Ships The Phantom and 5k LY Journey - Log of my experience

[Christian-A-Hill]

Hello ED Community,
I am fairly new in the game, only 5 months of game time. Still learning a lot. The help and support of the community had been superb to say the least.
Although my in game activities had been varying widely to select handful ships I can use for very long time, engineer them, test loadouts etc etc etc, my long term goal is to go on months long exploration eventually. To Boldly Go Where No Commanders Has Gone Before.

I wanted to open this thread to share my first hand experience of the Phantom I am trying right now with hope to love it or discard it. Just since yesterday I am on a 5k LY journey to unlock Paulin and I have ties bunch of tasks together so the trip is worthwhile. As I mentioned in my other thread for PvE Challenger loadout, here is a list of the task I am intending to accomplish:
1. Gather mats from Crystal Shard sites.
2. Unlock Paulin.
3. Test Exploration Build and learn to use exploration modules(stay intact as much as possible).
4. Practice High G landing if i come across one.
5. Learn Neutron Boosting.
6. Make money with Exploration Data.
7. Tag my name to few bodies.
8. Observe how easily I get bored with long exploration.
9. Test if I like the Krait Phantom.
10. Make return journey after hitting 350,000,0000 Cr mark and 6k LY.

Currently I own:
1. DBX - Own it for life, love it. Used as running around in bubble.
2. Krait MK2 - Own it out of necessity. Day to day activities to keep flow of Credit, Bounty hunting, Res sites, Robigo runs. Hate the Cockpit/Bridge!! Like SLF.
3. Challenger - Love the Engine Sound, Love the Cockpit, LOVE the Design! Currently in process of Engineering to G5. 'Hoping' to use it as main ship someday. Current use: learning PA fixed weapon, testing loadout.
4. Phantom - Rented for 5k LY mini journey. Like the cockpit better than Krait MK2. Testing if I want to use it as main exploration in future.

I am all about Immersion of the game without cutting corners. Huge fan of 'Firefly', for those who know what I am talking about. Through ED I feel like I can somewhat replicate imaginary life of 'Firefly' space life. I do not want to own many ships, max 3 would be fine. So since I started ED I have been trying to find those ships I can see myself in for a very long time. Or stay with them till something better comes along to replace them with. My DBX will never be replaced. Krait MK2, I wont hesitate to replace it with something else if i can decently do everything.

Ok enough with all the background info. I heard lot about Phantom but never actually tried it till yesterday. Since eventually I want to go on months long exploration sometimes this year, I do not want to get stuck in a ship I hate. Although I love my DBX, we can all agree the view could be better. As for Krait Mk2, I can't stand all the DUCKTAPES and LOOSE WIRES!!!! And not to mention how bright the cockpit is. I want to be in a somewhat darker cockpit when out in the black. A very brightly lit cockpit is an immersion breaker in my opinion specially in VR. Done with my rant.

I have never been on long journey except in my first 3 weeks of ED, when I took my Cobra Mk3 on 1200 Ly journey to unlock some engineers. I never used Neutron boost, AFMU or Repair limpets. So now that I am attempting to unlock Paulin and it is a short journey, renting the Phantom out for spin and learn few things seems like a good idea. I want to share my entire experience of this 5k LY journey here, with Phantom as main focus. Here is the build I started the journey:

The Phantom

I am hoping by the time the journey is over, I will be 100% certain I will rent to own the Phantom or return it forever never to fly again.

 

[Old Duck]

And not to mention how bright the cockpit is. I want to be in a somewhat darker cockpit when out in the black. A very brightly lit cockpit is an immersion breaker in my opinion specially in VR.

I have a mod for that!

Amazingly Realistic Immersion Mod

UPDATE - The latest version of this mod is available in this post from this very long thread. This is the last update I'll be making before Odyssey releases. For those who want more customizations and fine-tuning of their HUD, I recommend checking out EDHM, which is more user friendly than mine...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[Markus Saken]

Try Asp X. Best view for exploration. Sounds like WW2 bomber.

 

[Christian-A-Hill]

Try Asp X. Best view for exploration. Sounds like WW2 bomber.

