Hey all! We've seen several threads already about the use of carriers for exploration, but they're spread out here in the exploration forum. I thought we could use a thread where we discuss the use of carriers for exploration in general. So please, share your stories, thoughts, opinions, and strategies for using carriers to aid exploration, or how they have changed your ways of doing things, or how they've even failed to meet your expectations, or whatever.
I'll start with a few thoughts from my own perspective, having now deployed a DSSA carrier, and I'm starting to explore with a second one.
I haven't run into too many surprises, but rather my experience so far is reinforcing what I thought might change for me personally. I've usually been a "travel-explorer", zipping around the galaxy and seeing what I stumble across, or to check out a nebula somewhere. I've spent a lot of time chasing numbers. More jumps, more lightyears, more scans of certain kinds of things, and always looking out for cool surprises, and making sure to scan high value targets. I knew this would change just because I've done it for so long.
With a fleet carrier, I now have the option to bring several different ships with me, and can quickly offload data whenever I have it. But it also means that I'm moving a lot more slowly, and visiting fewer systems, just as expected. But I'm actually OK with this. I can focus more on exploring a system more thoroughly. I can spend more time finding scenic spots for screenshots, and then actually spend time in those locations. My numbers are going to suffer, but that's not what I think about now. I won't make much money either, but my carriers are also prepaid for 3 years.
The unexpected (well, actually semi-expected) additional detail is that since I'm not jumping for long stretches on the neutron highway, now I feel like I can meaningfully use a much smaller ship for scouting. An imperial eagle can be a lot of fun, but I wouldn't explore with it before, due to being so fragile, so short on fuel, and with a lackluster jump range.
The other thing I wanted to test this week was mining for tritium. I'm completely spoiled on triple LTD hotspots, and so a single tritium hotspot feels terribly slow. It would take hours to mine enough fuel to refill the tritium depot on the carrier. For this reason, I think most of my near-term exploration is going to be restricted to within 20 kly of the bubble and Colonia, so that I can return to buy tritium when needed, rather than rely on mining. I'll probably park the carrier for periods of time, explore in a radius around it, and then move it to another location. When tritium falls to half of the hold, it will be time to gradually work it back toward a fuel source. If I want to go further afield than that, I'll leave the carrier parked and instead rely on the DSSA and other distant carriers for my logistical needs.
It's a new era. The time has come to explore at a more relaxed pace, and stop to smell the roses along the way. For me at least.
I'll start with a few thoughts from my own perspective, having now deployed a DSSA carrier, and I'm starting to explore with a second one.
I haven't run into too many surprises, but rather my experience so far is reinforcing what I thought might change for me personally. I've usually been a "travel-explorer", zipping around the galaxy and seeing what I stumble across, or to check out a nebula somewhere. I've spent a lot of time chasing numbers. More jumps, more lightyears, more scans of certain kinds of things, and always looking out for cool surprises, and making sure to scan high value targets. I knew this would change just because I've done it for so long.
With a fleet carrier, I now have the option to bring several different ships with me, and can quickly offload data whenever I have it. But it also means that I'm moving a lot more slowly, and visiting fewer systems, just as expected. But I'm actually OK with this. I can focus more on exploring a system more thoroughly. I can spend more time finding scenic spots for screenshots, and then actually spend time in those locations. My numbers are going to suffer, but that's not what I think about now. I won't make much money either, but my carriers are also prepaid for 3 years.
The unexpected (well, actually semi-expected) additional detail is that since I'm not jumping for long stretches on the neutron highway, now I feel like I can meaningfully use a much smaller ship for scouting. An imperial eagle can be a lot of fun, but I wouldn't explore with it before, due to being so fragile, so short on fuel, and with a lackluster jump range.
The other thing I wanted to test this week was mining for tritium. I'm completely spoiled on triple LTD hotspots, and so a single tritium hotspot feels terribly slow. It would take hours to mine enough fuel to refill the tritium depot on the carrier. For this reason, I think most of my near-term exploration is going to be restricted to within 20 kly of the bubble and Colonia, so that I can return to buy tritium when needed, rather than rely on mining. I'll probably park the carrier for periods of time, explore in a radius around it, and then move it to another location. When tritium falls to half of the hold, it will be time to gradually work it back toward a fuel source. If I want to go further afield than that, I'll leave the carrier parked and instead rely on the DSSA and other distant carriers for my logistical needs.
It's a new era. The time has come to explore at a more relaxed pace, and stop to smell the roses along the way. For me at least.
