Agreed. Jump range is not the end all be all of exploration anyway. Too many people think that.
Regarding planetary landing and Exploration.
- Thread starter Allant Doran
- Start date
Agreed. Jump range is not the end all be all of exploration anyway. Too many people think that.
All my Exploration ships are A-Graded, using the best Shields I can fit. Weapons are mostly basic - but sufficient for self-defense should the need arise.
No point in returning home and getting ganked by an NPC.
Also remember - there's "quite valuable stuff" already to be found, soon likely more.
Explorers will likely soon have stuff in their Cargo hold they picked up on their trips, triggering increased amounts of Interdictions.
The absolutely only exceptions I ever made from above rule were several High Altitude Record runs way above the SOL area.
For these Missions, I specifically reconfigured the Ships for their absolutely maximum possible jumprange.
The stripped Anaconda for example was quite damaged by some Imperial Clipper NPC that took interest in me 200Ls before reaching my destination.
Back then, those weren't even persistent NPCs you can get now.
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I do wonder about the Sensors and Thrusters myself, though.
Would D-Grade Thrusters limit the Ship on High Gravity Planets? I'd reckon not much...
Will A-Grade Sensors now be useful while scanning a Planet for POIs to land and deploy the SRV to?
I'd guess it could be, but if it's still the same Supercruise Sensor scheme, then D-Grades would do just fine.
PS.
Although we don't know yet how rare they'll be, the Level 3 crafting FSD boost might negate the need to squeeze the absolute max. Range out of Ships for common Exploration.
I'd rather sit in a fully protected Ship and sacrifice a little bit, than seeing an entire trip getting blow to dust by saving on some cheap Equipment. At least that's how I see it.
And with some Planets likely inviting to *uhm* fool around a little bit, I reckon one is even more likely to "scratch the paint" than during some careless oldschool Asteroid Belt sightseeings
Uhh, nice Canyon!... Looks tight... Ah screw it. Use the Force, Luke!
From what I understand, our ship thrusters will make a world of difference, particularly for those of us who prefer flying FAoff. These ships are designed for space travel and on a high-g world, you'd better be prepared for high heat from the thrusters constantly pushing against gravity. For FA off, be prepared for a crash landing. Lol.
I admire you FAoff guys' skills so much haha!
Well it looks like we will have a new skill to develop by landing on planets without the aid of the computer. Scary thought as we haven't had to worry about gravity all that much up to this point. I can just see my anaconda plowing into the side of a mountain and tumbling down the side moments before it blows up. Lol. Would be cool if it just became a wrecked ship site (I know they already said no to this).
I honestly expect to be convinced into not taking weapons or shields on the same patch they add dangerous aliens in my path lol
Ahh they did? That would have been an interesting mechanic.
Any idea to what degree dogfighting will happen? Kinda want to see the likes of Isinona FFoff dogfighting near the surface of a planet, haha!
Not all of them. I just came back from a 4 month trip in a fully A rated combat Asp. The jump range was more than acceptable.
Going exploring without shields or weapons is just a choice some of us make, mainly because we think we might go somewhere where maximum jump range is required, and there are plenty of those.
Now, with Horizons, I'll be equipping shields, weapons, A mods for everything, as the Materials bit will let me get a much farther jump range WITH a fully kitted out Asp or Clipper or Anaconda than anything I could get going stripped down for distance. And as already pointed out, landing on planets could get messy, shields do help with collisions, be it a ship or a station or a rock, figure it probably applies to planets as well, as long as you don't try and lawn dart in at 300+m/s naturally
Horizons is really going to change up exploration, the much greater possible jumps, landing, being able to reload AFMUs with Materials...hell, I may NEVER come back in from the Black.
Now, with Horizons, I'll be equipping shields, weapons, A mods for everything, as the Materials bit will let me get a much farther jump range WITH a fully kitted out Asp or Clipper or Anaconda than anything I could get going stripped down for distance. And as already pointed out, landing on planets could get messy, shields do help with collisions, be it a ship or a station or a rock, figure it probably applies to planets as well, as long as you don't try and lawn dart in at 300+m/s naturally
Horizons is really going to change up exploration, the much greater possible jumps, landing, being able to reload AFMUs with Materials...hell, I may NEVER come back in from the Black.
Yeah, here's my hybrid combat capable exploration Vulture. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=175238&page=3&p=2828837&viewfull=1#post2828837 There are all kinds of us explorers out there.
I might not stick with it for Horizons though, since I'll have to forgo the extra fuel tank for an SRV.
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I don't run shieldless. I disable shields while away from the bubble to reduce heat and fuel consumption. Turn back on when needed.
Weapons I don't currently take. Will see what we might find on planets over the coming weeks and decide whether weapons will be needed when out exploring.
Weapons I don't currently take. Will see what we might find on planets over the coming weeks and decide whether weapons will be needed when out exploring.
My Asp is currently battle-ready, with shields and weapons - I stripped off the torpedos and railguns I carried while trading, but kept the beam lasers - but I haven't really gone out on a long-range voyage; I'm barely 1000 LY out, only been gone a week and as soon as I tag my first Earth-like, I'm heading home again. I suspect if I set off with the intent of being out for a months-long voyage, I'd at least strip off all the weapons, but not the 3A shields. I need decent shields if a pesky Clipper or something else bigger and faster than an Asp decides to interdict me.
Indeed. My longest and most profitable exploration excursions were all done without shields, and I always landed with over 90% hull. After Horizons though, I will never run without shields again.
I've always gone without shields and weapons, but my last trip out I put a light shield on my Conda as we were going through that crazy interdiction time. Add to the fact I wanted to tag some key systems first, I did not want to take the risk. Never had any issues coming back though.
With the ability to craft a bigger jump range, I may well arm and shield my Conda which I hope to optimise to a max boost 60ly Jump. Will still allow me to reach those 57ly jump system clusters which I'm excited about... to boldly go... and all that
With the ability to craft a bigger jump range, I may well arm and shield my Conda which I hope to optimise to a max boost 60ly Jump. Will still allow me to reach those 57ly jump system clusters which I'm excited about... to boldly go... and all that