My new Asp - loadout and plans

jefc_uk

J
So, I finally got my Asp. I'm parked up at Jameson Memorial contemplating my loadout, and where to go off exploring. I'd really appreciate any input anyone may have on the two points below.

Loadout;
This is purely for exploring. I know some people go without shields, but well, I don't want to! I've also heard the auto maintenance thing is useless.
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=30g,0mI0mI0mI0mI,2-5K6u7_6u6u8S8I,0AA08c05U7Q44zM2jw2UI
Can anyone see any problems there? Thought I might as well stick the 4x point defence in as they don't weigh anything. I'll power them off for most of the time. If I need to power them on I'll switch off something else (fuel scoop, maybe) temporarily.

Where to go off exploring;
I'd love to go somewhere where no-one has been before. Unfortunately the game doesn't tell us if a system has never been explored before, so I'll have to guess. Any ideas on a direction to take? I imagine all nebulae have been done now, so I'm just going to pick a direction and go. Plan is to come back with nnough exploration data to sell to buy another ship and kit it out for combat. Not done any of that yet (well, not out of choice) since beta, and I'm pretty sick of trading for now.

Thanks in advance!
 

A Titan

A
I would get a A5 fuel scoop, less time you will need around a star.

If you can afford it that is.

Oh and get some heat sinks they will save you from those nasty binary system's and neutron stars.
 
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Yokai

Yokai
I'm no explorer, but:

1. D3 shields are pretty skimpy on an Asp. Not sure if shields are needed at all if you're in the middle of nowhere and never getting interdicted. Check out this handy visual chart:
http://i.imgur.com/1FL7I48.png

2. I've seen other players assert that the larger/better the power plant, the slower heat buildup occurs when fuel scooping. What I do know is that it takes _forever_ to fill up the tank of an Asp even with an A3 scoop, and you have to constantly ride that 99% heat line.
 

KillaALF

K
You need to upgrade your power plant a bit (and get rid of a couple of those PDs), you are using 107% and you can't turn anything off, as you'll be spending 99,9% of your time in supercruise. Also, as A Titan said, get a better Fuel scoop, even a 5D one will be twice as fast than the A3 you have, cheaper too.
 

jefc_uk

J
A Titan said:
I would get a A5 fuel scoop, less time you will need around a star.

If you can afford it that is.

Oh and get some heat sinks they will save you from those nasty binary system's and neutron stars.
Click to expand...

Looks like A3 is the best fuels scoop I can. Seems like Jameson Memorial doesn't have heat sink launchers (I thought it had everything!). Either way; they weigh 1.3T I think and I'd rather keep my range as high as possible.

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KillaALF said:
You need to upgrade your power plant a bit (and get rid of a couple of those PDs), you are using 107% and you can't turn anything off, as you'll be spending 99,9% of your time in supercruise. Also, as A Titan said, get a better Fuel scoop, even a 5D one will be twice as fast than the A3 you have, cheaper too.
Click to expand...

Ah, so fuel scoop was limited by the slot it was in. Have ditched it for an AFMU (just in case it does anything useful - it weighs nothing) and have ditched my 8T cargo rack for an A2 fuel scoop. Don't want to change power plant as need to obsessivley keep weight down. Power use seems ok (cargo scoop disabled).
 

Yokai

Yokai
jefc_uk said:
Looks like A3 is the best fuels scoop I can. Seems like Jameson Memorial doesn't have heat sink launchers (I thought it had everything!). Either way; they weigh 1.3T I think and I'd rather keep my range as high as possible.
Click to expand...

Go to a station where you are "allied" with the minor faction that controls the station. Many more outfitting options appear in this case. Perhaps the purple link in my sig block will be of help here too.
 

A Titan

A
Find a station that has class 5 scoop and heat sinks before you leave, it will be well worth your time. The less time you have to spend around a star is less durability damage you will take, if your temperature gets above 100% your durability damage increases. Plus the heat sinks will be a life saver in those bad cases of RNG, it is not a bug when you jump into a system between two stars in binary orbit it is working as intended.
 

