get a tricky planet to land on while doing codex one day,i dont think u be happy if lose all exploration data lol
T9 a mistake?
- Thread starter Gentleman_Raven_
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My favouite exploation ship is the Anaconda. It has plenty of space for all sorts of modules combined with a great jump range.
anaconda got alot stuff going for it,if i make a mistake in that diamond b x, high gravity planet lose only 5percent hull,unless was watching tv ,omg, sweat city next billion miles to find repair shop lol
You have to simply target a system, not use the route plotter at all. Just select one that's far enough away, and jump right to it.
It depends what you mean by exploring. If you're planning on doing exobiology then you'll want something small so it can land on rough terrain (DBX comes to mind). If you want maximum jump range but aren't landing anywhere then sure the Anaconda has the biggest range. Personally though I think the AspX has the best of both agility and jump range if I was going out without a FC.
If not the T9, how about the T10 ?
Same great view, better handling, and fully specced can do ~46LY while carrying a lot of kit.
eg (not my build) https://s.orbis.zone/iq75
Same great view, better handling, and fully specced can do ~46LY while carrying a lot of kit.
eg (not my build) https://s.orbis.zone/iq75
So in Horizons the "Use Jet Cone Boost" option seemed to remember its state; that is, if I checked the box in one play session (or unchecked) it would stay that way. Odyssey, every time I play it defaults back to un-checked which is annoying. You need to re-plot your route (I think) after you turn it on. You'll know that it's using jet cone boost if you see one or more legs on your route showing as blue instead of orange. You should see the blue whether or not you've charged - it assumes you'll use it for all neutron and white dwarfs it finds along your route.
I think the T-9 isn't a bad choice. I was toying around with the idea of the T-10 at one point; it has that great T9 canopy, huge fuel tank, fighter bay capable, can equip a fuel scoop the same or bigger than its FSD, marginally better in supercruise than T-9, but still limited jump range (~37ish LY engineered) compared to other options. Once I'm done saving for a fleet carrier it may still come to pass
It's not a good choice for max jump range, sure, but if you don't mind the handling and low maneuverability I think it would be neat.My favorite exploration ships have been the iClipper and the Dolphin. I admit that part of this is because I like to be off-meta. the iClipper has a great looking cockpit, nice outside view, and engineered can boost to 600+, so it can scratch the canyon carving itch. Just...don't hit the wall or you'll be sorry
It also can take an 8A fuel scoop and has a 7A FSD so it's one of the fastest scoopers in the game; you'll be full before the FSD is ready to jump again. It has good internals, decent jump range engineered (45 to maybe 50? LY) but a small fuel tank for its size (which can be mitigated with an extra fuel tank). The dolphin is a really nice small explorer, easy to land in tight places, basically made of asbestos and doesn't overheat (you can even charge your FSD between close binaries without worrying too much), 50+ LY jump range, and makes a cute "squee" sound when you boost. It also can fit a fuel scoop equal or bigger than the FSD so it scoops fast; the DBX gives you longer range but has a 4A scoop and 5A FSD which can slow you down. I usually stop to check the FSS when I'm exploring though which more than makes up for the slower scooping.
Is it your first ‘big’ exploration journey?
If the answer is yes, I’d suggest something with greater jump range, nimbler handling and a smaller landing footprint as a first choice. That way things are easier and less frustrating when you‘re tens of thousands of light years from a station, Colonia or the Bubble. Simply meaning you‘re less likely to want to throw in the towel and take the Freewinder if you decide deep space exploration isn’t for you.
If the answer is no, or you’re adamant you want a big ship. Anything goes and anything works. I prefer the T10 over any of the other big ships. With Odyssey (and First Footfall) there are more reasons to land so smaller ships still make it easier.
My first trip out took over four weeks and by the end I just wanted to get back to the Bubble and do something else for a bit, I was very grateful for the jump range of my AspX at that point (I bought a second account on sale for dedicated exploration, that way I didn’t have to travel back when I wanted to do something else….turned out to be a great decision for me.)
