I find the Asp gets quite cramped in terms of optional modules. I prefer the Phantom for Exobiology, as it's more stable hovering at low speed.
The Dolphin is another favourite.
The Dolphin is another favourite.
Is doing exobiology fun for a bit, and do you have to be the first foot fall/planet discoverer to make decent credits?
- Thread starter Aaron T
- Start date
What modules do you need for exobiology that won't fit in the Asp Explorer?
My main exploration ship is the DBX, which has even less module space. Never been a problem for me...
An Explorer is essentially an engine with a cockpit and SRVs strapped to it, so scoop, FSD booster, surface scanner, and I wind up with a pair of size 2 SRV bays.
The Phantom can fit all the gubbins and still have a size 4 SRV bay.
The Phantom can fit all the gubbins and still have a size 4 SRV bay.
A planet can have several ExoBio types/variants.
There are planets with a single Bio up to 11 or even 12 - i personally found 9 Bio on a single planet, but i didnt spend too much out there.
For each Bio, you have to scan 3 samples that are located within a certain distance from another - i think the largest distance is like 800m which, on foot, is quite a lot.
You wont find ingame this distance, which varies from type to type, but there are tools out there.
So you scan sample 1, then look sample 2 located at more than the minimum distance, scan it, then look for and scan sample 3 which again it has to be at a certain distance from the other scanned samples.
And only after the 3rd and final scan it is considered that you actually "mapped" that bio type and you get payed for - just make sure you dont die before selling the data, else all is lost.
No you don't, the value is the same no matter how far you go! You may be confusing rare market items, these do, to a certain extent, increase in value the further you go, but UC data doesn't. However you will lose a fixed 12.5% selling to your own FC, 12.5% goes to the owner of the FC, you and 75% directly to you, so you actually only 82.5% selling to your own fleet carrier, 75% to someone else's fleet carrier.
Oh yes, selling to carrier UC is the same as any station UC, once done your name is there forever.
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My prime decision making point for a bio ship is the view, a cockpit with a downward view will enable you to search for bio much faster than one that doesn't, small footprint next, while the phantom is good I have on occasion had issues landing in areas with a lot of rocks, jump range comes somewhere near last, that's why my T6 is my favorite bio hunter, can't be beaten in my opinion, others may disagree, but I have to respectfully say, they are all wrong! 
I thought 10 is the maximum.
10 is the maximum I have found, but there are a few planets with more, I had to visit them specially to check it out, 11 is the max I know of. In theory the max is determined only by the conditions.
Ah here it is from a previous discussion;
Exobiology signals - anyone know what the max is?
It seems it's not so common to find 10 species on one planet like i thought first, so i've searched for mine which i mentioned earlier. It's only 1150 ly from Sol, on planet A5 B... if anyone want's to visit... PRAEA EUQ MY-I D9-22
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We'll have to disagree here
Dolphin is a great traveller/explorer with lots of internal space and no heat issues - but is hampered by the nonexisting downwards view.
Phantom is a great ship with lots of internals and a good view, but has the large footprint.
DBX is a little cramped and suffers from the small scoop, but can land on a towel.
The last time I set out from Colonia, I had a fully equipped and engineered Phantom. After the first half dozen or so planets, I turned back and equipped a DBX since I got fed up with having to drive everywhere in the SRV because I couldn't land where I wanted. Between the Phantom and the DBX, I didn't even consider the space pancake.
I strongly agree with @Ashnak's post above. The footprint of your ship is really important when hunting those bios in the mountainous regions. I too tried Phantom and AspX and found them too fiddly to land in many locations, anything smaller is great. If using a Fleet Carrier for your trip and as a base then you can easily utilize even a Sidewinder.
I prefer to use a DbX, the small fuel scoop makes the long trip out (if non FC account) a pain but not too bad and even if piggy-backing on another's FC to go out in the black, I use the DbX just in case I have to make the long trip back without the use of the squadron FC.
I prefer to use a DbX, the small fuel scoop makes the long trip out (if non FC account) a pain but not too bad and even if piggy-backing on another's FC to go out in the black, I use the DbX just in case I have to make the long trip back without the use of the squadron FC.
I'm currently experimenting with an Asp Scout with an SCO drive.
