Anaconda Tips

[OldManKnott]

I've been in my AspX for many moons now, engineered the FSD to an acceptable 45ish LY and have been pottering around the galaxy for some time. Now I'm back in the bubble I thought I'd at least try out the Anaconda as my "retirement" luxury exploring ship for a real long term explore, (I'm talking really long term). So I cashed in my data and headed for the founders system as I'm happy to pay a premium for the convenience of having all the parts in one place. Stored the Asp, (I'm never selling my baby), and jumped into a shiny new "Conda".

Wow, how much space does this bad boy have?

"A" rated everything I could and installed the usual explorer toys, practised a couple of station outs and back ins and then set off for a test explore. Nothing engineered as yet as I want to make sure this ship and myself are going to "get along". Got a max 20ly jump range which hurts, but off we went.

First thing I noticed, (that I've already read about on here), is the really slow turn in supercruise. Coming into a new system at full throttle means you will be fuel scooping as you can't turn away from a sun fast enough. That could be very dangerous with white dwarfs, neutrons and black holes, so much more attention will be paid to the "next system" information when I hit jump. On the plus side, once you get used to it you can actually pick up a decent amount of fuel while the FSD cools and still not overheat.

Fuel used: Holy cow . My Asp used to sip fuel, this thing chugs it in dirty great gulps. Four jumps max before refuelling, so engineering that FSD and another hefty fuel tank needs to be sorted asap. Got out to about 500ly from the bubble and decided to land on a planet and have an explore, all easy as anything, no change from the Asp there. One thing that surprised me was that all the materials I collected whilst out in the Asp I still have access to, excellent.

So finally to my question. To those of you who explore in Anacondas, what tips would you give to someone new to this beast, regarding flying the thing, loadouts etc. I want to love it, I really do, but I feel the Asp pulling me back to her and I need to stop that quickly.

 

[marx]

I want to love it, I really do, but I feel the Asp pulling me back to her and I need to stop that quickly.

In that case, and if you're planning to head out for a long time, why not stick with the Asp instead? It has all the bells and whistles as well, better supercruise turning, and more than enough jump range. You don't need to use an Anaconda, but if you're in for a long haul, you'll want to find a ship that you're comfortable with. It's not like you can switch ships out there.

If you're only getting 20 ly on a stock Anaconda, you probably did a heavy build. The most lightweight ones could reach 40-41 ly on it, but even one with more decent defenses could do 35 ly. That's unengineered, of course. Here's a quick cardboard build that I just threw together, which can be made even lighter if you don't mind not having boost capability, nor shields.

In case you might be looking at other ships as well, I'd recommend trying the Clipper, the Orca, or the Python. All three mount class 5 FSDs, so you could transfer the one from your Asp. The Clipper has excellent supercruise handling, the best fuel scoop to FSD class ratio in the game, and as such, it doesn't need to brake at stars for traveling. The Orca has better jump range than these, but not that many internals when compared to either the Clipper or the Python. The Python can land on medium pads, and has a lot of internal slots.

Of course, there are other ships as well. But yeah, if you're planning to head out there for long, then I think the deciding factor should be whether you like flying your ship or not, and not any statistics.

 

[MattG]

The Anaconda is a lovely ship, but it's turning circle is crippling. If you're a cherry picker that might not be a problem - but if you do even semi-regular whole system scans, then choose a different ship. The single USP of the Anaconda it's ability to get you from A to B quickly. Stripped down, she can do 65-70LY. The fuel scoop is good enough that you never need to actually stop to refuel (meaning you can drop to 12 or even 8 tonnes for fuel tank). Mine ferries me between Colonia and the bubble, and it does it well. When I want to actually explore, I take something else. For a smaller expedition it can be fun too - but if you're going out for a while, I'd go with a different ship as CMDR marx suggests.


(It's still better than a DBX though )

 

[Krash]

I have a heavy explorconda with 63ly range. Equipped with 7a scoop it takes only a sec to fill up. And be ready on the full stop button when you first drop out.

View on coriolis.edcd.io

 

[Titler]

Firstly, you shouldn't be full speed arriving at the star in the first place... [noob] Throttle to zero during the 4 second count down.

