Newcomer / Intro How much damage-exploring

Hrolf · Apr 13, 2015

I'm off exploring near the Pleiades and was wondering just how much damage I can take before turning around and looking for a station? Right now I'm at 97% or better.

Nutter's scooping video says that you can run the heat levels up to 140% before you start taking damage but I seem to start getting minor damage at just over a 100% when Betty starts complaining about heat damage. Am I doing something wrong?

Oh and just in case there are any other newbies out there making this stupid mistake. You have to use the trigger to charge the scanner before it does it's scanning. One of Nutter's videos clued me in on this when I noticed his scanner "charging". I have the intermediate scanner now so I don't know if this applies to the Basic scanner.

Ashk'El · Apr 13, 2015

Hrolf said:
I'm off exploring near the Pleiades and was wondering just how much damage I can take before turning around and looking for a station? Right now I'm at 97% or better.

Depends how brave you are. Hull percentage is just a arbitrary hitpoint thing, the ship will fly just fine on 1%. However, you'd be acutely aware that one tiny bump would cause you to explode.

Personally, if I got much under 50% I'd be heading back for sure, but that's just me, I've seen videos of people thousands of light years from civilisation at like 20% hull.

Hrolf said:
Nutter's scooping video says that you can run the heat levels up to 140% before you start taking damage but I seem to start getting minor damage at just over a 100% when Betty starts complaining about heat damage. Am I doing something wrong?

No you're not doing anything wrong, Nutter's scooping video was made before the heat gauge was patched recently. Trust the gauge, it has brackets at the top, the first mark is where systems will start to get fried, the higher mark is where hull damage begins. Personally, I aim to stay well clear of all that, anything below the first bracket mark is absolutely fine.

Hrolf said:
I don't know if this applies to the Basic scanner.

It does. The advanced scanner too.

Fen Harel · Apr 13, 2015

When I fuel scoop I approach under the planet and slow down when the heat gets to 60% or so on the new scale. If it creeps up to 63 or 65 thats okay, but you don't want it to go over 70%. That's when you start taking damage to your modules.

When exploring the one thing you learn very quickly is that it is very good to have the very largest fuel scoop you can. It saves time to top off the tank, of course, but it also cuts down on the amount of time you need to hang around so close to a star.

Aquamonkey · Apr 13, 2015

Fen Harel said:
but you don't want it to go over 70%. That's when you start taking damage to your modules.

Modules start taking damage when you go over 100%. The smoke comes up at 70-80ish %, but you aren't actually taking damage.

Fen Harel · Apr 13, 2015

Aquamonkey said:
Modules start taking damage when you go over 100%. The smoke comes up at 70-80ish %, but you aren't actually taking damage.

You're absolutely right! My mistake.

Maybe I was better off not knowing, since I tend to cut corners in my scooping. A very bad habit.

Dommarraa · Apr 13, 2015

Happyness is a smoking dashboard.
A sparking dashboard is not.

I always scoop at full speed while skimming around the star. Just don't head below the Green line. If things get a bit hot, pull out, and the temp will start to drop almost instantly. If you are sitting at 0 speed, you will end up taking damage before you can escape

Zeeman · Apr 13, 2015

Hrolf said:
...

Nutter's scooping video says that you can run the heat levels up to 140% before you start taking damage but I seem to start getting minor damage at just over a 100% when Betty starts complaining about heat damage. Am I doing something wrong?
...

The guide needs updating. It used ot be 135%-150% (depending ont he ship), now it's 100% regardless of ship. The actual value is the same, just a different number that probably makes sens eto more people.

Z...

cmdr lowest · Apr 13, 2015

Dommarraa said:
Happyness is a smoking dashboard.
A sparking dashboard is not.

I always scoop at full speed while skimming around the star. Just don't head below the Green line. If things get a bit hot, pull out, and the temp will start to drop almost instantly. If you are sitting at 0 speed, you will end up taking damage before you can escape

I tend to scoop at 25% throttle and have no problems. in fact you can dip into the sun, scoop and then as you are leaving it there's a window to stop, still be collecting fuel and take no further heat so you can park there and wait. With my A grade scoop that point is around 150 but that's just an A3. I haven't bought the A4 yet.

Hrolf · Apr 13, 2015

Yeah I have the B but probably need to move up to the A

Sapient6 · Apr 13, 2015

Fen Harel said:
You're absolutely right! My mistake.

Maybe I was better off not knowing, since I tend to cut corners in my scooping. A very bad habit.

I find that heat rises really quickly once I cross the 70% threshold, so keeping it under 70% isn't a bad idea.

willowfan · Apr 13, 2015

When scooping I try to keep my temp gauge at 60% but am not too worried up to 65. Any more than that I move outwards until the temp drops again.

Having a large, high rated, scoop really helps to avoid potential damage.

DWorth · Apr 13, 2015

Be very, very careful around supergiant stars. You can get in nice and close, and then you find that their gravity starts to drag you back and your speed will get stuck 0.33C whilst ship temp keeps on rising and rising. If this happens, drop out out of supercruise, allow the ship to cool, and then jump out of the system, dropping heat sinks if you can, otherwise a fiery death awaits.

Hellhawk666 · Apr 13, 2015

My approach to scooping is simple and direct. Sun-dive.

When you come out of hyperspace you'll be looking directly at the star. If it's scoopable head straight towards it at 1 bar velocity. The scoop will kick in after a couple of seconds and the heat will start to rise. At about 58-60% heat, throttle back to nothing. The heat will continue to rise to 60-65%. You are actually still moving forward at 30kms/sec when supercruise is nominally in "neutral" and this is enough to keep you refuelling at about 75-85% of your maximum rate. While the ship is coasting forward send out a sensor ping and then check the system map. All basic system-entry tasks done.

wiblflibl · Apr 13, 2015

Hellhawk666 said:
... You are actually still moving forward at 30kms/sec when supercruise is nominally in "neutral" and this is enough to keep you refuelling at about 75-85% of your maximum rate...

It's my understanding that speed doesn't affect scooping rate. It's how far into the star's corona you are that affects refuelling rate. Speed just gets you further in quicker.

Here's my Asp refuelling at maximum rate 752kg/s for its B6 scoop while travelling at 30km/s: