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[GUIDE] Euro Truck Simulator 2 Beginners Guide!


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Hoping to start a new journey in Euro Truck Simulator 2? Hoping to do it online but don't know how to go about earning some money? Fear not, this is the guide for YOU! 

 

 

Skill Point Assignment

While playing, you will gain levels. At each level up, you will gain a skill point. These can be assigned to different skill sets that will help you or unlock new jobs. Here is a list of the different skills.
 

ADR
The only skill where each class can be individually selected instead of simply increasing ranks. Each ADR class unlocks new job types. Which ADR class you select first isn't overly important but the explosives (class 1) and flammable liquids (class 3) seem to be more common.

ADR classes give an XP bonus but no cash bonus, however as the ADR jobs will give a higher return, this isn't a drawback. Further, ADR class jobs often work in conjuntion with the High Value Cargo and Fragile Cargo skills making this an important skill set to increase.

As of v1.11 of the game, the fragile cargo icon is no longer hidden for ADR jobs.
 

Long Distance
This skill opens longer distance jobs. This is probably the most important skill as it gives both a 25% XP bonus for deliveries longer than 250 km and a 5% cash bonus per skill rank for deliveries that fall within that rank's distance.

More importantly, since the base reward for deliveries is based on distance, this skill also effectively increases the base reward of both money received (your driver charges a flat rate + a rate per km) and XP (you gain 1 XP per km driven on the job) making this skill your first priority.
 

High Value Cargo
This skill opens new and better paying jobs, as well as giving an 18% XP bonus for high value cargo and a 5% cash reward bonus per skill rank. Many ADR jobs are also considered high value cargo making this an important skill.
 

Fragile Cargo
This skill opens new and better paying jobs, as well as giving a 22% XP bonus for fragile cargo and a 5% cash reward bonus per skill rank. Many ADR jobs are also considered fragile cargo making this an important skill.
 

Just-In-Time Delivery
This skill opens important deliveries at rank 1 and urgent deliveries at rank 2. Important deliveries give a 3% higher reward per skill rank and a 20% XP bonus. Urgent deliveries give a 5% cash reward bonus per skill rank and a 30% XP bonus.

Though at first this seems a very nice skill, there is a drawback. Important and urgent deliveries have a much smaller delivery time frame. Since the penalty for a late delivery is very high, this skill should be taken later when you have a truck that can do the deliveries required.
 

Ecodriving
The least useful of the skills. This skill reduces the amount of fuel consumed while driving (reduced by 5% + an aditional 5% per skill rank). As the cost of fuel isn't all that high and easily covered by the rewards recieved by deliveries, this skill can be ignored until the end.


Here's an example of a delivery with both ADR (class 2) and fragile cargo bonuses. The job was marked only as an ADR class 2 job. (Note that as of v1.11, the fragile cargo icon is no longer hidden on ADR jobs in the freight market.) Check the first image.

 

In order to help increase the cash and XP rewards, here is my recommendations for skill point assignment while leveling up, presented in the order they should be taken (move to the next step only when the previous is complete).

 

First four ranks of Long Distance
Jobs of up to rank four can usually be done with only one rest stop.

 

First rank of Fragile Cargo
We take one rank here to open this job type and have at least one rank when we start on the ADR jobs.

 

First rank of High Value cargo
Again we are opening the High Value jobs as well as having at least one rank for when we start taking ADR classes.

 

Three classes of ADR
Make Explosives (Class 1) and Flammable Liquids (class 3) a priority.

 

Second rank of Fragile Cargo

Second rank of High Value Cargo

First rank of Just-In-Time


We finally open the important deliveries.

Last three classes of ADR
Finish off the ADR classes.

 

Last two ranks of Long Distance
Finish off the Long Distance Jobs. Be aware that you will start seeing jobs that will require multiple rest stops.

 

Third rank of Fragile Cargo

Third rank of High Value Cargo

 

Second rank of Just-In-Time
Open up the urgent deliveries. We could have taken this a little earlier, but I prefer it here.

 

Last three ranks of both Fragile Cargo and High Value Cargo
Alternate between the two until both are complete.

