Horizons ExploraConda

[Harry Stone]

TL: DR (at bottom)

Haven't been grinding for creds, just playing the game since release at my own pace, a few times a month, started in a sidey, traded rares for a bit, upgraded to a Cobra, more rares, a bit of bounty hunting, kept going, - the whole time I was just itching to get out into the black and do some long distance exploring.
Eventually made it up to an asp kitted out with for long distance, about to set sail, but then Other Worlds happened and I saw how many peeps were in ExploraCondas and I thought 'now if this was real, and I was gonna travel 20000 LY I would wanna do it in a massive palatial ship with more room than I'd ever need back on earth.'

So I kept going, doing some empire missions to raise my rank and check out their ships (look nice but not for exploring) eventually I didn't realise how much money I had! (300 Mil in cash and assets. Sold my combat FDL and bought a Conda.

And OMG what an amazing ship.

I've used engineers to get it up to 50 LY and for the first time did a bit of mining and surface prospecting and wow.

Landed on a planet, next to a sheer cliff and jumped my SRV off it and landed safely and traveled round and dismissed my ship and have it land near me and just generally keep a sense of awe going constantly.

I'm so happy to be out exploring in this amazing ship. I highly highly recommend it. It's so robust and feels just great for long distances. For anyone out there like me who wants to get into the deep galaxy try to hold out for an ExploraConda. It's worth it.

Recently discovered two earth likes and a waterworld. So rushed back to the bubble and sold the data at Khun so I could make my mark and rep with engineer for final FSD upgrade. Then gonna head back out a long trip to Jacques.

One last thing. I was so grateful to FD for this wow factor they've provided for me that I went and bought a paintjob for my ExploraConda. It was the squadron collection - only thing is was slightly disappointed that it's all scuffed up. Was expecting brand new shiny looking skin. Is there a paintjob that anyone recommends to make the ship look showroom condition? Thanks guys. See you out there.

TL: DR

Hold out for ExploraConda. It's worth it.

 

[Chris Simon]

I agree. That thing is one hell of a pioneering ship.
I have only one problem with Xplonda (And it is probably entirely my incompetence) - I never quite succeeded in setting her up to run as cold as I'd like.

In my explorers, I need to be able to fuel-scoop at max rate and escape from the star without overheating (In my DBX I am able to do it without even reaching 80%)
It's just a stupid QoL demand of mine, I know, but otherwise I don't feel comfortable.

 

[Bernie65]

I agree. That thing is one hell of a pioneering ship.
I have only one problem with Xplonda (And it is probably entirely my incompetence) - I never quite succeeded in setting her up to run as cold as I'd like.

In my explorers, I need to be able to fuel-scoop at max rate and escape from the star without overheating (In my DBX I am able to do it without even reaching 80%)
It's just a stupid QoL demand of mine, I know, but otherwise I don't feel comfortable.

I would recommend smaller A-rated components than larger D-rated ones whenever possible (thrusters, distributor, shield, PP). And apply efficient/clean/lightweight engineering mods if you can. My X-Conda is not really optimized to the last bit, but jumps 40ly+ with an extra fuel tank, decent shields, pulse lasers and the usual explorer stuff including an SRV, while scooping 1200 @ <70C. I'm quite happy with her.

 

[GJ51]

I agree. That thing is one hell of a pioneering ship.
I have only one problem with Xplonda (And it is probably entirely my incompetence) - I never quite succeeded in setting her up to run as cold as I'd like.

In my explorers, I need to be able to fuel-scoop at max rate and escape from the star without overheating (In my DBX I am able to do it without even reaching 80%)
It's just a stupid QoL demand of mine, I know, but otherwise I don't feel comfortable.

I'm on my way to Jaques right now in my sploraconda

5A PP
5A Distributor
5A Grade 5 Dirty Drives - over 300m/s boost
922mj shields 4 boosters are G5 Resistance Augmented
2 SRV's on board
Extra 32T Fuel Tank for the dead zones
48.91 max jump range

NO Heat issues whatsoever. Scoop, honk and go, chk sys map, all in about 50 secs, averaging 20 mins per 1k LY travel.

That's averaging 3KLY/hour = 7 hours or so to Jaques travel time.

And won't have to worry too much about arrival interdictions. Anything that could hurt me probably won't be able to catch me on a high wake out.

Doesn't get much better than this

You can get better range and colder if that's what you want, but I really like having decent shields and increased speed/maneuverability.

