The „new“ kind of exploration in Horizons

[Senik]

I get 39.12ly jumps on a full tank with 2 SRVs

Right, but the only way you can do that is with a 1D power distributor. I think this is viable once you are 100% pro at surface landings, but until you reach that point having boost available will usually save your bacon if you come in too hot for a landing. This is one area where the Asp shines, because you only lose .15LY of jump range to add a big enough power distributor to be able to boost, verus losing 2.13LY in an Anaconda.

The reason for choosing the anaconda was:

1. The internals. I'm not a too disciplined pilot, and make mistakes often, so 1 SRV won't cut it
2. The FSD that can support all that weight, while still keeping jump range around 35Ly. Even if you could squeeze all this stuff onto an Asp somehow, your jump range would suffer...

Just to be annoying, here's an Asp with 2 SRVs that still gets 35LY jumps on a full tank.

I can totally appreciate that you need to like the ship you're flying though. I don't mind the spartan look of the Asp. If I didn't mind the slow turn rate of the Anaconda, I'd probably take that instead.

 

[Ben_BigBen]

Just to add a useful info: The SRV is always auto-repaired when you reboard your ship, so synthesis repairs should only be necessary in emergency-situations like while tumbling down a steep slope or so. In all other cases simply recall your ship and board it shortly to have the SRV repaired.

Really? I thought it only auto-repaired the SRV when the ship was docked in a base/station ?

 

[kpmop]

Really? I thought it only auto-repaired the SRV when the ship was docked in a base/station ?

No, it auto-repairs whenever you board your ship - even on a planet. It's probably not supposed to though and this might be a bug/feature that gets fixed. Anyways (now I've got the hang of the scanner) finding the materials (iron & nickel) to repair the SRV is pretty easy, so I always repair mine before I board (even if it's still at 99%).

 

[Eisen]

No, it auto-repairs whenever you board your ship - even on a planet. It's probably not supposed to though and this might be a bug/feature that gets fixed. Anyways (now I've got the hang of the scanner) finding the materials (iron & nickel) to repair the SRV is pretty easy, so I always repair mine before I board (even if it's still at 99%).

The speed-prospecting that is currently done by the Rock-Rats would suffer greatly, if ship-auto-repair would be removed. We are rowdie-drivers

 

[PanicButton]

I managed to dock & sell my data @ Diaguandri yesterday, but then real life intruded.....ah well, maybe tonight I can make some progress.

i have two srv on my Asp (class 4 hangar in the class 5 slot). and i have 34.2 jumpramge on a full tank - but i reduced my fuel to 16T. that's 3.2 jumps, you get 4 on a standard anaconda fueltank size. I'd say 4,5 is comfortable ;-)

....

Just to be annoying, here's an Asp with 2 SRVs that still gets 35LY jumps on a full tank.

I can totally appreciate that you need to like the ship you're flying though. I don't mind the spartan look of the Asp. If I didn't mind the slow turn rate of the Anaconda, I'd probably take that instead.

I like to take two AMFUs so one can repair the other if needed Also at least one cargo rack. Frontier confirmed there are things out there that we haven't seen yet. Don't wanna be that guy who comes across something, but can only take screenshots because he has no cargo space. In your case Senik, I would have to sacrifice one or the other. I'm not saying explorers need two AMFUs....I'm saying I do
Oh an I always use the biggest tank. No more, no less.

Like I hinted before, my fav ship for exploring is the DBE. Love how the ship looks, the cockpit is perfect. You can look around, but it still feels cozy. The only problem is the lack of module space.

....
A 7B fuel scoop (for affordability reasons) doesn't quite cut it when you're trying to just honk and jump especially if your fuel is low.
.....

Why isn't the 7B enough for a 32t tank? I did the honk&jump for 11KLy straight with my Asp when sprinting home. That also has a 32t tank, and only had a A6 scoop. (about 200kg/s less) It was just perfect...One jump took me 43-47sec on average. I don't think it's possible to do it any faster. I could always top off the tank without any special maneuvers, and only had to stop for a short time after having a lot of unscoopables bunch up on me.

 

[Ben_BigBen]

I love being in that sweet sprint-run sweet spot, engaging FSD as soon as it's ready, whilst simultaneously fuelling in the corona and leaving it just before critical temp - definition of zen piloting Weirdly the 'conda doesn't seem to fuel as fast, although I've not tried a proper speed run yet - isn't there some fuel multiplier for the larger ships to maintain scale (otherwise you'd end up with a 128T or 256T tank on the 'conda) - a 7A scoop is still on my shopping list, just need to check down the back of the sofa for that 48M CR or whatever it costs

 

[Darth Krayt]

Why isn't the 7B enough for a 32t tank? I did the honk&jump for 11KLy straight with my Asp when sprinting home. That also has a 32t tank, and only had a A6 scoop. (about 200kg/s less) It was just perfect...One jump took me 43-47sec on average. I don't think it's possible to do it any faster. I could always top off the tank without any special maneuvers, and only had to stop for a short time after having a lot of unscoopables bunch up on me.

