Current State of Carriers

[Helmut Grokenberger]

And because of this, the two-rules-of-ED were amended:

1. Never fly without rebuy*
2. Never fly without a fuel scoop*
3. Never log out on a stranger's carrier*

* all three with the caveat "unless you know what you are doing or accept the risks" .

 

[Uiros Ueramos]

Has yours improved your life at all?

My RL? No.
My CMDR's in-game life? Yes.

Does the experience of owning and operating one provide you with more utility given your playstyle?

Yes. My CMDR is an independent wanderer that plays all type of professions, according to his mood.

Carrying his entire fleet with him, from place to place, makes it easier to change activity in a moment's notice.

As someone who prefers to pilot one very specific ship, they don't appeal much to me, but have any of you found ways to make them profitable or, at the very least, viable to support the activities of you and your friends?

Yes. Mainly for Mining and Trade. It can carry huge amounts of commodities that will make a very good profit if you know where to buy/sell.

And it's great for squadron support.

Are they simply a convenient place to store and move a massive fleet, or have you experienced buyer's remorse since you added it to your list of assets?

Yes, they are convenient to move one's fleet and much more.

No buyer's remorse from me.

And, if you play the game regularly, the upkeep is not too hard to support.

 

[K Olley]

A counter- intuitive point: you don't need to provide Shipyard if the carrier is mainly for your own use. You get ability to store all your ships anyway. Shipyard on the carrier is for giving other players the ability to store more than one ship, or for selling ships.

That was the point I was making

No shipyard, outfitting or secure warehouse on my carrier, it gives me an extra 5,000t of cargo space if needed. plus lower running costs and less Tritium needed for every jump.

 

[marx]

Another thing I'd like to mention about carriers: they have been extremely useful for expeditions. Especially for exploration surveys where people scan given areas, but also for waypoint-based tours. Specifically, it's about keeping participants together: it's much easier to organise that when there's a mobile base of operations, and people who might fall behind can still dock on the carrier when it's time to move. Not to mention that when there are specific systems to explore, people might want to spend time on those instead of travelling the whole way in their own ship. Or hey, if there are events held, then bringing along carriers can ensure that most everybody can get to the event locations on time.
Personally, I prefer the afk nature of carrier travel, but well, I'm almost at 90,000 jumps, so no surprises there.

Also, group shots in carrier bars. Like this.

Oh, one other thing. Sure, you can always fly out to someone else's anchored carrier and transfer your ships there, but if you do that with many (and expensive) ships, the cost of buying enough tritium to do it with your own carrier can well be cheaper. Not to mention there's no waiting for several days of transfer time.


Then there was another subject that I wanted to reply to, but off-topic:

3A shield generator (probably don't need anything better)

Probably, but the AspX's shield characteristics are bad, and a 3A shield generator will give you, what, 130-160 MJ fully engineered? With the AspX, that won't hold up against anything more than light collisions, so be extra careful.
And well, collisions always happen the way one least expects them. Once, when I was making shots with the external camera with my Courier hovering above something, I accidentally hit boost when I came out, and even with my Courier's strong shields, I was left with something like 14% hull. Another time, my joystick suddenly failed as I was flying a Clipper at low altitude too, and I couldn't replug it in time. One of the most well-known explorers got sent to the rebuy screen because he boosted away from a NSP - only to have a pod suddenly fly in front of him. He was flying a cardboard build, the pod was invincible. The stories could go on.

It's always what you don't expect, and nobody can avoid an accident forever. When that happens, a strong shield generator will be the difference between surviving it and limping back to the nearest repair shop, or staring at the rebuy screen.

 

[DjVortex]

Probably, but the AspX's shield characteristics are bad, and a 3A shield generator will give you, what, 130-160 MJ fully engineered? With the AspX, that won't hold up against anything more than light collisions, so be extra careful.

I suppose I could switch to a 5A shield. It's not like I need anything more crucial in that 5-class slot for just exploring.

