Newcomer / Intro Cobra for Exploration?

Verz

Verz
Hey guys,
I have been playing a while mainly as a hunter. Pew pewing my way to riches. I am 13 mil in credit and an owner of a Viper, which I love so dearly. I'm feeling some lone time out deep in the black.

I was was thinking of equipping a cobra for exploring. I know there are other ships better for this type of thing, but.....sec...interdiction....

...ok...yes. I like the cobra as a ship, it has a fairly substantial fuel tank. I know I should equip scanners galore. But my question is this...if I go to the deepest darkest corners of the Galaxy. Can a cobra make it? Will I wind up stranded somewhere?

This is is going to be a little online project for me as I want to set up a CMDRs blog with what I have have discovered, details of what is discovered and screenshots.

Sounds promising?

i will be starting from Abraham Lincoln, Earth, Sol.

Many thanks..
 

Feldspar

Feldspar
The Cobra is perfectly fine for exploration. You won't strand yourself unless you don't pay attention to fuel levels and which stars you are jumping to, but then the same goes for all ships. You won't have the extreme jump range of Asps and exploration Anacondas, but this just means you can't cover distance quite as fast, won't be able to go quite so close to the edges of the galaxy and may have to detour some areas.

I think you are being too afraid of interdiction, this was toned back and isn't that much of a problem.
 

Verz

Verz
Feldspar said:
The Cobra is perfectly fine for exploration. You won't strand yourself unless you don't pay attention to fuel levels and which stars you are jumping to, but then the same goes for all ships. You won't have the extreme jump range of Asps and exploration Anacondas, but this just means you can't cover distance quite as fast, won't be able to go quite so close to the edges of the galaxy and may have to detour some areas.

I think you are being too afraid of interdiction, this was toned back and isn't that much of a problem.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I was typing as an interdiction began...so I veered off :p I'm not concerned with making huge jumps, I want to see as much as possible. How do I know the next star I'm going to jump to is scoopable or not?
 

Cody

Cody
KGB FOAM - if the star is one of those stellar classifications, you should be able to scoop from it.
 

cmdr lowest

C
I'm using a Cobra for exploration right now. Great little ship and very fast for outrunning interdictions when you get back 'home' to sell your data.

You will get about 26.5-ish LY jump range out of it which isn't too bad.

Cheap to load out too compared to an Asp. That really is a benefit. The Adder is a pretty good exploration vessel too I hear and that would be equally as cheap to load out.

If my fuel tank falls below half-way (due to jumping into systems with unscoopable stars) I always go to the galaxy map, filter by star-type, then make the next jump to a known scoopable star. I keep a post-it with the relevant scoopable stars in front of me during my travels.

Fly safe commander.
 

Verz

Verz
cmdr lowest said:
I'm using a Cobra for exploration right now. Great little ship and very fast for outrunning interdictions when you get back 'home' to sell your data.

You will get about 26.5-ish LY jump range out of it which isn't too bad.

Cheap to load out too compared to an Asp. That really is a benefit. The Adder is a pretty good exploration vessel too I hear and that would be equally as cheap to load out.

If my fuel tank falls below half-way (due to jumping into systems with unscoopable stars) I always go to the galaxy map, filter by star-type, then make the next jump to a known scoopable star. I keep a post-it with the relevant scoopable stars in front of me during my travels.

Fly safe commander.
Click to expand...

Very helpful, thank you...I'm kitting the bird out as we speak!
 

Ulysses_W

Ulysses_W
The Cobra is a fine ship for exploration. I'm in one right now on the other side of the Galaxy.
I've been out here since mid feb, hull at 91% all modules at 95% or better. It's cheap to insure and equip compared to some others.

Obviously I'm biased, but I can highly recommend it.
 

Kuroshio

Kuroshio
I worked my way up to Pathfinder in a Cobra, so yeah, she's a good ship for exploration. You won't get to the extreme edges of the galaxy, but even crossing the arms towards the core isn't much of a challenge. I love my Asp, but those early 2-3k LY exploration tours were something special.
 

Komemiute

Komemiute
Cobra for exploration is just perfect.
Managed more than 200 systems visited without my cobra being full A.

Just a great multipurpose ship...
 

Verz

Verz
Many thanks for your input guys. I'm going to set off tomorrow. One final check though...how is my set up for a good venture?

Explorer.jpg
 

willowfan

willowfan
You can save an awful lot of weight if you downgrade the bulkhead to lightweight. For exploration lightness and therefor increased jump distance is king and you aren't going to be attacked by anything (outside the human bubble).

You could also downgrade life support to D - if your canopy breaks 1,000 LY from civilisation a few more minutes of life support aren't going to matter much :)

Try downgrading a few of the other components to D (lightweight) as well, explorers don't really need A Class equipment apart from FSD and fuel scoop, power plant and distributor only need to be good enough to power what you've got.

Also you don't show if you're carrying any weapons. Again they are excess weight for an explorer ship and you won't need them out in the big black
 
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Noogillim

Noogillim
Yikes..................

Where's my sunglasses?


Go dark make it harder when everything is turned off for others to spot you!
 

Verz

Verz
willowfan said:
You can save an awful lot of weight if you downgrade the bulkhead to lightweight. For exploration lightness and therefor increased jump distance is king and you aren't going to be attacked by anything (outside the human bubble).

You could also downgrade life support to D - if your canopy breaks 1,000 LY from civilisation a few more minutes of life support aren't going to matter much :)

Try downgrading a few of the other components to D (lightweight) as well, explorers don't really need A Class equipment apart from FSD and fuel scoop, power plant and distributor only need to be good enough to power what you've got.

Also you don't show if you're carrying any weapons. Again they are excess weight for an explorer ship and you won't need them out in the big black
Click to expand...

Thank you for your input. There are no weapons. I have no hardpoints at all. I'll take another look before departing!

- - - Updated - - -

Noogillim said:
Yikes..................

Where's my sunglasses?


Go dark make it harder when everything is turned off for others to spot you!
Click to expand...

I like that paint work. When I'm out in the black im sure it doesn't matter what colour you sport.
 

OlliM

O
Agree with willowfan. If you have no weapons why military bulkheads. You are going to run not ram them. Save the weight and your jump range will increase significantly. And you'll have a bigger chunk of cash. Cobra great for exploring. Have a great trip. Keep an eye on the fuel gauge.
 

Verz

Verz
OlliM said:
Agree with willowfan. If you have no weapons why military bulkheads. You are going to run not ram them. Save the weight and your jump range will increase significantly. And you'll have a bigger chunk of cash. Cobra great for exploring. Have a great trip. Keep an eye on the fuel gauge.
Click to expand...

I was thinking defense on the return journey...
 

Surly_Badger

Surly_Badger
Verz said:
I was thinking defense on the return journey...
Click to expand...

Your defense is to submit, boost and run or scoop and run.

Last time I ran in through human space I hardly encountered anything and nothing tried to interdict or threaten me. Remember: if you have a long jump range you'll blast through human space very very fast. Edit: Longshot has an A4 scoop and can refuel for the next jump in half the time if takes for an NPC to line up for an interdiction.

Edit: usually I stop at the edge of human space and repair and buy a set of shields. Otherwise, no need for them out past the edge. I'm more worried about pranging my landing without shields than getting attacked. In the pre-1.2 patch the NPC pirates were pretty aggro and they went out about 500ly; now there are hardly any and they're tame as little fluffy lambs.
 
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