Newcomer / Intro My Return to ED ......

[Sheronimo]

Watching the video clips is giving me goosebumps. Just lovely ....... like when I listen to Pink Floyd and The Wall.

Just don't try to shave them off like Pink did... OW!

 

[Wombat1940]

Rather than generate new threads for different topics, I think I'll post everything in this thread.
Means I won't lose anything. It'll be hard to find, but so what ........
Oh! Except for the topic of sex .......
Why?
At 81, I'm too bloody old ..................
If you believe that, you'll believe anything ..........

 

[Wombat1940]

Just in case it inspires you to go further, I've got a highlights picture log of places I found in EDSM.net to visit going Sol to Sagittarius A* and then on to Colonia: https://inara.cz/cmdr-logbook/351769/?page=2
One of the pictures in the log was taken at the top of the galaxy - as high as you can go above Sagittarius A*. The first person to make it there did it in a 53ly jump range Anaconda.

That looks really good and just the sort of surprises I want to have. However, I hope to visit and explore there first, before looking at what you found.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

What I don't yet have an understanding of is the dimensions of ED. You talk about "35ly jumps" and it means absolutely nothing to me. I have no concept (yet) of what it means.
Likewise, the "EDSM Galaxy Map and places of interest" and more importantly "my ambitions" are yet to be determined (other than exploration).
What I can say is initially I think I will stay very close to home. At the moment "home" means Eranin because that's where I'm at, at the moment.

Now that you say it, of course 35 light year jump range will not mean much to someone new to the game.
I did some calculations early on by flying 2 ships between two points about 500 light years apart and timing the trip to get some idea of the jump range a ship has vs. the amount of in game travelling time that would be needed. The difference between 30ly and 35ly is quite large, 65ly and 75ly not so much naturally because 5ly is a smaller percentage of 65ly than it is on 30ly.
Roughly speaking, just travel jumping and fuel scooping at every star you can to avoid delays for scooping over 5,000 light years:
34 light year jump range equates to a bit less than 3 hours
70 light year jump range about 1.4 hours
This is also assuming not using neutron star FSD boosting - you fuel scoop the blue plume jetting off the end of the neutron star and it quadruples your jump range for one jump. In the right places, the route planer will take you through several in a row stopping at a fuel star (Star classes K G B F O A M) before you run out of fuel.

I'd definitely suggest a Hauler to begin with and a Diamondback Explorer as soon as you have the credits. I think you'll find your own way and try out other explorer ships after that.
I'd certainly recommend edsm.net for finding points of interest to visit in and around 'the bubble' of humanity once you have the DBX.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

That looks really good and just the sort of surprises I want to have. However, I hope to visit and explore there first, before looking at what you found.

Now that, I can understand

 

[Wombat1940]

Sorry, incoming essay
Don't carry cargo in your exploration ship and in game NPC (Non-Player Character) pirates might interdict you (which you can easily evade once you know how in your super light nimble exploration ship), but after a scan will leave you alone.

Thanks. Good point.

Always play in Solo, especially when returning from a long voyage with lots of exploration data to sell, and no player can attack you. Serious exploration ships do not have guns - that just adds weight and reduces jump range. Maybe a mining laser just in case you need to get some raw materials like iron and nickel while you are out, but I just stock up with those before I leave. The SRV can be used to collect materials on planet surfaces anyway.

More than happy playing in Solo ........ Unarmed would be my preference, but is it practical? ....... I had hoped to avoid SRV involvement, but again is that
being too narrow-minded?

If you did get attacked, keep running, hope your shields hold out, plot a course to somewhere 100ly away. Your highly engineered for jump range exploration ship can jump so far no combat ship can follow you. If you are in a Krait Phantom and get attacked by another Phantom, it's weapons and heavier power plant to power them will make it heavier than your ship and it will have a lower jump range. I have a Krait Phantom engineered as much as it is possible to engineer it. There are ways I could reduce the weight further and increase the jump range, but I have a few other design parameters that added weight.

