that the turrets wouldn’t engage and I would get no bounties.
The solution is to park at an asteroid at least 7 to 8km away from the marker. The cops will be patrolling in a big circle around the marker and you want to be on the side of that big circle, not in the middle of it. That way when the threats start it is likely that the cops will not be close and it should take them some time to come help you. But by that time the npc should have engaged you and you will have gotten enough shots off to make the bounty. I have not tested how far out from the marker you can sit and still get pirates. I imagine that you could go as far as 10 to 12km and still be in good shape. Let me know if you know, but I will do further testing on this.