Sure it's easy enough with the CG reward double engineered 4A FSD, but no new commanders and not all longer term commanders have access to that
Ships Top 10 Exploration ships!
- Thread starter KathyMiller
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I had to look back on my dolphin piccies the pillars are on the side of the screen so don't obstruct the view in console So it may be down to the field of view settings ?
I tried to make a Type-6 explorer with the double engineered PP and FSD. 50+ly jump range sounds good, yeah? Well, it heats up above 100% each jump. That's a little too hot for my taste, so I scrapped the idea. Instead I installed four 16t corrosive resistant cargo racks on it and use it as a landing vehicle from my all new fleet carrier for collecting Thargoid material. Works well enough for Guardian structures, too. The relatively small footprint is a bonus, allowing me to land directly in front of the entrance or right next tot he ruins. And it's agile and small enough to pick things up in flight with the cargo hatch, like Guardian artefacts or meta-alloys. All in al, I am happy I was able to turn a failed experiment into something useful.
I guess that is the grade 5 overcharged CG reward double engineered power plant your are talking about?
I'm not surprised the ship overheats using that. Grade 5 overcharge really increases the heat output and is useless for any ship wanting to stay cool. I recon that Type 6 would be fine with a stock A rated power plant, or grade 1 low emissions and thermal spread to get it cooler. My Phantom explorer runs on a 3A with grade 1 low emissions with thermal spread. When supercruising far from a star it runs at 16% to 17% heat.
I have those CG reward power plants, but I don't think I will ever use them. They will most likely always be running too hot for what I want to do.
The double engineered powerplants are terrible in terms of heat efficiency, as you cannot add thermal spread (or any other experimental) to it. I usually get away with using an undersized overcharged/thermal spread PP, but I had similar issues with my Beluga. I wanted to use a 4A OC/TS that I had in storage, but even with a stock 5A PP (which would have been enough power) it kept heating to 95% on every jump/scoop - I hated the Beluga for that.
Eventually I swapped it for a 6A low emissions/thermal spread (5A didn't produce enough power), which has a heat efficiency of 0.126, and now it's my favorite explorer to fly. I still cannot charge while scooping like in the Dolphin, but that's okay. It's cool enough to FSS the part of the system that is not blocked by the star at a high rate while scooping. It usually sits to about 60% at maximum scoop rate.
Dis you keep a build link for your Type-6 explorer?
My Krait Phantom has one and never gets above 70.
depends on the ship, of course. My Phantom is rather cool, too (in every sense 
). In a ship that's on the edge heat-wise, they suck. I have all three double engineered PPs, and, if I remember correctly, they all sit in storage .
). In a ship that's on the edge heat-wise, they suck. I have all three double engineered PPs, and, if I remember correctly, they all sit in storage .I had it fitted like this.
Then I turned it into that, which is not overheating much anymore.
But I like it as a lander vessel.
Usually I use a Viper IV for exploration.
Though I am thinking of a Dolphin as a more dedicated explorer, though a fleet carrier does not make this all that much necessary.
The small powerplant makes it tough. Things I would do:
- use a B-class AFMU. They draw less power and have a higher repair capacity. As AFMUs have no mass, they don't suffer the mass penalty of B-Class modules. I just realized that recently. It's very strange.
- sack the supercruise assist. Real men from alpha centauri don't need them .
- D-rate the life support. Apart from a powerplant failure 8 minutes are enough to repair or synth the life support.
- D-rate the drives. Not much worse performance, but much less power draw.
- switch to a 2D engine focused PD. Again, less power draw, 11s boost interval with 4 pips is not too far from perma-boost. It's an explorer, not a racer (goes for the drives, too).
- D-rated sensors. If you really want the range, long range them. I wouldn't, I's lightweight them.
- turn off the mining laser. In general, turn off everything you don't need and juggle the power. Systems that are off draw no power and generate no heat. I also turn off the point defence, on the explorers I only need it for guardian sites.
- kinetic resistance on an explorer doesn't help if you bump something. Collisions are absolute damage. I'd D-rate the shields and go with reinforced / hi-cap if I have the power. Otherwise enhanced low power/low draw.
With a bit of juggling it can be powered by a low emissions / thermal spread PP. On a T6, I'd probably build something like this. Maybe I will. It's certainly a challenge, other ships are suited much better as an explorer.
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oh, and with a bit better power management, the life support doesn't even drop out on a PP failure.
This Type-6 i built for exploration - 57ly jump range, rather decent shields, size 4 srv hangar
and this for Guardian sites
Both builds make use of Colonia Bridge size 4 FSD with thermal spread experimental and can hyperjump without getting over 66% heat (assuming you dont boost while FSD charging)
Edit: power priorities should be set as in the builds to have a fully functional ship, else
I run a dolphin for exploring .
It's not an optimal build but It took me round most of the map . I have the speed just for when I'm coming back into the bubble . Im not a fan of max jump range for explorers . The shields can take a heavy landing and afmu is for my oops moments . I don't run the neutron high way often . There wasn't much change from my original dolphin ( pre guardian and when the 5 slot was locked for passengers , 44 lyr and that got me to beagle and back 2017)
s.orbis.zone
It's not an optimal build but It took me round most of the map . I have the speed just for when I'm coming back into the bubble . Im not a fan of max jump range for explorers . The shields can take a heavy landing and afmu is for my oops moments . I don't run the neutron high way often . There wasn't much change from my original dolphin ( pre guardian and when the 5 slot was locked for passengers , 44 lyr and that got me to beagle and back 2017)
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s.orbis.zone
Regarding the Dolphin, the view is subjective. I think it's fantastic but I can see why having the larger number of much smaller struts in a Type-6 might be preferable.