AspX was one of the ship I tried right before fell in love with DBX. Totally agree with you on the view. I think you put it much nicer way about the engine sound. I always thought it sounded like Fart
I took the AspX for a test run out of the station, went to local Nav beacon and quickly turned out and promptly returned the ship to the dealer. I just couldnt stand the sound. Hated it more than Krait's cockpit.

I have a mod for that!

Amazingly Realistic Immersion Mod

UPDATE - The latest version of this mod is available in this post from this very long thread. This is the last update I'll be making before Odyssey releases. For those who want more customizations and fine-tuning of their HUD, I recommend checking out EDHM, which is more user friendly than mine...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Old Duck! Are you really saying I can finally rig a switch to turn off the cockpit lights?? My Krait Mk2 is already a mess of wires, whats one more string to put a switch!
The Black Shadows and Cockpit Lights are the ones I am super interested in. Gotta try it today!

 

[Old Duck]

Old Duck! Are you really saying I can finally rig a switch to turn off the cockpit lights?? My Krait Mk2 is already a mess of wires, whats one more string to put a switch!
The Black Shadows and Cockpit Lights are the ones I am super interested in. Gotta try it today!

Be prepared to be blown away

 

[Christian-A-Hill]

Log #1 : 23 Jan 3306
================
5 months ago while inspecting my Cobra 3 on station pad i saw the back of a ship as it was leaving the station through mail slot. Had no clue what that ship was since I only been in ED space for just couple of weeks and was not familiar with all the ships. But the sight of that row of thrusters was alluring as it reminded me of Millennium Falcon. For next few days I poured over as many backside pictures i could find then finally saw it and came to know The Phantom.
My wallet was too small to own such a ship as I just my profession in the galaxy. Fast forward 5 months, I am sitting in one. This is a journey of 5k LY in Phantom.
First visual impression: like the both exterior and interior better than Krait mk3. The red cockpit is really much more suitable for long exploration in the black in my opinion with less visual distraction. It also seems cleaner.

Auditory Impression: I was really eager to hear the engine. First impression, was not expecting that. It is..... well.... weird. By no means it is bad as AspX, just weird. I must say i like the Krait 3 engine sound better.

Hardware Impression: I was somewhat surprised to see there is no size 4 Optional slot since Phantom is targeted for exploration. I have to waste a size 5 slot to install a 2 SRV bay or use 2 size 3 slots and install 2 SRV bays. Or sacrifice large fuel scoop to install size 6 SRV bay. It almost seems like deLacy is saying If you are going on a super long exploration, take size 6 SRV. It sort of makes sense to do lot of surface exploration on an extended journey and run into risk of losing SRVs. I am taking a size 6 SRV simply because I am making a stop at Crystal Shard sites to load up on Raw mats. I hear those sites have lot of ups and downs.

After spending sometime on EDSY with different builds, I am glad to see that I can fit just about fit all most needed modules without sacrificing something and still jump 61 Ly unengineered. I am not at all into maxing jump range as travelling to the furthest reach is not what I am shooting for. It is just nice not to have the need to choose what to take and what to leave behind. Here is the loadout I am going with for now. Better get the specs out to dock technician to start the installation as departure day is tomorrow:
https://is.gd/TjzOwG

 

[cmdr chequers]

Hello ED Community,
I am fairly new in the game, only 5 months of game time. Still learning a lot. The help and support of the community had been superb to say the least.
Although my in game activities had been varying widely to select handful ships I can use for very long time, engineer them, test loadouts etc etc etc, my long term goal is to go on months long exploration eventually. To Boldly Go Where No Commanders Has Gone Before.

I wanted to open this thread to share my first hand experience of the Phantom I am trying right now with hope to love it or discard it. Just since yesterday I am on a 5k LY journey to unlock Paulin and I have ties bunch of tasks together so the trip is worthwhile. As I mentioned in my other thread for PvE Challenger loadout, here is a list of the task I am intending to accomplish:
1. Gather mats from Crystal Shard sites.
2. Unlock Paulin.
3. Test Exploration Build and learn to use exploration modules(stay intact as much as possible).
4. Practice High G landing if i come across one.
5. Learn Neutron Boosting.
6. Make money with Exploration Data.
7. Tag my name to few bodies.
8. Observe how easily I get bored with long exploration.
9. Test if I like the Krait Phantom.
10. Make return journey after hitting 350,000,0000 Cr mark and 6k LY.