Last four ranks of Just-In-Time

Six ranks of Ecodriving

 

Starting Off

As this is the very start of the game, the first goal is to get your own truck. Having a bit of cash on hand won't exactly hurt either.

As you don't yet have a truck, you can only do Quick Jobs. Try to pick jobs that start and/or stop at cities you haven't been to before, though largest cash reward is still priority.

When visiting cities, drive in front of areas that have a question mark (?) on the map/GPS. This will allow you to discover recruiting agencies and other truck dealers.

When you level up, assign skill points according to the recommended order shown above.

Perform quick jobs until you receive an in-game email from both the bank and from the truck dealer for your Preffered Truck Design (selected during profile creation). You'll likely be level 1 or 2 at most when this happens.

 

Your First Truck


Though you could purchase any truck you want, this is a quick leveling guide so you want to make your life as easy as possible. This means getting a truck that isn't too expensive, and can be used for as long as possible without wasting money upgrading it into usefulness.

With the above in mind, I recommend the Volvo FH16 Classic Sleeper. If you strip off a few extras on this truck, the price can be reduced to less than 100,000 euros and yet it still comes with a 540 HP engine giving 2650 Nm of torque. This is enough to haul even the heaviest loads (25 tons in an unmodified game) and can therefore take you all the way to end-game.

First, go to the bank (via the menus or the bank's email) and take out the 100,000 euro loan. Now go to the Volvo dealer via the truck dealer's email and select the FH16 Classic Sleeper (the cheapest one, and likely the only one you are allowed to buy right now anyway). Now customize this truck so that it has a blue paint job (the cheapest paint available) and remove any unneeded parts such as the sunvisor, front and extra side mirrors etc. This will bring the price of the Volvo down to 94,430. Buy the truck.

This should then leave you with a little bit of money to help cover loan installements, fuel costs and possible repairs at the start of the next phase.

 

Delivering Freight


Now that you have a truck, you can pick up jobs from the Freight Market instead of quick jobs. Select the city you are in (select the city where the blue arrow on the map is) and select the job that gives the best rewards. However, also look at the distance the job requires (this is shown in the top right of the map when you select a job). At the start this isn't very important, but later the distance you'll need to travel will also dictate the number of rest stops you must do along the way. Also check the time the job offer is for. If the offer is only valid for a few minutes, then you may not be able to get to the job pickup point before the offer expires. Lastly, avoid jobs that start and end in the same city as they aren't really worth the bother.

Set the GPS destination to this job and drive over to the pick-up point. You don't yet have the job, just where to go get it. Once at the pickup point, drive over and stop on the floating green icon and press the activate key. Verify that the job is still there (it'll be the one with the [GPS] icon on it. Select it and click Take Job.

Drive up to the trailer and back your truck nice and slow until you can attach the trailer (the GPS display will indicate when you are in the right spot). You can press the [5] key or move your view out the driver side window to look behind you (for an extra challenge, try only using the mirrors).

Attach the trailer, then follow the GPS to your destination just like you did for the quick jobs. Parking the trailer at the destination only gives a flat 45 XP, so whether or not you want to park the trailer is your choice (see the Parking the Trailer section for details on doing this). I normally do park the trailer myself, and have gotten used to doing it only using the mirrors, however in the profile used for testing this guide, I purposefully didn't park the trailer.

After each job, head to the closest repair shop and fix you truck (even if you didn't have any accidents along the way). Your truck, especially the tires, will wear down a bit just from normal use so maintaining your truck is important.

All repair shops and gas stations also have a parking spot where you can stop and rest. Though at the start of the game you likely don't really need to rest much, when you do, it is a good idea to stop and rest at these locations.

Once repaired and rested, pick up another job at this new city. Don't forget to drive around the place to discover truck dealers and recruiting agencies.

Continue doing jobs until you receive an email from the bank saying they can help expand your business and that you are consistently getting jobs that pay 10,000 euros or more (this will take you to about level 3).
 

Expanding the Business

Welcome to mid-game. The goal here is to expand the business and make it both profitable and self-sufficient.

