Ships Need advice on how to travel to colonia

[Noonien Soong]

Hi I found this guide with a link to corolis to build a Krait Phantom:

Elite Dangerous Ship builds: Exploration — CMDRs ToolBox

A list of exploration build for Elite Dangerous

cmdrs-toolbox.com

I tried as best as I could to follow the build. Some parts are not engineered all the way and none of the parts are lightweight. I have a grade 5 engineered FSD with mass manager and guardian fsd booster module and can jump 62 lightyears. Any advice to increase this jumprange is welcome.

The ship has 3 scanners. I'n not sure why I should take these scanners on a big voyage. Maybe save weight and sell them?

I found this tool to plot my route:

Elite: Dangerous Index

spansh.co.uk

I understand that I have to jump to a neutron star and then jump from neutron star to neutron star. I'm not sure however how to avoid dropping in the star. I found that if I don't equip supercruise assist the ship thrusts into a star after jumping. Maybe install supercruise assist?

 

[metatheurgist]

My advice is not to go.

 

[Rulki]

You can use nearly any ship to go to Colonia. And you don't have to use neutrons. Using them just makes the trip a bit faster.

If you want to be fast max jump range.

Scanners can be used to scan the systems and planets on the trip to make some money and level exploration.

 

[Northpin]

Hi I found this guide with a link to corolis to build a Krait Phantom:

Elite Dangerous Ship builds: Exploration — CMDRs ToolBox

A list of exploration build for Elite Dangerous

cmdrs-toolbox.com

I tried as best as I could to follow the build. Some parts are not engineered all the way and none of the parts are lightweight. I have a grade 5 engineered FSD with mass manager and guardian fsd booster module and can jump 62 lightyears. Any advice to increase this jumprange is welcome.

The ship has 3 scanners. I'n not sure why I should take these scanners on a big voyage. Maybe save weight and sell them?

I found this tool to plot my route:

Elite: Dangerous Index

spansh.co.uk

I understand that I have to jump to a neutron star and then jump from neutron star to neutron star. I'm not sure however how to avoid dropping in the star. I found that if I don't equip supercruise assist the ship thrusts into a star after jumping. Maybe install supercruise assist?

You dont need those scanners during a deep exploration trip.

• Xeno scanner is used only for basic scans on thargoid ships - and it's better not to venture in thargoid infested space in an exploration vessel
• Manifest scanner is useless since you are not expected to find any npc ships to scan outside the populated areas
• Wake scanner as well is useless outside populated areas

Yes, you should fit a Supercruise Assist - it's really great for travelling

Other than that, you do need engineering to apply lightweight to all modules that can take it (life support, sensors)
Also, if you cannot engineer that PD to G5 engine focus, use a size 3 PD with as much as engine focus you can - so you can still boost.

Something like that

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

coriolis.io

Eventually you can drop the mining laser as well, i dont really think you will use it, but if you are happy with the jump range you get, you can keep it

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

When I travel a neutron route, I employ the help of the spansh plugin for EDMC. Note that the original plugin is not working anymore, but there is a working fork. Similarly to what you can do on the spansh website, it allows you to plot a route from your current system to your destination via neutron jumps. You need to feed your ship's jump range into it, and you might have to play with the efficiency slider to get the least amount of jumps. When you reach a waypoint, the plugin automatically copies the name of the next waypoint to the clipboard.

In practice, I plot a normal route to the first waypoint (neutron star). Once there I do the scoop and take a mental note of my ship's jumprange. If the next waypoint (neutron star) is within the jump range I just select it as target, do the jump, repeat. If it is further away than I can do in one jump, I then plot a normal route to the next waypoint. Then I select the fourth system on the ploted route as target (DON'T plot a new route, just select it) and do the neutron jump, and do normal jumps until I reach the next neutron star. Those normal jumps also are an opportunity to fuel up.

If I have an ideal route with a lot of neutron jumps in a row, I keep an eye on my fuel level, and when it gets dangerously low, I do the next jump not to the next neutron waypoint, but a neighbouring fuel star.

From there it is rinse and repeat. The FSD will take a small amount of damage every time you do a neutron scoop; once it reaches less than 80%, you start to get malfunctions. Then I usually drop to normal space, throttle down and repair it.

Personally, I don't like to travel in ships that have a small tank compared to their fuel usage; the Kraits are great for traveling because of their comparatively large tank, I can do like ten or so jumps in my Phantom before I need to fuel up.


