She's a beauty! (New ship revealed--Mandalay)

[Michael Ryan]

Why would they take the time to install a double bay veh hanger but leave out any SRV's? So if you spawn your ship on a FC or small station that doesn't sell veh hangars, you are just flying around with a heavy hangar bay with no SRV's?... Could that have been a mistake, yes... but with all this atmospheric talk, I'm leaning more towards new unannounced vehicles... (the prebuilt DBX comes with 1 Scarab, second bay is empty giving you the option to choose type second veh, but does at least include a basic veh)

If the Large AFMU was on purpose instead of the 2 smaller AFMU's (that most experienced explorers know is the only way to repair an AFMU in the field), than That size would suggest a need to Rapidly repair from large amounts of constant damage back to back, which could be possible from possibly flying in a 'brutal atmospheric environment'?. Most of us that constantly fly back and forth to Colonia on the Neutron Highway never even need more than 1 single size-2 AFMU and that doesn't even usually require synthing a refill... It just all seems wrong (as in misdirection).. And I'm happy about that, because I think there will be surprises coming with this release.

I am far away from overinterpretation, but really like that ideas And I can add more "conspiracy theories" - last galnet news talked about better heat management... and you know. More density in atmosphery glide means more heat, and we know that Frontier treat physics really serious if it isn't againts gameplay.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

If the Large AFMU was on purpose instead of the 2 smaller AFMU's (that most experienced explorers know is the only way to repair an AFMU in the field)

The really experienced explorers know that there are two ways to repair an AFMU in the field, of course.

Since it's a module which works just as well at 1% integrity as 100% integrity, the conditions under which your AFMU needs repairing at all but your ship is still intact are going to be pretty rare to start with, and fitting a single large AFMU rather than two small ones saves an internal slot for some other use.
(And then it might as well be a large AFMU, because they're massless and most other exploration modules are small, so what else is going in that slot?)

 

[Northpin]

Yea, i always thought more than one AFMU is quite a waste of space
There are plenty of things to fit in an exploration ship so my explorers had a single B-rated AFMU

 

[Rat Catcher]

Why a B-rated?

Possibly because of less power draw and more ammo?

 

[St0rmFury]

I would love to hear about the B-rated AFMU too to improve my build.

B-rated may have more "ammo" but each unit repairs lesser than A-rated, so you still repair less overall.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

I guess if you were really worried about the AFMU itself getting disabled, a B-rated one does have a bit over 20% more base integrity, and that stacks with the +300% from a maxed-out Shielded blueprint.

 

[Rat Catcher]

If there’s genuinely an advantage, I’m happy to hear it and swap mine out.

I wouldn't know, the omly B rated module I use is the collector limpet controller, as it has better range.

 

[Stealthie]

Yea, i always thought more than one AFMU is quite a waste of space
There are plenty of things to fit in an exploration ship so my explorers had a single B-rated AFMU

Uhuh,

Having done the trip to Beagle Point in an unshielded Sidey with no AFMU I never really worried about them too much.
When we got the extra slot in a bunch of ships, I started to bung an AFMU in just as a precaution.... although I always fit an A-rated AFMU because I'm not a peasant.

 

[Cmdr. Numa]

No, it’s definitely an exploration ship Officer…

Well, pirates explore the cargo holds of other ships.

 

[Stealthie]

I wouldn't know, the omly B rated module I use is the collector limpet controller, as it has better range.

Depends on the task.

For mining (laser-mining in particular), I find A-rated is better because your limpets last much longer and there's little risk of them expiring.
For combat salvage, B-rated is better due to the extra range and the fact they're likely to get shot before they expire.
Similar thing for mat' gathering, where the extra range is useful and you'll be back in supercruise before they expire.

 

[SergMx]

Depends on the task.

For mining (laser-mining in particular), I find A-rated is better because your limpets last much longer and there's little risk of them expiring.
For combat salvage, B-rated is better due to the extra range and the fact they're likely to get shot before they expire.
Similar thing for mat' gathering, where the extra range is useful and you'll be back in supercruise before they expire.

I'm taking D to fix my hull.

 

[Alaska Sædelære]

Well, pirates explore the cargo holds of other ships.