One time, after landing on several low gravity moons to collect materials as shown in that "materials gathering" video, I decided on a whim to land on another planet I found. I was in a low gravity body mindset, powered toward the ground to land faster, realised I was not stopping, bounced off the ground with no shields left and only 16% hull strength remaining and had just enough time to think, "no problem, I have a repair limpet controller on board to fix the hull and the shields will recover". I could not stop the ship hitting the ground again - boom!

So my ship now has 5D shields engineered with grade 5 enhanced lower power with lo draw special effect and 3 x light weight 0E shield boosters with heavy duty grade 5 and supercapacitors. This gives me 662MJ of shield strength with low power consumption which I can run off a 3A power plant with grade 1 low emissions with thermal spread special effect. I tested this shield set up by deliberately flying into the surface of a 6G planet, where the ship skipped across the ground like a flat stone on water before I pulled up with no shields and 35% hull left. Success - the ship survived. The armour is also engineered heavy duty 5 + deep plate, and it took a long time to access engineers to get that done.
The power plant is A grade small and light weight and means the ship runs very cool, sometimes with only 18% heat. I am told anything under 20% and it makes it hard for other ships to scan you and get a weapons lock - stealth! The other benefit is the ship stays cool while fuel scooping and you can start charging the FSD (which creates a lot of heat) sooner while still closer to the star.

Most of the above detail means little to me, EXCEPT the success you achieved. WOW!
In truth, can you sell a copy of your ship to me? It would save me having to build, engineer one of my own. I'd be happy to pay for it. In fact, I wouldn't want it any other way. I'd confine it to Solo Mode only.

I have 2 SRVs so I can take risks and have fun in the SRV sometimes not worrying about destroying it. The AFMU (Auto Field-Maintenance Unit) repairs the FSD (Frame Shift Drive) and required if you are using neutron stars to supercharge your FSD. This multiplies your jump range by 4 for one jump which is up to 282 light years for me. Your FSD takes 1% to 2% damage with each boosted jump and its best to repair it when it gets down to 80%. 78% and you start to see FSD malfunction warnings.
Materials allow you to synthesis repairs, fuel and ammo for SRVs, the AFMU etc.

Gees! There's some good advice here. I just need to remember it. No ...... my memory, or lack of it, won't allow that. I need to have a place so as to recall it. And that's here, at the forum and this thread. I just need to make a note: "FSD neutron star supercharging". And that's it.

The light weight 3D power distributor is engineered grade 5 engine focus + charge enhanced to get the capacity to boost on what would otherwise be an under powered distributor. This with the 4D thrusters dirty grade 5 + drag engineered makes the ship quite fast and allows it to easily escape from high G planets. This power distributor would not do well powering weapons, but... exploration ship - no weapons. Tip: Set maximum pips to engines, the rest to SYS, nothing on weapons and then power down the power distributor. It only needs to be powered to change where the pips (energy) is focused - which you never need to change on an exploration ship.

Right. Just made another one of my notes, and, like you, I'll have no weapons.

Note items in grey are powered off most of the time. The AFMU is power hungry, but you don't use it at the same tie as having the FSD powered, so you manage what is turned on and off to stay inside the limits of your small power plant which keeps down the weight and keeps up the jump range. The rest of the engineering is for light weight.
Here's the build: https://s.orbis.zone/gfre

Another note.

If my sales pitch for the Phantom is not quite enough to convince you, watch this from The Pilot who is also an explorer at heart:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLgYskzDU5o

Need to become familiar with this "The Pilot" character. But not right now ......

Every explorer must own this ship at least for a while - as soon as you have the credits which will be about 10 stops on the road to riches using the Hauler - which overheats very easily when fuel scooping - don't let that put you off fuel scooping. The DBX and all these other ships stay much cooler when scooping:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XkAFcQ3YKk

OK. But not just yet ...... too many other basic things to cover. BUT I WILL BE BACK!!!! Another note .......

