Explorer ship comparison

[Ryan256]

Using the tools on Coriolis.io I was able to make a very interesting comparison on the difference vehicles commonly used for exploration.
All of the ships were configured as such:
Largest A rated Frame Shift drive the ship could carry.
Largest A rated fuel scoop it could carry, except for the Asp and Anaconda due to the extreme jump in price for the Class 6 & 7 A rated scoops.
Largest A rated AMFU it could carry after the scoop.
Largest fuel tank it can carry.
No shields.
A 1D power distributor.
Smallest A rated power plant capable of supplying enough juice for all necessary systems.
Smallest D rated thrusters capable of moving the ship.
D rated life support and sensors.
Detailed surface scanner and Advanced Discovery Scanner, and a Docking Computer if there was space left.
1 Heat Sink launcher

Here are the links to the configuration for the:

Anaconda | Asp | Diamondback Explorer | Type 6 | Cobra | Hauler

And here are the graphs showing the comparison of ship Jump Range, Cost, and Total Range.

Spoiler

While the Anaconda does offer the longest possible jump range the cost associated with that range is nearly 10x the cost of the Asp. If we remove the Anaconda due to its vastly greater cost compared to the other ships we get this for a comparison.

Spoiler

The Diamondback Explorer has close to the same jump range and max range as the Asp but can do so at almost 1/2 the cost. The Hauler also comes in at a very respectable 26 LY jump range and is by far the cheapest of the group. While its lowest max range means it will need to refuel often its 3A fuel scoop should be able to refill the tank in 22 seconds.

Just some interesting info I thought I would share. Feel free to leave questions or comments.

 

[CMDR AKIRA MASAKARI]

I have a different approach in general ship settings. Altough it's very popular, i don't like the "strip everything down for jump range" approach.
After the obvious best FSD and the scanners, i go:
BEST available Power Plant (if you can manage heat you have to wait less before jumping = travel faster even if you lose 1 or 2 Ly jump range)
Thrusters, Power Distributor, Life Support, etc in their D class, so they weight less and work better, and power is no issue with the A power plant
5A shileds for the ASP
6B Fuel Scoop for the ASP
2 Heat Sinks

And i still get 33Ly jump range

With this setting:
In a 1000ly range from sol i have everything up, so with 5A shield, D power distributor, D thrusters and best power plant i have chances to scape an interdiction (100% chances with NPCs). And i can manage heat very well with massive power plant.

Where i feel safe i switch off power distributors and shields, and the ship becomes really cold. I can start FSD while scooping at 65% heat and jump without going past 67%heat.
In my experience if you can hit the FSD button completly not caring about heat you gain a lot of time saving few seconds in every jump.

For ship types i don't know, Anaconda can jump incredibly long, but it's very cumbersone to manuever in SC, so surface scans are more difficult.
DBX is a very good explorer ship, but imho is preferrable to the ASP only if you are tight on credits. Expecially since the ASP shines with the 6 fuel scoops that are really expensive. But if credits are not an issue i think ASP is still unrivalled for exploration.

For roleplay and fun reason, you can go in the black with many kind of ships of course. If you started and have few credits a Cobra or a T6 are supergood, but also a sidewinder would do, not to mention the Hauler wich is a very good explorer.

 

[Ryan256]

BEST available Power Plant (if you can manage heat you have to wait less before jumping = travel faster even if you lose 1 or 2 Ly jump range)

That's why I went with the smallest A rated power plant capable of running the ship. From a heat standpoint A rating is A rating. The class is irrelevant. All of the extra megawattage and tonnage is unnecessary.

 

[CMDR AKIRA MASAKARI]

That's why I went with the smallest A rated power plant capable of running the ship. From a heat standpoint A rating is A rating. The class is irrelevant. All of the extra megawattage and tonnage is unnecessary.

Didn't know that. Btw i need all the power for when my shields and power distributor are on, so I'm not wasting extra megawatt.
To each its own, but i never liked to go shieldless, and when i was interdicted by an Anaconda NPC in the Pleiades on March this year, i was glad of that.

 

[Allitnil]

In a 1000ly range from sol i have everything up, so with 5A shield, D power distributor, D thrusters and best power plant i have chances to scape an interdiction (100% chances with NPCs). And i can manage heat very well with massive power plant.

Unless you jump into a signal source or asteroid belt, there's next to no chance of encountering any NPCs in an unpopulated system these days. So with a little care you can navigate to pretty much any system in the bubble without the slightest risk of being interdicted by a NPC before your final destination. And given that if you submit to the interdiction you can escape with the NPC hardly able to get a shot on you (*) there's extremely little risk even if you have no shields.

