I would like to know any tips or suggestisons for engineering my anaconda for long jump range mainly. If there are any other modifications I can make, any advise would be welcomed.
Rather than just copying someone else's build, it's more fun and didactic learning how to optimize a ship for jump range. When you know all the principles, you can then fine-tune it, compromising a tiny bit of jump range for something that you find useful.
There are two things that affect jump range: The FSD and the ship's weight. (Well, three if you count the Guardian FSD booster as a separate thing.)
For the FSD you obviously want the largest A-rated SCO FSD that fits the ship, engineered to maximum for increased jump range, and with "mass manager" experimental. (Do not apply the "deep charge" experimental, even though it sounds tempting. "Mass manager" is significantly better in all regards. With larger ships it actually gives you
more jump range than "deep charge", at no cost of extra fuel, unlike the latter.)
And, rather obviously, you want to pair the FSD with the largest Guardian FSD booster that fits the ship. (If you haven't unlocked them, it's a fun little quest. Highly recommended.)
The other thing that greatly affects jump range is the ship's weight. The primary source of weight is the hull, so you want the lightweight one. (Incidentally, you can engineer it for "heavy duty armor" without adding anything to the weight, because the weight is calculated as a percentage rather than a fixed amount, and the lightweight hull weights nothing from the perspective of these calculations, and thus the "heavy duty armor" engineering has literally no drawbacks. It will give you more resistance to collisions.)
The rest of the optimization happens by module choice and, in the case of some of the modules, engineering for weight:
- When it comes to the Power Plant, choose the smallest A-rated one that will power everything. (A-rating is important for heat management, especially when fuel-scooping.) Engineer it to produce more power if needed. (But engineer it only as much as needed, no more. You don't really want too much of the drawbacks.)
- A fuel scoop weighs nothing, so it's a freebie. Likewise an AFMU. (However, note that an AFMU has a humongous power consumption. However, since it doesn't need to be enabled constantly, you can just keep it disabled until you need it, and thus you don't need to adjust the power plant to account for it.)
- The rest of the modules should in general be D-rated because it's the lightest type of module. You can also undersize some modules (such as thrusters) for even lighter weight.
- In the case of thrusters, you probably want to engineer them for "dirty drives" for extra thruster speed. It doesn't add any weight, so it's nice.
- Sensors can't be undersized, but they can be engineered for weight, and especially with larger ships that lightens them up by a huge amount (and thus gives you a good chunk of extra jump range).