The ASP Explorer is also a legend - if you never descend to planet surfaces, you could fly without shields, shield boosters and SRV bays, at which point the ASP Explorer has space for everything you need for a lot less money than the Phantom. I don't use the ASP X because I cannot fit in 2 SRVs or supercruise assist and I cannot get the shields up to the strength I want. It's not a deal breaker, but I don't like the WW1 bi-plane thruster noise this ship has. If you can live with a single SRV, no supercruise assist and weaker or no shields, the ASP X will get you anywhere in the galaxy you want to go sooner:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6D0aXjkQ8A

I think it will be the Phantom for me, but only after I've owed an ASP X. Seems a sensible stepping stone to a Phantom.

The Anaconda is expensive and slow to turn in supercruise and you do a lot of turning in supercruise while exploring. But you can carry a ship launch fighter which can be fun to fly when your are in the middle of nowhere.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCdbkzyJhas

No. This is not an option I'm interested in.

A tip: Download EDDiscovery (for PC users), connect it up to https://www.edsm.net/ and then look back at where you have been:

https://imgur.com/5PN26XN

Source: https://i.imgur.com/5PN26XN.jpg

Thanks. Might do this now. So it's there when I need it.

Well ...... I hope my reply does justice to the effort you made in your post. As I write this, I haven't even viewed the video clips you included! But I will. Thank you.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

Thanks. Good point.

More than happy playing in Solo ........ Unarmed would be my preference, but is it practical? ....... I had hoped to avoid SRV involvement, but again is that
being too narrow-minded?






Most of the above detail means little to me, EXCEPT the success you achieved. WOW!
In truth, can you sell a copy of your ship to me? It would save me having to build, engineer one of my own. I'd be happy to pay for it. In fact, I wouldn't want it any other way. I'd confine it to Solo Mode only.

Gees! There's some good advice here. I just need to remember it. No ...... my memory, or lack of it, won't allow that. I need to have a place so as to recall it. And that's here, at the forum and this thread. I just need to make a note: "FSD neutron star supercharging". And that's it.

Right. Just made another one of my notes, and, like you, I'll have no weapons.

Another note.

Need to become familiar with this "The Pilot" character. But not right now ......

OK. But not just yet ...... too many other basic things to cover. BUT I WILL BE BACK!!!! Another note .......

I think it will be the Phantom for me, but only after I've owed an ASP X. Seems a sensible stepping stone to a Phantom.

No. This is not an option I'm interested in.

Thanks. Might do this now. So it's there when I need it.

Well ...... I hope my reply does justice to the effort you made in your post. As I write this, I haven't even viewed the video clips you included! But I will. Thank you.

For sure, this was all for future reference for you because there is a lot there that should come to mean more if your enthusiasm holds up to do it.
Unfortunately, there is no way for me to sell you a copy of my Phantom, and it is at the end game for my exploration ship end of the scale. I went places and did many things before all of the engineering was completed - which took many, many hours spread over a few months to get done when you include qualifying to do business with multiple engineers and gathering the materials needed. I enjoyed the process of building up the ship, and got a kick out of going to Sagittarius A* and beyond in it partly because of the effort put into building it.

An ASP X should definitely be another ship to use at least for a while. It is very versatile and provides some essential options for making credits to get a Phantom or anything else. I would not have made it to where I am without putting passenger cabins the the ASP X and doing Robigo Mines to Sothis Sirius Atmospherics tourist beacon sight seeing round trips for what seems to be an unlimited supply of criminal masterminds who want to do this trip
It's the easiest fastest way to make credits I know, but really needs ASP X sized or bigger ship to do it.
The ASP X is also great for mining, especially core mining, but that's a whole other learning experience that you might not want and don't have to do so long as you don't want to engineer armour on your ship (that engineer wants you to mine 500 units in your mining career before doing business with you).
Don't worry about my effort, it's fun for me talking about this stuff

 

[Wombat1940]

For sure, this was all for future reference for you because there is a lot there that should come to mean more if your enthusiasm holds up to do it.
Unfortunately, there is no way for me to sell you a copy of my Phantom, and it is at the end game for my exploration ship end of the scale. I went places and did many things before all of the engineering was completed - which took many, many hours spread over a few months to get done when you include qualifying to do business with multiple engineers and gathering the materials needed. I enjoyed the process of building up the ship, and got a kick out of going to Sagittarius A* and beyond in it partly because of the effort put into building it.