This is done by purchasing new garages. You do not want to expand your tiny starter garage (at least not yet) as the cost to do so is the same as that of a new garage (180,000 euros) but will only give you two extra driver slots (your own truck takes up the third slot). A new garage on the other hand will give you all three slots since your truck is still in the starter garage.

To purchase a new garage, drive up to the garage in the city of your choice (yes you must physically go there) and drive over the green icon. As you don't yet have the money, get the 400,000 euro loan from the bank before actually purchasing the new garage (though only get the loan when you are in front of the garage you want to buy or you may end up paying installments before you end up using the money). It doesn't really matter what city this new garage is in, you just want another one somewhere. Once purchased, you need to start filling it with trucks and drivers.

To buy trucks for the new garage, visit the truck dealer via the main menu. You will need to visit the dealer as you must possess at least five trucks before using the "online" purchases ("online" here is merely an in-game convenience thing and isn't going to take you to a real website for DLC content).

Company drivers are only ever simulated and the trucks they use has no effect on their driving. So we can give them the cheapest trucks available and they'll be fine. For this reason, I recommend purchasing the Iveco Stralis Active Space (the cheapest one with 310 HP). Before buying, change the paint to white, remove the front mirror and sunvisor (at about level 6 you can also change the steps to something cheaper, but at first the cheaper steps aren't unlocked). This makes the Iveco only 89,100 euros, so buy at least two and send them to the new garage (don't drive them yourself).

Hire at least two drivers from the recruitment agency (again go through the main menu). Try selecting drivers that have skills that match up closest to the recommended skill point assignment. Do not hire a driver unless you can provide them with a truck or they may quit on you after a few days. Don't worry about the driver rating. It will go up as they level up. Assign the new drivers to the trucks you just purchased.

Go to the driver manager and set the training policy of your new hires to Long Distance. Use the same skill leveling process described above for the drivers. While playing, you will receive messages as to what your drivers are doing. When they level up, check the driver management and change their training as appropriate. You can do this even while driving yourself as you can always access the company manager from the main menu.

Your company drivers will likely actually lose you a bit of money at first, but they will quickly start making a profit once they level up a bit. For this reason, you want a bit of extra cash hanging around so that you can cover the slight loss.

Do jobs until you can buy a third Iveco truck, hire a third driver and pay off the 100,000 euro loan (this should take you up to about level 8).

 

Second Expansion

Now that the smaller loan is paid off and your drivers should be bringing in enough to cover the payments on the 400,000 euro loan, it is time to consider opening another garage.



To help maximize profits, choose a city near the edges of the world map including over in the UK. For example, Glasgow or Plymouth in the UK, Bratislava in Slovakia, Debrecen in Hungary (requires Going East DLC). This will allow drivers at this garage to pickup longer distance jobs giving you higher income possibilities.

Do jobs until you have 180,000 euros to get another garage. You can get a second 100,000 loan to get this a bit earlier (I did this for the test profile). When you are at or near the amount needed, try to pick jobs that take you to or near your chosen location. Then drive over to the garage you want and buy it.

Perform more jobs until you can afford a new Iveco Truck and hire a driver for it (89,100 + 1,500 = 90,600 euros for a truck plus driver). Don't forget that you will still need some money to cover expenses and the new driver will likely lose money until they level up a bit. You may consider taking out another 100,000 euro loan to get a truck and driver quickly (if you didn't take it for the garage itself).

Repeat until all three garage slots are filled with drivers and trucks (this should bring you up to level 14 or so)

 

There you go! Good luck to those new truckers!

Guide.jpg

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  • HaulieLove 1

Euro Truck Simulator 2 enjoyer since 2015!

 

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Great guide,
but there is one thing missing - you don't tell that the game is meant to be played with a 900 degree steering wheels. Let's not kid ourselves here. The better drivers in the game are s-wheel users. Meaning, to be succesful you need to have one (clutch pedal needed). This also implies you know how to drive a car and you can obey the rules of the road... the game is nor an arcade. If you grasp the simulation concept, then this game will be fun for you. If not, please go play NFS type games.
That should have existed as well... whould have limit the bans given if people understand it.

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