Ships Long range Explorer fun - Orca?

Gheera

Gheera
Contemplating a first trip to Colonia, finishing the journey to Elite Explorer and thought perhaps a new ship might make it fun.

While I could tweak the DBX or the Krait Mk II parked at ShinDez, how would something like this work? If there’s any other LY to squeeze out, would be great to do so.

First time I’ve tried designing a ship on paper (well, Coriolis), so happy to take directions, or even contrary advice for that matter.

Orca - Jules Verne

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Space Hollow

Space Hollow
I'd replace one of your AFMUs with a repair limpet controller, as your AFMU will function just fine even at 1% after a reboot/repair. That way you can forge limpets to fix your hull should you need to. Not that you will actually need to for a trip to Colonia, but I guess I just like the idea that I can fly around as pristine as possible.
 

GroG79

G
You forgot some parts like a shield.

I also lowered your power distributor and power plant as they are way to big. This allows for more weight saving. Also note the power priorities. I added a 4D business cabin and a laser. Cause you should always have a little laser in an explorer. You will find out why later in the game. :)

Have fun in the black! Link below

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Gheera

Gheera
GroG79 said:
You forgot some parts like a shield.

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Click to expand...
Ha! Yes, spotted that when I started stuffing the newly minted Jules Verne... thanks for the tips on the Core stuff. Might take it out for a couples of kly first to see how it goes.

thanks for the build example.

Dreyski said:
Engineer your scanners to be lightweight, and get Etienne Dorn to do the same to your life support once you reach Colonia. That'll get you about 2LY extra range.
Click to expand...
Good shout!
 

Cervantes01

Cervantes01
The Orca is an excellent long range luxury yacht, and stripped bare with a guardian FSD is a beautiful ride into the black, handles like a dream. I personally go for 5A engineered thrusters as that will give you a few extra ly jump range and you won't notice the difference in handling on account of the fact that you are not that heavy. The main thing to consider for any explorer is whether you can stand looking at the same cockpit for jump after jump after jump. I tend to crave a change of scene after a while which is why i don't do too much exploration.
 

C64Fan

C64Fan
I’m surprised noone has spotted that 5D power plant. With a heat efficiency of 0.94 you’ll cook. Always go for A-class power plants. Make that a rule for yourself.

But yes, the Orca is a very fine ship and a good explorer.
 

Gheera

Gheera
Have taken a tip from above and gone 4a Power Plant for now. Current state is something like this but needs more tweaking - incredibly responsive to fly for a large ship tho

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Maolagin

M
How has nobody pointed out that 2H SRV bay? The 2G is 6T lighter and this build isn't hurting for power, so that's a free 0.7 LY right there.

EDIT to add: if you have Selene Jean unlocked, slap as high grade Heavy Duty as you can on that armor. Since lightweight armor has no mass, and thus 130% of zero is still zero, it's over a hundred extra hull integrity units with no downsides.

Without changing your chosen loadout, I would tweak your build like so if you have the engineers and mats for it:

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That bumps your unladen range up to almost 60 LY (+6 LY from the build in the comment above this one) and runs cooler with over 50% more health in both hull and shields. Note that some components are powered off in normal operation. You can't use them in supercruise anyway, so you might as well only turn on the AFMU/Repair drones/cargo hatch when needed and get to take a smaller power plant.
 
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Eeka

Eeka
@Gheera if i would fly this ship, this is how i would set it up (gosh i had a bad time finding stuff in coriolis).

A few considerations:
  • You'll want shields to prevent scratching the ship. A light one and with lo-draw (more about it below);
  • You dont need cargo hacks, repair/collector limpets, just fly carefully. Also there are fleet carriers now if you need emergency repairs;
  • You dont need a 6D engine, 95% of the time you'll be super cruising. A 5D engineered should do just fine. If you pretend to risk your expedition landing in a high G planet (above 3G) that's on you and you should be doing with extreme care and with 6A engine (heavy);
  • You dont need a big power distributor, just one that can boost you back in track and can charge your shields up when it's time to land;
  • B class AFMU has the biggest ammo capacity (good if you need to refill it), get 2 so you can repair one another. Keep them disabled as you'll need to power manage your vessel;
  • Talking about power management, a 2A engineered power plant can cover everything for you. Small, powerful, efficient and low mass. You'll want to keep non essential modules disabled while super cruising like power distributor, shields, sensors, afmus, cargo hatch, vehicle bay etc and turn them on as you need it. This will help keep your ship cool and reduce your fuel consumption;
  • 20T of fuel is more than enough. If you'll be in a route fully covered by neutron highway you might want to increase it to 24-32T but in all other cases the galaxy will provide you plenty of fuel. Carrying extra tons will make your automatic routes be less efficient as the plotting computer will consider you'll be carrying a full tank thus use your minimum jump range. People grind their butts off to reduce a few tons of mass in their equipment at engineers but completely forget about proper fuel management.

