Basically, VA handles most of the mundane, distracting hand and finger-tasks that can cause manual task-overload in time-sensitive situations. I HIGHLY suggest using one of the HCS voice-packs for Elite Dangerous, which come pre-configured with almost every Elite Dangerous ship/SRV/SLF-related command imaginable.

Pros: So much easier to simply say "Request dock" or "Target power plant" than to go hunting through the ship's menus when trying to not crash into the mail-slot on the space station or while avoiding enemy weapons fire.

You can macro a lot of things too, for instance I can say "Take us out" and the ship will lift itself from the hangar, take off, maneuver out of the space station and all the way to the edge of the no-fire zone before I need to think about the ship's controls. It can automatically repair and refuel your ship on landing, if you tell it to. It can automatically HONK each system your ship passes through, if you tell it to, a nice, passive secondary source of income. ELI even cusses me out occasionally. HCS Voice packs can also provide information about different Elite Dangerous related things, systems, planets, phenomena, etc. if you tell it to.

Cons? It costs a few bucks, and you need about a half-hour or so to train the Windows voice engine to recognize your accent. o7

So what I’m hearing is I basically only need to physically steer when I’m out in the black 😂

Do not let anyone trick you into saying ‘self destruct’ out loud when using it 😂

First thing I set up was a confirmation code

VA is simply a tool that converts voice commands into button presses. You can buy one of the pre-made voice packs that have most of the common commands already mapped out, or you can create your own.

Making your own for repeat tasks is pretty cool. You can do anything that has a keybind

When I was using VA without a headset and chatting with friends on discord, my mic picked up something and decided I had told it to put my ship in silent running. . . .while I'm dogfighting as a shield tank.

I use a headset now and also a PTT button for VA that mutes me in discord so my squadron don't have to constantly hear me say "shield boost" or "heat sink" all the time.

Pros: How cool you feel when you say "fighter engage"

You can do essentially what you described, yes.

i play exclusively in VR and Voice Attack is amazing for taking care of a number of things in ED. or even Spotify. i use it for a lot of things.