Ships DBX build for long trips.

[Maymo]

Thanks for that Maymo,

Would you/anyone by any chance have a suggested build for a Dolphin please? Remembering that I have no access at this point to the Guardian upgrades. I have access to Farseer (level 5), Martuuk (level 4), Tod (level 3) and Ryder (level 3). Got over 415 million in credits so budget isn't a problem.

I see what you mean about the vastness of the void. I'm in my ASPX about 4000ly out from my normal haunt at Ray Gateway and still have just over 100 jumps to get out to my next bookmarked system as I head further outwards. When I zoom out it looks as though I've only just set off! Finding loads of undiscovered systems now though so am keeping busy on my travels.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Here’s a simple explorer Dolphin using the engineering currently available to you. This one gets 49ly.
https://s.orbis.zone/

You can drop the power distributor down to a 2d but I don’t think it’s worth it unless you unlock Dweller and build an engine focussed distributor. Ships just aren’t as fun when you can’t boost regularly...

There’s room for the guardian FSD booster which I strongly suggest you pick up. A trip to the ruins is a brief jog in the park compared to long distance exploration. There’s plenty of good guides here on the forums...

Like you acknowledged, space is big. Adding another 9ly to your jump range becomes very significant when you’re out in the black...

 

[Harrier_1961]

I've had a bash at a couple of ships. The Orca and the Dolphin just to see if I have the right idea? Decided to scrap the cargo racks because my thoughts are that if I have millions of credits worth of cartographic data (which I sometimes do) it isn't worth being interdicted and potentially destroyed if I'm carrying a couple of attractive bits of cargo.

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

coriolis.io

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

coriolis.io

 

[Harrier_1961]

Here’s a simple explorer Dolphin using the engineering currently available to you. This one gets 49ly.
https://s.orbis.zone/

You can drop the power distributor down to a 2d but I don’t think it’s worth it unless you unlock Dweller and build an engine focussed distributor. Ships just aren’t as fun when you can’t boost regularly...

There’s room for the guardian FSD booster which I strongly suggest you pick up. A trip to the ruins is a brief jog in the park compared to long distance exploration. There’s plenty of good guides here on the forums...

Like you acknowledged, space is big. Adding another 9ly to your jump range becomes very significant when you’re out in the black...

Thanks for that Maymo,
I was messing about with my practice builds as you were doing this one for me
Thanks very much for your time.

 

[Maymo]

Thanks for that Maymo,
I was messing about with my practice builds as you were doing this one for me
Thanks very much for your time.

No problem...
A quick note, avoid overcharging your powerplant on explorers, you want them cold...

 

[Harrier_1961]

No problem...
A quick note, avoid overcharging your powerplant on explorers, you want them cold...

Will do, thanks.

 

[Nathan84]

No problem...
A quick note, avoid overcharging your powerplant on explorers, you want them cold...

I could be wrong bit iirc the PP only heats up in normal space, not SC, so it's not really an issue unless you're landing on a rather hot planet.
And most exploration ships tend to run relatively cool anyway (though I'm not sure about Saud-Krugers, I'm sticking to the Phantom after using the DBX and AspX)

Or am I getting PP mixed with thrusters, now I'm not sure ?

Edit : yeah, scratch that, it's trusters

Still, I'm not sure G1 Overcharged would make a big impact on heat, even while scooping

 

[Maymo]

I could be wrong bit iirc the PP only heats up in normal space, not SC, so it's not really an issue unless you're landing on a rather hot planet.
And most exploration ships tend to run relatively cool anyway (though I'm not sure about Saud-Krugers, I'm sticking to the Phantom after using the DBX and AspX)

Or am I getting PP mixed with thrusters, now I'm not sure ?
Still, I'm not sure G1 Overcharged would change much

Using the overcharge mod increases power but lowers thermal efficiency, basically it reduces the ships ability to dissipate heat which isn’t a good thing when you’re spending a large amount of time in close proximity to very hot stars...
(Note: this is why all explorers should use the lowest weight A rated pp they can, they have the best thermal stats)

Yeah, I think you’re confusing it with thrusters only creating heat in normal space...

For what it’s worth the Dolphin is a very cold ship. You could probably overcharge it a bit and not notice the difference. But in general you don’t want to lower a ships heat efficiency unless you really need to provide power to run a specific load out or ships that naturally struggle to run all modules (Vulture/Viper3).

 

[Badman76]

oops, double post

 

[Badman76]

With proper module management you shouldn't need an overcharged pp. My dbx only needs 7.52mw to jump and honk.

 

[Nathan84]

True, Maymo

Tbh I usually stick with A-rated, eventually downsized PPs with Armored 1-3 + Stripped Down on explorers, so mass should be slightly less or stable with just a tiny bump in power and efficiency if my math is right.
And ofc better integrity but that's completely irrelevant for exploration.

Though honestly it's engineering for engineering's sake, it doesn't make much difference.

 

[Para Handy]

.........
Tbh I usually stick with A-rated, eventually downsized PPs with Armored 1-3 + Stripped Down on explorers.....

Verily thou dost speak the truth.

 

[Maymo]

True, Maymo

Tbh I usually stick with A-rated, eventually downsized PPs with Armored 1-3 + Stripped Down on explorers, so mass should be slightly less or stable with just a tiny bump in power and efficiency if my math is right.
And ofc better integrity but that's completely irrelevant for exploration.

Though honestly it's engineering for engineering's sake, it doesn't make much difference.

The pvp crowd would definitely agree with you, possibly due to fear of having their powerplant popped so they prefer armoured.

My favourite is overcharged G2/Thermal spread as this provides 20% more power without lowering heat efficiency. I like shield tanks and usually need the juice...
...not on an explorer though.