Well, I'm not surprised, but I had to ask.

An ASP X should definitely be another ship to use at least for a while. It is very versatile and provides some essential options for making credits to get a Phantom or anything else. I would not have made it to where I am without putting passenger cabins the ASP X and doing Robigo Mines to Sothis Sirius Atmospherics tourist beacon sight seeing round trips for what seems to be an unlimited supply of criminal masterminds who want to do this trip
It's the easiest fastest way to make credits I know, but really needs ASP X sized or bigger ship to do it.
The ASP X is also great for mining, especially core mining, but that's a whole other learning experience that you might not want and don't have to do so long as you don't want to engineer armour on your ship (that engineer wants you to mine 500 units in your mining career before doing business with you).

What's the armour for?

Don't worry about my effort, it's fun for me talking about this stuff

I'm pleased to hear that because it's been hugely well received.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

Thanks. Good point.

More than happy playing in Solo ........ Unarmed would be my preference, but is it practical? ....... I had hoped to avoid SRV involvement, but again is that
being too narrow-minded?

On SRV use, a certain amount of SRV driving is essential, as many materials you'll need are easier, or only collectable from a planet surface. When you get to it, the materials gathering video shows what you need to know.
The DBX and later ASP X are ideal for fitting a Planetary Vehicle Hanger. An vehicle hanger is really too heavy for the little Hauler with it's tiny FSD - it will kill the jump range, so skip SRVs until you get one of the bigger ships.
Note that you buy the Planetary Vehicle Hanger, and the buy the SRV to go inside it as a separate purchase.

 

[Wombat1940]

Now that you say it, of course 35 light year jump range will not mean much to someone new to the game.
I did some calculations early on by flying 2 ships between two points about 500 light years apart and timing the trip to get some idea of the jump range a ship has vs. the amount of in game travelling time that would be needed. The difference between 30ly and 35ly is quite large, 65ly and 75ly not so much naturally because 5ly is a smaller percentage of 65ly than it is on 30ly.
Roughly speaking, just travel jumping and fuel scooping at every star you can to avoid delays for scooping over 5,000 light years:
34 light year jump range equates to a bit less than 3 hours
70 light year jump range about 1.4 hours

Just some clarification here.
Are you saying to travel 500ly with 34ly jumps is going to take 3 hours of game time?
ie. I'm sitting at my computer for 3 hours making fifteen 34ly jumps and scoops to complete the 500ly journey?

I'd definitely suggest a Hauler to begin with and a Diamondback Explorer as soon as you have the credits. I think you'll find your own way and try out other explorer ships after that.

So is it: Sidewinder to a Hauler to a Diamondback X to an ASP X to a Phantom?

I'd certainly recommend edsm.net for finding points of interest to visit in and around 'the bubble' of humanity once you have the DBX.

I'm not sure about this. It would take the element of complete surprise out of exploring. Like early earth explorers being first told the world was round.

 

[Wombat1940]

On SRV use, a certain amount of SRV driving is essential, as many materials you'll need are easier, or only collectable from a planet surface. When you get to it, the materials gathering video shows what you need to know.
The DBX and later ASP X are ideal for fitting a Planetary Vehicle Hanger. An vehicle hanger is really too heavy for the little Hauler with it's tiny FSD - it will kill the jump range, so skip SRVs until you get one of the bigger ships.
Note that you buy the Planetary Vehicle Hanger, and the buy the SRV to go inside it as a separate purchase.

Right ..... SRV it will be ....... but only one!