* - even for your final jump, arrange it so that you have another system set up to jump to since hyperspace jumps can't be mass locked.

There was a time - a better time IMHO - when NPC interdictions were a real issue on returning from a long trip. They used to add heart pumping excitement. But right now they have been reduced to the level of a small chance of a minor annoyance. Unless you are going to be out for a long time and believe that FDev will go back on the "reduce risk of NPCs" strategy they have adopted to date then there's little point to take them into account when choosing your loadout. Obviously this doesn't apply if you play in open when you always need to allow for the chance of encountering a skilful & well equipped psychopath...

 

[Ca$hback]

I put together a Hauler for a little over 2mil

No Weapon
No Utilities
Lightweight Alloy
2D Pow Plant
2D Thrusters
2A FSD
1D Pow Dist
1D Sensors
Fuel Tank (4)
3D Fuel Scoop
3D Auto Maint
Surface Scanner
Adv Disc Scanner

Jump range: 28.5 LY

On my way out of inhabited space for a while to clear my mind and try a new career.

 

[Makya]

The Diamondback Explorer has close to the same jump range and max range as the Asp but can do so at almost 1/2 the cost. The Hauler also comes in at a very respectable 26 LY jump range and is by far the cheapest of the group. While its max lowest max range means it will need to refuel often its 3A fuel scoop should be able to refill the tank in 22 seconds.

Just some interesting info I thought I would share. Feel free to leave questions or comments.

Interesting study, OP. Thanks +1

I will only say that I think your cost comparisons are not entirely 'fair'. Your Asp config really inflates its cost by using a crazy expensive repair unit when you have extra component slots for multiple lower-cost units. For example, a pair a 3B AMFU units have the equivalent repair capacity of the 5A unit but at a quarter of the cost.

Also the 6B fuel scoop is also very expensive. Obviously faster is better but for me the 6C scoop is quite adequate at a quarter of the cost of just the 6B. And it is still significantly faster than the DBX.

Just making those two changes drops the cost of the Asp to less than a million credits more than the DBX if I did my math correctly. I realize that you were just following the configuration guidelines you stated but at the rate at which components costs skyrocket with class, a true comparison requires a little more thought just like you did by not configuring the Asp and Anaconda with A rated scoops that are just absurdly expensive. For fuel scoops you might select based on its fill time that is equalized by how much fuel a ship might use for a maximum jump. Coriolis.io does some of the math in it's total range calculations.

 

[Makya]

Unless you jump into a signal source or asteroid belt, there's next to no chance of encountering any NPCs in an unpopulated system these days. So with a little care you can navigate to pretty much any system in the bubble without the slightest risk of being interdicted by a NPC before your final destination. And given that if you submit to the interdiction you can escape with the NPC hardly able to get a shot on you (*) there's extremely little risk even if you have no shields.

* - even for your final jump, arrange it so that you have another system set up to jump to since hyperspace jumps can't be mass locked.

There was a time - a better time IMHO - when NPC interdictions were a real issue on returning from a long trip. They used to add heart pumping excitement. But right now they have been reduced to the level of a small chance of a minor annoyance. Unless you are going to be out for a long time and believe that FDev will go back on the "reduce risk of NPCs" strategy they have adopted to date then there's little point to take them into account when choosing your loadout. Obviously this doesn't apply if you play in open when you always need to allow for the chance of encountering a skilful & well equipped psychopath...

I'll have to respectfully disagree. I remember the 500ly 'badlands' and I'm glad they're pretty much a memory. I don't explore for heart pumping excitement. There are other aspects of the game that I do for that. But more importantly, once you're back in 'civilized' space, you still need to be able to stay alive long enough to turn in your data. I think the min/max games with configuring ships is a lot of fun and jump range is important for exploring for those times you want to really get somewhere. However, there is still a risk of being interdicted and you need to plan for how you will escape.

I think the min/max games with configuring ships is a lot of fun and jump range is important for exploring for those times you want to really get somewhere. However, IMHO you either need to carry shields or configure your ship with adequate thrusters and power distribution to boost and jump. Or maybe even both. If you've been reading the recent Dev Answers postings, one of the first things that caught my eye was that your chance of being interdicted is based on your highest Pilot Federation Rank regardless of profession (i.e. combat, trading, exploration). As I interpret it, this means that as you approach Elite ranking in Exploration, your chances of being interdicted become much higher.

