Exploration Questions TY

[cassini12]

HI all

Just got back into Elite, was away for a while but I am loving it, just reached 100Million credits (not from exploration) and I have some questions I would love help with TY in advance

If I find a system that "is explored/tagged" but my 4million credit advanced discovery scanner, shows lets say 3 stars with 10 planets/moons each and SOME of these but NOT ALL of these have "found by CMDR xx"

Does that mean if I go to the 1 or 2 or whatever that just says "unexplored" and I get close so my auto-scan kicks in, that I will then get the "tagged" info with my name if I make it back to a Station???

Also if my ships hull is at 30% is the only way to fix it to get to a station and really hope that I don't get intradicted?

if money is no object what should my asp explorer deff have in order to be very resilient and fast frame charge etc so I can almost always just charge and jump from confrontation... not looking to fight, just explore. TY all

 

[Qohen Leth]

HI all

Just got back into Elite, was away for a while but I am loving it, just reached 100Million credits (not from exploration) and I have some questions I would love help with TY in advance

If I find a system that "is explored/tagged" but my 4million credit advanced discovery scanner, shows lets say 3 stars with 10 planets/moons each and SOME of these but NOT ALL of these have "found by CMDR xx"

Does that mean if I go to the 1 or 2 or whatever that just says "unexplored" and I get close so my auto-scan kicks in, that I will then get the "tagged" info with my name if I make it back to a Station???

If the body says undiscovered, and you DSS it, and sell the data before anyone else does, you will get the tag.

Also if my ships hull is at 30% is the only way to fix it to get to a station and really hope that I don't get intradicted?

Yup.

if money is no object what should my asp explorer deff have in order to be very resilient and fast frame charge etc so I can almost always just charge and jump from confrontation... not looking to fight, just explore. TY all

Good thrusters to run away as fast as possible; always submit to reduce the FSD cooldown time to 10 sec, then jump as soon as possible; jump again to lose your tail. Plus at least a D shield to sustain a few hits. Point defence are probably useful too, though I never used them.

 

[cassini12]

If the body says undiscovered, and you DSS it, and sell the data before anyone else does, you will get the tag.



Yup.



Good thrusters to run away as fast as possible; always submit to reduce the FSD cooldown time to 10 sec, then jump as soon as possible; jump again to lose your tail. Plus at least a D shield to sustain a few hits. Point defence are probably useful too, though I never used them.

Thank you for reply, So I did turn in those 2 and I did get credit for them, So I guess my question is, when you say DSS that is the one that is within a close range to the actual planet/moon to scan correct? not the one I paid lots for and it scans from the star to populate the entire system? I am asking because I'm wondering why the original CMDR did not just scan the last 2?? maybe he/she was being nice, or just lazy ... TY

also is there a way from outside the game to "see" my ships and their exact layout? so I could place the "build" here on forums and get opinions or do I have to mimic it step by step using the web GUI I have seen others link? TY

 

[Jackie Silver]

if money is no object what should my asp explorer deff have in order to be very resilient and fast frame charge etc so I can almost always just charge and jump from confrontation... not looking to fight, just explore. TY all

That very much depends on who you're trying to avoid. My exploration Asp is fitted with highest size, A grade, dirty tuned drives and a reasonable D grade shield engineered for thermal resistance (opinions are going to vary, there; you may be better served with a different mod); it's fast, it can survive NPC attack, and I emphatically don't feel safe flying it in the Bubble.

I always carry heatsinks, chaff and (rear-facing) point defence; heatsinks are generally useful for exploration, but can also be used as a good combat defence, chaff does what it does and point defence may be the thing you need to prevent some of the nastier engineered missiles and torpedoes. You can engineer all of them down to very little mass and they consume little power, so might as well make use of the Asp's utility slots.

An engine-focused power distributor mod may be useful, or perhaps a charge-focused one.

Ultimately you're going to struggle be able to get an Asp fitted so as to be able to withstand, say, a competent CMDR in a tricked-out 'Lance. Or NPCs as they briefly were before their use of engineered stuff was scaled back...

 

[Kuroshio]

also is there a way from outside the game to "see" my ships and their exact layout? so I could place the "build" here on forums and get opinions or do I have to mimic it step by step using the web GUI I have seen others link? TY

If you have the Elite: Dangerous Market Connector (EDMC) installed, you can export the data of your current ship to coriolis or edshipyard.

