Is doing exobiology fun for a bit, and do you have to be the first foot fall/planet discoverer to make decent credits?

[Aaron T]

I was watching a video about it and the guy was maki9ng huge credits, but I was wondering if it makes decent credits just scanning stuff without being the person who discovered the planet and was the first to walk on it?

What range of credits can a casual player expect to make if playing at a relaxed pace and just learning the routine per hour VS a player who is fast and grinding hard, loclally VS out in the black disovering new planets and scanning the exobiology. Thank you.

I am not about grinding for max credits, but I do need to make some bank to keep my fleet carrier going.

AAMOF, I do nmot grind anymore at all. I may play for 2-3 hours max, my grinding days are long past.

 

[DYSEQTA]

Here are some examples:
A couple of weeks back I went out into the black with a sole purpose: To hunt down Stratum Tectonicas where no-one had been before. I came back after a about 8 hours total effort to a payout of about 1.5 billion or thereabouts.

A day or so ago I landed at a planetary outpost for some stealth shenanigans and happened to notice another stratum type I hadn't experienced before and a plant type I had never seen. Scanned them both and handed in for around the 8.5 million mark.

 

[Aaron T]

Thank you. I assume the latter was on a planet that had already be discovered?

 

[DYSEQTA]

Yes in the bubble, regular planet.
The huge payouts come from being the first to scan on a given planet. You don't actually have to be the first to discover the system or even the first to scan the planet just the first to scan that particular species on this particular planet. So if you are out and find a planet with Stratum on it and get first footfall when you land you know you are on the big money. Tectonicas is just the biggest money of them all.

 

[Vedmo]

If you get first footfall the payout is x4. If you get to some unexplored space and jump system to system doing a full system scan and noting the biological ones (some atmospheres usually pay better, as do higher metal content worlds in general) you'll eventually find something with multiple signals on multiple planets and can get a half billion credit or better system that makes up for all the 1 or 2 signal planets. I just got done with a stint of it and after a few play sessions (idk, maybe 10 hours or so) I'd get 50+ million in exploration payouts and half a billion to a billion depending on luck with exobiology, all first discovery/footfall. The more you do it the better and faster you get at finding all the stuff on planets. I'm sure I've spent more time trying to find 1 bacteria than I have rolling through 6 signals on an easier to spot stuff on planet.

 

[DjVortex]

If you get first footfall the payout is x4.

The extra payout doesn't come from first footfall, but from being the first to scan that plant on that planet. It's perfectly possible for someone to have been on foot on that planet, but not scanned the plants. Of course there's no way of knowing if that's the case. If the planet has no first footfall, at least that's a guarantee that nobody has scanned those plants.

Also, I think the payout multiplier is 5, not 4.

 

[varonica]

The extra payout doesn't come from first footfall, but from being the first to scan that plant on that planet. It's perfectly possible for someone to have been on foot on that planet, but not scanned the plants. Of course there's no way of knowing if that's the case. If the planet has no first footfall, at least that's a guarantee that nobody has scanned those plants.

Also, I think the payout multiplier is 5, not 4.

Yeah 5 times base value, but it can be confusing because it is actually 4 of the base value added to the base value to make the total.

 

[DjVortex]

It's perfectly possible for someone to have been on foot on that planet, but not scanned the plants. Of course there's no way of knowing if that's the case.

I wonder if it would be a good idea if they added a way of knowing this. I don't know how it would look like, but some way of knowing if there are unscanned plants on that planet or not (regardless of whether there's a first footfall or not).

 

[sidereal6]

I wonder if it would be a good idea if they added a way of knowing this. I don't know how it would look like, but some way of knowing if there are unscanned plants on that planet or not (regardless of whether there's a first footfall or not).

The problem is that there’s a delay from when you scan to when you get credit. It’s possible to be the first to scan something, but then take months to get back to civilization, meanwhile someone else scanned it and turned it in. If that happens, the second guy gets the higher payout because he turned the data in first

If you really want to be sneaky you could find some twitch streamer doing exo and make a note of the good planets he finds and go behind him and rescan them. Sort of the ED version of stream sniping

 

[Vedmo]

The extra payout doesn't come from first footfall, but from being the first to scan that plant on that planet.

Yeah 5 times base value

Thanks for the corrections, for some reason close to correct is pretty good for me anymore. I actually got kind of happy to learn so many of those bacteria actually got me 5 million not 4!

 

[aRJay]

I was watching a video about it and the guy was maki9ng huge credits, but I was wondering if it makes decent credits just scanning stuff without being the person who discovered the planet and was the first to walk on it?

What range of credits can a casual player expect to make if playing at a relaxed pace and just learning the routine per hour VS a player who is fast and grinding hard, loclally VS out in the black disovering new planets and scanning the exobiology. Thank you.

I am not about grinding for max credits, but I do need to make some bank to keep my fleet carrier going.

AAMOF, I do nmot grind anymore at all. I may play for 2-3 hours max, my grinding days are long past.

It will depend on how lucky you are, as has been said the bonus for first scan adds an additional four times what the sample paid.