If the answer is yes, I’d suggest something with greater jump range, nimbler handling and a smaller landing footprint as a first choice. That way things are easier and less frustrating when you‘re tens of thousands of light years from a station, Colonia or the Bubble. Simply meaning you‘re less likely to want to throw in the towel and take the Freewinder if you decide deep space exploration isn’t for you.
If the answer is no, or you’re adamant you want a big ship. Anything goes and anything works. I prefer the T10 over any of the other big ships. With Odyssey (and First Footfall) there are more reasons to land so smaller ships still make it easier.
My first trip out took over four weeks and by the end I just wanted to get back to the Bubble and do something else for a bit, I was very grateful for the jump range of my AspX at that point (I bought a second account on sale for dedicated exploration, that way I didn’t have to travel back when I wanted to do something else….turned out to be a great decision for me.)
Taking a type 9 exploring is the classic real mans adventure. Its like drinking strong alchohol that doesn't taste particularly good.
Having said, for the love of a type 9, its a great choice.
After a few years of kicking and screaming though, i've upgraded to the type-10 for the same thing.
Go on do it The canopy view's are great.
If anything, being in a ship with more jump range won't make you like exploration if its not going to bite anyway, so i've always found you need rp more than stats if you're going to do it.
EDIT: To your question, a large ship is to roleplay you there, canyon boosting is an ancient horizons only pastime and is best done with a fighter. In a large ship the impact of the class 6 hangar is not that much id recommend taking spares
Having said, for the love of a type 9, its a great choice.
After a few years of kicking and screaming though, i've upgraded to the type-10 for the same thing.
- Has the same cockpit view.
- Has enough outfitting to take everything with you (but since they made those new limpet controllers you can probably scratch outfitting from care for most ships now).
- You can put weapons on it, so if you end up in colonia or even one of the satellite bubbles you have the option of combat.
- Makes the most epic screenshots and has a ship kit.
- You can still pretend you're on the prometheus or something aliens. Oh wait elite is now mass effect maybe take an orca instead.
Go on do it
The canopy view's are great.If anything, being in a ship with more jump range won't make you like exploration if its not going to bite anyway, so i've always found you need rp more than stats if you're going to do it.
EDIT: To your question, a large ship is to roleplay you there, canyon boosting is an ancient horizons only pastime and is best done with a fighter. In a large ship the impact of the class 6 hangar is not that much id recommend taking spares
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Dude. Exploring is just bumbling through the barren wasteland in a space ship. There's nothing to do out there but looks at balls of ice, rock and gas. And fly your spaceship. Alot. Alot of spaceship flying and not much else. Just take one you enjoy flying and then maybe Exploring will be enjoyable too. If you hate all the ships or are oblivious to the nuances of the different models, then by all means min-max up something meeting your criteria of perfection. Or just take whatever you enjoy. The only person who really cares what you fly is you.
You can't use the standard route plotter alone, there's an option in the galaxy route plot panel to include neutron boost which should give you a first jump using the boosted range (called "use jet cone boost" under the "fastest" route plot option), or use the "target" option to directly target your desired system rather than plotting a route, very useful in areas of low star density.
Some excellent ships for exploration are,
Anaconda for big
Krait Phantom or Asp Explorer for medium
Diamondback Explorer for smaller
With engineering you can get close to 70lys jump range, so why not have it? It's usefull for reaching places and far away stars. Wherever you may end up, there will probably be a DSSA Carrier say 5k light years away, so you can get repairs if an accident happens.
Try to buy them or watch videos of them on youtube to see how they fly and turn, and also check the cockpit views.
Anaconda for big
Krait Phantom or Asp Explorer for medium
Diamondback Explorer for smaller
With engineering you can get close to 70lys jump range, so why not have it? It's usefull for reaching places and far away stars. Wherever you may end up, there will probably be a DSSA Carrier say 5k light years away, so you can get repairs if an accident happens.
