1st large exploration / optimal build?
- Thread starter SplashX2
- Start date
How did you made that? (Thats most probably the answer of your question)
I didn't take any. My method of scooping in deep space(no NPC) is to point to the star and approach till my heat is in the high 60s and then go to minimum throttle. No accidents in scooping ever.
(don't ask about other accidents
) I came back with over 90% hull after 43000 LY, and same again on my longer trip of 60000 LY 
I was exploring some nebulas last few days, and came back yesterday. I bought Diamondback Explorer for that ocassion and I can say only the best about that ship. I enjoyed traveling with it, it had nice jump range, I had Advanced scanner and Detailed scanner, and earned about 1,3 million on casual exploring. But I don't mind the money, I'm glad I managed to make a few nice screenshots that I'm using as wallpapers now.
You can check the screenshots here - http://steamcommunity.com/id/zzokal...westfirst&browsefilter=myfiles&view=imagewall
Anyway, Advanced scanner and Detailed scanners are a must, and fuel scoop of course. Everything else is optional, even shields if you're careful. My first exploring was in Beta. I was using Sidewinder without shields and came back in one piece.
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I didn't had any heat sinks on my Diamondback Explorer. Just careful with fuel scooping and that's it. No need to burn alive for few extra drops of fuel.
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Oh dear, ok, now that was exploring!!! I maybe made like 2k LY in last two days, went to Pleiades Nebula, Witch Head Nebula, some other systems... But man, 43k is amazing.
You can check the screenshots here - http://steamcommunity.com/id/zzokal...westfirst&browsefilter=myfiles&view=imagewall
Anyway, Advanced scanner and Detailed scanners are a must, and fuel scoop of course. Everything else is optional, even shields if you're careful. My first exploring was in Beta. I was using Sidewinder without shields and came back in one piece.
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I didn't had any heat sinks on my Diamondback Explorer. Just careful with fuel scooping and that's it. No need to burn alive for few extra drops of fuel.
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...after 43000 LY, and same again on my longer trip of 60000 LY
Oh dear, ok, now that was exploring!!! I maybe made like 2k LY in last two days, went to Pleiades Nebula, Witch Head Nebula, some other systems... But man, 43k is amazing.
I totally agree with Zenith's post. Here's my racing Asp build for my Buckyball Runs to Sag A*, I'm still out exploring in it now, heading for the Rim.
The Nomad - Raiko's Asp Explorer
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=70g,,2-3I6u7_6u2C8S6k,5220Nw0Ko0Ko0Ko2jw2UI
Code:
[Asp]
BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 2A Power Plant
TM: 4D Thrusters
FH: 5A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 4D Life Support
PC: 1D Power Distributor
SS: 5D Sensors
FS: 4C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 16)
6: 6A Fuel Scoop
5: 5C Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3C Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3C Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3C Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
2: 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner
---
Shield: 155.32 MJ
Power : 6.65 MW retracted (69%)
6.65 MW deployed (69%)
9.60 MW available
Cargo : 0 T
Fuel : 16 T
Mass : 321.1 T empty
337.1 T full
Range : 36.54 LY unladen
36.54 LY laden
Price : 43,971,506 CR
Re-Buy: 2,198,575 CR @ 95% insuranceThe cost is stupidly high just because of the 6A scoop, great for racing, but a much cheaper 6C or 6D is fine for regular travel.
Like Zenith I think rating C is the breakpoint of cost-vs-performance so I took rating C AFMUs and would normally have a 6C scoop.
I didn't take any heat sinks in order to save weight, but it's not worth the risk unless you're racing or exploring the Rim and desperate for every bit of jump range.
Note: On my first Sag A* run I'd used half the AFMU supplies by the time I got there due to module damage from refueling whilst chain-jumping. On my second run I'd had more practice so I hardly needed any. They're nearly full still and all my modules are over 80% except the cargo hatch (1%!).
Can use switch off extra tanks on the module screen?
I'd like to have a 32t extra tank that's normally powered off and empty. It would be more useful than the 5C AFMU.
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I'd be curious to see your scooping style - I've yet to take an damage at all whilst scooping in about 80Kylies of jumping.
Z..
Well my scooping/flying style on the way to Sag A* was "hit jump as soon as the cooldown ends and fill the tanks as much as possible at the same time." It was a race after all and that got me to Sadge in 10h37m.
In practice most of the damage actually occured when I was topping up after a couple of unscoopables in a row, I intentionally cooked the ship a little in order to still jump to the next system as quickly as possible. I didn't take any hull damage or have any crash stops on either run.
I don't take any refueling damage when not racing.
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this is my personal asp explorer build... and it works a treat FOR ME
[Asp]
U: 0I Point Defence
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
M: 2D/G Beam Laser
M: 2D/G Beam Laser
BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 5A Power Plant
TM: 5D Thrusters
FH: 5A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 4D Life Support
PC: 3A Power Distributor
SS: 5D Sensors
FS: 5C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 32)
6: 6C Fuel Scoop
5: 5D Shield Generator
3: 3A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3C Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
2: 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner
---
Shield: 169.32 MJ
Power : 13.63 MW retracted (67%)
15.83 MW deployed (78%)
20.40 MW available
Cargo : 0 T
Fuel : 32 T
Mass : 356.1 T empty
388.1 T full
Range : 31.74 LY unladen
31.74 LY laden
Price : 24,617,508 CR
Re-Buy: 1,230,875 CR @ 95% insurance
I can hear people shuddering now, weapons on an explorer ship... BAH waste of weight... Pfft only a 6C Scoop takes too long to filll... Big shields are a waste of time blah blah blah...