Without the bonus samples pay from 1,000,000 credits (most Bacterium) to ~19,000,000 credits for Stratum Tectonicas, note there are Bacterium that pay considerably better than the minimum and other Stratum that pay much less than Tectonicas.

Playing for 1-2 hours a day just exploring and sampling I was always earning more than my FC needed in a week often without needing to figure in the bonus. I was using the EliteObservatory tool with the BioInsights plug-in which helps a lot.

 

[aRJay]

The problem is that there’s a delay from when you scan to when you get credit. It’s possible to be the first to scan something, but then take months to get back to civilization, meanwhile someone else scanned it and turned it in. If that happens, the second guy gets the higher payout because he turned the data in first

If you really want to be sneaky you could find some twitch streamer doing exo and make a note of the good planets he finds and go behind him and rescan them. Sort of the ED version of stream sniping

While an issue that can be hugely mitigated if you are running an FC while selling Astro data to Universal Cartographics on it will cost you 25% half of that goes to your FC selling to Vista on board doesn’t have that fee so you get everything.
My last trip I jumped the FC 500Ly and chased it in my sampling and exploration Hauler selling everything when I caught up. So worse case I was only 11 jumps away.

 

[varonica]

Without the bonus samples pay from 1,000,000 credits (most Bacterium) to ~19,000,000 credits for Stratum Tectonicas, note there are Bacterium that pay considerably better than the minimum and other Stratum that pay much less than Tectonicas.

There are a couple of odd ones that go over 20m, but they are very rare, Stratum Tectonics, on the other hand, seems to be everywhere, that is the big money maker indeed!

 

[DjVortex]

I actually got kind of happy to learn so many of those bacteria actually got me 5 million not 4!

Actually it depends on the species of bacteria. For example Bacterium Nebulus has a base reward of 9.1 million, ie. 45.5 million if it's a first-scan. (Other very valuable bacteria are Bacterium Informem and Bacterium Scopulum, at over 8 million base value each.)

 

[Releaux]

To answer your question about fun, I think it is. There are certainly some times where it can be frustrating (e.g., some species that like to live on mountain tops), but by and large it’s a very zen loop.

The big payoffs are nice if you still need money, and having a carrier along makes it a bit more reliable, but I don’t really need the funds anymore, I just enjoy the calmness of the search process and that “found it!” moment. And I still go to the mountains for those pesky ones.

 

[Aaron T]

I understand that there are 3 scans needed for each planet/moon for each type and you can do all types at 3 scans each?

So, if there are 27 stratum on a moon you can only do 3 scans, not 9 scans (27 divided by 3)?

Is the Asp good, or is a Diamondback preferred for it's smaller footprint being easier to land?

I am debating over looking mainly for undiscovered planets and getting my name on many planets and first footfalls for max profit with fewer planets searched, or using a third party app to do well traveled areas that have info and can therefor show you where you will surely find stratum and make less per planet but do so many more scans it makes up for it?

With the latter there is a good chance that not all planets were landed on even if discovered, many explorers just scan the plsanrets and move on so there can still be footfall bonuses?

I plan on taking my fleet carrier and jumping up or down 300-500 LY, and then going out about 1500 LYs.

I bought 696 units of Tritium fuel for the first time last night and stored it on the fleet carrier, I am considering putting quite a few more 606 unit loads on ther fleet carrier so I can go out for a bit and back without needing to panic for a place to buy it out yonder and certainly not get sidetracked having to mine for it, good idea?

I suppose I want to purchase Vista Genomonics or whatever for my carrier so I never have to carry tons of it on my ship and risk losing billions of info in a hard landing and such, plus I will not have to pay a percentage to someone else?

Thank you, commanders, I will be taking a little more time to study and prepare before heading out.

Oh, I almost forgot, I cannot find very many details in videos about seeing the areas on a surface with stratum and such from up high, I noticed that within the blue splotches on the surface as you approach and get closer there are barely perceptible little bluish green splotches, are the greenish splotches biology?

Thank you all.

 

[Aaron T]

I have about a billion point three on me in cash, and about 6.5 billion in the FC bank, so I am getting a little nervous and want to get my balance back up there a little bit, but by doing something a little different and new to me.

 

[Brrokk]

"Yes" to both questions.

I'd say equip yourself and test everything out before leaving civilisation though.

A small ship makes landings in rough places much easier. Often you don't need the SRV; you can fly from one sample to another.

Land in sunlight areas. Learn the lighting angles and directions which make various plants stand out.

I've reached Elite V and there are some plants I haven't yet found; it's still interesting enough to be in my rotation of activities.

 

[Aaron T]

Thank you.

I am very rusty at exploration so before heading out I will get back up to speed by scanning some systems and using the DSS, and go down and look for anything I can hand scan, just for the experience before I invest in traveling too far out.

 

[Aaron T]

Another question, I know you make more by selling cartographic info further away, but also risk losing it, if I sell it to my FC after discovering systems or planets will my name then be listed in the system map?