Easily landable exobiology ship that can hold 2 people

Elianydd

E
Hi all. I need suggestions for a good ship type for doing planetside Exobiology -- BUT it needs to have 2 seats. I.e., which ship type with decent jump range (it'll get engineered), good landing ability (most important), but a crew of 2+.
Background: I have a Krait Mk II I use for general purpose and I love it, but when I started really trying to do exobiology with it, it was a pain on planets trying to land it near things, especially on rougher terrains. So I researched and then put together a Diamondback Explorer specifically for doing Exo and LOVE it. SO easy to land. BUT now I need to come up with an Exobiology ship that can hold a 2nd person! (Want to bring someone along on my ship for doing exobiology together.) So sadly, the DBX won't do in that case as it only has room for one person.
I see the Cobras have 2 seats and are Small size, so those might do, but I'm not sure how landable those are. (Last time I actually flew a Cobra planets weren't landable, so no experience with that myself.) Don't really see Cobras coming up as recommended for Exo, though. And it's hard to find info online specifically for doing Exobiology with the requirement of it having seats for 2!
Thanks in advance for any help/tips. Like I said, I really just need suggestions for the ship type -- I can figure out how to outfit/equip it from there. I just don't want to spend money/time/materials (if I can avoid it) on trying out various ones just to see IF they land well, etc. only to find out they don't work out for some reason, then having to start over with something else.

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Florenus

Florenus
Since it has to have rather small footprint, support crew of 2 and decent range, then Cobra. It's also cheap, so you can just try it.
With your requirements you don't have a lot of choice. Medium ships like Asp Explorer f.ex will be harder to land on difficult terrain.
Adder is nice, small, has 2 seats and not bad range, but cockpit view is rather limited, which might be irritating when trying to spot plants and find place to land.
So just try Cobra.
 

tolm

tolm
Phantom is a little smaller than MkII - though not sure the landing footprint is any different.

Cobra is probably your best bet: engineered SCO drive, fuel scoop in the largest slot and Guardian FSD Booster in the second largest and off you go:

EDIT maybe something like this …

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone s.orbis.zone
 
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Joe Cool

Joe Cool
Going (kinda) with the crowd. The two seats easy landing constraint offers up either the iconic Cobra or the Apex Shuttle Pilots' favourite the Adder. Sadly both offer compromised views out and you're gonna be spending a lot of time looking out.

Better (best) view, two seats, but a smidge tougher in the landing department , the AspX.

Nice view, easiest of landings? Dump your mates and embrace the single seat Viper MkIV. The best exploration ship you never knew you wanted :)
 

aRJay

aRJay
Another option that is small(ish) and might have an OK view is the Vulture but that comes with jump range issues.

A future option might be the Mandalay which is going to be a medium but the concept art makes it look like the landing legs are pretty close together so it might fit the requirement when it arrives.
 

varonica

varonica
Phantom for the pilots downward view and you can get over 70ly jump range, the foot print is...ok for landing, there are better ships, but I flew one around the galaxy and didn't really have that much trouble landing.
 

Elianydd

E
So far, then, I think my top contenders are Cobra Mk III, Cobra Mk IV, or Keelback, but it'll really come down to landing ability (and decent view), and I may not be able to really tell that without test driving. Otherwise, all 3 seem very viable, with quickly tossed-together comparable builds having (approx.) 53, 48, and 55 jump ranges, respectively.

I'm going to skip on the Phantom (despite the awesome jump range) for now since it may (?) have a similar footprint to the Krait Mk II, which I know I had landing issues with on rocky worlds. (Otherwise, I'd just be using my Krait Mk II, which is great for so many other things, but it just doesn't have the landing ability I need for this.)

Also going to rule out the Vulture as it only has 2 decent-sized Optional Internals and I need 3 -- for Fuel Scoop, FSD booster, and shields (I don't leave home without them).

Is there a clear advantage of Cobra Mk III vs. Mk IV for Exo? Mk IV has more internals, but I don't need them, and Mk III seems to have the slight edge for jump range, so I'm assuming Mk III likely preferable of the two, assuming view and footprint are similar between the two.
 

varonica

varonica
Elianydd said:
Is there a clear advantage of Cobra Mk III vs. Mk IV for Exo? Mk IV has more internals, but I don't need them, and Mk III seems to have the slight edge for jump range, so I'm assuming Mk III likely preferable of the two, assuming view and footprint are similar between the two.
Click to expand...

They all have zero downward view, if you are looking at that jump range well the Keelback would be a better choice, but you need to test them for yourself, maybe you can manage with their view for exploration, I know I couldn't!
 

HRDiagram

HRDiagram
With regards to cockpit view, I fly a Hauler for exo biology , which possibly has the smallest window available, so it's not really optimal for great scenery views but, when looking for exo-plants on planet surfaces, I didn't really find it to be a problem, given how tiny the ship is.
Obviously, the Hauler is not a two seater but what I mean to say is: try an exo bio run in the bubble with an Adder or a Cobra before engineering them, just to see if their windows work for you.
Their small size and high speed pay back big time.
 

Walter2

Walter2
varonica said:
Phantom for the pilots downward view and you can get over 70ly jump range, the foot print is...ok for landing, there are better ships, but I flew one around the galaxy and didn't really have that much trouble landing.
Click to expand...
Absolutely necessary for slowly cruising a few metres above the surface as you search for those sometimes elusive second and third samples (and sometimes for the first).
The downward view also helps to find good landing spots.
 

aRJay

aRJay
varonica said:
I find the downward view invaluable for spotting hard to see variants, such as bacteria and some small tussock type and etc, easily missed without such a view.
Click to expand...
Using the Hauler I have just continued doing what I did with the Phantom which is to bank to about thirty degrees with a slight nose down angle and do a 360 turn in place.

For those of us without VR or a headloock device the downward views from even Lakon ships are somewhat overrated.
 

Walter2

Walter2
aRJay said:
Using the Hauler I have just continued doing what I did with the Phantom which is to bank to about thirty degrees with a slight nose down angle and do a 360 turn in place.

For those of us without VR or a headloock device the downward views from even Lakon ships are somewhat overrated.
Click to expand...
I don't use VR or headlook device - the Lakon cockpit is invaluable.
 

HRDiagram

HRDiagram
Walter2 said:
The downward view also helps to find good landing spots.
Click to expand...
That is one very valid point that lead me to the Hauler.
I have used Phantom, Mamba, Chieftain, AspX, Type7, Dolphin and DBX as exobiology ships, all with their ups and downs, and the most important has always been finding good landing spots.
With the Hauler (and the iCourier on my alt), I don't look for landing spots, I just land, even when hunting for Fungoida Setisis. A small ship saves a lot of that hassle, and you can just focus on spotting those invisible bacteria.
 
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