You have roughly 4-5 jumps max with a 32t Anaconda. After hitting 2 unscoopables in a row your will need to come to a dead stop if you want to completely fill your tank (7B scoop) or slow down quite a bit. The Anaconda's pitch and yaw are so slow that you want to avoid slowing down to a point where you're below the blue zone in throttle because it handles even worse then.
Now to keep the scoop filling at maximum rate you're already having to use full deflection of the controls and using pitch/roll/yaw and throttle to drag the nose around to where you want it whereas with the Asp you just wiggle the joystick a little and you're set (Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit).
So a 7A with it's extra 200/s rate should help maintain a rhythm when honking and jumping. I haven't tested this theory yet though. I would have been able to afford a 7A before I set out on my current trip, but the money I'd have left for insurance made me uncomfortable.
BTW, one of the goals of my 1st Sag A* trip was to make enough money to afford an A6 scoop for my Asp. This 2nd trip is to fund a 7A scoop for my Anaconda.

 

[goemon]

I like to take two AMFUs so one can repair the other if needed Also at least one cargo rack.
Like I hinted before, my fav ship for exploring is the DBE. Love how the ship looks, the cockpit is perfect. You can look around, but it still feels cozy. The only problem is the lack of module space.

Why isn't the 7B enough for a 32t tank? I did the honk&jump for 11KLy straight with my Asp when sprinting home. That also has a 32t tank, and only had a A6 scoop. (about 200kg/s less)

- i don't think two AFMU's make any sense anymore with synthesis. you can refill your AFMU, and you can reboot the ship, so your AFMU gets 1% by cannibalizing another modul.
- my AspE has a cargo rack. and a wake-scanner
- i share your love for the DBE
- the 7B is fine, the difference is the anaconda needs more fuel per jump (8T max, not 5T like the AspE). so you'll need to scoop faster with a factor of 1,6, if you want to go as fast.

i was doing extensive fueltanksize-tests (for my playstyle) back in 1.4 - i simply found out, i don't need 6+ jumps range, like the Asp has as a standard - 4 jumps like the anaconda is fine, i'd even go down to 3 (but you have to watch your fuel permanently...). my explonda had a small extra fueltank of 4T fuel - because 4,5 jumps on a full tank was very relaxing for me.

 

[Rikk]

Considering all the comments so far, I ended up with this build:
http://edshipyard.com/#/L=706,mpa0Wg0Wg,2-6QA09Y8S7_D88I,0Bk5221Oc0PA0Nc08c08c0727Q42jw2UI

Not sure about the thrusters though. 5A or 6D? Impact on the jump range is minimal, so I guess whichever supports the ship better in gravity. This is pretty much the only question left…

A 7B fuel scoop is about the same cost but is noticeably quicker.

 

[Darth Krayt]

- i don't think two AFMU's make any sense anymore with synthesis. you can refill your AFMU, and you can reboot the ship, so your AFMU gets 1% by cannibalizing another modul.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the reboot sequence is only effective if your powerplant is heavily damaged.
Having 2 AFMUs means that one can repair the other.

 

[goemon]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the reboot sequence is only effective if your powerplant is heavily damaged.
Having 2 AFMUs means that one can repair the other.

a reboot brings back any module from 0 to 1% afaik, if you have others moduls it can cannibalize - i can't tell you about afmu (never had one to 0%...), but i can confirm this for heatsinks, thrusters, shield generator, sensors, shieldgenerator - and i can't see why it shouldn't be the case with an AFMU. also, a modul malfunction of an AFMU has no negative impact on your ship.

 

[Iron Orchid]

a reboot brings back any module from 0 to 1% afaik, if you have others moduls it can cannibalize - i can't tell you about afmu (never had one to 0%...), but i can confirm this for heatsinks, thrusters, shield generator, sensors, shieldgenerator - and i can't see why it shouldn't be the case with an AFMU. also, a modul malfunction of an AFMU has no negative impact on your ship.

Does it bring back the Power plant? (I wouldn't have thought it would)

 

[Darth Krayt]

Does it bring back the Power plant? (I wouldn't have thought it would)

I believe it does. The pew-pew fans over in Dangerous Discussion would probably know for sure.