Explorers seldom carry any cargo except limpets.

 

[kofeyh]

It saddens me just how many people want explorers to just accept mediocrity, because who needs all that range, etc etc as though there is a single and only way to approach the game.

I look forward to the Mandalay, all the same. It'll be a great ship that is almost as good as another ship. Good stuff. I'd happily accept more range but I can probably live with what it's got.

 

[DjVortex]

The really experienced explorers know that there are two ways to repair an AFMU in the field, of course.

Since it's a module which works just as well at 1% integrity as 100% integrity, the conditions under which your AFMU needs repairing at all but your ship is still intact are going to be pretty rare to start with, and fitting a single large AFMU rather than two small ones saves an internal slot for some other use.

Even if the AFMU for some reason went to 0% health, wouldn't a reboot/repair bring it back to a couple of %, allowing it to be used again?

Thus, I can't think of any reason to have more than one, except if you want the extra ammo.

 

[Rat Catcher]

For combat salvage, B-rated is better due to the extra range and the fact they're likely to get shot before they expire.
Similar thing for mat' gathering, where the extra range is useful and you'll be back in supercruise before they expire.

Those are the only reasons I'll carry limpets normally.
It has been a while since I did any mining, although my FC has a P1 kitted out for mining, just in case - and yes, A rated collectors in that one.

 

[kofeyh]

Yeah, but if you have empty slots you may as well carry extra additional units.

Can also reduce the size of the main fuel tank and add a small offset tank to adjust jump range; good use of a spare slot.

 

[kofeyh]

No-one is stopping you stripping out a ship for max range, if that’s what you want.

I would say the discussion has generally been about how there’s so many different approaches and max range isn’t the only option.

Correct, but it is an option.

If range doesn't matter, then any ship will do. If range does matter than that narrows the field.

Anyways topic has been done to death. I'll stop offering an opinion that clearly isn't considered that important.

 

[kofeyh]

Yeah, although with SCO fuel economy being based on your default tank I’m less inclined to drop the tank size now.

My Neutron Highway ‘Conda has around 100t of fuel taking up some of the spare slots. - One thing I wish we had was a way to switch off those tanks and only fill them when needed.

It would be nice to be able to set a 'full' level (between say 10% and 100%) where the ship will only scoop to that level, and plotting would then use that for calculations.

It would obviate the whole dropping tank sizes to and adding partial tanks to tweak base range.

 

[Michael Ryan]

It saddens me just how many people want explorers to just accept mediocrity, because who needs all that range, etc etc as though there is a single and only way to approach the game.

I look forward to the Mandalay, all the same. It'll be a great ship that is almost as good as another ship. Good stuff. I'd happily accept more range but I can probably live with what it's got.

Range isn't a case in exploration. Range is a thing if you want to travel fast. Exploration isn't about how fast you can run through galaxy.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Even if the AFMU for some reason went to 0% health, wouldn't a reboot/repair bring it back to a couple of %, allowing it to be used again?

That's the other option I was thinking of, yes.

Thus, I can't think of any reason to have more than one, except if you want the extra ammo.

It's definitely pretty theoretical in terms of actually using them - it'd require:
- one of your AFMUs is completely destroyed
- your hull integrity and general module integrity is too low for a reboot/repair to have anything to transfer from to get that AFMU back
- you don't have any access to repair limpets to fix that problem and there's no practical way for anyone else to bring them (or for you to get to a station for repairs)
- (at least one of) your other AFMUs has somehow survived all of this disaster [1]
...then you might benefit from having two.


Having all slots filled with damageable modules does reduce the chance of some module damage sources hitting something more important, and the AFMU is I think the only massless module you can carry more than one of. Again, probably not a big deal in most cases, might come in handy if you're trying to carry more corrosive cargo than you have resistant racks for...

[1] Of course, if that's the bizarre contingency you're planning for there's an interesting question: have you checked that your undersized low-emissions powerplant can run any AFMUs at all if reduced to 0% integrity (50% output)? Especially important if you've applied a high-level shielded blueprint to make it less likely to fail in the first place, and picked the bigger ones for a higher base integrity...