This is my attempt at engineering a Hauler with a full exploration loadout for under 500k (Li Yong-Rui 15% discount required on ship and parts).
What I normally regard as the minimum optional modules for my explorers are:
Fuel Scoop
Not going far without one.
Shield
Bumps happen, and when they do, it is better that the shield absorbs it instead of your hull.
SRV
Used for hunting materials to replenish the AFMU stock, or to synthesize Frame Shift Drive boosts.
AFMU
Essential for Neutron star jumping so you can repair your FSD drive, but also required for the repair of modules due to accidental supercruise collisions or overheating.
DSS
Planetary surface features scanner.
The build:
s.orbis.zone
It's pretty difficult building a a cheap exploration ship, since the FSD, Powerplant, Fuel Scoop and AFMU tend to make up the bulk of the overall cost of a small exploration ship. With the addition of Guardian FSD boosters, my Type-6, Dolphin, Diamondback Explorer and Imperial Courier are now in the 9-12 million price bracket; a far cry from their original stock price.
So this is my second attempt at trying to build an explorer ship for under 500k credits. I would of liked to try and build a Sidewinder explorer, but the Hauler is lighter, has double the fuel capacity and it's top 3 optional slots are bigger (3,3,2,1,1,1 vs 2,2,1,1,1,1). The Sidewinder does have an additional weapon slot, but that isn't particularly important for this build, otherwise the core internals are the same.
Having size 3 slots on the Hauler is a big advantage over the Sidewinder since it allowed me to use a size-3 fuelscoop which is one size bigger than the size-2 FSD module. From a savings perspective, this is huge, since a 3D Fuelscoop only costs around 14k while refueling at 100kg/s while a 2A Fuelscoop costs 285k yet only refuels at 75kg/s. This would mean that building a Sidewinder explorer would need to cost more, or I would need to drop the 2A fuelscoop to a 2C and have half the refueling rate at roughly the same price.
A few explanations for my choices in parts:
Why did you choose the 1E AFMU?
It's the cheapest AFMU that can be bought. While it is only capable of repairing 12 integrity total (and slowly at that), that translates to 24% of the integrity of the FSD, or 24 Neutron boosted jumps. It's easy to get materials to replenish the AFMU in your SRV, but there is no reason you can't stock up on those materials before starting out.
What happens if your AFMU gets to 0% integrity, why not have a second AFMU to repair the first?
Like the Powerplant, the AFMU functions perfectly at 1%. If the AFMU ever hits 0%, a reboot/repair is all that is needed to get it working again.
What is with the 3E Cargo Rack, how is that any good?
Well to be honest I don't know what else I could put here. Perhaps another AFMU might of been a better idea. Having a size-3 slot free does mean that you can equip a 3E or 2E passenger module if you undertake one of those long range explorer passenger missions. The passenger modules though do signifcantly impact the overall jump distance.
The 3D Fuel Scoop isn't the cheapest one available, why not use the 3E?
While the 3E is significantly cheaper than the 3D, the actual numerical difference doesn't really effect the overall price much, so I opted to use a quicker fuel scoop.
1D Rail Gun....ummm why?
Fuel dumping. Something I found useful on my Diamondback Explorer when I got myself a bit stuck (while travelling to Beagle point) is the ability to quickly dump fuel and a Rail Gun with the "Plasma Slug" experimental allowed me to do that. If I had not bought it, I would of had to wait hours of game time just for my fuel reserves to lower enough in order to make the required jump. As a consequence I install these weapons on all of my exploration ships, but if you don't think this will be an issue for you, just remove it and save the money and weight.
2D Powerplant, what are you thinking!?
Up until this build I had never used anything except A-Grade, but my goal was to engineer a useful Hauler explorer for under 500k credits. The 2A Powerplant costs 160k at stock prices, which is a significant contributor to the overall cost of the ship. The 2D on the otherhand is only 6k and a bit lighter as well.
This is great if you have all of the engineers unlocked, but what if I don't!
Just unlocking Felicity Farseer will give you most of the important upgrades (ie G5 FSD, G3 Engines, G3 Sensors, G3 DSS and G1 Powerplant). With only her unlocked you can build a 37 LY version of the same hauler. I do however recommend switching to the more expensive 2A Powerplant since the Hauler does run hot and Felicity only offers level 1 power plant engineering.
