ED requires you to fly around quite a bit if you want to upgrade your ship. Never even mind galaxy-spanning expeditions like Colonia, SagA*, Beagle or whatever other goals Explorers set themselves in their personal late game. TBH, for me travelling long distances is a bit of a drag, so I probably won't head out to Beagle Point anytime soon. My expeditions outside the Bubble so far have been limited to, in chronological order:
So here I'd like to look at different ships that are especially suited to the task, but due to my limited experience my data is incomplete, and I welcome you to supplement and expand it.
Typically, I assume A-rated FSD, best possible fuel scoop, D-rated everything else, including a small shield.
I only consider Engineering for the FSD at this point. I am aware that a real pro build will feature undersized-and-pimped internals but I haven't bothered with it myself yet. My FSD is "only" G4 with no EE so far.
Apart from the Hauler, I'm not taking credit cost into account.
Hauler
My first Exploration Vessel. The first ship I bought after the Sidewinder. It's ugly, but it's a great little taxi and EV for the early game.
Pros:
Cons:
Diamondback Explorer
Got this as soon as I had gathered enough exploration data in the Hauler to afford it.
Pros:
+ Excellent range. A basic Exploration fit will take you some 36ly per jump from the get-go, thanks to an oversized FSD.
Just engineering the FSD takes you beyond 50ly. With a Guardian Booster, well over 60ly.
Cons:
Asp Explorer
The next stepping stone. A multipurpose vessel that can be fitted for pretty much anything. However, I never used mine much for exploring - not that it wouldn't be suitable. Did some mining in it and then repurposed it as a Flash Packet, but both these roles have been taken over by the Python, successively.
Pros:
Cons:
- again, somewhat cramped internals once you fit a GSFDB. No more room for a 2-slot garage then.
(Note: I know that the Asp gets praised for the great cockpit view, but since I don't run VR, it's not really much of a difference to me.)
Krait Phantom
I hadn't even considered this before I watched a video about it. So I got me one yesterday and took it out for a spin. I was not disappointed.
Pros:
Cons:
Bonus note:
DBX, AspX and Phantom all use a Class5 FSD, meaning you just need to engineer one drive and can carry it over when upgrading to a new ship if you want.
Verdict:
The Phantom is my new favourite. Great package. I'll still keep the DBX as bubble taxi or for trips that don't require much fuelscooping. Might even sell the Asp; currently I don't see any use for it in my flotilla.
--
Other candidates?
I haven't really tried other possible ships for the role. Of course I know that the Anaconda is capable of massive jump ranges, but I don't have one.
So, if you have anything to add, about one of the ships discussed here or entirely other models, feel free to chime in.
- 5000ly ride to unlock Prof Palin
- Guardian unlock (one trip)
- raw mat gathering (one trip)
So here I'd like to look at different ships that are especially suited to the task, but due to my limited experience my data is incomplete, and I welcome you to supplement and expand it.
Typically, I assume A-rated FSD, best possible fuel scoop, D-rated everything else, including a small shield.
I only consider Engineering for the FSD at this point. I am aware that a real pro build will feature undersized-and-pimped internals but I haven't bothered with it myself yet. My FSD is "only" G4 with no EE so far.
Apart from the Hauler, I'm not taking credit cost into account.
Hauler
My first Exploration Vessel. The first ship I bought after the Sidewinder. It's ugly, but it's a great little taxi and EV for the early game.
Pros:
- Super cheap. Outfitting it for range costs less than half a million. Add another 250k for a DSS and you're golden.
- Great range for such a small ship. Said outfit gives you 31ly, no engineering.
Cons:
- ugly
- weird sound
- fitting a vehicle hangar / SRV will severely cripple the range, down to 26ly or so. So don't bother with planetary landings.
Diamondback Explorer
Got this as soon as I had gathered enough exploration data in the Hauler to afford it.
Pros:
+ Excellent range. A basic Exploration fit will take you some 36ly per jump from the get-go, thanks to an oversized FSD.
Just engineering the FSD takes you beyond 50ly. With a Guardian Booster, well over 60ly.
- enough space for everything you may need, including SRV and AFMU, and even enough cargo space for Ram Tah's mission.
- carrying 1 or 2 SRVs doesn't affect range much
- Small. Can land almost anywhere.
- cool design
Cons:
- Class 4 Fuelscoop can't keep up with the FSD. Swooping by a star to align for the next jump is not enough time to fill her up.
- Internals get a bit cramped once you want to fit a GFSDB. Basically you have to cut back to 1 SRV, and for that you need to drop something else (cargo rack or AFMU).
- It sits so low that sometimes you risk getting stuck with your SRV.
Asp Explorer
The next stepping stone. A multipurpose vessel that can be fitted for pretty much anything. However, I never used mine much for exploring - not that it wouldn't be suitable. Did some mining in it and then repurposed it as a Flash Packet, but both these roles have been taken over by the Python, successively.
Pros:
- also very good range, albeit out of the box not quite as good as the DBX's (about 5% less).
- can fit a class 6 Fuel Scoop that will top your tanks off before you even pass the star's pole. This more than offsets the slightly lower jumprange imho.
- Can take the best grade GFSDB.
- good downward vision when looking for something on a planetary surface
Cons:
- again, somewhat cramped internals once you fit a GSFDB. No more room for a 2-slot garage then.
(Note: I know that the Asp gets praised for the great cockpit view, but since I don't run VR, it's not really much of a difference to me.)
Krait Phantom
I hadn't even considered this before I watched a video about it. So I got me one yesterday and took it out for a spin. I was not disappointed.
Pros:
- ++++ great internals. Now you can have it all: Class 6 Fuel Scoop, Class 5 GFSDB, double-slot garage, AFMU, cargo - everything fits comfortably.
- surprisingly good range for using a class 5 FSD in a ship this size.
- like the Asp, good (downward) vision.
Cons:
- a tad big; can be a bit tricky to find a parking spot close to the sites you want to explore. On the plus side, never get stuck underneath with your SRV.
- about 10% less range than an equally-engineered DBX.
- the whole ship is upside down.
Bonus note:
DBX, AspX and Phantom all use a Class5 FSD, meaning you just need to engineer one drive and can carry it over when upgrading to a new ship if you want.
Verdict:
The Phantom is my new favourite. Great package. I'll still keep the DBX as bubble taxi or for trips that don't require much fuelscooping. Might even sell the Asp; currently I don't see any use for it in my flotilla.
--
Other candidates?
I haven't really tried other possible ships for the role. Of course I know that the Anaconda is capable of massive jump ranges, but I don't have one.
So, if you have anything to add, about one of the ships discussed here or entirely other models, feel free to chime in.
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