 

[Pilot Mark]

1. How important did thrusters become? I’ve read that you need higher class/rating to make landing on high G worlds viable. What’s more important? Class or rating? What would you recommend for an Anaconda?
2. How important is it to have a better sensors? My understanding is that you can pick up POI “signals” at longer range with a higher rated module. Do these POIs exist even in deep space, or only in “civilized” space?
3. Planning to buy my first Anaconda, and outfit is as an explorer. Any tips?
4. How hard rare are materials to refill AMFU ammo? Same question for Increased jump range...uhm...juice?

All input is very welcome.

1. Minimum thrusters are all you require for exploration, and are fine for landing. Like others have said, familiarise yourself with this before you go out - and land like a plane on high g worlds.
2. Not important at all. I turn my sensors off completely when exploring. If I could I would ditch them entirely, they only work when you are in 'normal' space.
3. Anaconda is a fine ship, don't weigh it down with unnecessary extras though
4. The higher jump materials are harder to find, best to stock up in the bubble before leaving.

Enjoy

 

[goemon]

I believe it does. The pew-pew fans over in Dangerous Discussion would probably know for sure.

it does. to 1%. but a 0% percent powerplant results in 50% poweroutput, and chance to explode - and most explorer ships have very undersized powerplants - in most cases you can't power thrusters, fsd and lifesupport with 50%, so you will have a good change to fall from sc if malfunctioning... more damage... new change of exploding or life support running out of oxygen...

tl;dr: turn back earlier.

 

[whammo11224]

91 million for a fuel scoop in an exploration 'conda? And people say this game is not about the credits!

 

[SvennoJ]

4. How hard rare are materials to refill AMFU ammo? Same question for Increased jump range...uhm...juice

Prepare for the grind. I just checked my recovery rate for Polonium, which seems to be the limiting factor for max jump boost materials. 0.5%, 1 in 200, while I always focus on the rocks with a higher chance to drop them. (Mesoderite and up). Or in terms of distance, 130km traveled in the SRV per set of premium jump materials. (That does include getting all the other materials for refuel, repair and 25% and 50% boosts) If you maintain an overall average of 20 m/s (including stopping, picking up etc), that's 1 hour and 48 minutes per premium set.
It was fun in the beginning, yet now I realize probing the edge with 3 premium jumps (+ 3 back) cost me over 10 hours of looking for materials.... Use them wisely.

Of course for afmu refills basic materials will do.

 

[Eisen]

Prepare for the grind. I just checked my recovery rate for Polonium, which seems to be the limiting factor for max jump boost materials. 0.5%, 1 in 200, while I always focus on the rocks with a higher chance to drop them. (Mesoderite and up).

I agree it is very hard if you scout and prospect for it on your own in uncharted territory. But if you go to those planets which are known to have Po. or Yttr. and other jumponium mats, focus on metallic-meteorites and - thats important - reset the instance if you feel the rocks don't spawn any useful stuff, you will find rather quickly what you search for. While it may be immersion-breaking to reset the instance it is a viable option if you need the mats in a hurry.

 

[SvennoJ]

I agree it is very hard if you scout and prospect for it on your own in uncharted territory. But if you go to those planets which are known to have Po. or Yttr. and other jumponium mats, focus on metallic-meteorites and - thats important - reset the instance if you feel the rocks don't spawn any useful stuff, you will find rather quickly what you search for. While it may be immersion-breaking to reset the instance it is a viable option if you need the mats in a hurry.

Well I've been on Blaa Hypai KT-Q d5-14 A 1 for over 90 minutes, reset a few times, flew to the other side of the planet, still 0 polonium. The last 45 minutes the planet hasn't spawned a single metallic meteorite either. It all depends on luck I guess. On another planet I got 3 Polonium from 1 meteorite in 15 minutes. The next 90 minutes, nothing. So in the end it averages out to that 0.5% for me.
My stats do include some prospecting on my own, yet I leave immediately after I find the wrong very rare, or when the very rare won't reveal itself after 15 to 30 minutes. You can choose the planet with the correct very rare, but you're still dependent on a moody rng to actually spawn metallic meteorites, and than actually spawn a very rare inside them.
I went long range / edge exploring to get away from the grind, yet FD has managed to find a way to put the grind into my preferred type of exploration as well. (which they already did of course, getting a 39-41ly capable Anaconda wasn't exactly grind free lol)

 

[AJW]

If you are looking for 'very rares', don't just check the metallic meteorites - you can find Polonium, Ytrrium etc in mesosiderites too (and possibly elsewhere). I suspect that an individual MM is more likely to hold the VR, but there are a lot more meso's. The last planet I prospected I got 2 x Polonium from mesosiderites, and only one from MMs.