I have 10 premium refuels ready for just this...
Last edited:
Driving and Exploration Rank, there is a link after all :)
- Thread starter Ziljan
- Start date
I have 10 premium refuels ready for just this...
Of course, most people who get to Beagle Point will either already be Elite in tourism, or will become Elite on their return, if they get back.
Land on the flattest planet you can find, deploy SRV, engage throttle, have a coffee and watch some TV..
Probably! Most of those going will probably be speed-exploring, jumping without scanning to keep up the pace. I don't know if that impacts how much money they'll make and how much they'll rank up. But either way, the rank benefit of driving the SRV is likely to be fairly insignificant by comparison, you're right.
Good find there about the exploration ranking.
UPDATE :
Confirmed. There is definitely a rank increase from driving and prospecting. I have not discovered a new element in over 400 km of driving, and I just went up from 11% to 12%. Notice how my exploration income has remained unchanged despite the 2% rank increase since the beginning of the DW. I am also about 8500LY from earth and have not sold any data since the launch of DW. I have been prospecting, so not all of this rank increase is from driving.
At 10% right before launch 435 km:
At 11% near Waypoint Two, 666 km:
at 12% near Waypoint Five, 1100 km:
[OP has been updated with this info as well]
Confirmed. There is definitely a rank increase from driving and prospecting. I have not discovered a new element in over 400 km of driving, and I just went up from 11% to 12%. Notice how my exploration income has remained unchanged despite the 2% rank increase since the beginning of the DW. I am also about 8500LY from earth and have not sold any data since the launch of DW. I have been prospecting, so not all of this rank increase is from driving.
At 10% right before launch 435 km:
At 11% near Waypoint Two, 666 km:
at 12% near Waypoint Five, 1100 km:
[OP has been updated with this info as well]
Amazing work! This is a definite increase, down to one or some of:
* landing on planets
* driving across planets
* synthesis
* refuelling SRV
* repairing SRV
* prospecting
* collecting things from planet surfaces
* scanning landable planets (I'm assuming not this, but we don't know 100% that FD haven't changed something)
Driving seems the most likely explanation. Would be good to know if it's worth prospecting or synthesising beyond what is needed for refuelling.
* landing on planets
* driving across planets
* synthesis
* refuelling SRV
* repairing SRV
* prospecting
* collecting things from planet surfaces
* scanning landable planets (I'm assuming not this, but we don't know 100% that FD haven't changed something)
Driving seems the most likely explanation. Would be good to know if it's worth prospecting or synthesising beyond what is needed for refuelling.
Thanks Scal
These are the only two factors that have been stated by devs to increase exploration rank without selling data/cargo. And now we have a very rough idea of how much you need to prospect/drive.
Not seeing any change yet.
Before
After
Before
Received 1% since Horizons strictly from planetary actions. Currently at 58% toward Elite.
Got that 1% after about 400km (with first disco for materials) but in the ~350km since (782km total), at waypoint 5 with you Z, numerous materials gathered, zero increase so far.
Also for reference, I only got about half my exploration value prior to when it doubled back in Mar/April.
Got that 1% after about 400km (with first disco for materials) but in the ~350km since (782km total), at waypoint 5 with you Z, numerous materials gathered, zero increase so far.
Also for reference, I only got about half my exploration value prior to when it doubled back in Mar/April.
Last edited:
Very similar to me. I was at 1Mm and was thinking maybe I was done advancing from SRV activities. Then I hit 1.1Mm and noticed that my rank had finally ticked up again. I've been collecting ALL mats, not leaving anything behind, and then immediately destroying any unneeded ingredients. Since we don't get discovery credit until the mats are scooped, I figure that 2ndary rank increases from prospecting known elements also requires collection.
I tend to cover lots of ground on most planets by going 30-37 between nodes. But honestly, I think the primary rank increasing component is mat collection, and distance driven is a 2nd order effect. I'd say don't worry so much about distance covered. Focus on mats, speed (within safety limits), and the KMs will come on their own.
Its a pity it seems to be mostly mats. Ive driven a bit on Beagle point and still nothing (but then again probably not enough, Iv only done 50km or so, so that probably isnt enough to get a few % extra on ranger)
I landed tonight to do some prospecting and took note when I landed, I was at 77% (Surveyor)
I did a bit of driving and collecting mats, including one rare I had not collected before so I got the Universal Cartographic notice.
I checked when I returned to my ship and I'm at 81%. 4% for about 1 hour on the surface.
I did a bit of driving and collecting mats, including one rare I had not collected before so I got the Universal Cartographic notice.
I checked when I returned to my ship and I'm at 81%. 4% for about 1 hour on the surface.
Last edited:
77% of what rank?
Surveyor
I gained 1% Ranger after 100km of driving on Beagle point and discovering 2 new materials as well as countless other mats I collected. Hope thats useful to someone
Driving 530km and collecting 119 materials (none new to me) on BP2 increased my rank from Ranger 32% to 33%
I wondered how I got some ranks in explorer. Now I know.
I like this. It feels right to go find a planet and actually explore it.
I like this. It feels right to go find a planet and actually explore it.
I did some testing FOR SCIENCE on my trip to SagA. What I did is landed on an icy body and drove around collecting any materials I could find and checking about once a minute to see when I gained 1% in my exploration rank. As soon as I gained that 1% I recalled my ship and didn't do any further SRV exploration until the next test at a further distance from Sol. This also included NO "first exploration" bonuses for materials. Results are below:
2164ly from Sol, drove 81km and collected 69 materials for 1% gain
4112ly from Sol, drove 49km and collected 96 materials for 1% gain
8313ly from Sol, drove 28km and collected 79 materials for 1% gain
16062ly from Sol, drove 33km and collected 72 materials for 1% gain
25760ly from Sol, drove 31km and collected 68 materials for 1% gain
As you can see it does seem like you get more exploration ranking the further away you are from Sol, but it seems to level off somewhat at really far distances. The results 8000ly from Sol aren't much different from the results almost 26,000ly from Sol.
On this final planet 26,000ly from Sol I also tested how far I had to drive without collecting any materials to gain another 1%. I drove 66km before gaining another 1% on that planet, compared to 31km + 68 materials for 1% gain on the same planet. Collecting materials is a significantly faster way of gaining exploration rank than just driving around without collecting materials, but both are pretty ineffective in comparison to "traditional" exploration, ie scanning planets/stars and trading in the cartography data at a station. Driving the SRV is definitely more fun however.
2164ly from Sol, drove 81km and collected 69 materials for 1% gain
4112ly from Sol, drove 49km and collected 96 materials for 1% gain
8313ly from Sol, drove 28km and collected 79 materials for 1% gain
16062ly from Sol, drove 33km and collected 72 materials for 1% gain
25760ly from Sol, drove 31km and collected 68 materials for 1% gain
As you can see it does seem like you get more exploration ranking the further away you are from Sol, but it seems to level off somewhat at really far distances. The results 8000ly from Sol aren't much different from the results almost 26,000ly from Sol.
On this final planet 26,000ly from Sol I also tested how far I had to drive without collecting any materials to gain another 1%. I drove 66km before gaining another 1% on that planet, compared to 31km + 68 materials for 1% gain on the same planet. Collecting materials is a significantly faster way of gaining exploration rank than just driving around without collecting materials, but both are pretty ineffective in comparison to "traditional" exploration, ie scanning planets/stars and trading in the cartography data at a station. Driving the SRV is definitely more fun however.