Make sure you've got a button mapped to 75% speed. You should have this anyway for final approach to stations, planets etc, and whilst it's just outside the Anaconda's best manoeuvrability (just above the blue bar) it's more than enough to safely turn away from any stellar object after arriving stationary. People complain about turning speed, but unless you're landing on planets it's largely not an issue; remember as long as the next jump target is clear, you can start the leap without it being on the screen, so you can do the slow turn whilst you're forced to wait out the drive spool up anyway. And planets aren't exactly zipping around the galaxy such that you need to turn quick to chase them down. It's a "feel" thing, and some people just don't like the feeling of turning slow, even if mechanically it makes no difference.

Don't use the rudder however. Roll, then pitch/yaw to your target.

With enormous range, you counter-act the huge fuel usage. It looks scary watching your fuel gauge drop so much, but remember you're leaping at near maximum distance usually. Try plotting a smaller, Asp Explorer level leap and see how much smaller the fuel drain looks to get the context. I recently arrived at Beagle Point and didn't have to re-calculate the course for fuel once, or even look where I was going as the long legs took me across all the gaps without even noticing. This was also somewhat true when I originally took the Asp Explorer to Sagittarius A*, but as we now have Jumponium the advantages of range are literally doubled, and thus the chances of getting out of a fuel miscalculation are massively increased even if something does go wrong.

You've already mentioned the amount of room an Anaconda has; here is my current build. Note that Auto Field Maintenance and Docking Computers both weigh nothing, so I can bring those along too. And that I'm carrying a shield, all the scanners, and an SRV just in case, and I'm still at 71.85ly. This is fully engineered, which is an ungodly hateful grind, which I wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to do, but it shows just how efficient the Anaconda can be.

The only real question is, can you deal with the cockpit? Some people hate the view: they have almost identical visibility, it's just the Anaconda is a landscape and the Asp more a portrait display. Maybe it's the nose in front of the Ananconda too? Remember you need about 150 meters distance from an object not to dent the nose in the Anaconda. I suppose if you've purchased any cockpit decorations, they're not as pleasing visually on an Anaconda cockpit, due to all that messy grey trim they merge into. They also tend to clash with the UI in various positions, the image just linked is the only place I really felt the mini-conda fitted (as well as looking like it was a forward facing damage model to go with the front facing hologram to the right).

And finally... its size means you can't land everywhere. I've never had a problem getting it down to a planet, and Jacques has all pad sizes, but if you're the sort of person who feels you have to hand your data in as soon as possible, you'll need a full Station when returning to the bubble. Not a problem for me, United Imperial Dairies need my data on the effects of galactic wide radiation on the cows in the hold, so my data is going back to Cowini... Just be aware that if you plan to keep it as a taxi, you need to check your destination first.

 

[Krash]

Firstly, you shouldn't be full speed arriving at the star in the first place... [noob] Throttle to zero during the 4 second count down.

Make sure you've got a button mapped to 75% speed. You should have this anyway for final approach to stations, planets etc, and whilst it's just outside the Anaconda's best manoeuvrability (just above the blue bar) it's more than enough to safely turn away from any stellar object after arriving stationary. People complain about turning speed, but unless you're landing on planets it's largely not an issue; remember as long as the next jump target is clear, you can start the leap without it being on the screen, so you can do the slow turn whilst you're forced to wait out the drive spool up anyway. And planets aren't exactly zipping around the galaxy such that you need to turn quick to chase them down. It's a "feel" thing, and some people just don't like the feeling of turning slow, even if mechanically it makes no difference.

Don't use the rudder however. Roll, then pitch/yaw to your target.

With enormous range, you counter-act the huge fuel usage. It looks scary watching your fuel gauge drop so much, but remember you're leaping at near maximum distance usually. Try plotting a smaller, Asp Explorer level leap and see how much smaller the fuel drain looks to get the context. I recently arrived at Beagle Point and didn't have to re-calculate the course for fuel once, or even look where I was going as the long legs took me across all the gaps without even noticing. This was also somewhat true when I originally took the Asp Explorer to Sagittarius A*, but as we now have Jumponium the advantages of range are literally doubled, and thus the chances of getting out of a fuel miscalculation are massively increased even if something does go wrong.

You've already mentioned the amount of room an Anaconda has; here is my current build. Note that Auto Field Maintenance and Docking Computers both weigh nothing, so I can bring those along too. And that I'm carrying a shield, all the scanners, and an SRV just in case, and I'm still at 71.85ly. This is fully engineered, which is an ungodly hateful grind, which I wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to do, but it shows just how efficient the Anaconda can be.