Ilenya

I
jefc_uk said:
Looks like A3 is the best fuels scoop I can. Seems like Jameson Memorial doesn't have heat sink launchers (I thought it had everything!). Either way; they weigh 1.3T I think and I'd rather keep my range as high as possible.
Click to expand...

A ship blown up due to overheating doesn't have much of a jump range at all ;)

I'm aiming for roughly this fit: http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=30g,0Wg0Wg0Wg0Wg,2-6u6u7_6u6u8S8I,52W7TCmpV2jw2UI

Shield may not be that useful during exploration, but once you start making your way back to civilised space that shield may help if you get interdicted with your 70% ship integrity left... Could go for a 4D shield and add another half ly jump range.
 
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KillaALF

K
jefc_uk said:
Ah, so fuel scoop was limited by the slot it was in. Have ditched it for an AFMU (just in case it does anything useful - it weighs nothing) and have ditched my 8T cargo rack for an A2 fuel scoop. Don't want to change power plant as need to obsessivley keep weight down. Power use seems ok (cargo scoop disabled).
Click to expand...

An A2 scoop is even worse, you'll spend a lot more time scooping. You need to get rid of those cargo racks, why are you bringing them anyway? Yeah, with the cargo hatch disabled it seems to work out, you could also get an A2 power plant, less mass, a bit more power and better heat efficiency.
 

jefc_uk

J
KillaALF said:
An A2 scoop is even worse, you'll spend a lot more time scooping. You need to get rid of those cargo racks, why are you bringing them anyway? Yeah, with the cargo hatch disabled it seems to work out, you could also get an A2 power plant, less mass, a bit more power and better heat efficiency.
Click to expand...

Left the cargos racks as the ycontribute no mass.

Have got a 6C scoop on place of the 64T rack now.

Got an A2 power plant.

Thanks!!

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Pete said:
This is what I went with when I went exploring:
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=30g,,2-6u6u7_6u6u8S8I,50UmpT0KU0KU7Pc2jw2UI

It worked well - you don't have enough power for the AFMU, so leave them shut down except when you want to use them, then you can shut down whatever you need when you want to run them.

-- Pete.
Click to expand...

Good call.

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Ilenya said:
A ship blown up due to overheating doesn't have much of a jump range at all ;)

I'm aiming for roughly this fit: http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=30g,0Wg0Wg0Wg0Wg,2-6u6u7_6u6u8S8I,52W7TCmpV2jw2UI

Shield may not be that useful during exploration, but once you start making your way back to civilised space that shield may help if you get interdicted with your 70% ship integrity left... Could go for a 4D shield and add another half ly jump range.
Click to expand...

I've never used heat sink launchers, but don;t they have limited 'ammo'? i could be away for a while.
 

jefc_uk

J
I've left Shinrarta now and travelled a couple of 100LY towards the rim.

First thing I've noticed is this fuel scoop is a monster! And, as many have said before, the view is pretty great from the cockpit.

Looking for somewhere to sell me a heat sink launcher now, before it's too late.

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll be ok now. Got 2mil in the bank. I'm not stupid!

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Something else I've noticed - when I hit the FSD button my heat level rises really fast. Faster than on the T-6 I traded in. Is it because I have rubbish shields? Is it because I have a reubbish PSU (in my ship)?
 

Pete

Pete
jefc_uk said:
Something else I've noticed - when I hit the FSD button my heat level rises really fast. Faster than on the T-6 I traded in. Is it because I have rubbish shields? Is it because I have a reubbish PSU (in my ship)?
Click to expand...
That'll be because you're running close to 100% on your power. Shut down everything you don't need whilst exploring (cargo hatch, AFMU, maybe even the fuel scoop etc) to give yourself more of a heath threshold to play with - you'll be grateful for everything you can get when you get close to certain stellar bodies.