Tips:
  • Prepare to unlock the life support engineer at Colonia and pin its lightweigh blueprint. The G5 is only available there and it's causing a lot of mass increase in your ship.
  • A true exploration vessel will be fragile but focused in carrying the needed features at the max range possible. This requires you to know how it works, be intimate to it and manage its requirements. If you wanna carry everything to far distances either give up on exploration (unless you're really patient) or use a fully engineered anaconda.
  • Get yourself enough materials to refill the AFMU a few times and to give you premium FSD boost (this is not only useful to increase jump range but can also help in emergency situations as it will reduce the fuel consumption of the jump if you're low on fuel and need to get to a nearby system. I never needed to do it by the way, it's just in case).
  • There are a couple of stations in the highway to Colonia, get their location and make a visit. It will be helpful to stop by, do some repairs, take a coffee etc.
  • Bind with your vessel. It will be your only companion in the void and will take you into amazing places.

I hope this helps
 
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CMDR Deano The Imperial

CMDR Deano The Imperial
Gheera said:
Contemplating a first trip to Colonia, finishing the journey to Elite Explorer and thought perhaps a new ship might make it fun.

While I could tweak the DBX or the Krait Mk II parked at ShinDez, how would something like this work? If there’s any other LY to squeeze out, would be great to do so.

First time I’ve tried designing a ship on paper (well, Coriolis), so happy to take directions, or even contrary advice for that matter.

Orca - Jules Verne

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone s.orbis.zone
Click to expand...
Go in style, Go in a "Beluga". ;)
 

coca_fr

coca_fr
I changed your build. It has a shield, better, jump range, more SRV, more repairs capacity :

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You need at least two SRV in case you are stucked as you cannot rebuild one from the ship.

Having two AFMU is good as you can repair each other.
 

sinisalo

sinisalo
coca_fr said:
You need at least two SRV in case you are stucked as you cannot rebuild one from the ship.
Click to expand...

I'd call that a luxury, not a necessity. In a build like this you have the space for a brace of them, so no problem and not a bad idea. But having two is not necessary. You can repair a SRV with a few common mats. I've never mounted two SRVs and never lost one either. Not a bad idea to have a back up should the commander foul up, but not a necessity either, in my view
 

coca_fr

coca_fr
sinisalo said:
I'd call that a luxury, not a necessity. In a build like this you have the space for a brace of them, so no problem and not a bad idea. But having two is not necessary. You can repair a SRV with a few common mats. I've never mounted two SRVs and never lost one either. Not a bad idea to have a back up should the commander foul up, but not a necessity either, in my view
Click to expand...
If your SRV get stucked, you have to destroy it and cannot mine anymore. So it is a bad idea to have only one.

If you really need some materials for your Exploration ship, it's better to have two for security.
 

GJ51

GJ51
coca_fr said:
If your SRV get stucked, you have to destroy it and cannot mine anymore. So it is a bad idea to have only one.

If you really need some materials for your Exploration ship, it's better to have two for security.
Click to expand...

Or, you can just log out and then log in to the standard ED game which will put you back into your ship in orbit with the SRV stowed.
 

C64Fan

C64Fan
sinisalo said:
I'd call that a luxury, not a necessity. In a build like this you have the space for a brace of them, so no problem and not a bad idea. But having two is not necessary. You can repair a SRV with a few common mats. I've never mounted two SRVs and never lost one either. Not a bad idea to have a back up should the commander foul up, but not a necessity either, in my view
Click to expand...

It depends. I sometimes like to go “weeeeee!!” on geysers - which might end badly so it’s nice with an extra SRV/extra SRV’s :geek:. It’s nice to have the freedom to do that, and I wouldn’t risk if I was far out with one SRV.
 
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