I may be out in the black well after the next upgrade drops and don't want to be caught in a vulnerable ship. 48 LY is plenty for most needs, any more is mostly just for bragging rights.

 

[lones2000]

got my first conda to day after the CG i made 246 mill i am juat sticking to the C Goals at the moment i agree great ship loving it

 

[Harry Stone]

I'm on my way to Jaques right now in my sploraconda

5A PP
5A Distributor
5A Grade 5 Dirty Drives - over 300m/s boost
922mj shields 4 boosters are G5 Resistance Augmented
2 SRV's on board
Extra 32T Fuel Tank for the dead zones
48.91 max jump range

NO Heat issues whatsoever. Scoop, honk and go, chk sys map, all in about 50 secs, averaging 20 mins per 1k LY travel.

That's averaging 3KLY/hour = 7 hours or so to Jaques travel time.

And won't have to worry too much about arrival interdictions. Anything that could hurt me probably won't be able to catch me on a high wake out.

Doesn't get much better than this

You can get better range and colder if that's what you want, but I really like having decent shields and increased speed/maneuverability.

I may be out in the black well after the next upgrade drops and don't want to be caught in a vulnerable ship. 48 LY is plenty for most needs, any more is mostly just for bragging rights.

This sounds like an ideal load out. I'm in the bubble at the moment and will try it out. What's the difference between clean and dirty drive improvements?

 

[Kzak]

This sounds like an ideal load out. I'm in the bubble at the moment and will try it out. What's the difference between clean and dirty drive improvements?

Dirty drive tuning gives you considerably more heat from the engines, but gives you a good boost for engine modifiers (speed and maneuverability). http://inara.cz/galaxy-blueprint/4

Clean drive tuning gives you less heat from the engines, but requires more power, also giving you not as much a boost as dirty drive tuning of the same level. http://inara.cz/galaxy-blueprint/6

 

[Harry Stone]

Dirty drive tuning gives you considerably more heat from the engines, but gives you a good boost for engine modifiers (speed and maneuverability). http://inara.cz/galaxy-blueprint/4

Clean drive tuning gives you less heat from the engines, but requires more power, also giving you not as much a boost as dirty drive tuning of the same level. http://inara.cz/galaxy-blueprint/6

Thank you! Dirty it is then.

 

[CMDR Caderyn Abbadon]

I agree. That thing is one hell of a pioneering ship.
I have only one problem with Xplonda (And it is probably entirely my incompetence) - I never quite succeeded in setting her up to run as cold as I'd like.

In my explorers, I need to be able to fuel-scoop at max rate and escape from the star without overheating (In my DBX I am able to do it without even reaching 80%)
It's just a stupid QoL demand of mine, I know, but otherwise I don't feel comfortable.

You should engineer the low emissions power plant. It ups heat efficiency by like 20% at level 1. My xploraconda Max fuel scoop with no heat problems. Of course, I don't need all the power in the world like it's a combat ship, so it makes it worth it. This is why I have 2 condas.

 

[Red Anders]

I'm on my way to Jaques right now in my sploraconda

5A PP
5A Distributor
5A Grade 5 Dirty Drives - over 300m/s boost
922mj shields 4 boosters are G5 Resistance Augmented
2 SRV's on board
Extra 32T Fuel Tank for the dead zones
48.91 max jump range

NO Heat issues whatsoever. Scoop, honk and go, chk sys map, all in about 50 secs, averaging 20 mins per 1k LY travel.

That's averaging 3KLY/hour = 7 hours or so to Jaques travel time.

And won't have to worry too much about arrival interdictions. Anything that could hurt me probably won't be able to catch me on a high wake out.

Doesn't get much better than this

You can get better range and colder if that's what you want, but I really like having decent shields and increased speed/maneuverability.

I may be out in the black well after the next upgrade drops and don't want to be caught in a vulnerable ship. 48 LY is plenty for most needs, any more is mostly just for bragging rights.

Mine is similar, although I only run enough shields to avoid taking damage on a planetary landing and don't have any boosters on it, also a standard (non-engineered) drive. I have 2 x 6a AFMUs on it and a 6G vehicle bay, 50LY range and it never goes above 62% when scooping. When I'm flying I have the AFMUs, shield and SRV bay powered down since they're of no use whatsoever and just add heat - that alone makes a difference. It only takes seconds to power them up when you're going to land or need to repair.