Regarding the build: I think that's a bad build in a few aspects (generally you have to be very careful with the D2EA builds in my opinion). It is a total paper plane minmaxed for jump range, and thus leaves very little room for error. Also, undersizing the power plant and overcharging the heck out of it is a bad idea. If you overcharge, don't blindly G5 it, just do as much as you need. Personally, I would not take a manifest, wake or xeno scanner on such a ship. RP wise it's a nice idea, but for an explorer, the manifest or wake scanner is useless, and in such a paper plane you don't want to go around and scan goids. Correct me if I am wrong, but it's not of any use for anything else out there.

Personally I would put more emphasis on security and safety and sacrifice a few ly. Quick and dirty clicked together, I would build something like this. Key points:

• Engineer the lightweight armor. As its weight is 0, all armor engineering comes without jump range penalty
• use the V1 FSD from the tech broker. It's worth it.
• personally I would not sacrifice too much on the thrusters, and I would engineer them fully.
• Instead of minmaxing the power plant for weight, use an armored one. The PP is the only thing you cannot repair in the field. Armoured is always the right choice unless you're really low on power.
• The 0E shield boosters are the explorer's friend. Low weight, but decent shield boost to protect against mishaps. As the shields' main task is to protect you from impact, I would engineer them for maximum raw capacity.
• Taking a repair controller is optional, but doesn't hurt. Note that you need a cargo rack for limpets, and either bring them or synth them.
• If you have empty slots: Fill them with AFMUs and turn them off. They are basically free, they have no weight. Might as well save on AFMU synth, just in case.
• Always turn off your AFMU(s). When you need them, you're either throttled down or landed, so I never factor them into my power budget. I put them on 1 and turn them off, and when I need them, I turn them on and they take priority over other stuff.
• The point defence is optional, but a good idea if you decide to visit guardian sites. Make sure it is on top(!) of the ship.

The Phantom I clicked together still jumps 62 ly, but it's much more secure. I'm sure others have more good advice how to improve it.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

To add: Yes, the shield booster engineering is expensive. But it's more worth it in my opinion than gaining .5 ly from G5 lightweighting the life support. You can leave it at G3 for the boosters and still get a decent 600 MJ of shields. Also, personally, I'd probably skip the heat sinks for another shield booster.

 

[Ozric]

I did a race back in 2016 to Colonia in a lightly engineered (original) Python carrying 108t of cargo with an 18Ly jump range and no Neutron Boosting. You can take whatever ship you want. Don't do that though, it was horrible

My advice, take a ship you enjoy flying! Then decide whether you want to rush there with the Neutron route, or take the scenic route with the Colonia Connection Highway https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Colonia_Connection_Highway

Remember if you're using something to plot your route, like Spansh, then all the data it has is systems submitted by other players, so it will take you along the same routes as everyone else who uses it. If you also are using a build guide that has the same jump range as other people using Spansh then the chance of finding undiscovered systems drops once again.
If you want to use Neutron boosting the biggest piece of advice I can give is to practice at Jackson's Lighthouse, it's in the bubble. The second piece is that due to a quirk in the Stellar Forge there are virtually no Neutron Stars within 1,000Ly of Sol (or on the 0,0 lines).

There are also Neutron Belts that run between 1,000 - 1,500Ly above or below the Galactic plane where the density is far greater. So I would go into the Galaxy Map, move 1,000Ly away from Sol, move 1,000Ly up or down, switch on the star filter for Non-Sequence Stars and find a Neutron star around there to bookmark to aim for. Once there, there's a filter in the Galaxy Map to plot a route using jet cone boosts, just keep an eye on your fuel gauge.

Ship builds are very personal, but I will say please don't take a tiny Powerplant and then overcharge it! It might get you a tiny bit extra on jump range, but it makes your ship run hotter, which causes issues when fuel scooping or getting caught between binaries. I personally would go one A class larger than you need then do Low Emissions and Thermal Spread/Stripped Down to make it run cold.

This is my Asp that I've had since February 2015, still my most used ship. The jump range has grown from the initial 32 I had, the Burst Lasers are purely because Mike Brookes once told us space was dangerous Could probably be dropped, but Frontier do like making us shoot things to activate them. You could swap out the cargo racks for something else if you really wanted. I don't use A rated fuel scoops unless I'm racing, they're overpriced and use more power meaning they generate more heat. As I said very personal, but I've been round the galaxy multiple times in it. Anything more than 30Ly jump range will get you to 99% of the places in the galaxy.

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

s.orbis.zone

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

please don't take a tiny Powerplant and then overcharge it! It might get you a tiny bit extra on jump range, but it makes your ship run hotter, which causes issues when fuel scooping or getting caught between binaries. I personally would go one A class larger than you need then do Low Emissions and Thermal Spread to make it run cold.

