Heat sinks and field repair tool for exploration

FreeeLancer · Jul 31, 2015

Right, I'm going on a little exploration trip soon and I'm curious about these two modules.

From what I've noticed heat sinks cannot be deployed in SC anymore, so are they worth it anymore for exploration?

I've noticed heat damage now focuses on module performance rather then hull. I've never used auto field repair units before, I'm guessing they repair modules exclusively? How beneficial would they be and cost effective compared to the power they require?
If they are of major importance, should I fit maintenance unit on lvl6 slot instead of fuel scoop (talking about Asp)?

Here's my current build, should I change something?
http://coriolis.io/outfit/asp/04D5D5A4D3D5D5C----------3c-43--2f2i.Iw18WQ==.Aw18WQ==

azdour · Jul 31, 2015

Heat sinks can be a life saver if you drop in between multiple stars because you can start heating up straight away I believe. You can use the heat sinks during your escape from them to prevent damage.

Dommarraa · Jul 31, 2015

Take a Heat Sink, you might find a use for it. I made it to Explorer without using one. I would have benefited from using it once (I did have one, but forgot), and it would have saved me about 5-10% Module damage. Big deal. IMHO, if you get a close binary, you are better off just blasting out rather than stopping and having to juggle with the sinks. Whatever floats your boat.

AMFU dont need to be powered until you use them, and you must NEVER use them in SC. You will therefore have ample power. They weigh nothing, so take them. They dont fix Hull, PP or Canopy, and Canopy will normally be your limiting factor, so no need to overload on AMFU, you wont use a lot. 1x5A or 2x3A will be ample. They are NOWHERE near as important as your Scoop. As big as you can cram in, as expensive as you can possibly afford is the specification for a Fuel Scoop.

Jack Folstam · Jul 31, 2015

As far as Heat Sinks go, you need to drop out of supercruise, then use them while charging the fsd. I've never needed them unless I get distracted and crash into a star - if you run cold you can escape from basically any binary/trinary situation unless you're spectacularly unlucky. It's not like you need shields 20kly out from civilization as long as you avoid dropping into planetary rings and/or asteroid belt clusters.

For AFMUs, they are useful to make sure something critical doesn't conk out. They're massless and you can always turn them off, so why not? A 3C AFMU only costs 300k. You can't repair modules that are running, so you'll always have enough power to use them - just drop out of Supercruise, then turn off everything but life support.

Dommarraa · Jul 31, 2015

A 4A PP is better than a 4D, it runs cooler

Here is mine http://coriolis.io/outfit/asp/04A5D5A4D4D5D5C----------3c0s43-242i2f?bn=Im Not Here

Philip Coutts · Jul 31, 2015

I went out without either and came back to tell the tale. Once I dropped in between 2 stars and took about 3% hull damage and about the same to modules so I guess a heatsink might have saved that but as long as you pay attention you shouldn't blow up! Can't speak for the repair tool as I've never used one.

777Driver · Jul 31, 2015

It really depends on how long you are planning on staying out for. Heat sinks are essential for escaping when trapped near a star (especially super giants)

AFMU on my opinion is essential, I take at least two on long trips. Biggest reason for carrying the AFMU is to keep the FSD in good condition. Once an FSD gets below 90% It can start developing faults, you really don't want to be far from home with a faulty FSD.

FreeeLancer · Jul 31, 2015

Thanks for the quick replies guys!

Dommarraa said:
A 4A PP is better than a 4D, it runs cooler

And especially for this, completely forgot the energy efficiency, and that one's a big deal.

Mysturji · Jul 31, 2015

Heat sinks - yes!
Field repair unit - Yes! (especially on long journeys)
If you get too close to a star and drop out, you'll be glad you have heat sinks. Then when you assess the damage, you may also be glad you have a repair unit.

Regarding your loadout, you want to upgrade your power plant.
Then, if you can afford them, also upgrade your power distribution, shields, sensors and thrusters.
A chaff launcher, SCB and a couple of shield boosters wouldn't go amiss either. (You want to survive the trip back to sell your data, right?)
I would also advise carrying weapons, but that's up to you.

Dommarraa · Jul 31, 2015

Mysturji said:
Heat sinks - yes!
Field repair unit - Yes! (especially on long journeys)
If you get too close to a star and drop out, you'll be glad you have heat sinks. Then when you assess the damage, you may also be glad you have a repair unit.

Regarding your loadout, you want to upgrade your power plant.
Then, if you can afford them, also upgrade your power distribution, shields, sensors and thrusters.
A chaff launcher, SCB and a couple of shield boosters wouldn't go amiss either. (You want to survive the trip back to sell your data, right?)
I would also advise carrying weapons, but that's up to you.