Currently I own:
1. DBX - Own it for life, love it. Used as running around in bubble.
2. Krait MK2 - Own it out of necessity. Day to day activities to keep flow of Credit, Bounty hunting, Res sites, Robigo runs. Hate the Cockpit/Bridge!! Like SLF.
3. Challenger - Love the Engine Sound, Love the Cockpit, LOVE the Design! Currently in process of Engineering to G5. 'Hoping' to use it as main ship someday. Current use: learning PA fixed weapon, testing loadout.
4. Phantom - Rented for 5k LY mini journey. Like the cockpit better than Krait MK2. Testing if I want to use it as main exploration in future.

I am all about Immersion of the game without cutting corners. Huge fan of 'Firefly', for those who know what I am talking about. Through ED I feel like I can somewhat replicate imaginary life of 'Firefly' space life. I do not want to own many ships, max 3 would be fine. So since I started ED I have been trying to find those ships I can see myself in for a very long time. Or stay with them till something better comes along to replace them with. My DBX will never be replaced. Krait MK2, I wont hesitate to replace it with something else if i can decently do everything.

Ok enough with all the background info. I heard lot about Phantom but never actually tried it till yesterday. Since eventually I want to go on months long exploration sometimes this year, I do not want to get stuck in a ship I hate. Although I love my DBX, we can all agree the view could be better. As for Krait Mk2, I can't stand all the DUCKTAPES and LOOSE WIRES!!!! And not to mention how bright the cockpit is. I want to be in a somewhat darker cockpit when out in the black. A very brightly lit cockpit is an immersion breaker in my opinion specially in VR. Done with my rant.

I have never been on long journey except in my first 3 weeks of ED, when I took my Cobra Mk3 on 1200 Ly journey to unlock some engineers. I never used Neutron boost, AFMU or Repair limpets. So now that I am attempting to unlock Paulin and it is a short journey, renting the Phantom out for spin and learn few things seems like a good idea. I want to share my entire experience of this 5k LY journey here, with Phantom as main focus. Here is the build I started the journey:

The Phantom

I am hoping by the time the journey is over, I will be 100% certain I will rent to own the Phantom or return it forever never to fly again.

Fly your DBX it's a great exploration ship, everything you need and nothing you don't.
Better jump range too.

E:D Shipyard Jump Range Breakdown

docs.google.com

Chequers II currently 19,904 ly from home on the Perseus reach expedition.

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

s.orbis.zone

 

[GeoJase]

Add a heatsink. You won't need one until you do!

 

[Christian-A-Hill]

Log #2 : 24 Jan 3306
================
All module installations were completed right on time. At the last minute I got some instruction to rig a switch to control Cockpit lights. But the technician could not make it work. As the switch was not that critical to delay the departure time, I decided to take the instructions and parts with me and try to rig it while on the journey.

Few chatter later station cleared me for takeoff. I hit the thrusters and chuckled as I listened to the somewhat funny engine sound. It is not gaining much points in the sound department. Boosting sound is ok though. I set the course towards HIP 36601, one of the Crystal Shard site and prepared to make jumps.

After I settled down decided to give the cockpit a really good look. Not bad comparing to Krait mk2. Looks more polished. Since I am travelling away from galactic core, the viewable space was more black. The red in the cockpit actually is pleasing to the eyes and gives more thrill of being in space. Now if i only had a fighter bay in this I could get out to admire the exterior.

Spent few minutes trying to make the cockpit light work. I think I am going to give Old Duck a quick comm call as it is not working. I must be missing something.

 

[Christian-A-Hill]

Log #3 : 24 Jan 3306
================
Finally arrived at HIP 36601 system. Was super excited with anticipation to finally be able to see Crystalline Shard site that I heard so much about. Really looking forward to drive around a bit.

