BASICS: The Loop Of Shame - #00036

When travelling between planets - in SuperCruise - you will sooner or later approach a destination, be it a station, an outpost, a planet(ary settlement) or a point of interest.

For fastest travel, you will select 'full throttle' and you will try to avoid masses which slow you down.

At a certain point, you will have to decelerate, though - in order to not overshoot on your target which would result in a loop of shame.

There is a simple, but wonderful rule to avoid this: the 8 second rule

(Also known as 7 second rule and 6 second rule. Originally it was 8 seconds, then someone decided it - mostly - works with 7 seconds, too. Right then someone decided he's a real pro and 7 seconds is for weaklings. So he made up the 6 seconds rule. You get the point.)

When approaching your destination while going full throttle, keep looking at your ETA (estimated time of arrival) on your HUD. The moment it switches to 00:08 (8 seconds), immediately and without hesitation, press 'X' or whatever key you assigned for putting your throttle to 0% thrust.

After resetting to zero thrust, increase thrust again until your throttle lever touches the lower margin of your blue throttle area and your throttle gets blue in color.

This 'lowest blue' setting is the place to be for arriving fast, but not too fast, at your destination.

Keep in mind that if there are pirates present, your 'being faster' protection ends the moment you reduce your throttle setting. It makes you more vulnerable to interdictions.

If you see a pirate following you, aim at your destination in a way that doesn't make you crash into it (emergency dropdown, normal speed, vulnerable to a pursuer), but makes you 'scratch' its vicinity. Keep on going full throttle until you pass your destination. The moment you pass, pitch up hard for returning to it and lower your thrust to lowest blue thruster setting. This intentional 'loop of shame' makes it quite hard for a pursuer to get into a position in which he can interdict you.

Pro Tip: If someone laughs at your loop of shame, simply claim you had a pirate on your tail ;-)