 

[goemon]

I suppose I could switch to a 5A shield. It's not like I need anything more crucial in that 5-class slot for just exploring.

already a 5d is much better than a 3a. i know at least 1 aspx explorer having a 4a shield in there. a class 3 shield is simply below optimal hull mass with the penalty coming from there.

 

[Northpin]

I suppose I could switch to a 5A shield. It's not like I need anything more crucial in that 5-class slot for just exploring.

You can use a build like this. 69.6 Ly jump range with size 5 Guardian FSD booster and tech broker 5A FSD V1 with mass manager, 393MJ shields which should be decent enough IF you manage to get used to keep 4 PIPS in SYS at all time (393MJ with 4PIPS in Sys makes for 1000MJ - which should be crash tested as well )
Else, you can use a size 3 Guardian FSD booster and a 5d shield generator and get 66ly jump range but with 504MJ shields (which makes for 1260MJ with 4 PIPS in SYS)

 

[DjVortex]

You can use a build like this. 69.6 Ly jump range with size 5 Guardian FSD booster and tech broker 5A FSD V1 with mass manager, 393MJ shields which should be decent enough IF you manage to get used to keep 4 PIPS in SYS at all time (393MJ with 4PIPS in Sys makes for 1000MJ - which should be crash tested as well )
Else, you can use a size 3 Guardian FSD booster and a 5d shield generator and get 66ly jump range but with 504MJ shields (which makes for 1260MJ with 4 PIPS in SYS)

So far I have never quite paid a lot of attention into extreme ship optimization when it comes to eg. jump range (which is something I really should pay more attention to, given that I want to reach really far places more easily). I will have to start looking up how to get that stuff (eg. I have absolutely no idea how to get Guardian stuff).

The power plant engineering puzzles me, though. If the goal is to make the ship as lightweight as possible, and given that this is most absolutely not a combat ship, why "armoured" engineering? If you are going to take damage, I don't think the power plant is the primary concern. The problem with the "armoured" upgrade is that it makes it heavier. I thought we were making the ship as lightweight as possible.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

So far I have never quite paid a lot of attention into extreme ship optimization when it comes to eg. jump range (which is something I really should pay more attention to, given that I want to reach really far places more easily). I will have to start looking up how to get that stuff (eg. I have absolutely no idea how to get Guardian stuff).

The power plant engineering puzzles me, though. If the goal is to make the ship as lightweight as possible, and given that this is most absolutely not a combat ship, why "armoured" engineering?

While you can get away undersizing a PP much more with overcharge, quite a few ships develop heat issues when using an overcharged PP, as it significantly decreases heat efficiency, much more so when you use dirty drivers. Armoured is a good compromise, you squeeze a bit more power out of the power plant while also improving heat efficiency. If you need to cool down your ship (preferred if you do a lot of scooping) and low emissions does not give you enough power, try armoured.

 

[Northpin]

why "armoured" engineering?

Because armored increases the power while improving efficiency (lower efficiency value is better)
And better efficiency means better thermals (thermal load is roughly total power usage times power plant efficiency)

Basically this

While you can get away undersizing a PP much more with overcharge, quite a few ships develop heat issues when using an overcharged PP, as it significantly decreases heat efficiency, much more so when you use dirty drivers. Armoured is a good compromise, you squeeze a bit more power out of the power plant while also improving heat efficiency. If you need to cool down your ship (preferred if you do a lot of scooping) and low emissions does not give you enough power, try armoured.

 

[DjVortex]

You can use a build like this. 69.6 Ly jump range

With some minor tweaks taking hints from that (no Guardian stuff yet, those are going to require some adventuring) I got my Asp Explorer's jump range from 42 ly to 51 ly, which is already quite an improvement, I must say. (Still need to test that it doesn't overheat, though.)

 

[DjVortex]

(no Guardian stuff yet, those are going to require some adventuring)

Seems to be extra annoying adventuring.