Try to buy them or watch videos of them on youtube to see how they fly and turn, and also check the cockpit views.
Have taken a T10 to Beagle Point & back so same difference. I say go for it.
Edit - What Taekni said.
Edit - What Taekni said.
Did my first run to Sgr A* in a FAS before engineering, so 
.
Depending on what you want to do and where, jump range can be important - or overrated. Sure, I'd recommend to get at least 35...40 ly unboosted, but anything above that is luxury. If you want/need extreme range, you'll need a dedicated Jumpaconda, or a fleet carrier. Neither of which will be that good for general exploration - the Jumpaconda can't do anything but jump, the carrier is a bit problematic to maintain/refuel out in the Black.
The main issue is: do you like the ship, especially its SC handling and the cockpit view? Can you handle looking at this cockpit view for months or even years? Anything else becomes secondary to that - you can equip any ship to be a viable explorer, but you can't change the way it looks from your pilot's seat.
That said, my preferences are for a small, or at most medium, ship for the landing footprint. And although a lot of people here propose the DBX (small ship with the largest single jump range), I would suggest the Dolphin instead. Jump range isn't that bad, and the ratio between FSD and scoop is better: the DBX can fit a size 5 FSD, but can only handle a size 4 scoop. Dolphin only needs a size 4 FSD, then you need to decide whether you want to fit the scoop or the FSD booster into the size 5 slot. Plus, with a cerful design, the Dolphin can charge a jump while scooping without overheating. Take both together, and you can consistently jump every 45...50 seconds if you want to get somewhere fast. Plus, it has enough (small) compartments to bring along everything, including a fuel transfer controller in case you need to help out someone else:
s.orbis.zone
It's lacking a SLF, though - so my second choice would be a Krait Mk.II, with the SLF. Although nowadays, I would probably swap around the limpet controller and the cargo rack so I could fit in the Rescue limpet controller in the size 3 slot.
s.orbis.zone
So, if you like the T-9 and are aware of its limits (especially when landing on slightly rugged planets) - sure, why not. Go for it. I mean, I have been theorycrafting an exploration Mamba. The availability of the DSSA carriers changes the exploration game - you won't be further than a few kly from a safe harbour, wherever you are.
.Depending on what you want to do and where, jump range can be important - or overrated. Sure, I'd recommend to get at least 35...40 ly unboosted, but anything above that is luxury. If you want/need extreme range, you'll need a dedicated Jumpaconda, or a fleet carrier. Neither of which will be that good for general exploration - the Jumpaconda can't do anything but jump, the carrier is a bit problematic to maintain/refuel out in the Black.
The main issue is: do you like the ship, especially its SC handling and the cockpit view? Can you handle looking at this cockpit view for months or even years? Anything else becomes secondary to that - you can equip any ship to be a viable explorer, but you can't change the way it looks from your pilot's seat.
That said, my preferences are for a small, or at most medium, ship for the landing footprint. And although a lot of people here propose the DBX (small ship with the largest single jump range), I would suggest the Dolphin instead. Jump range isn't that bad, and the ratio between FSD and scoop is better: the DBX can fit a size 5 FSD, but can only handle a size 4 scoop. Dolphin only needs a size 4 FSD, then you need to decide whether you want to fit the scoop or the FSD booster into the size 5 slot. Plus, with a cerful design, the Dolphin can charge a jump while scooping without overheating. Take both together, and you can consistently jump every 45...50 seconds if you want to get somewhere fast. Plus, it has enough (small) compartments to bring along everything, including a fuel transfer controller in case you need to help out someone else:
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It's lacking a SLF, though - so my second choice would be a Krait Mk.II, with the SLF. Although nowadays, I would probably swap around the limpet controller and the cargo rack so I could fit in the Rescue limpet controller in the size 3 slot.
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So, if you like the T-9 and are aware of its limits (especially when landing on slightly rugged planets) - sure, why not. Go for it. I mean, I have been theorycrafting an exploration Mamba. The availability of the DSSA carriers changes the exploration game - you won't be further than a few kly from a safe harbour, wherever you are.