 

[Nathan84]

My favourite is overcharged G2/Thermal spread as this provides 20% more power without lowering heat efficiency.

Hhhhmmm, I could actually gain 0.5 LY by replacing my 4A PP with a 2A engineered like that on the Phantom (or a bit less with a 3A)
Ofc, I'd spent quite some time managing modules if I need to turn one of the AFMU on, or even just the SRV bay.

Myeah, I think I'll stick with the 4A even if any additional jump range would be welcome in the Outer Orion Spur, I'm too lazy

 

[Maymo]

Hhhhmmm, I could actually gain 0.5 LY by replacing my 4A PP with a 2A engineered like that on the Phantom (or a bit less with a 3A)
Ofc, I'd spent quite some time managing modules if I need to turn one of the AFMU on, or even just the SRV bay.

Myeah, I think I'll stick with the 4A even if any additional jump range would be welcome in the Outer Orion Spur, I'm too lazy

I did a lot of farting about with the PP last time I was in a Phantom. Almost had the thing frosting over in supercruise...
It seemed to make no notable difference to its scooping performance though, it just wasn’t necessary. It’s a great explorer...

I’m not even 100% sure if a ships heat dissipation is even a thing during fuel scooping
Maybe it’s a one way street, you can have heat going in OR heat going out but not both at the same time...
This would make sense from what I’ve witnessed.

 

[sinisalo]

DBX 4A = 1:30 to fill tank.
Dolphin 5A = 30s to fill tank.
Basically 3x more efficient...

I don't doubt these results for you, but as written could be a bit misleading. A 5A scoop is about 68% faster, not 300% (or is it 200%?) than a 4A all other things being equal. So for you to see these results means things are not equal. What that is is open to speculation, but I'd reckon it's a combination of engineering and jump range. Maybe your Dolphin runs much cooler, allowing you to get closer to max rate. Or maybe the DBX is gulping more fuel per jump to achieve the superior range, meaning you have more to refill which naturally takes longer.

If all were equal, then that 30 seconds to refill with a 5A becomes around 50 seconds with a 4A, so a net difference of 20 seconds, which isn't all that much, but maybe matters to some, especially if speed is the primary consideration.

 

[Nathan84]

What that is is open to speculation, but I'd reckon it's a combination of engineering and jump range. Maybe your Dolphin runs much cooler, allowing you to get closer to max rate. Or maybe the DBX is gulping more fuel per jump to achieve the superior range, meaning you have more to refill which naturally takes longer.

Fuel size tank most likely, unless Maymo downsized it on the DBX. The Dophin has a class 4, DBX has a class 5 so double the fuel (32t vs 16t).

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

I really don't get an undersized fuel tank. What's the point?
The fuel tank has zero weight, it's the fuel that limits the jump range.
So what if you run into a patch of non-scopable stars with your tiny fuel tank? You go all the way around?

 

[Nathan84]

Well, I don't really think anyone downsizes the fuel tank when exploring

I wonder about the opposite though. First time I went on an exploration trip I slapped some additional tank on my DBX "just in case", and it was absolutely unnecessary, after that I always stuck with the stock tank and it was always more than enough.

 

[Maymo]

I don't doubt these results for you, but as written could be a bit misleading. A 5A scoop is about 68% faster, not 300% (or is it 200%?) than a 4A all other things being equal. So for you to see these results means things are not equal. What that is is open to speculation, but I'd reckon it's a combination of engineering and jump range. Maybe your Dolphin runs much cooler, allowing you to get closer to max rate. Or maybe the DBX is gulping more fuel per jump to achieve the superior range, meaning you have more to refill which naturally takes longer.

If all were equal, then that 30 seconds to refill with a 5A becomes around 50 seconds with a 4A, so a net difference of 20 seconds, which isn't all that much, but maybe matters to some, especially if speed is the primary consideration.

Coriolis basically assumes max scoop rate.

The Dolphin with its 16t tank using a 5A scoop would take 27s to refill from fully empty and uses 3t of fuel per max jump.
Re-fuelling after a max 3t jump therefore would take around 5 seconds...

In practice (in any ship) it usually takes longer than 5 seconds to re-position and circle around a star a little to correctly line up for the next jump leading to more exposure and scooping...

The result in this example is that the Dolphin rarely even needs to scoop at max depth when traveling, it just needs to take a quick whiff of space-fumes while lining up and is fuelled and good to go...

For sure saying that it makes it ‘3x more efficient’ could be a little misleading. I wasn’t suggesting that a Dolphin would reach a destination 3x quicker than a DBX. (3 days vs 9 days)

But time is time.

The DBX, that we all know and love is nearly always best scooping at max depth to recover from its huge jumps, which is fine it can totally take the heat. But it slows it down and it’s scoop can’t keep up with simply lining up and hitting jump....eventually it has to take a good drink....

...this problem for the DBX becomes exaggerated when covering distances of 1000’s of ly.

I remember reading a thread here once that gave examples of Cobra’s actually arriving before DBX’s when doing group meet ups in deep space due to faster scooping.

This isn’t exactly mathematical, some players could simply play longer than others....but it was an interesting read and enough to make me question the DBX as an option for deep space work.

 

[Maymo]

I really don't get an undersized fuel tank. What's the point?
The fuel tank has zero weight, it's the fuel that limits the jump range.
So what if you run into a patch of non-scopable stars with your tiny fuel tank? You go all the way around?

Undersizing the tank means it doesn’t have the capacity to take on as much fuel which leads to an increase in overall jump range, sometimes 1-2ly more depending on the ship. I used the smaller 16t tank for my Phantom when I was last out, felt perfect.

The Anaconda only gets 3 big jumps out of its tank if I remember right. I find she’s a good candidate for a spare fuel tank, just makes things a bit more comfortable.

It’s not usually really necessary but I’m glad the game gives us the option.