-- Pete.
 

John Xenir

John Xenir
Alright, as an ASP explorer myself I can give you few hints about exploration, you then decide if any of it is useful to you :)

Fitting
- get as best FSD as you can. I have B5 and the jump range is 26.45Ly tops and it is decent enough to travel really, really fast;
- other components: upgrade to as best as you can; particularly, power plant and power distributor will contribute to your temperature to stay lower when charging FSD. I have A grade for these and at max, temperature goes to 90% when charging FSD, never exceeds it;
- shield - are not worth to upgrade to better classes; most dangerous NPC ships you will encounter during exploration are Cobras (I haven't stumbled upon anything bigger) and once you venture far enough, you won't see an NPC for days;
- weapons - you can fit some weapons, it really depends on your approach: if you prefer to just hit thruster and get away, invest in shield cell bank; if you feel confident you can fight those pesky NPC fighters off, go with weapons;
- fuel scoop - fit the best one you can afford; I've fitted (if I'm not mistaken now) B5 and it has 627kg/s so even filling up 32 ton fuel tank is fast;
- heat sink launcher is a must, for those unforeseen issues with excessive heat; remember, when you are 5000Ly away from the last seen station, there is nothing and no one to help you, you're on your own; it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it;
- fuel tank size: get the biggest one you can; you will eventually fly through a cluster of red/brown dwarf stars and it is then you need the extra fuel; no +0.2Ly jump range is worth getting stuck in the middle of nowhere; I've yesterday flown through a cluster of brown dwarves and despite of having to make 7 jumps close to maximum range, I had 35% fuel left; You can easily see how 16T fuel tank would leave you stranded; I estimate that on full tank and B5 FSD, you should have around 200Ly+ range so it can easily get you out of such a cluster;

Few clues to your setup:
- sell all cargo racks; unnecessary weight impairing your jump range while being absolutely useless out in the void;
- in the freed cargo rack 5/6 slot, put a decent fuel scoop; it will save you a lot of time refueling to the point that if you refuel in each system you jump in, it'll take seconds.

As to where to venture out - it's all up to you. There are still places no one has been to and I'm travelling to one of such places. I will not tell you where it is in this thread :p Sorry :p Check your PM and keep it to yourself :) If you get there before me, that's fine :) But I doubt since I'm more than half way there, sorry again :) You know how it is, we're all just humble explorers, exploration being the reward itself yadda yadda and whatnot, but deep inside - every explorer wants his name to be recognized as the first one to get somewhere no one has before :)

In one of my threads, I've described my journey to Coalsack Nebula - a thing that is relatively close to Sol, yet no one has gone there. Maybe because it's not one of those colorful, shiny nebulas, on the contrary - it's name says it all :) I don't know, but if you look around and check forums, I'm sure you'll find places, even so obvious as the Coalsack Nebula, where no one has gone yet.

Good luck and have fun exploring!

EDIT: I will also give you this hint for free :) : while you travel far from populated sectors, you will notice system names to contain sector name. Like the PHAA jibberish sector I'm in currently. All systems have names like PHAA OOG DB-7 C-1, PHAA HJK BA-7 A-8 etc. If you pay attention to your navigation panel, you may find - inside these clusters - systems named HDXXXXX (where X are numbers) - do NOT miss these systems. They have different names for a reason - there's always something interesting in them. I've stumbled upon three such systems on my travels yesterday and one contained O8 star (that gives blue, almos UV-like light) with a black hole, next one was supermassive white giant, and the last one had three earth-like planets. They seem to be white crows around so even if you have to (like I did yesterday) take a 500Ly detour, got and check it. Here's a free name for you: HD37366 (or HD36377 - sorry for my crap memory... but I think the former)

I will be posting these marvelous pictures some time soon, once I reach my destination. Should be this weekend if solar winds are kind :)
 
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