The only real question is, can you deal with the cockpit? Some people hate the view: they have almost identical visibility, it's just the Anaconda is a landscape and the Asp more a portrait display. Maybe it's the nose in front of the Ananconda too? Remember you need about 150 meters distance from an object not to dent the nose in the Anaconda. I suppose if you've purchased any cockpit decorations, they're not as pleasing visually on an Anaconda cockpit, due to all that messy grey trim they merge into. They also tend to clash with the UI in various positions, the image just linked is the only place I really felt the mini-conda fitted (as well as looking like it was a forward facing damage model to go with the front facing hologram to the right).

And finally... its size means you can't land everywhere. I've never had a problem getting it down to a planet, and Jacques has all pad sizes, but if you're the sort of person who feels you have to hand your data in as soon as possible, you'll need a full Station when returning to the bubble. Not a problem for me, United Imperial Dairies need my data on the effects of galactic wide radiation on the cows in the hold, so my data is going back to Cowini... Just be aware that if you plan to keep it as a taxi, you need to check your destination first.

Impressive build. Even with 63ly range I didn't have to worry about gaps on the way to Sag A*, and with the vanity cam is the cockpit view really a valid complaint? I got some really good screenshots on my trip and the best ones include the conda in the shot anyway.

 

[Orvidius]

Agreed on choosing the ship you enjoy most. I went on a similar journey. I took my Anaconda across the galaxy twice, and in the end, it was the cockpit views that killed it for me more than the steering. I switched to a Python, which I liked a lot, and then the T7 got buffed to be about the same (nearly the same internals and jump range, maybe a hair better), so I switched to that. Right now I'm in a T6, realizing that once I got over the loss of jump range, it's actually a fun little ship that steers well on thrusters, and it's super easy to find landing spots since the footprint is small. Maybe I'll switch to the Krait when it arrives, but that depends a lot on how it turns out.

But having said all of that, the Anaconda is certainly quite capable, and can't be beat for its mix of internals and jump range.

Here's the last build I used.

Firstly, you shouldn't be full speed arriving at the star in the first place... [noob] Throttle to zero during the 4 second count down.

I would caution about making this an absolute statement. There's no right or wrong here, it depends on what you're doing. I use both methods (zero throttle, and full throttle), depending on where I am, and what I'm doing, whether I'm in the Asp or the Anaconda.

BTW, clever use of square brackets to hide the "noob" comment in there. (EDIT: To be fair, I saw this when quoting the text, I see now that it's the code for the upside-down smiley)

 

[Major Klutz]

... So finally to my question. To those of you who explore in Anacondas, what tips would you give to someone new to this beast, regarding flying the thing, loadouts etc. I want to love it, I really do, but I feel the Asp pulling me back to her and I need to stop that quickly.

My best tip for you is Don't A rate everything. D rated modules weigh less and so give you better range. In many cases A rating a module provides zero advantage for exploration and in other cases a D rated module performs better and is lighter than a smaller A rated module.
Use this outfitting link as a guide. https://eddp.co/u/R3jBol3w

 

[mtt9999 [Parabolus]]

I've been in my AspX for many moons now, engineered the FSD to an acceptable 45ish LY and have been pottering around the galaxy for some time. Now I'm back in the bubble I thought I'd at least try out the Anaconda as my "retirement" luxury exploring ship for a real long term explore, (I'm talking really long term). So I cashed in my data and headed for the founders system as I'm happy to pay a premium for the convenience of having all the parts in one place. Stored the Asp, (I'm never selling my baby), and jumped into a shiny new "Conda".

So finally to my question. To those of you who explore in Anacondas, what tips would you give to someone new to this beast, regarding flying the thing, loadouts etc. I want to love it, I really do, but I feel the Asp pulling me back to her and I need to stop that quickly.

2 quick comments:

1. why so much fuel? Why the concern over having to use the fuel scoop. The Conda excels at never having to stop to refuel. The scoop is so big just scoop a little per star and you are good to go. My suggestion is to rethink your typical methods of exploration and try to adapt to the ship you are in. In my long range conda I carry 26 tonnes of fuel and that is plenty! Rarely concerned about fuel during travel.