Landing wise I've been able to land reasonably close even with Fungoida in the Phantom.
Landing wise I've been able to land reasonably close even with Fungoida in the Phantom.
Yes, actually I think a small ship is quite important for exobiology. I use a Cobra. Fungoida can be in very rough terrain.
My Exobiology ship of choice is the Hauler, as it can fit all the modules needed, can jump respectably, if need be, and can land everywhere.
Its view is possibly the worst imaginable, however.
I would love a small Lakon ship, Hauler sized, and with a T6 canopy.
A flying SRV, basically.
Its view is possibly the worst imaginable, however.
I would love a small Lakon ship, Hauler sized, and with a T6 canopy.
A flying SRV, basically.
Woo Hoot! Using Spansh.co.uk and info from this thread (Thank you commanders) and videos I compiled a list of 116 high metal content planets close by (hopefully containing Stratum Tectonicas) and went into a system a jump away in my engineered DBX and found some quickly and made the 3 scans and returned to my carrier.
I added the Vista Genomics and sold the scans for 19 million CR.
Of course it was already discovered before, but I am going to practice locally until I get it down smoothly before I head out any distance as I am so rusty.
I never really noticed a tint difference like in videos, going from blue to bluish green for the biology, I just saw dark and light blue which I think was just different terrain, but I dropped out and luckily was very close to the stratum tectonicas.
I copied and pasted the 116 planets and info to a text document in my ED MISC folder so I can stay busy awhile without having to visit spansh every time.
Here is a 49 second video. Thank you so much everyone.
Note about video, I have a 2k monitor but did not realize I am upscaled to 4k in ED, so the video is in 4k, if you click below of course it takes a few seconds to adjust to the high resolution, or you can click to watch on YouTube of course.
To simplify matters I may just run ED in 2k, but upscaling is smooth, I will test it out.
Source: https://youtu.be/jjq8dlndLiM?si=sP6bgAasMR386KbA
I added the Vista Genomics and sold the scans for 19 million CR.
Of course it was already discovered before, but I am going to practice locally until I get it down smoothly before I head out any distance as I am so rusty.
I never really noticed a tint difference like in videos, going from blue to bluish green for the biology, I just saw dark and light blue which I think was just different terrain, but I dropped out and luckily was very close to the stratum tectonicas.
I copied and pasted the 116 planets and info to a text document in my ED MISC folder so I can stay busy awhile without having to visit spansh every time.
Here is a 49 second video. Thank you so much everyone.
Note about video, I have a 2k monitor but did not realize I am upscaled to 4k in ED, so the video is in 4k, if you click below of course it takes a few seconds to adjust to the high resolution, or you can click to watch on YouTube of course.
To simplify matters I may just run ED in 2k, but upscaling is smooth, I will test it out.
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I don't think it's that bad. If your goal is to go from A to B as fast as possible, ignoring everything else, you can achieve a pace of slightly less than a minute per jump, which isn't bad at all. A ship with a larger scoop (like an AspX) won't give you a significantly smaller time per jump.
The only issue I've had with the Phantom is when I landed on the other side of a ridge and couldn't see the Fungoida when I disembark.
Useful to get a bearing before landing.
On the other hand, I have learned to skip Fungoida Setisis.
I am not a completionist, so scanning them is an unrewarding challenge, in the majority of cases.
You need 3 samples taken at a distance of 100-1000 metres apart (distance depending on type of bio) for each bio type to complete a sample from one planet.
You will only be One type of any bio present on any one world, so a system with 27 Stratum available to scan would have at least 27 worlds with bios available, so in a system with 27 Stratum you would need to complete 27 lots of 3 scans each separated by IIRC 500m.
There is a definite advantage to having a ship with a small landing footprint as it improves your chances of landing right by the thing you are after, lately I am using a Hauler, which means you can work without an SRV.
Whichever approach you find most fun is the best choice personally I get bored fast doing R2R type trips.
Yes people have been exploring and tagging stuff for years before we could land on the low atmosphere worlds, actually you can find systems first explored before the FSS as shown by the number of different names that discovered worlds.
Good plan.
Yes.
Yes.
Some say yes others say no.
I tend to look for a relatively small blue patch of one of the bios present to reduce the search area, if it overlaps with other bios all the better.