Ships CMDR L0wlander's choice for ultimate Mandalay travel build.

[CMDR L0wlander]

Hello commanders,

After some testing and balancing, I've come up with the (IMHO) ultimate long distance travel build for the Mandalay.
It features a jump range of just over 85 LY but without sacrificing too much in terms of shield power and utilities.
It allows for emergency repairs, has a decent shield to survive a belly flop, and runs so cold, you can double dip fuel. (charge FSD while scooping, aim for next system and you can almost fill your tank back up before you jump, just like the dolphin does).

Beware - the roll on the Power Plant is grade 4, not grade 5. (easy to overlook)

Enjoy!

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

 

[AEBRAM]

Hello commanders,

After some testing and balancing, I've come up with the (IMHO) ultimate long distance travel build for the Mandalay.
It features a jump range of just over 85 LY but without sacrificing too much in terms of shield power and utilities.
It allows for emergency repairs, has a decent shield to survive a belly flop, and runs so cold, you can double dip fuel. (charge FSD while scooping, aim for next system and you can almost fill your tank back up before you jump, just like the dolphin does).

Beware - the roll on the Power Plant is grade 4, not grade 5. (easy to overlook)

Enjoy!

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

Excellent build.
I often found myself piloting one ship since its annoying to transfer then wait 10s to hours for the ships to arrive. After some testing and balancing to my playstyle and the activities that I often do, here is my Mandalay "The One" ship.

The empty optional internals are modules slots meant to "customize" what I'm focusing on during gameplay. I could add or drop any of the modules since they're not necessarily required to be engineered and only interim while doing XYZ activities. The Advanced Docking System is the "hot swap" when a DSS is required to survey planets.

 

[Don Euclid]

The Mandalay is a fun ship for sure. Ever since I started flying a Phantom, I kept missing how awesome the Dolphin handled in Supercruise. Now with the Mandalay, I've got the capabilities of both ships and then some. I miss the slightly beefier optional slots on the Phantom but hell, this thing flies like a dream.

I'm working toward a "good guy" variant called the Altruist that can pinch hit as a Fuel Rat if so needed. I don't mind the light years sacrifice, I'm a lifeguard with a bomb-ass view.

 

[Oberost]

The Mandalay is a fun ship for sure. Ever since I started flying a Phantom, I kept missing how awesome the Dolphin handled in Supercruise. Now with the Mandalay, I've got the capabilities of both ships and then some. I miss the slightly beefier optional slots on the Phantom but hell, this thing flies like a dream.

I'm working toward a "good guy" variant called the Altruist that can pinch hit as a Fuel Rat if so needed. I don't mind the light years sacrifice, I'm a lifeguard with a bomb-ass view.

May I suggest you a slightly modifed version of your build? Just turn off the AMFU (you are not going to use it while moving anyway) and you can change you PP to Armored & Thermal Spread. You gain a bit of range and also way better thermals.

Modified Altruist

You can also add a Heat Sink (just in case...) with Lightweight and keep the +80 Ly range.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Darrack]

Hello commanders,

After some testing and balancing, I've come up with the (IMHO) ultimate long distance travel build for the Mandalay.
It features a jump range of just over 85 LY but without sacrificing too much in terms of shield power and utilities.
It allows for emergency repairs, has a decent shield to survive a belly flop, and runs so cold, you can double dip fuel. (charge FSD while scooping, aim for next system and you can almost fill your tank back up before you jump, just like the dolphin does).

Beware - the roll on the Power Plant is grade 4, not grade 5. (easy to overlook)

Enjoy!

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

Just my 2 pence, no real need for Low Emissions on the Power Plant, much better with Armoured as it cant be repaired.
Also you will die of old age before that 1D repair limpet repairs crash damage, i would lose the 3A AMFU (never needed 2 on a year long expo) and lob in a class 3 repair limpet.

O7

 

[rootsrat]

Great build and great suggestions! Bookmarking this one.

 

[GroG79]

There is no hardpoint for poking stuffz in the black.

We need to be able to poke stuffz

 

[Don Euclid]

May I suggest you a slightly modifed version of your build? Just turn off the AMFU (you are not going to use it while moving anyway) and you can change you PP to Armored & Thermal Spread. You gain a bit of range and also way better thermals.

