DBX Exploration Credit Maker build

Shiro Akai

Shiro Akai
o7 CMDRs,

I'm in need of exploration data that will turn into reputation I desire. For that purpose I prepared two DBX builds and hesitating which one to pick. I won't be going far, 2k LY is max. I plan, on arrival, to sneak around that point and scan surrounding systems. 5k LY total loop is also possible. Anyway, here are my options:

#1. Shieldless, 89.5% power usage, 36.27 LY (ED Shipyard link)
#2. Safer, 84% power usage, 35.93 LY (ED Shipyard link)

Differences are small, cost wise it's 400k cr. My main gripe is safety. I'm a cautious man and I like having options. On the side note - I did ~12k LY loop and despite having an AFMU I got back with 98% hull (came too close to the star once and emergency dropped SC, 1 case out of about 400 jumps). Since this trip is not far away I'm tempted to go wild and fly shieldless and AMFU-less.

#3. Hazardous, 93% power usage, 36.30 LY (ED Shipyard link)

Your input on my options will be invaluable.
Cheers and see you in space.
o7
 

Shiro Akai

Shiro Akai
Hmm... not used to Coriolis Shipyard, had to "translate" to ED Shipyard. Still comparing but from what I see it's a combination that gives both safety and range. Nice one, worth considering.
 
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goemon

goemon
as for safety ... the best you can do is returning to a high security system at the edge of the bubble with a sttion close to entry point with a shipyard. you can filter the map for security levels. have your bubble ready ship transfered, to sell yor data where you want.

flying a totally stripped down shiedless explorer build and returning to such a system is more safe, than flying a safety exploration build and flying around with it in inhabited low sec systems.
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as you don't plan to go far - did you consider a different ship? i was using a shieldless DBS for the first part of the silly ships expedition, but if you don't have a srv you can even fit a shield. i intend to use the build for future surface exploration trips.

a DBS will be much faster, and therefor able to outboost anything pve, and the added supercruise manouverability speeds up scanning (which is what you'll do if you want to earn CR with exploration) - a cobra mkIII would be even more fast, and its better fuelscooping (fsd/fuelscoop relation) will make the initial travel nearby as fast as with a DBE. a t6 beats a DBE on any longrange races for its mental fuelscooping speed...

the initial travel, where jumprange plays a role, is the least time consuming part of your trip, if you don't race to sag a* and back. and even there fuelscooping speed can beat jumprange.
 

Shiro Akai

Shiro Akai
Nice tip with bubble ready ship waiting on the border.

As for different ship - honestly I haven't considered anything else. I already have DBX and it's fairly well equipped. It just needs few tweaks to min/max the outfitting. i won't lie - I aim for highest possible jump range for my current trip. I want to cut travelling time to a minimum so I can quickly focus on proper exploration. That itself will consume most of my time due to in-system flying from planet to planet.

Within options I have range of ~230 LY before the need to refuel. 1k LY will require 4-5 fuel stops so no issue here really. I'm still pilling up credits and plan further purchases so I'd like to avoid significant money investments. That I plan after I get my target ship.

Quick try for:
- Combra mk3 (Shipyard link) - 28 LY range
- T-6 (Shipyard link) - 32.3 LY range
- DBS (Shipyard link) - 29.8 LY range

My current setup gives me 33 LY and I can push it near 37. The real question is: how essential are shields and AFMU in terms of out-of-the-bubble, short range trip. If I'd go over 5k LY AFMU is a must, I'd opt for shields as well. Better safe than sorry and few hours more is small price if I can get my butt back to the station. But here? Quick burst out of the bubble, locate some unexplored (mostly) area and start scanning.

I have some time before departure so I'll toy around various builds and pick one, depending on my paranoia at that point...
 

goemon

goemon
Shiro Akai said:
how essential are shields and AFMU in terms of out-of-the-bubble, short range trip. If I'd go over 5k LY AFMU is a must, I'd opt for shields as well. Better safe than sorry and few hours more is small price if I can get my butt back to the station. But here? Quick burst out of the bubble, locate some unexplored (mostly) area and start scanning.
Click to expand...

neither shields or AFMU are essential out of the bubble.

shields are helpfull of you own horizons and plan to land - but you can even land shieldless builds without hulldamage, the margin of error is just very, very small.

AFMU are mandatory, if you do chanined neutron star jumps, but beside that fully optional.

i fly my DBE for roundtrips up to 35000-40000 ly, with SRV and shields, so no AFMU. it's nice to have them, but people have taken ships to beagle point and back without AFMU. again: the margin of error is just a bit smaller. it's just an additional safety net.

once you are 200-300 ly from the last inhabited system, you won't need any shields if you don't go looking for trouble (USS), and you will never need an AFMU if you don't make critical errors.
 

Yanick

Yanick
To be honest, I'd wait untill 2.3 comes out. Since the DBX is getting a bit of an overhaul there.
The changes are to make the DBX a bit closer to the ASP-X in overall capability.

o7
Yanick
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
Robert Maynard
mpfj said:
Just curious ... why did you not include a DSS ?
Click to expand...

It's a Scavenger* build, not a proper, well thought through, Exploration build. :)

*: tootling about searching USS for materials / data, surface prospecting and, when I move the SRV hangar from the class 3 module slot to the new class 2 slot, moving up to 3 Business Pax around for profit.
 

Shiro Akai

Shiro Akai
I think I'll try hazardous approach. I'll leave bubble as fast as possible and vanish into the void. Planetary landings are not planned as I'm interested in scans only.

@Yanick - do we know when it lands? I feel the itch to fly and waiting doesn't help. And if patch buffs DBX to be somewhat near ASP I won't have the upgrade feeling when I finally get ASP. So I'm going to log in and start my journey right now. I should get back before patch.
 

goemon

goemon
Shiro Akai said:
I think I'll try hazardous approach. I'll leave bubble as fast as possible and vanish into the void. Planetary landings are not planned as I'm interested in scans only.

@Yanick - do we know when it lands? I feel the itch to fly and waiting doesn't help. And if patch buffs DBX to be somewhat near ASP I won't have the upgrade feeling when I finally get ASP. So I'm going to log in and start my journey right now. I should get back before patch.
Click to expand...

if you only go out ~2000 ly like you said, you can be back anytime in an hour.
 

Shiro Akai

Shiro Akai
Decision made - I'm in the black. Outfitted according to hazardous plan. Set some random star at 1k LY mark and took off. 33 jumps till target. 8 or 9 jumps into the trip I already found mostly unexplored system. Scanned like 75% of it and had to log out. If I start getting such systems en route to my target I might stop far earlier and closer than planned. In case of emergency that won't kill me outright I'll have like 15 minutes of route back.

Ah, one thing I noted. Range. After I outfitted exactly as planned my range in-game was showing slightly above 33 LY instead of 36 expected. Both ED Shipyard and Coriolis gave me similar values, yet in-game I was like 3 LY short. #noobmoment. Finally figured it out. While in shipyard sites I was looking at max range, while in-game this is achievable when you're almost dry on fuel. Fully tanked I do 33-34 LY jumps. Another lesson learned - look at "loaded" range to avoid later confusion.
 

BarbusMaximus

B
I may be wrong on this but shields don't protect you from damage if you drop too close to a star? I switched mine off anyway. Also I don't think you can repair that hull damage with an AMFU?
 
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