One of the neat things about being under 500k credits is that you can buy more than 10,000 of them for the price of a Fleet Carrier (I'm still purchasing one despite the fact!). I think I really started liking this little cheapie when put into that perspective. Everything is there for a full mission out into the black in a cheap 500k package.
What I normally regard as the minimum optional modules for my explorers are:
Fuel Scoop
Not going far without one.
Shield
Bumps happen, and when they do, it is better that the shield absorbs it instead of your hull.
SRV
Used for hunting materials to replenish the AFMU stock, or to synthesize Frame Shift Drive boosts.
AFMU
Essential for Neutron star jumping so you can repair your FSD drive, but also required for the repair of modules due to accidental supercruise collisions or overheating.
DSS
Planetary surface features scanner.
The build:
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone
So this is my second attempt at trying to build an explorer ship for under 500k credits. I would of liked to try and build a Sidewinder explorer, but the Hauler is lighter, has double the fuel capacity and it's top 3 optional slots are bigger (3,3,2,1,1,1 vs 2,2,1,1,1,1). The Sidewinder does have an additional weapon slot, but that isn't particularly important for this build, otherwise the core internals are the same.
Having size 3 slots on the Hauler is a big advantage over the Sidewinder since it allowed me to use a size-3 fuelscoop which is one size bigger than the size-2 FSD module. From a savings perspective, this is huge, since a 3D Fuelscoop only costs around 14k while refueling at 100kg/s while a 2A Fuelscoop costs 285k yet only refuels at 75kg/s. This would mean that building a Sidewinder explorer would need to cost more, or I would need to drop the 2A fuelscoop to a 2C and have half the refueling rate at roughly the same price.
A few explanations for my choices in parts:
Why did you choose the 1E AFMU?
It's the cheapest AFMU that can be bought. While it is only capable of repairing 12 integrity total (and slowly at that), that translates to 24% of the integrity of the FSD, or 24 Neutron boosted jumps. It's easy to get materials to replenish the AFMU in your SRV, but there is no reason you can't stock up on those materials before starting out.
What happens if your AFMU gets to 0% integrity, why not have a second AFMU to repair the first?
Like the Powerplant, the AFMU functions perfectly at 1%. If the AFMU ever hits 0%, a reboot/repair is all that is needed to get it working again.
What is with the 3E Cargo Rack, how is that any good?
Well to be honest I don't know what else I could put here. Perhaps another AFMU might of been a better idea. Having a size-3 slot free does mean that you can equip a 3E or 2E passenger module if you undertake one of those long range explorer passenger missions. The passenger modules though do signifcantly impact the overall jump distance.
The 3D Fuel Scoop isn't the cheapest one available, why not use the 3E?
While the 3E is significantly cheaper than the 3D, the actual numerical difference doesn't really effect the overall price much, so I opted to use a quicker fuel scoop.
1D Rail Gun....ummm why?
Fuel dumping. Something I found useful on my Diamondback Explorer when I got myself a bit stuck (while travelling to Beagle point) is the ability to quickly dump fuel and a Rail Gun with the "Plasma Slug" experimental allowed me to do that. If I had not bought it, I would of had to wait hours of game time just for my fuel reserves to lower enough in order to make the required jump. As a consequence I install these weapons on all of my exploration ships, but if you don't think this will be an issue for you, just remove it and save the money and weight.
2D Powerplant, what are you thinking!?
Up until this build I had never used anything except A-Grade, but my goal was to engineer a useful Hauler explorer for under 500k credits. The 2A Powerplant costs 160k at stock prices, which is a significant contributor to the overall cost of the ship. The 2D on the otherhand is only 6k and a bit lighter as well.
This is great if you have all of the engineers unlocked, but what if I don't!
Just unlocking Felicity Farseer will give you most of the important upgrades (ie G5 FSD, G3 Engines, G3 Sensors, G3 DSS and G1 Powerplant). With only her unlocked you can build a 37 LY version of the same hauler. I do however recommend switching to the more expensive 2A Powerplant since the Hauler does run hot and Felicity only offers level 1 power plant engineering.
One of the neat things about being under 500k credits is that you can buy more than 10,000 of them for the price of a Fleet Carrier (I'm still purchasing one despite the fact!). I think I really started liking this little cheapie when put into that perspective. Everything is there for a full mission out into the black in a cheap 500k package.
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