As to the range, that gets into the whole taxi vs. explorer debate. Right now my current ship is an Alliance Challenger that I have rigged up as a "combat explorer." It jumps 39ly, which for me means it jumps as far as it needs to for me to go literally anywhere. 33.4ly is the minimum to reach Beagle Point without injections, so as far as I'm concerned anything over 35ly is a bonus, and anything over 38ly means you're going to skip over things. For a lot of people, exploration means picking a destination and getting there quick. For others, it means picking a destination and getting there slowly. I'm in the later camp, and I've happened along things along the way I absolutely would've missed if I had been flying my old Phantom with 65ly+ at my disposal. Now, I don't fly exploration ships over 40ly any more, period. Anything beyond that is squarely in the taxi category as far as I'm concerned.
That said, I realize that A) that's not the consensus and B) even my old Dolphin build goes well beyond 40ly. But that's why I don't fly it any more.
It's still an outstanding exploration ship, though, ESPECIALLY for a newer player. I would not recommend a DBX to a new CMDR. The Dolphin will give them less range, but it'll scoop faster, run cooler, and generally be much more forgiving than a DBX ever will. And again, I think the view is better, personally.
As to the range, that gets into the whole taxi vs. explorer debate. Right now my current ship is an Alliance Challenger that I have rigged up as a "combat explorer." It jumps 39ly, which for me means it jumps as far as it needs to for me to go literally anywhere. 33.4ly is the minimum to reach Beagle Point without injections, so as far as I'm concerned anything over 35ly is a bonus, and anything over 38ly means you're going to skip over things. For a lot of people, exploration means picking a destination and getting there quick. For others, it means picking a destination and getting there slowly. I'm in the later camp, and I've happened along things along the way I absolutely would've missed if I had been flying my old Phantom with 65ly+ at my disposal. Now, I don't fly exploration ships over 40ly any more, period. Anything beyond that is squarely in the taxi category as far as I'm concerned.
That said, I realize that A) that's not the consensus and B) even my old Dolphin build goes well beyond 40ly. But that's why I don't fly it any more.
It's still an outstanding exploration ship, though, ESPECIALLY for a newer player. I would not recommend a DBX to a new CMDR. The Dolphin will give them less range, but it'll scoop faster, run cooler, and generally be much more forgiving than a DBX ever will. And again, I think the view is better, personally.
The point is: a longer jump range does not limit me in any way
With a ship that can do 65+ly jumps i can pick a destination and get there slow OR fast.
With a 38ly jump ship i can get there only slow.
The point is: a longer jump range does not limit me in any way
With a ship that can do 65+ly jumps i can pick a destination and get there slow OR fast.
With a 38ly jump ship i can get there only slow.
Remember back when > 30LY was good for an exploration ship?
Nope, joined in November 2018
But i do remember getting to Maia in a Cobra Mk3 using Economic routes (because i didnt know better at the time)
You're not wrong, but using your method, without jumping over a lot of things, you've either got to 1) manually plot each and every jump or 2) slot a ton of cargo bays so you can plot the route with dummy cargo you don't actually have to make the route plotter limit itself to a shorter range.The point is: a longer jump range does not limit me in any way
With a ship that can do 65+ly jumps i can pick a destination and get there slow OR fast.
With a 38ly jump ship i can get there only slow.
I just find flying a ship with the range I actually use a lot easier, and I don't go more than maybe 2k ly outside the bubble unless I'm going more than 10k. If it's less than 2k then 39ly is plenty fast, adds no more than 20 jumps tops. If it's more than 10k I'm back to not wanting to skip over stuff. There's just no use case for a 50ly+ ship for me, unless I'm doing a taxi to a very specific place (e.g. unlocking guardian modules, but I'm done with that already.)
Anyhow, different strokes I guess. To be clear I am not saying there's anything wrong with higher jump range. But to me, that's a taxi, not an exploration ship.
Agreed. The Dolphin is ugly AF.
The Fleet Carrier changes everything.
The fleet carrier obsoletes many of the traditional needs for an exploration ship. It opens up the shipyard to ships more suited to various exploration activities.
IMO the min/maxed stripped down exploration ship is now just a seldom used special purpose ship I use for exploring very thin density areas of the galaxy. Otherwise I use better shorter range ships.
- If I want to get somewhere fast the FC goes 2000Ly per hour. Same as a ship with 65Ly jump range but with less effort.
- Fleet carrier allows me to bring a variety of exploration ships, including various specialized ships and fun planet hopping ships.
- No need for 2 SRV hangars, AFMS, repair limpets, or extra fuel tanks.
The fleet carrier obsoletes many of the traditional needs for an exploration ship. It opens up the shipyard to ships more suited to various exploration activities.
IMO the min/maxed stripped down exploration ship is now just a seldom used special purpose ship I use for exploring very thin density areas of the galaxy. Otherwise I use better shorter range ships.