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

What's the armour for?

Ships come standard with "Light Alloy" hull which exploration ships should stick with.
You can buy different types of hull armour for ships, but that's only for ships that need defences in a fight.

I engineered the Light Alloy on the Phantom to "heavy duty grade 5" plus special effect "deep plate" as this increases the damage the ship hull can withstand if I slip up and hit a planet surface so hard it get's through the shields. 0% hull and your ship explodes. Doing this engineering on armour increases the weight of it by a percentage of the armours starting weight. "Light Alloy" has a starting weight of 0, so engineering Light alloy for heavy duty does not add to the weight for "reasons" - maybe it's space fairy magic.

To be honest, this bit of armour engineering is overkill and so optional once you are in the habit of paying attention to the gravity of the planet you are landing on and adapting your approach method. Or just avoid landing on planets with more than about 2G. Youtube is the best place to find videos on how to land on planets in general, and also high G planets which requires a different approach method.

 

[Wombat1940]

Ships come standard with "Light Alloy" hull which exploration ships should stick with.
You can buy different types of hull armour for ships, but that's only for ships that need defences in a fight.

I engineered the Light Alloy on the Phantom to "heavy duty grade 5" plus special effect "deep plate" as this increases the damage the ship hull can withstand if I slip up and hit a planet surface so hard it get's through the shields. 0% hull and your ship explodes. Doing this engineering on armour increases the weight of it by a percentage of the armours starting weight. "Light Alloy" has a starting weight of 0, so engineering Light alloy for heavy duty does not add to the weight for "reasons" - maybe it's space fairy magic.

To be honest, this bit of armour engineering is overkill and so optional once you are in the habit of paying attention to the gravity of the planet you are landing on and adapting your approach method. Or just avoid landing on planets with more than about 2G. Youtube is the best place to find videos on how to land on planets in general, and also high G planets which requires a different approach method.

Right. I'll forgo Armour inclusion which means I can forgo Mining Training ........

 

[Wombat1940]

I'm going to view each of the videos before any more posts or post responses.
I feel I'm not fully acquainted with all you are saying because I haven't viewed the videos ......

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

Just some clarification here.
Are you saying to travel 500ly with 34ly jumps is going to take 3 hours of game time?
ie. I'm sitting at my computer for 3 hours making fifteen 34ly jumps and scoops to complete the 500ly journey?

So is it: Sidewinder to a Hauler to a Diamondback X to an ASP X to a Phantom?

I'm not sure about this. It would take the element of complete surprise out of exploring. Like early earth explorers being first told the world was round.

Oops, I talked about two different distances that caused confusion.
My calculations were based on a 500ly trip and I extrapolate time requirements for longer distances from that.
Another way to state it:
34ly jump range = approx 1700ly per hour travel time - flat out you can probably do about 60 jumps per hour.
70ly jump range = approx 3400ly per hour travel time
Neutron star FSD boosted jumps take a bit longer to do, but you jump 4 times further.

Hauler-DBX-ASP X-Phantom works well and is what I would focus on if targeting exploration ASAP again. Nothing stops you having other ships for other job roles. I have a number of ships that I change the outfitting for to do different things, but I never touch the configuration of the Phantom used for exploring. I don't want to be 1000s of ly away from a station and suddenly realise I forgot to put something back into it.

To start with, just randomly exploring and seeing what you see doing road to riches is fine. After a while you'll recognise that a lot of star systems don't have much different to see, and that's where having a guide to wonderful things to see becomes valuable. 400 billion stars, and most of them are not that interesting...

 

[Wombat1940]

Oops, I talked about two different distances that caused confusion.
My calculations were based on a 500ly trip and I extrapolate time requirements for longer distances from that.
Another way to state it:
34ly jump range = approx 1700ly per hour travel time - flat out you can probably do about 60 jumps per hour.
70ly jump range = approx 3400ly per hour travel time
Neutron star FSD boosted jumps take a bit longer to do, but you jump 4 times further.

