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Newcomer / Intro Planetary Prospecting
- Thread starter hawknerd
- Start date
If the planet doesn't have geological or biological sites (or one of the rare persistent wreck sites), then yes, it's pure luck.
If you want to get lots of Polonium, I could recommend a trip to a Polonium Crystal Shard site in https://www.edsm.net/en/system/id/44899172/name/Prai+Gruia+QT-Q+e5-6 . There's a small downside to that, though: it's just a bit shy of 57,000 ly from Sol
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A bit more seriously: you can hunt for rocks on planetary surfaces, using your SRV's Wave Scanner (the big display in the middle with the sweeping bar) - but what you find is pure RNG. A bit more efficient is to look for planets with the stuff you want and geological or biological sites - those sites will have a guaranteed yield of all the materials available on that planet. Best are the crystal shard sites - those are full of the highest grade material available on that planet. Just fill your storage, then drop in at the nearest raw materials trader and trade down for whatever you want. The downside (this time, seriously) is that those sites are all a pretty lick from the Bubble, with the closests being (IIRC) at 1500 ly distance. There's also a tutorial for them https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...terials-bins-using-crystalline-shards.481235/
If you want to get lots of Polonium, I could recommend a trip to a Polonium Crystal Shard site in https://www.edsm.net/en/system/id/44899172/name/Prai+Gruia+QT-Q+e5-6 . There's a small downside to that, though: it's just a bit shy of 57,000 ly from Sol
.A bit more seriously: you can hunt for rocks on planetary surfaces, using your SRV's Wave Scanner (the big display in the middle with the sweeping bar) - but what you find is pure RNG. A bit more efficient is to look for planets with the stuff you want and geological or biological sites - those sites will have a guaranteed yield of all the materials available on that planet. Best are the crystal shard sites - those are full of the highest grade material available on that planet. Just fill your storage, then drop in at the nearest raw materials trader and trade down for whatever you want. The downside (this time, seriously) is that those sites are all a pretty lick from the Bubble, with the closests being (IIRC) at 1500 ly distance. There's also a tutorial for them https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...terials-bins-using-crystalline-shards.481235/
I even got the tab still open: http://wavescanner.net/
What magic is this?
That site is way cool , and bookmarked
You can use EDDB.io and search for material. Be sure to include your current location "Reference System" if you want to find "near by"
This will give you the best chance of finding the material your looking for in the "wild" while running around in your SRV looking for scanner hits.
eddb.io
Near Sol, Arsenic: filtered for highest percentage.
Near Sol, Polonium : filtered for highest percentage.
This will give you the best chance of finding the material your looking for in the "wild" while running around in your SRV looking for scanner hits.
Bodies - Search & Find - EDDB
Bodies in Elite: Dangerous - search, filter, find and sort systems ... and find the materials you need!
eddb.io
Near Sol, Arsenic: filtered for highest percentage.
Near Sol, Polonium : filtered for highest percentage.
Polonium is found at Crystalline shard sites will be marked as a biological signal in the Nav panel.
Though it's a long flight (1700 from shinrarta) you can find mass quantities here: HIP 36601 C 1 A Biological [2][3] Polonium.
![[VR] Orodruin](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/237/237188.jpg?1614840532){kind=avatar}
The volcanism feature of EDDB just gives you an additional column where you get information of (i) if the planet has volcanism and (ii) what kind of volcanism. If a planet does not have volcanism, it will not have geological sites. Do not go to those planets. Pick a planet with volcanism.
On a planet with volcanism, you will find geological sites. Those sites will be denser in material drops and (even more importantly) have a number of high grade drops in formations called "Needle crystals". There are four types of formations at a geological site - from pieceous cobble (lowest grade) to needle crystal (highest grade). If you go to the planet entry at EDDB, you can see what materials it drops from each grade formation. For example, this is the material content of Alpha Centauri B1:
The materials in blue will drop from pieceous cobbles, polonium will drop from needle crystals. The green and yellow will drop in the two middle categories, respectively. If you want a particular material, you should search for a planet where that material has a relatively high % in comparison to the other materials in the same category. For example, this planet will drop iron from pieceous cobbles a fraction 35.2/(35.2+26.6) = 0.57 of the times and nickel the other 0.43 times. Each planet tends to have only one high grade (red) material, meaning that all needle crystals will drop that material.
Edit: Selenium is special. Dropping together with the green materials and being a G4 material itself. It is difficult to find a good source as other materials in the same category generally have higher percentages. You can either cross trade for it or find a special planet such as LHS 417 9 E A:
This planet (actually, moon of a moon) will drop selenium about 2 out of 3 times in the correct formations.
On a planet with volcanism, you will find geological sites. Those sites will be denser in material drops and (even more importantly) have a number of high grade drops in formations called "Needle crystals". There are four types of formations at a geological site - from pieceous cobble (lowest grade) to needle crystal (highest grade). If you go to the planet entry at EDDB, you can see what materials it drops from each grade formation. For example, this is the material content of Alpha Centauri B1:
The materials in blue will drop from pieceous cobbles, polonium will drop from needle crystals. The green and yellow will drop in the two middle categories, respectively. If you want a particular material, you should search for a planet where that material has a relatively high % in comparison to the other materials in the same category. For example, this planet will drop iron from pieceous cobbles a fraction 35.2/(35.2+26.6) = 0.57 of the times and nickel the other 0.43 times. Each planet tends to have only one high grade (red) material, meaning that all needle crystals will drop that material.
Edit: Selenium is special. Dropping together with the green materials and being a G4 material itself. It is difficult to find a good source as other materials in the same category generally have higher percentages. You can either cross trade for it or find a special planet such as LHS 417 9 E A:
This planet (actually, moon of a moon) will drop selenium about 2 out of 3 times in the correct formations.
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Based on the OPs other threads, I believe his idea is just to get enough polonium to trade down for arsenic so that he can get his FSD engineered before setting off for long journeys. I agree that filling up on all G4 raw mats is generally best done through the shard sites, but I think just getting enough for engineering the FSD initially is a good idea before going.