2. Right now during your test run is not a fair comparison: unengineered full load out. The two primary benefits of the Conda are its huge internal space and unparalleled jump range. Your test run is ignoring one of these entirely. My suggestion is to engineer that bad boy up to around 65ly and then take it for a 10,000ly spin. When you get there in 2 hours then you will realize the lure of the Conda. If not, go up or down to the fringes of the galaxy and check out all those previously unreachable Carbon Stars, Red Giants, and Black Holes you now have access to! Just yesterday I found a K-Class Supergiant more than 2,000ly below the plane in the Lin-Shu Hollow. Mine! ALL MINE! Thanks to my trusty Anaconda.

In short, try new ways of scooping and exploring and you might just never look back.

 

[OldManKnott]

Outstanding replies, thanks all for sharing your thoughts. I'm heading back to the bubble with some fresh ideas, so much appreciated.

 

[xtnsgo]

I don't exactly find it fun to fly or anything, but it's not that bad--and even though supercruise turning is awful it's only a major hassle for me (fwiw) when i overshoot a target and have...to...turn...(almost there)...around, so that's kinda on me. If i can plan a good scan line through a system (and pay attention) it usually comes out ok, but yeah--that turn rate is an issue. My least favorite thing is the view--having fighters to sightsee really helps with this.

Buuuuut, this thing has compartments from here 'til Sunday--you can bring the kitchen sink, the bathtub, and the dining room table. I mean stripped it has crazy range, but that also means you can cram it with fun stuff and still walk away with a pretty good range. Also it's massive enough that a few tons here and there don't really move the needle all that much so you don't have to sweat every ton in the way you would with a small ship. Give it a little engineering love (i only have the basic engineers unlocked) and it will tolerate a lot of loadout slop.

Here's mine: https://eddp.co/u/NocgouX2

Built for comfort and she can still chew through some distance. Some of the stuff is bigger or higher rated than needed, but why not? I like decent thrusters when planetside or in normal space, and who doesn't like a hold full of fighters to break up the monotony (sometimes it's a Taipan day, sometimes it's an Imperial Fighter day...[big grin])? I can even satisfy my more obsessive tendencies and include things i'll probably never use (i'm looking at you, mining package) but just make me feel more secure.

Maybe you'll end up liking it, maybe not--but without engineering it is difficult to recommend.

fly safe![smile] o7

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

Mine jumps >60ly, boosts to ~350 m/s, has 2 ea SLF/SRV, c4 shields and various limpets/collectors, mining laser etc.

http://www.edshipyard.com/new/#/L=C...ReG3Jb2y006u00AwPcIlhXKqpD2UI02jwG2m20ypDKy00

 

[Goobertech]

I've gone to Beagle and back in my Anaconda and I've gone to just about every nebula within 15k of the bubble in my AspX. This is just my $0.02 based on my limited experience:

If you fly safe, all the extra's in the Anaconda are irrelevant. Nice to have? Absolutely. Helpful if you play in a group? (fuel and repair limpets) Oh for sure? But if you play solo and don't spend a lot of time fooling around doing crazy stuff on planets or flying between a star and a black hole that will cook your hull...all those extra's spend 99%-100% of the time being powered off anyways. Maybe it's peace of mind but I think it's mostly an immersion thing for many. Leaving for a long time? Bring a bigger ship that holds everything you could conceivably want or need. That was my thinking when I left on my trip. When I got back I realized I could have done that same trip in a ship w/o any of the extra's quite easily. For me the appeal to the Anaconda is the jump range and being able to take a fighter. Zero-risk FA off canyon runs is a great way to have some fun and the 64 light years I get WITH the fighter and every extra previously mentioned is appealing if/when I decide to turn and burn. But getting used to that supercruise handling when you're used to the AspX...wow. That took a while for me.

There are a LOT of theories and opinions in here but a LOT of commanders far more experienced than myself. But at the end of the day the BEST exploration ship is the one you enjoy flying. Nothing will kill your desire to explore faster than flying a ship you don't like because someone in here said it was the best ship.

 

[OldManKnott]

Once again, thanks for all the feedback, it's been very very useful.

So an update: Last night I traveled back to the bubble at an average jump of 15ly and using the tips given managed to pickup fuel whilst passing the system suns so didn't have to stop once for refuelling. This is very useful! I also found myself getting used to the handling of the Conda and quickly adapting to it. I don't mind it at all now.

As mentioned in the first post, I kept all of my gathered materials. I also appear to have kept my reputation with the engineers I originally used in my AspX. I traveled to the FSD range engineer and was able to go through all 5 levels in minutes, which was fantastic, (no grind). I then traveled back to the founders system and played with a few of the setups mentioned above. I now have a jump range of 56ly and a lot more money back in the bank!!! I still intend to visit the other FSD engineer to see if I can up it further, (would love to know how some of you get 70ly ranges).

Tonight I intend to go a bit further out using the new jump range until I can find a few unexplored systems, then try out the new ship to explore the whole system, land on a few planets and see how I like it. Then I'll probably head back and configure/play some more.

Again, thanks for all the advice, it's really saved me a ton of time and effort. I think I might just be starting to like this ship!

 

[MattG]

(would love to know how some of you get 70ly ranges).

To hit 70, you're looking at stripping down to a "paper conda" - something like this. Basically, strip down to lightest viable components (except FSD), and engineer them to the max.

Fine if you just want a taxi, but not too much fun. That said, 60 or even 65 is achievable in a much more viable build.

 

[Titler]

Impressive build. Even with 63ly range I didn't have to worry about gaps on the way to Sag A*, and with the vanity cam is the cockpit view really a valid complaint? I got some really good screenshots on my trip and the best ones include the conda in the shot anyway.

Agreed, but there are some who do find the cockpit matters, and I wanted to point out a few flaws with how it's laid out for those to whom it does...

I took my Anaconda across the galaxy twice, and in the end, it was the cockpit views that killed it for me more than the steering.

There's one now, look!

[

I would caution about making this an absolute statement. There's no right or wrong here, it depends on what you're doing. I use both methods (zero throttle, and full throttle), depending on where I am, and what I'm doing, whether I'm in the Asp or the Anaconda.

BTW, clever use of square brackets to hide the "noob" comment in there. (EDIT: To be fair, I saw this when quoting the text, I see now that it's the code for the upside-down smiley)

Yes, it's the code for a smiley, no insult was intended.

As for arriving at zero speed, outside of extreme-buckyballing where tiny fractions of a second off jump time counts, it's not something you should be doing; you can throttle up back to speed in very similar times, especially on a HOTAS or with the 75% speed button, but being stationary also gives you the option to immediately drop out of supercruise, freeze all solar system wide influences, and take stock. And most importantly of all, if you're at zero speed, the temperature gauge acts as an instant safety warning. Moving around will change the temperature, but if it's rising as soon as you arrive and you're stationary, there's a star off screen somewhere that's too close and baking you.

Again though, some people just like the "feel" of always being moving.

My best tip for you is Don't A rate everything. D rated modules weigh less and so give you better range. In many cases A rating a module provides zero advantage for exploration and in other cases a D rated module performs better and is lighter than a smaller A rated module.
Use this outfitting link as a guide. https://eddp.co/u/R3jBol3w

The only exception is the power supply. You can't fit the 3D or 2D, and the 2A actually works out to weigh less than the 4D, and gives enough power to run everything with engineering. Otherwise this advice is spot on. D rate everything to shave weight, then shave the fitting itself to shave even more off.

I've gone to Beagle and back in my Anaconda and I've gone to just about every nebula within 15k of the bubble in my AspX. This is just my $0.02 based on my limited experience:

If you fly safe, all the extra's in the Anaconda are irrelevant. Nice to have? Absolutely. Helpful if you play in a group? (fuel and repair limpets) Oh for sure? But if you play solo and don't spend a lot of time fooling around doing crazy stuff on planets or flying between a star and a black hole that will cook your hull...all those extra's spend 99%-100% of the time being powered off anyways. Maybe it's peace of mind but I think it's mostly an immersion thing for many. Leaving for a long time? Bring a bigger ship that holds everything you could conceivably want or need. That was my thinking when I left on my trip. When I got back I realized I could have done that same trip in a ship w/o any of the extra's quite easily.

I thought that too... but then I did some basic tests over a 20,000ly plot. Adding an SRV and a shield took 1ly off my jump range, which I expected to really add up over that distance, but it only added up to 4 extra jumps. That's maybe 8 minutes at most over a multi-hour journey, but it allowed me to land and scoop extra materials for jumponium, and provided basic impact protection.

I've since arrived at Beagle Point without taking damage even once; so I didn't need it either. But I can now join Saturday's SRV races there too. So it's turned out to be more than worth it just from a fun point of view.

