New explorer! I need veteran explorer help understanding exploration rewards! Thanks

[Commander Pickle]

Hi guys

I've been playing ED for a long time focusing on combat and trading. I'm finally planning my first long-distance voyage into the galaxy! It's mostly for fun, but I'm wondering whether or not to spend any time on discovery scans and/or detailed surface scans.

I have a few questions.

What is the credit reward for the simple "discovery" of astronomical bodies through the use of the discovery scanner? Also, is this reward a flat basic-discovery reward for each mass discovered or does it increase or decrease depending on the type of body discovered?


Thirdly, I understand that scanning each body offers a much larger reward, and that the reward is doubled when using a detailed surface scanner. And then another 50% bonus is added for being the first commander to scan it. So, I want to know if I'm calculating this correctly. Say I find a scan a black hole valued at 50,000 cr. Then X2 for using the detailed surface scanner gives me 100,000cr. Then if I'm the first, I get a bonus 50%, so 150,000? Is that correct? Thanks for your help guys!

 

[metatheurgist]

There's this:

There's also this thread.

You get paid peanuts for just the discovery scan, you also don't get the First Discovery credit. And you don't get anything unless you make it back alive.

 

[Sapyx]

Yes, your maths is basically correct.

The money you get for a "Class 1 scan", which happens when you honk and detect something with a discovery scanner, depends entirely and only on the object type: an iceball gives you 500 credits, no matter how big it is, or the atmosphere type, or whatnot. The value of a "Class 2 scan" (a point-and-wait surface scan without a Detailed Surface Scanner) varies with object mass: the larger it is, the more cash you get. A Class 3 scan (same as Class 2 but with a DSS installed) adds additional value based on the nature of the minerals on the surface, rings, etc, averaging +30% - less for iceballs, more for earth-likes and such. Finally, there's the 50% bonus for being First Discoverer.

 

[askavir]

Exploration's reward if exploration itself.

Going out into the black by yourself, just you, space and your ship, into the unknown, to see things you could never see in the bubble, black holes, hypergiant stars, nebulas, strange planets, systems with 7 stars, "being" in all those famous real world celestial objects like BArnards Loop, Rigel, Betelgeuse, Canis Majoris, Eagle Nebula, Sag A, Mu Cephei, Antares, Stellar Nurseries, Orion, Eta Carinae, etc etc etc...

Getting away from all those NerfVsBuff, PVPvsPVE, OpenVsSolo, SCBvsHRF, griefers vs gankers, trading vs smuggling, longer vs shorter travel, etc... Nobody around for thousands of light years.

Going were you want, landing where you want without predefined objectives... No "make money" pressure, no self-imposed objectives.

Its by far the most immersive and atmospheric experience this game has to offer.

But if you're going exporing for the money, you will be very disappointed when you return... The payouts are absolutely terrible. I'd say everything else I do in this game is mainly the way to have enough money for more and better exploration trips, not the other way around.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

That image in post #2 is great.

The only real way to make a decent profit in Exploration is use the +200% Li Yong Rui rank bonus which is a huge risk since you can loose everything right at the end:
My best profit per hour using the bonus:
Total profit: 193,395,834Cr
Time spent exploring: 97 hours
=1.9mil/hr

And whilst I didn't just farm Neutrons/black holes, I was in a field for a long time just west of Sagittarius A*

 

[Darth Krayt]

To the OP if you have a specific goal to make x amount of credits and you're lazy like me, take a look at Captain's Log here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=155545
On my last trip my goal was to make 10 mil credits. I used Captain's Log up to the point where it indicated that I would have at least 10 mil and then headed back to base to sell. The actual payout was 22 mil.

 

[Malkevin]

How is that rank five bonus maintainable?
Won't you get demoted whilst you are out in the black?


By the way, what have people found to be the best way to approach a planet for a surface scan?

Do you fly straight at the body then cut the throttle at the right moment to coast into scanning range or do you fly full power into scanning range then break off to perform a circular braking manuver perpendicular to the body to slow down and then scan the body?

 

[iain666]

By the way, what have people found to be the best way to approach a planet for a surface scan?

Do you fly straight at the body then cut the throttle at the right moment to coast into scanning range or do you fly full power into scanning range then break off to perform a circular braking manuver perpendicular to the body to slow down and then scan the body?

Full throttle until time to target gets to 6s, throttle back to 75%, throttle to zero as soon as the scan starts. Possibly not the most efficient but it works.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

How is that rank five bonus maintainable?
Won't you get demoted whilst you are out in the black?
By the way, what have people found to be the best way to approach a planet for a surface scan?
Do you fly straight at the body then cut the throttle at the right moment to coast into scanning range or do you fly full power into scanning range then break off to perform a circular braking manuver perpendicular to the body to slow down and then scan the body?

Do it when you get back. Safest way is to save up 100mil cash and get into a Clipper/Cutter (something with speed and defence) and do cargo runs.

As Iain666 said but I do at 7 seconds. Full throttle, pull back at 7 seconds and keep it in that range. Cut throttle as soon as scan begins and move on. If you carry on moving twd the object it will scan faster but you'll be more in it's gravity so if you move to the next planet it takes longer to get speed back up. Not sure if it's the fastest way but it's what I've been using

 

[OfftheRails]

There's also this: