Short answer , No. Apparently some explorers even switch of the sensors to reduce power requirements and help heat management. The only things used in exploration and planet scanning are Discovery Scanners (most people use Advanced) and Detailed Surface Scanners to earn more credits
Any point to sensor upgrades?
- Thread starter Evil Flanker
- Start date
Because the drunken leprechaun Frontier uses as a fire control computer doesn't look at sensors, that's why!
Does not understand game mechanic, does not bother to read up on it, concludes game bug. Lame.
The difference is the distance at which you see other ships in normal space. D-rated sensors are likely enough for a trader, A-rated are important for bounty hunters and similar tasks were you want to see your targets and enemies from far away.
Nope. Better sensors only increase the range at which you can detect ships in normal space, although the actual distance at which you'll detect a ship will depend on its signature.
Exploration is entirely unaffected by sensor quality: the basic, intermediate and advanced discovery scanners have the same range regardless of your sensor suite, and the range at which you can start scanning a stellar body is, like passive detection (the distance at which stars and planets even show up as 'unexplored' objects), purely a function of stellar body size/mass.
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I'm fairly sure that better sensors also increase the lowest heat level at which you can detect a silent runner ship... was in pvp with a DBE who ran silent for most of our fight but had beamers and rails so his heat was high enough that I could lock most of the time. Now I've been up against other stealth ships and not been able to see them when I didn't have the best sensors but different loads = different heat levels.
I wonder if anyone has done an experiment on this?
I wonder if anyone has done an experiment on this?
Targeting doesn't always mean weapons, especially when dealing with sensor systems, which oddly enough, is exactly what we're discussing.
Better grade of sensors means longer detection range, which also includes detecting silent running ships farther out(that can be very important depending on what you are doing), and you target a ship to see what it is, since your sensor display only shows you WHERE the ships are, it doesn't tell you WHAT the ships are, their status, or what they are carrying, for that, you need to target them.
My Anaconda, A sensors, I can target something 7km away, but my rails and lasers don't do damage that far out by any means. I can see the sensor contact, target it, and see what it is and decide if it's a threat or not, kilometers farther away then it can probably see me, since so few people use A class sensors. Is it worth the weight, price and power drain? That's up to you, but generally, anything that gives you an advantage is a good thing...
Better grade of sensors means longer detection range, which also includes detecting silent running ships farther out(that can be very important depending on what you are doing), and you target a ship to see what it is, since your sensor display only shows you WHERE the ships are, it doesn't tell you WHAT the ships are, their status, or what they are carrying, for that, you need to target them.
My Anaconda, A sensors, I can target something 7km away, but my rails and lasers don't do damage that far out by any means. I can see the sensor contact, target it, and see what it is and decide if it's a threat or not, kilometers farther away then it can probably see me, since so few people use A class sensors. Is it worth the weight, price and power drain? That's up to you, but generally, anything that gives you an advantage is a good thing...