You should engineer the low emissions power plant. It ups heat efficiency by like 20% at level 1. My xploraconda Max fuel scoop with no heat problems. Of course, I don't need all the power in the world like it's a combat ship, so it makes it worth it. This is why I have 2 condas.

...and yeah I have a low emissions power plant at level 1, although the above comment regarding heat is from before I put that on it, I haven't actually been back out in it since I dropped that mod on it.

 

[chetan1987]

Awesome CMDR,

Lucky You,

we explorers are stuck on other side of jaques, helping jaques with less payout, missed that imperial CG. Hope FD will resolve this. We feel ignored near jaques. As far as now, we are delivering materials and Exploration Data.

I am looking forward to buy Conda yet lol

Lets see what happens

 

[Red Anders]

Awesome CMDR,

Lucky You,

we explorers are stuck on other side of jaques, helping jaques with less payout, missed that imperial CG. Hope FD will resolve this. We feel ignored near jaques. As far as now, we are delivering materials and Exploration Data.

I am looking forward to buy Conda yet lol

Lets see what happens

Well nobody here has mentioned buying their Anacondas in the recent CG at all. I've owned mine for months.

As for 'we explorers' are out at Jaques, I've already made two runs out there, one in my explorer Asp just for the fun of it when he first appeared (that was a 55,000 LY round trip because I flew out to the Bubble nebula first on the way; I can highly recommend it for a visit, it's one of the most beautiful places I've seen in the game) and then another trip out in my Anaconda. On that second trip I stripped the exploration gear out of my Anaconda so that I could deliver 320 tons of cargo to the trade CG there (meaning the flight took me 11 hours instead of 7...), then I stayed there for a week and mined 1,008 tons of Osmium for the CG to build the planetary outpost there. So I think I've paid my dues at Jaques for now.

Here's a nice picture of my Anaconda leaving the rings on the way back to Jaques station to drop some osmium off.

Spoiler

 

[GJ51]

This sounds like an ideal load out. I'm in the bubble at the moment and will try it out. What's the difference between clean and dirty drive improvements?

The Clean drives will run cooler, but max out at 18% vs. 29% for dirty and the cleans use slightly more power.

I don't see any problems with heat on my build so I opted for the speed increase and better handling with the DD5 mod.

If you use A rated Power Plant, Thrusters, Shields, and Distributor you shouldn't run into heat issues on a Conda. Always go A rated where you can except life support and sensors where D rated significantly improves range max.

 

[GJ51]

Mine is similar, although I only run enough shields to avoid taking damage on a planetary landing and don't have any boosters on it, also a standard (non-engineered) drive. I have 2 x 6a AFMUs on it and a 6G vehicle bay, 50LY range and it never goes above 62% when scooping. When I'm flying I have the AFMUs, shield and SRV bay powered down since they're of no use whatsoever and just add heat - that alone makes a difference. It only takes seconds to power them up when you're going to land or need to repair

Yes - made the choice to sacrifice some range for stronger shields and more speed. My FSD is a g5 49.1% optimal mass improvement and I could have probably gotten 10 more LY range out of it depending on how much I wanted to sacrifice for it.

I started out tryin to stay above 55LY but just kept adding more stuff until I stopped at 48.91.

There are always trade offs and it's all about what things make you feel most comfy while being out in the black. Knowing things seem to be changing, I took the path of adding a bit of survivability at the expense of maximum jump range.

It's a different environment than when I earned Elite for Exploration in a SHIELDLESS Exploraconda back in the day with a 2A Power Plant and a 1D distributor.

I usually take the cautious route as I'm in no big hurry anyway. I really like the extra capabilities. No telling what we'll run into around Jaques after the 2.2 update and I don't want to be caught needing the extra protection if I'm still out there and things turn a bit more "Dangerous"

Although I didn't list them, I do have 2 6A AFM's

I'm pretty sure I could have stayed over 50 if I didn't add the extra 32 T fuel tank, but I think the time saved when hitting dead zones of unscoopable stars will mostly offset the slight loss of max range. Stopping to re-plot to a scoopable takes time, so if the extra gas eliminates most of that, I think it will be worth it.

 

[Harry Stone]

The Clean drives will run cooler, but max out at 18% vs. 29% for dirty and the cleans use slightly more power.

I don't see any problems with heat on my build so I opted for the speed increase and better handling with the DD5 mod.