I now have a jump range of 56ly and a lot more money back in the bank!!! I still intend to visit the other FSD engineer to see if I can up it further, (would love to know how some of you get 70ly ranges).

Tonight I intend to go a bit further out using the new jump range until I can find a few unexplored systems, then try out the new ship to explore the whole system, land on a few planets and see how I like it. Then I'll probably head back and configure/play some more.

A crap-tonne of engineering for the weight reduction mods, basically. You can have an almost identical range to mine because there's no longer any random results and, bar for a single item, the new engineering caps are higher than the god-roll tier mods under the old system. The only exception is there's no Grade 5 for Sensors, and by a miracle this was one of the few under the old engineering I got a god-roll on. Looking at rest of people's results, it only adds up to a 0.19ly advantage though. So it's really about picking the best engineering bonuses.

If you're looking to land in an Anaconda, bear in mind for planetary landings, Thruster strength only applies to the main engines. If you use the manoeuvre thrusters instead, they're all at equal fixed thrust regardless of engine size, so you can go with the smallest possible thrusters you can to get off the ground, then when landing, drop your gear, and come down vertically on the manoeuvre thrusters instead. Remember that Elite allows multi-mapped controls, so I have my HOTAS hat switch mapped to changing power controls (shield, eng, weps) but when the landing gear is down, they switch to up/down, left/right fine control.

To hit 70, you're looking at stripping down to a "paper conda" - something like this. Basically, strip down to lightest viable components (except FSD), and engineer them to the max.

Fine if you just want a taxi, but not too much fun. That said, 60 or even 65 is achievable in a much more viable build.

My taxi version has 73.94ly, he he. You don't need shields even in the bubble, because unless you're carrying cargo, even interdictions won't actually attack you. Maybe if you're worried about pranging a station on landing (and even the docking computer does that occasionally) but it's not essential.

However my build above shows you can break 70 easily in a usable build. The real problem is all the miserable engineer grinding you have to do to unlock the options.

There's also the Thargoid thingies that presumably add 10ly, but frankly the engineer grind was bad enough, so I've never looked into that.

 

[Orvidius]

As for arriving at zero speed, outside of extreme-buckyballing where tiny fractions of a second off jump time counts, it's not something you should be doing; you can throttle up back to speed in very similar times, especially on a HOTAS or with the 75% speed button, but being stationary also gives you the option to immediately drop out of supercruise, freeze all solar system wide influences, and take stock. And most importantly of all, if you're at zero speed, the temperature gauge acts as an instant safety warning. Moving around will change the temperature, but if it's rising as soon as you arrive and you're stationary, there's a star off screen somewhere that's too close and baking you.

That's the thing though, coming out at full throttle is just fine if you're trying to keep the pace up, and only want to stop if there's something particularly interesting on the map. You can come out at full throttle, aim past the exclusion zone, and look at the map while scooping. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with this approach. It does force you to be attentive and do some steering immediately after witch space, true, but if that suits what you're doing at the time, it's perfectly fine and can be done safely. With the Anaconda, there's a smaller margin of error due to how slowly it turns, so 75% throttle can be better here, rather than 100%, but you also have time to adjust this if you need to.

The zero throttle approach is more safe in that it doesn't require you to be as attentive, and accounts for issues with control loss, such as a Windows popup stealing focus from the game during witch space. It also gives you a chance to scan the star while looking at the map.

Like I said, I use both methods routinely, and each explorer tends to have their preferences, so I wouldn't say one is right and the other is wrong.

 

[Burke]

The thing about paper conda isnt really true anyway. I got 68ly and its only 3/4 engineered. Thats with a class 4 power plant and life support weight untouched. Runnning with everytihng switched on aswell, shield and everything (no fighter). I expect ill get that down to a 3 at least but im still engineer grinding and it is truely painful The grind is the reason i have hardly played in months, can only handle small doses. 70ly is almost baseline for a long range explorer i feel.

I mean i guess its paper compared to a fully kitted combat ship...

 

[space voyager]

Before you head out... stay a while. I'm oldish (compared to your average gamer) and later this year I' planning to head out with Beagle point expedition - and a whole.bunch of exploration additions Q4.might bring. You just might be sorry to not have all the latest toys if you set out now.

Edit: Distant worlds expedition...

 

[Valije]

An exploraconda may be paper thin, but if you can land in Achenar 3 without being destroyed, it is strong enough.