I'm at a guardian terminal, I activate all six pylons and... nothing. The counter just keeps decreasing until it reaches zero, and everything resets. Nothing happens.

I think it's telling that apparently it's supposed to say "pylon 1 of 6" or something every time you activate one, and it said that a few times and then it just stopped. Now none of the activations seem to count. Don't tell me there's a bug related to this.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Seems to be extra annoying adventuring.

I'm at a guardian terminal, I activate all six pylons and... nothing. The counter just keeps decreasing until it reaches zero, and everything resets. Nothing happens.

I think it's telling that apparently it's supposed to say "pylon 1 of 6" or something every time you activate one, and it said that a few times and then it just stopped. Now none of the activations seem to count. Don't tell me there's a bug related to this.

Yes, there is a bug that occasionally does that - jump back out and drop in again.
If you have tried farming it without jumping back out, that may also cause it to happen.

 

[Brrokk]

Seems to be extra annoying adventuring.

I'm at a guardian terminal, I activate all six pylons and... nothing. The counter just keeps decreasing until it reaches zero, and everything resets. Nothing happens.

I think it's telling that apparently it's supposed to say "pylon 1 of 6" or something every time you activate one, and it said that a few times and then it just stopped. Now none of the activations seem to count. Don't tell me there's a bug related to this.

You don't mention dropping a relic or a key into the triangular slot. Did you do that? Was it the right one for the site?

 

[Greasetrap42]

I'm at a guardian terminal, I activate all six pylons and... nothing. The counter just keeps decreasing until it reaches zero, and everything resets. Nothing happens.

When you activate each pylon make sure you get the big loud "BOONG!". Otherwise the pylon wasn't actually activated.

If you are in open make sure the site is fresh. If the site has already been done by yourself or someone else it can't be done again unless it is reset. Log out/in.

When a site has been completed you can run around and reactivate the pylons, but it doesn't do you any good. You must log out/in.

Certain sites are good for certain things. At the data terminal I don't believe you can deposit an Ancient key at a site that wants a Relic and vice versa.

Tip: When you are at a guardian site make sure you get a couple blue prints. And pick up some guardian mats and scan some of those guardian glowing symbols for data before you leave. These are needed for the recipes.

 

[Oh Seven Commander]

So far I have never quite paid a lot of attention into extreme ship optimization when it comes to eg. jump range (which is something I really should pay more attention to, given that I want to reach really far places more easily). I will have to start looking up how to get that stuff (eg. I have absolutely no idea how to get Guardian stuff).

The power plant engineering puzzles me, though. If the goal is to make the ship as lightweight as possible, and given that this is most absolutely not a combat ship, why "armoured" engineering? If you are going to take damage, I don't think the power plant is the primary concern. The problem with the "armoured" upgrade is that it makes it heavier. I thought we were making the ship as lightweight as possible.

another base to build off of. https://edsy.org/s/vcYamGt

 

[DjVortex]

You don't mention dropping a relic or a key into the triangular slot. Did you do that?

The instructions say that the terminal activates after the six pylons have been powered up, and then you drop the item into the slot. The thing is that the terminal doesn't activate after powering up the pylons. Even the messages "pylon 3 of 6 activated" don't appear (they did appear a few times in the beginning, but then they just stopped).

Btw, I find it... interesting how there doesn't seem to be anything in-game that would give even the remotest hint of what should be done at these Guardian beacons or sites. The game has really little player hand-holding (something that I actually like quite a lot), but sometimes this goes to quite ridiculous levels. How did people figure this out in the first place?

(Ok, it's not completely devoid of all hints, as after you activate a beacon and get a key you get a message telling you the location of a terminal. So at least there's that. However, once at the Guardian site... you would be forgiven if you had absolutely no idea what to do there, even if you spent hours there.)

 

[Northpin]

I'm at a guardian terminal, I activate all six pylons and... nothing. The counter just keeps decreasing until it reaches zero, and everything resets. Nothing happens.