What ? ! I strongly disagree. OP had it just about right

If you want to explore with all that kit, take a DBE

Mysturji · Jul 31, 2015

Dommarraa said:
What ? ! I strongly disagree. OP had it just about right

If you want to explore with all that kit, take a DBE

OK, but A-grade power plant will help with heat management. So will a better distributor. It's an exploration vessel, right? Sensors for better scanning range/time. The rest is for survival when back in occupied space.
To each their own.

Just noticed your addendum... I do. But an Asp has more module slots, so I'm not sure where you're coming from?

Muffindrake · Jul 31, 2015

You can run a 2A power plant, if you disable your cargo hatch. It has the same heat efficiency as 4A, but costs significantly less.

Dommarraa · Jul 31, 2015

Power Dist does nothing to heat dissipation, most explorers turn it off once out of the bubble
Scanner have no effect on exploration scanning, it only effects the ship radar, many (but fewer) turn it off once out of the bubble

A DBE can carry an armed load-out without it crippling the jump range better than an Asp.

Io_Sys · Jul 31, 2015

Last exploration run, DBE, standard D-class loadout, A/FSD/PP, AFMU, Fuel scoop etc. No weapons.

Carried 2 Heatsinks, had all non-essentials including the distrib shut down to save on heat as well. Ran extremely cool, hit the scoop max at 45-65% heat at most points. Could easily jump while inside the star's heat range without coming anywhere near overheat. Hardly ever made it near 70% actually.

Except the run I did after that seems to suddenly be taking on a lot more heat. only change was minus one heat sink.
I don't suppose Heat sinks give some passive benefit as well, like increasing the max heat capacity by like 10% or something?

Muffindrake · Jul 31, 2015

Io_Sys said:
Last exploration run, DBE, standard D-class loadout, A/FSD/PP, AFMU, Fuel scoop etc. No weapons.

Carried 2 Heatsinks, had all non-essentials including the distrib shut down to save on heat as well. Ran extremely cool, hit the scoop max at 45-65% heat at most points. Could easily jump while inside the star's heat range without coming anywhere near overheat. Hardly ever made it near 70% actually.

Except the run I did after that seems to suddenly be taking on a lot more heat. only change was minus one heat sink.
I don't suppose Heat sinks give some passive benefit as well, like increasing the max heat capacity by like 10% or something?

No. It's just that the DBX has pretty broken heat dissipation.

PotatoOverdose · Jul 31, 2015

I've explored for many tens of thousands of light years using an asp and later an anaconda - never once did I carry a heatsink (it adds mass reducing jump range), and never had any problems. I did always carry 2 AFMU's, since they're mass-less - never had any occasion to use them either though.

In principle, the AFMU's are used to repair things like your fuelscoop. If you overheat a lot, the fuelscoop gets damaged, eventually becoming unusable. Dead fuel scoop, dead explorer.

radiKS · Aug 1, 2015

On long trips, I've found the Auto Field Maintenance Units useful for keeping the thrusters and Frame Shift Drive in tip-top shape. Once the thrusters and FSD gets damaged, they will intermittently fail. If they fail in super cruise, the emergency drop will cause more damage to your modules.

I usually don't bother to use the AFMUs on other modules.

gooddoc · Aug 1, 2015

Iv never took heat sinks on a trip, but i did take 2 repair modules on my trip to the core - i used 1 completely & about a 1/5th of the second.
If youve scooped with a slot 6 Fuel scoop, then don't drop down to a 5 scoop. I mistakingly put a slot 5 scoop in my Asp for a little trip im on now, boy! it's sooooo slow compared to a slot 6 scoop.

Jukelo · Aug 1, 2015

Heat sinks are absolutely essential, because sooner or later you'll end up stuck between contact binaries upon exiting hyperspace.
The AFMU comes very handy after two of these encounters, when you're getting tired of your FSD randomly failing.

Viking2010 · Aug 1, 2015

Hi,

I took 2 AFMU's and two HS launchers and TBH I've only used two heat sinks so far after 2600LY.....both were in error as I hit the wrong button on the joystick right after logging in! Doh!! So wasted 2 of them! The AFMU's, again not used yet. I'm only a quarter of the way to my destination and then gotta get back again so they might come in useful. So far, no damage. Just keeping to the rule of throttling back once the countdown starts and doing an about turn on dropping out of warp! Carrying those didn't affect the weight too much and I still have a 26LY jump range in my Cobra.