I recently reached Elite rank in Trade and I can tell you that I'm getting interdicted a lot; sometimes back-to-back by different npc pirates. It might also have something to do with the cargo I'm carrying but it's got me thinking on how I want to configure my ship for my next trip out in the black. One thing is for sure, I won't be going with minimum rated gear just to squeeze a bit more jump range.

 

[Allitnil]

If you've been reading the recent Dev Answers postings, one of the first things that caught my eye was that your chance of being interdicted is based on your highest Pilot Federation Rank regardless of profession (i.e. combat, trading, exploration). As I interpret it, this means that as you approach Elite ranking in Exploration, your chances of being interdicted become much higher.

Yes, I read that. I reached Elite in exploring back in April. Since then I've done half a dozen trips in my stripped down Anaconda and have only been interdicted once in it (cost me just 2% hull). So despite the scaling of interdictions, I still consider the risk to be negligible. That might change in the future (who knows, maybe today's announcement will seriously change things!) but since ED was launched there has been a major reduction is risk for explorers to the extent that I think we're more at risk from random game ending bugs than anything designed.

 

[Muzz UK]

Isn't max jump range capped at 30ly anyway? My Cobra jumps around 25ly fully fitted but I have lowest class shields possible as I get paranoid when back in populated space.

 

[Whiterose]

I have everything A rated in my DBE including max shields. I am not fussed about missing out on the odd Ly in jump range. I just fit out my craft the way I want and go into the void.

 

[Gut Rumble]

Nearly all A rated , fully armed ,A5 shields and I still have a 30Ly jump

 

[Makya]

Yes, I read that. I reached Elite in exploring back in April. Since then I've done half a dozen trips in my stripped down Anaconda and have only been interdicted once in it (cost me just 2% hull). So despite the scaling of interdictions, I still consider the risk to be negligible. That might change in the future (who knows, maybe today's announcement will seriously change things!) but since ED was launched there has been a major reduction is risk for explorers to the extent that I think we're more at risk from random game ending bugs than anything designed.

Thanks. That's good to know. When I read that I immediately thought that didn't seem quite right to increase interdictions on explorers. Still, on my next trip I will probably go unarmed but configure the ship to boost well.

 

[giomania]

Thanks. That's good to know. When I read that I immediately thought that didn't seem quite right to increase interdictions on explorers. Still, on my next trip I will probably go unarmed but configure the ship to boost well.

I don't know about the Elite interdictions frequencies (not an Elite yet), but I think since I bought an Anaconda I'm being interdicted much less. also, not being with any PP faction also helps..

 

[CMDR AKIRA MASAKARI]

Unless you jump into a signal source or asteroid belt, there's next to no chance of encountering any NPCs in an unpopulated system these days. So with a little care you can navigate to pretty much any system in the bubble without the slightest risk of being interdicted by a NPC before your final destination. And given that if you submit to the interdiction you can escape with the NPC hardly able to get a shot on you (*) there's extremely little risk even if you have no shields.

* - even for your final jump, arrange it so that you have another system set up to jump to since hyperspace jumps can't be mass locked.

There was a time - a better time IMHO - when NPC interdictions were a real issue on returning from a long trip. They used to add heart pumping excitement. But right now they have been reduced to the level of a small chance of a minor annoyance. Unless you are going to be out for a long time and believe that FDev will go back on the "reduce risk of NPCs" strategy they have adopted to date then there's little point to take them into account when choosing your loadout. Obviously this doesn't apply if you play in open when you always need to allow for the chance of encountering a skilful & well equipped psychopath...

Better safe than sorry!!!! For me going without shields is a nono, even if i loose a couple of ly jumprange. 33 is good for me anyway. Also i do stay out for months, maybe I abandon my ship for weeks in the middle of nowhere. And everytime the game gets patched I'm usually well away from the bubble. And i had troubles but i can't possibly schedule my explorations on their patching. So if they'll introduce something (thargoids!!!!!) while i'm out there, i hope i'll have a change to go back home and reequip.

 

[Cmdr Raz]

Better safe than sorry!!!! For me going without shields is a nono, even if i loose a couple of ly jumprange. 33 is good for me anyway. Also i do stay out for months, maybe I abandon my ship for weeks in the middle of nowhere. And everytime the game gets patched I'm usually well away from the bubble. And i had troubles but i can't possibly schedule my explorations on their patching. So if they'll introduce something (thargoids!!!!!) while i'm out there, i hope i'll have a change to go back home and reequip.

Gotta say, not comfortable with ditching shields either - I am quite comfortable with losing a couple of LY in jump range, ~30LY is fine by me. Maybe when I get to elite and the data isn't as important to me...