However, my point is regarding the time taken in making jumps.
ie. using your new figures and my previous arrangements: I'm sitting at my computer for 1 hour making sixty 34ly jumps (incl. scoops) to complete a 1700ly journey.
Is that correct?
Which incidentally, if that's right, sounds a lot better than sitting for 3 hours jumping 500ly.

Hauler-DBX-ASP X-Phantom works well and is what I would focus on if targeting exploration ASAP again. Nothing stops you having other ships for other job roles. I have a number of ships that I change the outfitting for to do different things,

Hadn't thought about having more than one ship! Ha! That means I can keep my Sidewinder for sentimental reasons! I named my previous one after my lovely lady friend in Bali. This new one I'm flying here will be named "Manita 2".

but I never touch the configuration of the Phantom used for exploring. I don't want to be 1000s of ly away from a station and suddenly realise I forgot to put something back into it.

Ha! Doesn't bear thinking about.

To start with, just randomly exploring and seeing what you see doing road to riches is fine. After a while you'll recognise that a lot of star systems don't have much different to see, and that's where having a guide to wonderful things to see becomes valuable. 400 billion stars, and most of them are not that interesting...

Yes, but I could put up with "Star disappointments" just to really enjoy the occasional valuable find.
It's all about: "The less I know, the happier I'll be". Image finding out the world is round! Not flat. It feels flat. It looks flat.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

However, my point is regarding the time taken in making jumps.
ie. using your new figures and my previous arrangements: I'm sitting at my computer for 1 hour making sixty 34ly jumps (incl. scoops) to complete a 1700ly journey.
Is that correct?
Which incidentally, if that's right, sounds a lot better than sitting for 3 hours jumping 500ly.

Hadn't thought about having more than one ship! Ha! That means I can keep my Sidewinder for sentimental reasons! I named my previous one after my lovely lady friend in Bali. This new one I'm flying here will be named "Manita 2".

but I never touch the configuration of the Phantom used for exploring. I don't want to be 1000s of ly away from a station and suddenly realise I forgot to put something back into it.

Ha! Doesn't bear thinking about.

Yes, but I could put up with "Star disappointments" just to really enjoy the occasional valuable find.
It's all about: "The less I know, the happier I'll be". Image finding out the world is round! Not flat. It feels flat. It looks flat.

That's is correct, 34ly jump range and a jump per minute on average means you cover 1700ly in an hour - roughly speaking. You might make it quicker.
Don't expect the Hauler to make fast progress because it overheats quite easily while scooping meaning you might need to move away from the star, cool down, and move closer again. Fitting a heat sink launcher in a utility slot gives you an emergency freezing capabilities on your ship - ice on the windows - should you need it.
The Pilot YouTube guy has a video on the Hauler and another all about his Sidewinder named "Benny"

The following video shows what you need to know to discover and map planets and use "road to riches" which is cheating a bit, but necessary to get some credits in a reasonable time for a better ship. This guy is using a DBX, but the ship outfitting principles can be adapted for the Hauler to get started.

Source: https://youtu.be/TNK72tIkNYk


Regarding how you find interesting things - you know edsm.net is there so you can choose to use it if you ever want to. I look for new things on route to the next point of interest edsm tells me about.
In the region around the bubble of occupied human space, most systems have been discovered. As you move further out the chances of being the first discoverer of a system rise exponentially. 2000ly plus out and away from common travel routes, most are previously undiscovered.

I know there is a lot to take in here - Elite is as much a hobby as it is a game.

 

[Wombat1940]

I'm going to view each of the videos before any more posts or post responses.
I feel I'm not fully acquainted with all you are saying because I haven't viewed the videos ......