Modified Altruist

You can also add a Heat Sink (just in case...) with Lightweight and keep the +80 Ly range.

Just my 2 cents...

Thanks, Dude. I actually just started playing again a couple of weeks ago after being gone since 2021, so I'm having to re-learn engineering. I will definitely check that out.
However, I'm not sure if I need the extra heat dispersal. Most of the original build, including PP, is currently on my Mandalay, and I can easily double-dip on scooping and charging without popping 80%.

Just my 2 pence, no real need for Low Emissions on the Power Plant, much better with Armoured as it cant be repaired.
Also you will die of old age before that 1D repair limpet repairs crash damage, i would lose the 3A AMFU (never needed 2 on a year long expo) and lob in a class 3 repair limpet.

O7

I've actually been debating with myself on which limpet controllers to use. Are the 1D really that bad? What's the practical difference in repair capacity versus a class 3? It's a bit hard to figure out just looking at the wiki.

 

[Darrack]

I've actually been debating with myself on which limpet controllers to use. Are the 1D really that bad? What's the practical difference in repair capacity versus a class 3? It's a bit hard to figure out just looking at the wiki.

Try and look at it a different way, 4 limpets cost 10 Iron and 10 Nickel, you want to get as much repair for your Synthesis as you can.
Yes those are pretty easy materials to get but its time if you don't have them.
The Size 3 will repair 3 times the damage per limpet.
Its rare accidents happen which is why i never normally take a bigger limpet than class 3, unless its a large ship that can take the weight.
I also used to put a mining laser on my ships back in the day as these 2 materials can easily be mined from asteroids or rings, but these days im nearly always at full materials capacity.

O7

 

[Darrack]

looking at the wiki.

Use EDSY

O7

 

[AEBRAM]

Try and look at it a different way, 4 limpets cost 10 Iron and 10 Nickel, you want to get as much repair for your Synthesis as you can.
Yes those are pretty easy materials to get but its time if you don't have them.
The Size 3 will repair 3 times the damage per limpet.
Its rare accidents happen which is why i never normally take a bigger limpet than class 3, unless its a large ship that can take the weight.
I also used to put a mining laser on my ships back in the day as these 2 materials can easily be mined from asteroids or rings, but these days im nearly always at full materials capacity.

O7

Don't forget that you can apply the Lightweight to base Limpet controllers and often achieve near identical weight than going with a smaller size D rated one. For example, 3A Fuel Transfer LC with 5 ranks of Lightweight yields 0.75t weight compared to the 1D Fuel Transfer LC weighing 0.5t. The 0.25t will not break your jump range. You can apply this blueprint to Fuel Transfer, Collector, Hatch Breaker, and Prospecting.

I have an engineered 3B Lightweight Collector limpet controller that does not break my jump range and allows me to pick up any High Encoded Signals sources without relaunching more, whereas a 1x controller often requires you to launch a second one to finish collecting the materials. In this case, I prefer to launch two and refill my coffee and browse the news while it's collecting the materials.

 

[yianniv]

Hello commanders,

After some testing and balancing, I've come up with the (IMHO) ultimate long distance travel build for the Mandalay.
It features a jump range of just over 85 LY but without sacrificing too much in terms of shield power and utilities.
It allows for emergency repairs, has a decent shield to survive a belly flop, and runs so cold, you can double dip fuel. (charge FSD while scooping, aim for next system and you can almost fill your tank back up before you jump, just like the dolphin does).

Beware - the roll on the Power Plant is grade 4, not grade 5. (easy to overlook)

Enjoy!

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

Thanks for sharing this built, I'll definitely try it out.

 

[CMDR L0wlander]

Just my 2 pence, no real need for Low Emissions on the Power Plant, much better with Armoured as it cant be repaired.
Also you will die of old age before that 1D repair limpet repairs crash damage, i would lose the 3A AMFU (never needed 2 on a year long expo) and lob in a class 3 repair limpet.

O7

That was actually by choice. You synthesize 4 limpets, which will in total repair around 40% of your hull. Yes it does take a while, but I did not want to sacrifice my internals for a larger controller. I did consider it actually.

