anyone have any tips for doing these? biggest problem I have is figuring out where to go
guide on planetary scan missions??
- Thread starter skullblits
- Start date
Finding the planet
or finding the place on planet
or something else?
honk / scan nav beacon
look at nav panel when you get close
or something else?
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Yes, as Factabulous says, go to the system specified by the mission and scan the nav beacon or honk an advanced discovery scanner. This will give you the planet where the data point will be.
As you approach the planet in supercruise, HUD markers will begin to appear on the planet (the targeting circles), and as you center on them, one will be a search zone. You can also, as mentioned select this from the navigation tab. Select that as a target and fly towards it, you will go to orbital cruise, then glide and finally normal planetary flight. The target will move around a bit, as if you are homing in on it and will eventually settle onto a small outpost.
Land, get into SRV, scan the data point and you are done.
As you approach the planet in supercruise, HUD markers will begin to appear on the planet (the targeting circles), and as you center on them, one will be a search zone. You can also, as mentioned select this from the navigation tab. Select that as a target and fly towards it, you will go to orbital cruise, then glide and finally normal planetary flight. The target will move around a bit, as if you are homing in on it and will eventually settle onto a small outpost.
Land, get into SRV, scan the data point and you are done.
Other missions to find stuff (assassinate, salvage etc) use the same mechanic - I thought I only wanted an ADS on my explorer ship - turns out I was wrong
Many of the buildings and outposts have a trespass zone that you'll need to approach with care. Skimmers will be on guard and you'll need to avoid their blue predator lights while making the scan to avoid being attacked. Pause for a minute and watch them to work out their patrol timing. Remember to use the SRV's turret mode to scan the data point.
Park your ship a few Km's away, if you die in the SRV it's no big deal but if your ship is close to the base it could potentially be attacked. Strong ships like the Python can laugh the attacks off, smaller ones....not so much. Defense turrets hurt...
If the outpost/building doesn't have a trespass zone you can march right in and do whatever you want even if the bots are all 'wanted'.
Park your ship a few Km's away, if you die in the SRV it's no big deal but if your ship is close to the base it could potentially be attacked. Strong ships like the Python can laugh the attacks off, smaller ones....not so much. Defense turrets hurt...
If the outpost/building doesn't have a trespass zone you can march right in and do whatever you want even if the bots are all 'wanted'.
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Rather than land far away, you can land nearby and then dismiss your ship. Once your done, drive a bit away and recall it. That way your ship is perfectly safe.
soo I basically head to a planet with the blue thing next to it on contact's and select a search zone when I'm close
Hmmm, prefer to have the ship parked ready for a quick getaway. As long as it has shields to survive the base firing at it
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Aye, that's the safest way. Bases can sometimes have a pretty scary security detail protecting them. If you see something like this...
...it's better that your ship is in orbit.
Don't let this put you off though OP, planetary scans are fun and they pay handsomely.
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^^^^ ??????
Yes.
There are some good you tube videos which will guide you through the process. Good luck... 
sometimes when the planet is a good distance away you won't see it right away, check your mission updates in coms panel and in the right panel missions list. it will tell you which planet once you scan the nav beacon. Dss works too but takes longer as you have to zoom in to each planet to get it to register. it should highlight on the navigation panel showing all planets in the system, if there are to many just use the filter to tell it to show you only landable planets and it will narrow the list for you...also make sure you are in the right system. I have occasionally jumped in to a system and mistook it for my destination human error being what it is and all.
Unfortunately, you have looked at a very old thread for information, and stuff has changed...
There is no ADS to honk anymore, and honking the FSS does nothing with regards to mission targets. In the current game, to find a planetary scan location...
1. Jump to the system given in the mission description.
2. Target the nav beacon when you get to the system and super cruise to it, and when you get within dropping range drop to normal space.
3. Target the actual nav beacon (best to use the Contacts tab in the left HUD for this), not it's HUD marker. Point your ship at the nav beacon and it will scan it, takes about 5 seconds. You will get a mission update giving you the body to fly to.