This should be a sticky rule in the ships forum . Minmaxing the PP is a terrible idea and only advisable in some very edge cases.

In most builds, armoured is the right choice unless you need to run very cold (AX and the like) or have a very hot ship (Beluga for example) - G5 gives you +12% power output and often allows you to go one or two sizes down (or even three like in the Phantom I linked above). Combine that with either monstered for more power (a total of +17%) or thermal spread for a cooler ship, and you're good.

The only ship you get away with a G5 OC without issues is the Dolphin, but that one is magic anyway .

 

[Ozric]

This should be a sticky rule in the ships forum . Minmaxing the PP is a terrible idea and only advisable in some very edge cases.

In most builds, armoured is the right choice unless you need to run very cold (AX and the like) or have a very hot ship (Beluga for example) - G5 gives you +12% power output and often allows you to go one or two sizes down (or even three like in the Phantom I linked above). Combine that with either monstered for more power (a total of +17%) or thermal spread for a cooler ship, and you're good.

The only ship you get away with a G5 OC without issues is the Dolphin, but that one is magic anyway .

Armoured is definitely the safer option, but I don't think I've ever gotten close to having the PP get damaged enough to worry about through general wear and tear. And I did one trip that was 180,000Ly through Neutron/White Dwarf belts when I was documenting Codex entries when that first released. Getting to 0% only reduces the output by 50% and there's so many Fleet Carriers and stations littering the galaxy these days that realistically you're never far away from a repair

Hence whatever makes you feel comfortable is best. There's really no need to take two Heatsink Launchers, as you can synth them. But having a spare is comforting and, as you said earlier, it's an extra module slot filled so the minimal mass gain is worth it. I always power one down though because it's not needed.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

Armoured is definitely the safer option, but I don't think I've ever gotten close to having the PP get damaged enough to worry about through general wear and tear. And I did one trip that was 180,000Ly through Neutron/White Dwarf belts when I was documenting Codex entries when that first released. Getting to 0% only reduces the output by 50% and there's so many Fleet Carriers and stations littering the galaxy these days that realistically you're never far away from a repair

True. I can't imagine how long range long term exploration must have been in the "good old days" before fleet carriers and Colonia bridge and the like. I usually go for armoured because with low emissions I usually end up too power starved. I have an exploration Beluga (Expluga?) that was cooking, and I had to fit the largest low emissions plant possible to make is somewhat viable. Which means some serious power priority shuffling .

The Phantom I clicked together would have to go up one size in PP, and lose about a lightyear in range and 90 units integrity. Probably doesn't matter. In the end armoured is a good compromise between power boost and cold (enough).

Hence whatever makes you feel comfortable is best. There's really no need to take two Heatsink Launchers, as you can synth them. But having a spare is comforting and, as you said earlier, it's an extra module slot filled so the minimal mass gain is worth it. I always power one down though because it's not needed.

I have never had heat issues, so I just stopped bringing one. I did have issues crashing into the ground once or twice, hence I rather spend the weight on shield boosters .

 

[Ashnak]

To answer your first question: just point your ship and go. You'll get there - eventually.

Neutron route: didn't look at your build - you'll need a fuel scoop (largest you can afford) and an AFMU. Yes, you'll need to travel something like 2000 ly from Sol (pointing somewhat up or down) first to reach the Neutron fields. From there on, I wouldn't use any third party route planner - those rely on stellar data that has been provided by (other) CMDRs and therefore won't guide you through any unknown systems (which give a much higher payout, plus your name as "first discovered" in the system). Instead, just switch on the corresponding option in the router in the GalMap.

As for the how to:

Spoiler: Neutron boost instructions

But there are other options. The (any) Neutron route will, due to the distribution of Neutron stars, lead you far away from the waystations. There is a chain of stations (and Megaships) between the Bubble and Colonia, you can simply hop from one to the next: https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Colonia_Connection_Highway

And if you're not averse to the occasional prison visit, there also is (or was - it changes every time FD changes the rules for fines, bounties or imprisonment) a shortcut through comitting crimes and going to prison for it: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/colonia-prison-taxi-12-5k-ly-to-colonia.477424/
And once you get there, don't forget to say "hi" to the friendly folks in Carcosa

 

[Ozric]

I have never had heat issues, so I just stopped bringing one. I did have issues crashing into the ground once or twice, hence I rather spend the weight on shield boosters .

I once jumped into a system into the middle of two B class stars in close binary orbit. I was over 100% heat before I even realised what was happening.