 

[Qohen Leth]

Thank you for reply, So I did turn in those 2 and I did get credit for them, So I guess my question is, when you say DSS that is the one that is within a close range to the actual planet/moon to scan correct? not the one I paid lots for and it scans from the star to populate the entire system? I am asking because I'm wondering why the original CMDR did not just scan the last 2?? maybe he/she was being nice, or just lazy ... TY

Most often it's lazyness, or the pilot was after something else. There's plenty for everyone!

The Advanced Discovery Scanner (ADS) gives you all the bodies in a system, but is not enough to get the tag. To get the tag, you need to scan using the Detailed Surface Scanner (DSS).

Also, ref. outfitting, agree with Jackie it all depends how you fly and what you're afraid of. Although, unlike Jackie, I never carry shield, weapons, defence, heat sinks or AFMUs, and don't bother to mod my thrusters. Never died while exploring. *shrug*

 

[Chrystoph]

May take a bit to get, but this is beneficial if you are worried about damage.

It adds no weight to Lightweight Alloy framing.

 

[Iron Orchid]

To get the tag, you need to scan using the Detailed Surface Scanner (DSS).

I don't think you need the DSS installed to get the "First Discovered" tag - you just need to have scanned that planetary body individually. Doing it without the DSS scanner reduces the payment on selling the data.

Most often it's lazyness

Probably but scanning a whole system is rather dull but then I also think that scanning a whole system is rather bad form as well. If I come across a virgin system I'll scan the star and perhaps one or two interesting items and then move on. It leaves something for those behind me. Probably why I'm not Elite at exploration yet after 14500 systems.

 

[cassini12]

Thanks all, as of right now I have 2 options, Fly 180LY to Felicia Engineer (spelling*) or 480 to Elvira Engineer, which should I choose? and sorry I literally know nothing about engineers? But I want to focus just on exploring in the game from here on out so does one of these help more than another?? also, dumb question time,, what exactly is considered "the bubble" in game? TY

hope this works just tried the shipyard installer. Yes I do realize I have a mining laser but no refinery lol, I really wanted to try that "auto docking add on" and it was quite cool but anyways what can I improve here?

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=A0gC,...rw0B5Y0BNM1Bcg1,,08c17TM14zM01IM00J400nE02UI1

 

[Qohen Leth]

Probably but scanning a whole system is rather dull but then I also think that scanning a whole system is rather bad form as well. If I come across a virgin system I'll scan the star and perhaps one or two interesting items and then move on. It leaves something for those behind me. Probably why I'm not Elite at exploration yet after 14500 systems.

As I said, most often. Never said it was better than not scanning it all. I don't either, I too leave something for the next guy when I can, even with my most precious findings. I don't see a debate here.

 

[marx]

That very much depends on who you're trying to avoid. My exploration Asp is fitted with highest size, A grade, dirty tuned drives and a reasonable D grade shield engineered for thermal resistance (opinions are going to vary, there; you may be better served with a different mod); it's fast, it can survive NPC attack, and I emphatically don't feel safe flying it in the Bubble.

I always carry heatsinks, chaff and (rear-facing) point defence; heatsinks are generally useful for exploration, but can also be used as a good combat defence, chaff does what it does and point defence may be the thing you need to prevent some of the nastier engineered missiles and torpedoes. You can engineer all of them down to very little mass and they consume little power, so might as well make use of the Asp's utility slots.

An engine-focused power distributor mod may be useful, or perhaps a charge-focused one.

Ultimately you're going to struggle be able to get an Asp fitted so as to be able to withstand, say, a competent CMDR in a tricked-out 'Lance. Or NPCs as they briefly were before their use of engineered stuff was scaled back...

You are right not to feel safe flying it in the bubble. The Asp Explorer has probably the worst survivability out of the commonly used explorer ships. Why? The chief factor is how huge a target it is, combined with relatively weak shields and not that much armour. It also can't evade well.
You probably can build an Asp to withstand NPC attacks in the bubble, but PvP builds are generally built around large alpha strikes. The Asp's shields won't hold long (even a stock 6A prismatic shield gives only 270 MJ - oof), and once they are down, the drives will be disabled in short order. To evade that, I'd recommend an ECM and a module reinforcement pack. Point defence helps too, but it won't stop Packhounds. However, MRP's don't have any mods yet, so no way of lowering their weight.

Unfortunately, it's part of the package that while the Asp Explorer is very good at exploration, its survivability is poor.