I took a 15,000ly round trip in an Anaconda with a SLF. I flew the fighter once and found the slow turn rate of the Anaconda a bore. You do a lot in supercruise while exploring.
Krait Phantom is my favourite long distance explorer and I don't miss the SLF at all. The Phantom can do canyon running and engineered correctly can provide 662MJ shields (crash protection for high G world's or canyon racing), AFMU, repair limpets, dual SRV running off a grade 1 low emissions thermal spread 3A power plant.
The ASP Explorer is also superb and a bit easier to land on rough ground than the Phantom, but it's behind a touch on jump range, only space for 1 SRV, the shields are week and you can't have repair limpets and supercruise assist - no space for both. I'd take supercruise assist as hull damage is little and rare unless you take risks canyon racing.
Diamondback Explorer - shame about the small fuel scoop, but great for getting around the bubble, collecting materials and visiting Guardian ruins near the bubble
If I had to take an SLF exploring I'd probably go Anaconda, but Krait II can get close to 60ly jump range, so viable.
Krait Phantom is my favourite long distance explorer and I don't miss the SLF at all. The Phantom can do canyon running and engineered correctly can provide 662MJ shields (crash protection for high G world's or canyon racing), AFMU, repair limpets, dual SRV running off a grade 1 low emissions thermal spread 3A power plant.
The ASP Explorer is also superb and a bit easier to land on rough ground than the Phantom, but it's behind a touch on jump range, only space for 1 SRV, the shields are week and you can't have repair limpets and supercruise assist - no space for both. I'd take supercruise assist as hull damage is little and rare unless you take risks canyon racing.
Diamondback Explorer - shame about the small fuel scoop, but great for getting around the bubble, collecting materials and visiting Guardian ruins near the bubble
If I had to take an SLF exploring I'd probably go Anaconda, but Krait II can get close to 60ly jump range, so viable.
I'm a fan of thinking outside the norms. If you like the notion of doing this in a T-9 then go for it. I think there's much to be said for flying what you like, making your visions reality regardless of meta percentages.
That said, personally I think the T-9 is a dog. I'll never own one again. It is my least favorite ship in Elite. Slow, turns like a bus and shaped like a box. But who cares? What we think shouldn't matter much, if at all. Blaze your own.
Good hunting commander.
That said, personally I think the T-9 is a dog. I'll never own one again. It is my least favorite ship in Elite. Slow, turns like a bus and shaped like a box. But who cares? What we think shouldn't matter much, if at all. Blaze your own.
Good hunting commander.
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if you buy the cartography module then you will comfortably cover your weekly maintenance - as long as your exploring. I’ve not done a run with the new exobiology module yet so can’t say if that can also covers it’s cost. Mining for Trit is a “job” but each jump should be paid for at each stop by taking an hour or two mining in some ice rings. Note I don’t have refuel or repair, I just fit fuel scoops and have hull repair limpits
As above, go explore in a T9 if you like it. There is entertainment in choosing the wrong ship for the activity at hand.
Enjoy:
Source: https://youtu.be/q_aCsH1YtDE
Enjoy:
If you're not a fan of the conda, T9/10 or cutter's glacial turning rate in supercruise, or the corvette's lack of jump range, you could do a lot worse than take a beluga exploring.
Sure, it's not the most landable of ships, but it handles pretty well in SC for its size and doesn't have a terrible jump range. I did my first trip to A* in one.
edit: or if you wanna go exploring with a fighter-bay in style: https://s.orbis.zone/iqik
Sure, it's not the most landable of ships, but it handles pretty well in SC for its size and doesn't have a terrible jump range. I did my first trip to A* in one.
edit: or if you wanna go exploring with a fighter-bay in style: https://s.orbis.zone/iqik
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How do you find living with what is a very small fuel scoop for the fuel tanks size and fuel consumption per jump?
I'd imagine a lot of time spent hanging by a star scooping.