(2 $ 3 - You can also use the FSS to locate the appropriate body.)
4. Fly to the body / planet. A target will appear on the planet (and will appear in the navigation tab in the left HUD). It will be called "Search Zone" Select the target and fly to it.
5. As you approach the drop altitude the target will make one big move, so be ready for it or you'll drop out a long way from it. Not a disaster but a painful waste of time. Stay in orbital cruise and follow the big move, after which the target will bob around a bit, but nothing drastic.
6. Finally the target will disappear behind you at which point the actual building or outpost will spawn / materialize and you can land, get into your SRV and scan the data point.
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Just moved all my stuff to one of the system right on the edge of the bubble - with a view of trying to help one of the factions (not decided which one yet).
However on topic I did 2 planetary scan missions - first one went without a hitch killed 2 skimmers and shot two turrets, scanned the data point and went for the next one.
Obviously picked up a fine/bounty as when I was on my way to the next one got interdicted but avoided it - then did the next one - shot two skimmers and 1 turret - for some reason could not kill the other turret (must have been too far away or something) anyway as I set off to dock my sry got the messages mothership was under attack - manage to get away all shields gone but only down to 97 on my hull.
So all went well in the end but yes there is a technique to this and I imagine at some point in the future I will mess it up.
But they are fun and makes a change from trading/mission running/killing NPC's
However on topic I did 2 planetary scan missions - first one went without a hitch killed 2 skimmers and shot two turrets, scanned the data point and went for the next one.
Obviously picked up a fine/bounty as when I was on my way to the next one got interdicted but avoided it - then did the next one - shot two skimmers and 1 turret - for some reason could not kill the other turret (must have been too far away or something) anyway as I set off to dock my sry got the messages mothership was under attack - manage to get away all shields gone but only down to 97 on my hull.
So all went well in the end but yes there is a technique to this and I imagine at some point in the future I will mess it up.
But they are fun and makes a change from trading/mission running/killing NPC's
Deleted member 166264
D
You actually don't have to fight the turrets or skimmers to complete these missions. You can either drive or fly up to the data point, access it, and then make a quick exit from the immediate area. You just have to be aware of the no-trespassing zone that's usually around the data point. Sometimes it's huge so you'll want to fly in, locate the point, get your nose right up on it, and then use your ship's data link. Usually though you can almost drive right to it, and if you're lucky you can scan it while outside the no-trespassing zone. Either way just scan it real quick and drive off. You'll take a few hits once they start shooting at you, but you should be able to get out of range before your shields come down.
since the ADS, these (and other missions) have become so much easier - no need to got to the (compromised?) nav beacon anymore...
I agree in general, but sometimes I do shoot them. The bounty claims gained by killing the skimmers will sometimes offset the bounty I'll get from the scanning of a Private Beacon.
I'm still not sure why skimmers at these locations can be Wanted while the turrets never are. Kind of weird imho.
I agree in general, but sometimes I do shoot them. The bounty claims gained by killing the skimmers will sometimes offset the bounty I'll get from the scanning of a Private Beacon.
I'm still not sure why skimmers at these locations can be Wanted while the turrets never are. Kind of weird imho.
It's pretty much always worth shooting the skimmers. They are very easy to take out and you get 1000 credits for each. The bounty for trespass (scanning a private beacon) is only 500 or 600. And if you've destroyed the skimmers, then for the building scenario nothing will shoot at you once you complete the scan, and for the outpost scenario only the anti SRV turret will shoot at you and that is very easy to outrun.
I never bother to shoot the turrets. They are only present at outposts (as opposed to buildings) and don't really get in the way. It's possible to line yourself up to scan the data point at an outpost in such a way that you are not visible to the anti SRV one (until you are driving away having completed the scan), and the anti ship one simply cannot do any damage in the time it takes to fly out of range, at least it doesn't to me as I am in a relatively fast ship.
Regarding the point made that if you are lucky you can scan from outside the trespass zone... Actually you can always scan from outside the trespass zone. You will still get a trespass bounty for scanning a private data point, but nothing will open fire on you until you have finished the scan.