Weapons and shields so IF some bright spark happens across me while I am exploring, I have a means of defending myself without needing to log off etc...
My jump range is just fine and dandy for me thankyou very much... I will not need a longer range because I mostly do short jumps anyway...
42s for 6B, 51s for 6C, and the price difference... made sense to me to fir a 6C, I tend to scoop when I get down to below half... as I said jump range is not so important...
the 2 afmu's prove useful for long (time wise) journeys... had I been in dock after PP was released I probably would have packed an extra tank and a fuel limpet controller and an 8T cargo bay with limpets...
[Asp]
U: 0I Point Defence
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
M: 2D/G Beam Laser
M: 2D/G Beam Laser
BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 5A Power Plant
TM: 5D Thrusters
FH: 5A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 4D Life Support
PC: 3A Power Distributor
SS: 5D Sensors
FS: 5C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 32)
6: 6C Fuel Scoop
5: 5D Shield Generator
3: 3A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3C Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
2: 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner
---
Shield: 169.32 MJ
Power : 13.63 MW retracted (67%)
15.83 MW deployed (78%)
20.40 MW available
Cargo : 0 T
Fuel : 32 T
Mass : 356.1 T empty
388.1 T full
Range : 31.74 LY unladen
31.74 LY laden
Price : 24,617,508 CR
Re-Buy: 1,230,875 CR @ 95% insurance
I can hear people shuddering now, weapons on an explorer ship... BAH waste of weight... Pfft only a 6C Scoop takes too long to filll... Big shields are a waste of time blah blah blah...
Weapons and shields so IF some bright spark happens across me while I am exploring, I have a means of defending myself without needing to log off etc...
My jump range is just fine and dandy for me thankyou very much... I will not need a longer range because I mostly do short jumps anyway...
42s for 6B, 51s for 6C, and the price difference... made sense to me to fir a 6C, I tend to scoop when I get down to below half... as I said jump range is not so important...
the 2 afmu's prove useful for long (time wise) journeys... had I been in dock after PP was released I probably would have packed an extra tank and a fuel limpet controller and an 8T cargo bay with limpets...
My first trip I took the 2 heat sinks and 3 AFMUs and used all of it.
.
Every trip after that, scoff the heat sinks and only carry one C-class AFMU.
.
I'm hooked on the 6B scoop based on scooping style. Upon entering a system, keep full speed, skim until the FSD cools down then hit FSD charge. Heat spikes to about 80% as I align but never goes above that. There are still some times when I don't get enough to cover the last jump but that is rare. I can see the value of the 6A in this technique as it would alleviate any delays in system but the cost is ridiculous.
.
Every trip after that, scoff the heat sinks and only carry one C-class AFMU.
.
I'm hooked on the 6B scoop based on scooping style. Upon entering a system, keep full speed, skim until the FSD cools down then hit FSD charge. Heat spikes to about 80% as I align but never goes above that. There are still some times when I don't get enough to cover the last jump but that is rare. I can see the value of the 6A in this technique as it would alleviate any delays in system but the cost is ridiculous.
I'd take it. there are parts of the galaxy where I was literally down to my last jump - to the point where I only had reserve tank left - before scooping again.
Of course, based on your build, your mileage may vary...
Z...
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I only use heat sinks to get out of hull damage when I do an emergency drop close to a star. If you do lots of emergency drops you are better off adjusting your style to be safer than carrying more heat sinks. I had a bad day when I used 3, and I haven't used one otherwise in about a month.
"Racing" builds, where you want to take risk to move faster, is interesting. The "explorer" can take fewer heat sinks and just be a bit more cautious. If you are really gunning for Buckyball times then there is an interesting trade off between the weight (2T?) impacting jump range (meaning more jumps, meaning slower), and the safety net of having 4 heat sinks. The racers are better off commenting on where they see the balance.
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Frankfort
F
This is what i am curently using keep in mind i only have a cargo bay to collect unexpected rare goodies as i found a black box but did not have a cargo bay to scoop it up.
The mining laser is just for prospecting planetary rings and astroid field for rare metals and minerals
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=70g,mpWH7y,2-6Q6u7_6u6u8S8I,5220Nc7Pc05U5DI2UI2jw
The mining laser is just for prospecting planetary rings and astroid field for rare metals and minerals
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=70g,mpWH7y,2-6Q6u7_6u6u8S8I,5220Nc7Pc05U5DI2UI2jw
I have been with no Heat Sinks on purpose, no Heat Sinks because I forgot to fit them, with Heat Sinks but forgot to use them. All in, I don't think, I have never used one while exploring. I would estimate that using them for ALL the major incidents would have saved me about 20%-30% after 10,000 Systems Visited.
I have always taken a 5X AMFU and a spare. Never needed the spare, or used even half of the main, even to the far rim and back.
General Competence (I am often quite slack, I am not bothered by the odd low speed NS bump) or Luck, who knows.
I have always taken a 5X AMFU and a spare. Never needed the spare, or used even half of the main, even to the far rim and back.
General Competence (I am often quite slack, I am not bothered by the odd low speed NS bump) or Luck, who knows.
My scooping style is to centre on the star while charging spacehorn, target star, zero throttle at 60, check system map while DSS completes.
Most of my damage came from my early journey when I was still perfecting my action sequence for each jump. Once you make a couple of mistakes, you learn not to make them again.
I used all my heatsinks before getting to SagA* (considered halfway, 50k), and took only 1% damage during the whole trip back by getting too close to rings.