 

[Iron Orchid]

Thanks all, as of right now I have 2 options, Fly 180LY to Felicia Engineer (spelling*) or 480 to Elvira Engineer, which should I choose? and sorry I literally know nothing about engineers? But I want to focus just on exploring in the game from here on out so does one of these help more than another?? also, dumb question time,, what exactly is considered "the bubble" in game? TY

hope this works just tried the shipyard installer. Yes I do realize I have a mining laser but no refinery lol, I really wanted to try that "auto docking add on" and it was quite cool but anyways what can I improve here?

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=A0gC,...rw0B5Y0BNM1Bcg1,,08c17TM14zM01IM00J400nE02UI1

The "Bubble" is the main area of Human habitation - if you go to the galaxy map and view the powerplay areas that'll give you an good idea.

Most explorer builds are lightweight and can't put up much of a fight (if any) . As others have mentioned the AspX is particularly poor in this respect. The best way is spend as little amount of time in the most dangerous places as possible. Once you accept that fact that you aren't going to fight you can drop the weapons. The better the jump range the less jumps you have to make in the "bubble" where you are more likely to be attacked. Also lighter = faster.
Use D rated modules, except for :
FSD for which you need a A rated module
Fuel Scoop which you should get the biggest you can afford (Ive a 6B at the moment) as this reduces your time in systems by having faster refills.
Drives which should be A Rated (Faster running away!)
You should make sure that you can boost with the installed Power distributor. (helps to run away!)

Lightweight your armour
Fit shields that you are comfortable with - most explorers go with D rated shields (3D in an Asp) but some go with none.
Install a DSS.
I would keep the SRV hanger and AFMU.

 

[Jackie Silver]

Thanks all, as of right now I have 2 options, Fly 180LY to Felicia Engineer (spelling*) or 480 to Elvira Engineer, which should I choose? and sorry I literally know nothing about engineers?

There's no big difference between those two - I tend to use Elvira as her base is (I think) a little more out of the way and less popular. As far as I remember, both of them accept exploration data as a means of increasing your rank which is useful.

 

[cassini12]

So a question about outfitting, are all outfitting post "the same" and what I mean is, since money is no issue and I want to buy the best of the best (not talking mods or anything like that as I am too new for now ) does it matter which outfitting post I am located at? is the 6A scoop for instance available in all post?? I think I currently have a 5.. but paid top credits for it... again sorry been a long time since I played I feel totally new all over again.

 

[Zieman]

So a question about outfitting, are all outfitting post "the same" and what I mean is, since money is no issue and I want to buy the best of the best (not talking mods or anything like that as I am too new for now ) does it matter which outfitting post I am located at? is the 6A scoop for instance available in all post?? I think I currently have a 5.. but paid top credits for it... again sorry been a long time since I played I feel totally new all over again.

No, the availability of modules varies a lot, by station wealth & economy.
Jameson Memorial at Shinrarta Dezhra is the only place where all modules are on sale (don't know about PowerPlay specific ones though).

 

[cassini12]

No, the availability of modules varies a lot, by station wealth & economy.
Jameson Memorial at Shinrarta Dezhra is the only place where all modules are on sale (don't know about PowerPlay specific ones though).

AH ok that helps.. Do you get "full credit" in an exchange or no? TY

 

[Gandalf06]

As I said, most often. Never said it was better than not scanning it all. I don't either, I too leave something for the next guy when I can, even with my most precious findings. I don't see a debate here.

I'm afraid I'm the opposite, must be my OCD but I just can't leave an unexplored tag in a system
On my first trip outside the bubble on my way to Colonia, it's going to take a while...

Regards
G

 

[cassini12]

ALso is the outfitting easy to identify by the letter and number? As in, is 5A always better than 4B? is 6A the best or 6E? sorry basic question but might save me a lot of looking.

 

[iain666]

On my first trip outside the bubble on my way to Colonia, it's going to take a while... ��

Oh yes it is. I used to scan everything, sometimes I'd play for 3 hours and only jump twice. I kept it up for my first 7-800 systems before I gave up. I was moving at a rate of about 2kly per month - playing for 3-4 hours nearly every day.

 

[Gandalf06]

Oh yes it is. I used to scan everything, sometimes I'd play for 3 hours and only jump twice. I kept it up for my first 7-800 systems before I gave up. I was moving at a rate of about 2kly per month - playing for 3-4 hours nearly every day.

Umm might have to rethink this....