Make sure you do it in Solo - i never had any issues activating the pylons or generally speaking doing guardian sites.

I'm at a guardian terminal, I activate all six pylons and... nothing.

Also, make sure you are at a correct guardian site.
Not all of them will have working terminals, some will give weapon blueprints, some will give module blueprints (you want this type of site if you want to unlock the guardian fsd booster) while some will give vessel (guardian slf) blueprints but they need special keys obtained from space beacons (structures)
See below some guides

Btw, I find it... interesting how there doesn't seem to be anything in-game that would give even the remotest hint of what should be done at these Guardian beacons or sites. The game has really little player hand-holding (something that I actually like quite a lot), but sometimes this goes to quite ridiculous levels. How did people figure this out in the first place?

(Ok, it's not completely devoid of all hints, as after you activate a beacon and get a key you get a message telling you the location of a terminal. So at least there's that. However, once at the Guardian site... you would be forgiven if you had absolutely no idea what to do there, even if you spent hours there.)

Well, it's really clever imo.
It gives something to do to inquisitive minds like Canonn Group for example (but not only, there are other "science" oriented groups and players), which in turn create guides to the rest of us have something to do

If you want to skip the discovery phase and you dont want to visit canonn.science to read about various guardian sites layouts and caracteristics, you can use @TheOriginalB guides for: Module Blueprints, Weapon Blueprints and Vessel Blueprints. Each guide has links for the rest of guides but they're outdated so bookmark the links i posted.

 

[Felix DiCestria]

I recently returned to Elite with only one real pathway in mind; start from zero, get back into my Krait 2, engineer the hell out of it, and then proceed to do all the things with it. I've even been convinced by one of this forum's denizens, against all better judgement, to give Odyssey another go. Maybe I'll scan a plant or shoot a few faces. Might be fun. That said, one of the reasons both I and so many people I know left Elite a while back was the introduction of fleet carriers... which none of us could figure out the reason for. They're a pain to move, they cost a lot of money and they keep costing us money, and their functionality for someone like me was practically nonexistent.

Now, everywhere I go in the bubble, the system maps are full of these beasts. The lines stretch on for days in some places. So clearly, people own (and possibly even use) these monsters. I was hoping that some of the people who post here could give me some honest feedback on their experiences with carriers since they came out.

Has yours improved your life at all? Does the experience of owning and operating one provide you with more utility given your playstyle? As someone who prefers to pilot one very specific ship, they don't appeal much to me, but have any of you found ways to make them profitable or, at the very least, viable to support the activities of you and your friends? Are they simply a convenient place to store and move a massive fleet, or have you experienced buyer's remorse since you added it to your list of assets?

Speaking as someone who has 3 of them in the Live game, yes in spades.
My main has a large fleet (almost enough to fill his allowance on his carrier) and as someone without a fixed home system having to transfer everything from one station to another and remember where I left my modules every time I moved to a different region of the Bubble was a pain. Plus finding a station with the facilities I want without too many downsides requiring yet another move became a thing of the past.
I'm now free to go wherever I want with whatever I want without the annoying back & forth that would entail were I still station based.
When I started up my Alt's they did their initial development aboard my Main's carrier. I was able to transfer funds to set them up and as they became independent of my Main bought their own carriers set up to fulfill their roles.
With the move to Odyssey the bar vastly sped up the process of sorting kit out as mats were passed between the accounts as required.
They made trade with the distant from entry point stations viable (Hello Hutton) .
Station repairs in the Nebulas became simpler.
They all have years of upkeep so I don't have to worry about it.

 

[DjVortex]

Those pesky Guardian Sentinels are increasing my combat rank even when I wouldn't really want to. I would ignore them, but I don't think the SRV's shields can hold against them so they just force me to retreat to my ship (which shields are so strong that they barely even make a dent, but since they won't leave me alone I have no choice but to burn them). Well, at least I get some materials from them.