I you use A rated Power Plant, Thrusters, Shields, and Distributor you shouldn't run into heat issues on a Conda. Always go A rated where you can except life support and sensors where D rated significantly improves range max.

Thanks for this, I'm pretty happy at the moment with my FSD level 4 as its giving me 50 LY which is so liberating. However I have sacrificed a lot - for instance I have zero boost, and not sure how great the old Conda's thrusters are going to prove on a high grav planet. So I think will be playing around with A rated load outs soon.

Anyone remember that vid posted by FD a while back (might've even been the Kickstarter) when some Cobras took on a Conda and stripped out some hull, revealing a massive cargo space like the interior of a super-tanker? Hope one day I'll be able to swing out of that chair and go take a walk round the cavernous interior of that ship.

When I'm circling around it in the SRV there looks to be some sort of massive viewing gallery under the nose, if those are the captains quarters, well I could live in that ship. Permanently.

 

[Red Anders]

I'm pretty sure I could have stayed over 50 if I didn't add the extra 32 T fuel tank, but I think the time saved when hitting dead zones of unscoopable stars will mostly offset the slight loss of max range. Stopping to re-plot to a scoopable takes time, so if the extra gas eliminates most of that, I think it will be worth it.

I have a 16 ton tank on mine as well as the stock for the same reason, I have room for a 32 ton (hell it's an anaconda I have room for anything lol) but I'm happy with 6 jumps with full tanks, it's enough to mean I only very rarely have to replot but avoids me having to make too many compromises on range. It's basically 20 jumps per full length plot so compared to the 30LY Asp I'd explored in previously, I can't say 50LY feels restrictive.

If this was pre-Horizons and I was building the conda for exploring I'd probably still go super-light but it's just not feasible when you're landing, those small amounts of hull damage mount up in no time and everything you add drives the power requirements up obviously.

The class 6 SRV bay is a godsend though, that last time I went out to Jaques in the Asp I had a class 4 on it and I managed to trash both SRVs within a day of each other, one by failing at jumping across a canyon and one hitting a bump bombing down the side of a crater on a high G world. That was fun, I was doing about 70 by the time I hit it and it just went sky, crater, sky, crater, sky, crater, sky, crater, sky, crater, MASSIVE ROCK, BOOM. Less fun was flying back from just past the Bubble nebula to the human bubble to replace them before carrying on to Jaques.

To anybody reading this by the way, if you haven't been to the Bubble nebula, go. It's not a long trip and, well by day it's nothing special...

Spoiler

but by night, it really is...

Spoiler

 

[GJ51]

Yup

Cobra, Vulture, Asp, Courier, FDL, Clipper, Python, Conda, Corvette Cutter are pretty much the way to go if you're going to build a fleet. Can't think of much reason to own the rest.

For me, it's all about utility. If a ship does something unique, I want one to have that functionality available for a given set of objectives. If something else doesn't do things as well as the ships I listed, I don't see a reason for owning one.

The Anaconda is the supreme Explorer, and can still perform Trading and Combat very well indeed. For the way I play, the Cobra, Asp, Python, and Conda are best in game with Cutter being the ideal trader.

You can make good arguments for ships like Courier and Vulture in limited scenarios where they hold their own, but Python and Anaconda are the true Swiss Army knives available in the current environment.

 

[Zeeman]

I would recommend smaller A-rated components than larger D-rated ones whenever possible (thrusters, distributor, shield, PP). And apply efficient/clean/lightweight engineering mods if you can. My X-Conda is not really optimized to the last bit, but jumps 40ly+ with an extra fuel tank, decent shields, pulse lasers and the usual explorer stuff including an SRV, while scooping 1200 @ <70C. I'm quite happy with her.

Pretty much this.

Small A rated stuff - my ship (The Golden Phallus™, set up linked in my Sig) sits on about 17% heat in supercruise, and rarely breaks 60% heat when scooping at the 7A scoop max rate.

Z...

 

[Valije]

This is my current build, which is a bit extreme, but changing the power distributor for 5A and adding a couple of heatsinks will make it a nice explorer.

https://coriolis.io/outfit/anaconda...AwRj4yvUdkg=.CwBj4yrBGBmCc4CYxA==?bn=Libertad

 

[Muss]

That's averaging 3KLY/hour = 7 hours or so to Jaques travel time.

Nice Brah

Not including scooping the best i could do is 1.2KLY/h and that 1 perfect jump a minute