The armored power plant - while I agree it can't be repaired, that one did not allow me the freedom to double scoop like the low emissions does, as its base heat and temperature increase while scooping is noticeably higher (which will in turn damage your power plant in the long run as you're overheating).
After being across the galaxy multiple times, I've found exactly what I want from my ships. Number 1 is always low heat / peace of mind when scooping and charging FSD.

It's all down to personal preference really. I completely agree with your findings though. Armored G5 with thermal spread would be a fine choice.

O7

 

[CMDR L0wlander]

Don't forget that you can apply the Lightweight to base Limpet controllers and often achieve near identical weight than going with a smaller size D rated one. For example, 3A Fuel Transfer LC with 5 ranks of Lightweight yields 0.75t weight compared to the 1D Fuel Transfer LC weighing 0.5t. The 0.25t will not break your jump range. You can apply this blueprint to Fuel Transfer, Collector, Hatch Breaker, and Prospecting.

I have an engineered 3B Lightweight Collector limpet controller that does not break my jump range and allows me to pick up any High Encoded Signals sources without relaunching more, whereas a 1x controller often requires you to launch a second one to finish collecting the materials. In this case, I prefer to launch two and refill my coffee and browse the news while it's collecting the materials.

I see the point you're trying to make, but that does not apply in this situation.

Repair limpets can't be engineered for weight reduction, so that isn't an option. Only D rated can save weight.

O7

 

[Sleepyman]

Just set my Mandy up for exploration (EDSY) then found this thread.

Apart from engineering to get a decent number of boosts in succession (I can be a touch impatient) and upgrading the Repair Limpet controller does anyone have any comments?

 

[Nowski]

Just set my Mandy up for exploration (EDSY) then found this thread.

Apart from engineering to get a decent number of boosts in succession (I can be a touch impatient) and upgrading the Repair Limpet controller does anyone have any comments?

Engineer the shield: enhanced low power / stripped down for better shield, less power, more range (no downside to this)

If you disable AFMUs / repair limpet, move vehicle hangar to priority 4, you can use G3 Armoured power plant for better integrity and thermals than with Overcharged. This lets you move from clean to drag drives for higher speed while still beating the previous thermal under FSD (54.2 vs 55.7). Manually enabling AFMU or repairing while sat still shouldn't be a major burden.

You could use a new pre-engineered SCO FSD to push the (current) range from 79.41 to 86.08, but this does also increase the thermal% to 58.5 (vs 59.8 on your posted build).

Build, though I wouldn't treat it as anything more than hints.. I'm sure I have a lot to learn about builds because I keep finding more things out!

 

[Sleepyman]

Engineer the shield: enhanced low power / stripped down for better shield, less power, more range (no downside to this)

Nice one

If you disable AFMUs / repair limpet, move vehicle hangar to priority 4, you can use G3 Armoured power plant for better integrity and thermals than with Overcharged. This lets you move from clean to drag drives for higher speed while still beating the previous thermal under FSD (54.2 vs 55.7). Manually enabling AFMU or repairing while sat still shouldn't be a major burden.

More engineering going to run out of mats soon what with 4 more FSD's to put experimentals on and two Thrusters to fully engineer. I've heard its less grindy now, guess I'm going to find out.

You could use a new pre-engineered SCO FSD to push the (current) range from 79.41 to 86.08, but this does also increase the thermal% to 58.5 (vs 59.8 on your posted build).

It already has the double engineered drive on to which I added mass manager. Not sure what EDSY is doing here.

 

[Nowski]

More engineering going to run out of mats soon what with 4 more FSD's to put experimentals on and two Thrusters to fully engineer.

One thing I learned about EDSY recently - on your ship's build, click Analysis at the top and then Generate Retrofit Report, and it will show which mats you need to get for which module. Apps like EDO materials helper will do more, but it's neat having this right there in EDSY IMO.

 

[Mussurana]

Nice thread, been thinking about the Mandy myself of late.

This is my effort, not exactly maximised for jump, but a build for open. As gank proof as I could manage, but still a cold running long jumper with everything you might need for the trip.

Ought to be fun to fly too, although that tends to come packed along with the gank proofing, speed is life after all.

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org