Ok. I've checked the videos put together by "The Pilot" in regard to the ASP X, the DBX, the Phantom, and the Anaconda. All referred to by QuainMarln in his post #44 in this thread. The only missing one, The Hauler, is covered here:

Elite Dangerous The Hauler - Search Videos

www.bing.com

"The Pilot" has so many favorable things to say about each of the five ships, with each excelling at specific, but different tasks; or having significant value for money. In my particular case, I have no wish to own an Anaconda. Apart from its huge, prohibitive cost, it's not suitable for the exploratory role I wish to undertake here at ED. As suggested by Quain, I'll upgrade from my Sidewinder to the Hauler. Then, subject to successful progress, to the ASP X ...... then the DBX ...... and finally the Phantom.
That is if I live long enough!

​

 

[Wombat1940]

That's is correct, 34ly jump range and a jump per minute on average means you cover 1700ly in an hour - roughly speaking. You might make it quicker.
Don't expect the Hauler to make fast progress because it overheats quite easily while scooping meaning you might need to move away from the star, cool down, and move closer again. Fitting a heat sink launcher in a utility slot gives you an emergency freezing capabilities on your ship - ice on the windows - should you need it.
The Pilot YouTube guy has a video on the Hauler and another all about his Sidewinder named "Benny"

I like the idea of the "heat sink launcher". Duly noted.
"Benny" ? No way! ........ my "Manita 2" would outrun him anytime!

The following video shows what you need to know to discover and map planets and use "road to riches" which is cheating a bit, but necessary to get some credits in a reasonable time for a better ship. This guy is using a DBX, but the ship outfitting principles can be adapted for the Hauler to get started.

Source: https://youtu.be/TNK72tIkNYk

Thanks for that.

Regarding how you find interesting things - you know edsm.net is there so you can choose to use it if you ever want to. I look for new things on route to the next point of interest edsm tells me about.
In the region around the bubble of occupied human space, most systems have been discovered. As you move further out the chances of being the first discoverer of a system rise exponentially. 2000ly plus out and away from common travel routes, most are previously undiscovered.

I've don't necessarily want to only discover new things that have not been discovered by others. It would be nice, but I'm more than happy discovering things that are new to me. Hence my reluctance to be told what others have discovered ....... if you see what I mean ......

I know there is a lot to take in here - Elite is as much a hobby as it is a game.

Yes, and that appeals to me. It helps with my reality ....... this is not a simulated, unreal game ...... it's all for real ...... Even viewing "The Pilots" ship videos reinforces the feeling of reality because it's also, by the way he expresses himself, what he believes.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

Ok. I've checked the videos put together by "The Pilot" in regard to the ASP X, the DBX, the Phantom, and the Anaconda. All referred to by QuainMarln in his post #44 in this thread. The only missing one, The Hauler, is covered here:

Elite Dangerous The Hauler - Search Videos

www.bing.com

"The Pilot" has so many favorable things to say about each of the five ships, with each excelling at specific, but different tasks; or having significant value for money. In my particular case, I have no wish to own an Anaconda. Apart from its huge, prohibitive cost, it's not suitable for the exploratory role I wish to undertake here at ED. As suggested by Quain, I'll upgrade from my Sidewinder to the Hauler. Then, subject to successful progress, to the ASP X ...... then the DBX ...... and finally the Phantom.
That is if I live long enough!

​

Good call on the Anaconda, although it seems half the ships in deep space are Anacondas as indicated by the commanders map on edsm.net.
I took my Anaconda on a 17,000ly round trip trying to like it as an explorer. Supercruise turn rate too slow, too big, too heavy.... It's an Amazing ship irreplaceable as a long distance cargo or passenger vessel that can beat the **** out of any pirate foolish enough to interdict it, but just no for exploring.

Incidentally - Hauler, then DBX, then ASP X and then Phantom. The order is forced by price.
I'm 22,000ly away from the Bubble in Colonia right now. I've built another Krait II out here for missions and combat. The first one is in the bubble. I do miss flying my little DBX and my Anaconda. I don't even own an ASP X anymore. I had a Python for a while because it made me lots of money before I could afford the Anaconda.
ASP X and Python are great ships that I no longer have a use for.