It's the only time I've really even needed them (although taking screenshots from inside the exclusion zone of Black Holes can get a bit hot on entry/exit) but I was glad I had them

And once you get there, don't forget to say "hi" to the friendly folks in Carcosa

And stop in for Tea and Biscuits at Dunker's Rest in Dubbuennel

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

I once jumped into a system into the middle of two B class stars in close binary orbit. I was over 100% heat before I even realised what was happening.

It's the only time I've really even needed them (although taking screenshots from inside the exclusion zone of Black Holes can get a bit hot on entry/exit) but I was glad I had them

Yeah that's the common rule - if you got it, you don't need it, and vice versa .

 

[Noonien Soong]

Thanks for the replies all Commanders. I have read everything and will be now heading to jameson memorial to change the powerplant and see what else needs to be changed. Then head to Marco Qwent to get the powerplant armoured. Marco Quent is grade 3 now for me.

 

[Noonien Soong]

I got myself a 5A grade 3 armoured power plant stripped down. I sold the sensors and got a 0e shield booster and kept the heatsink. I got a 3A AFMU so I got two AFMUs now. Also, I got a supercruise assist. I got nothing on the hardpoints. I got 5D thrusters clean drive tuning grade 3. I got 1D power distributer grade 4 engine focused.

The rest is more or less same as the build in my first post. Except not all parts are lightweight.

I can jump 62 lightyears. Soon I will travel to material traders to further engineer my modules.

 

[Mrc_NorthEast]

I have been to Colonia twice. Once I flew my Phantom, which had 71 or so ly jump range. So 320 or so jumps... 2nd time was on someone else's FC who made a planned trip, which included a stop in Colonia.

Both worked fine. I split up the 300+ jumps into 1 hr blocks and followed the Colonia highway. Stations are fairly regularly spaced apart. So basically I just jumped, honked, scanned if the system looked interesting and when I wanted to, I stopped at a station to refuel, repair, or just to do something different.

Enjoy the trip and it is worth unlocking the ship engineers while you are out there. I bought a Python in Colonia, and outfitted it by jumping around. Colonia area does not have all ships and modules available all the time, or at least it did not when I was last there. But FC's sell most if not all the engineer unlock items.

 

[Noonien Soong]

I split up the 300+ jumps into 1 hr blocks and followed the Colonia highway.

How many hours did that take? Or how many jumps could you do in an hour? So I assume an FC is a federal corvette or do you mean something else?

Is there a list of engineers in Colonia? I found four new Odyssey engineers including Rosa Dayette. Is there in Colonia places like Dav's Hope or Jameson Crash Site?

 

[Marvin the Martian]

For what it's worth, here's mine. I actually jumps around 72 LY (the build site is wrong most of the time) It also handles very well and can take a hit or two if you get in trouble.

Ignore the grade 5 cargo rack. I was moving some materials around a while back and forgot to store it. You don't need it.

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

s.orbis.zone

 

[Mrc_NorthEast]

FC = Fleet Carrier. There are scheduled trips out to Colonia in the FCOC (Fleet Carrier Owners Club) discord. I am not sure how often they are scheduled currently.

I believe it took me 5-6 hours jumping each way. Jump, honk, open the system panel to see if already discovered (all were), FSS if I wanted to, etc. Then do it again. Millions in UC data for the system and FSS scans. I skipped alot of the Colonia highway stations are they are too close together. I would stop at one of the stations every 3k or so if I needed/wanted to.

Inara CZ is a great external website for Elite Dangerous. It will have a list of engineers both ship and on foot.

 

[nemolomen]

Hi I found this guide with a link to corolis to build a Krait Phantom:

Elite Dangerous Ship builds: Exploration — CMDRs ToolBox

A list of exploration build for Elite Dangerous

cmdrs-toolbox.com

I tried as best as I could to follow the build. Some parts are not engineered all the way and none of the parts are lightweight. I have a grade 5 engineered FSD with mass manager and guardian fsd booster module and can jump 62 lightyears. Any advice to increase this jumprange is welcome.

The ship has 3 scanners. I'n not sure why I should take these scanners on a big voyage. Maybe save weight and sell them?

I found this tool to plot my route:

Elite: Dangerous Index

spansh.co.uk

I understand that I have to jump to a neutron star and then jump from neutron star to neutron star. I'm not sure however how to avoid dropping in the star. I found that if I don't equip supercruise assist the ship thrusts into a star after jumping. Maybe install supercruise assist?

Are you set on jumping a ship the whole way there? If "No" then open the spoiler below...

Spoiler: Spoiler

There is another option, hitching a rind on a carrier. I've been to Colonia once and I chose this method.

I found out very early on that I'm not very good at staying alive on my own out in the black...I'd probably not make it there before dying.

You can check discord here for the next scheduled trip. Looks like one left earlier today...

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