Planet C 1 A was the first stop which has Polonium. I was shocked to see distance of the planet from the sun!! 154,099 LS!! I believe this is the farthest planet from the Sun I have been to. I can imagine how dark these planets are going to be.

After what appeared to be forever in Supercruise, finally i was within 2,000 Ls of the planet. A quick DSS probing revealed all the Biological and Geological sites on the planet. Apparently only Biological site holds the rare materials needed for engineering. Took almost 20 minutes to find a suitable place to land. With DBX it could have been less no doubt. Terrain is not flat at all. Few minutes of driving around decided to capture the moment. It is pitch black out here. So I had to retouch the picture a bit to actually be able to see things. I am no photo editor by any definition so the picture somewhat looks ugly:


Here is the original picture:


My impression of the exterior of the Phantom, I like the following sight way better. This was taken at Koli Discii during mat gathering at Crashed Anaconda site.


Here is a close up of the Crystal Shards:


Let the gathering start.

 

[Christian-A-Hill]

Log #4 : 25 Jan 3306
================
Cleared 2 Crystal Shard sites so far, topped off Polonium and Ruthenium. Both sites were unbelievably dark and almost lost my first SRV. One of the wheel seemed to have stuck in between shards. Few back and forth and vertical thrustsers were able to get it unstuck. HIP 36601 system got all 4 (Polonium, Ruthenium, Tellurium, Technetium) materials. At least I dont have to jump around.

I headed off to Tellurium expecting to face another dark planet only to find this:

Looks like a bright planet for a change. I bet the site is going to be in one of those canyons. Why wouldn't be........

These canyons are actually much wider than I thought with plenty of flatish surface to land. That was a relief.

Since it was easier to look around, materials gathering went much faster and uneventful. Decided to do some canyon skimming before leaving the planet. I must say not a bad view and feel at all.

Off to gather Technetium, last material in HIP 36601 before heading to Outotz LS-K d8-3 to gather Antimony and Yttrium.

 

[Christian-A-Hill]

Log #5 : 26 Jan 3306
================
After a nice pleasant run at Tellurium site I think I let my guard down because I could not believe the sight of Technetium site. Right smack in the valley. Took several minutes of scouting to find a suitable place to land. I am beginning to miss my loving DBX already.
Doing final check before I plop down. It is tight:

Yet another deep dark planet. Thankfully the site was infront of Phatom so leaving the beam lights on really helped. Although the night vision helped a lot too.

From the beginning I loved terrain details in ED. This ragged terrain made me appreciate it more. Looking through VR this particular site was surreal.

Probably due to the site being in the bottom of this canyon, it was not too rough. Gathering Technetium was done soon enough then headed off to Outotz LS-K d8-3 system to collect Antimony and Yittirum.
By this time I think I am getting accustomed to all these sites being deep dark. Night visions are turned on at all times to drive around. Landed at B 5 a, one of the moon of gas giant B5 for Yittirum. The site was literally on the high sloop of a mountain. But there were plenty of flat surface at the base to land the Phantom.

Had to stop and capture this. For some reason the SRV tracks are red. Would have been good if there was sun light to see the real color of this moon.


After topping off Yittirum, headed off to the last stop of this part of the journey to gather Antimony. Judging by how little time it took to gather other materials, this should be done in no time and I will be able to continue the real part of this 5k LY journey.

And I spoke too soon! The entire moon is a giant grand canyon and appears all Antimony sites are in the deep bottom of canyons. Attempting first land:


25 minutes later.....still no suitable surface to land.....


45 minutes later..... Finally decided to find a place at the top of canyon and try to make my way down with SRV.

Only if i knew this decision was the beginning of a heart-pounding, hair-raising, fatal experience. I got in the SRV and started driving towards the edge ever so gently. Had the high beam light and night vision turned on fully. Sweaty hand on steering, finger on hand brake, eyes peeled. I inched towards the edge of canyon and after minutes I let out a sigh of relief as I can see it was a long lower inclination slope. My relief was short lived as I realized the SRV started to gain speed. I slowly started to reduce speed.

Panic hit when I realized SRV was gaining speed even though throttle was at 0! I slowly started pumping hand brake hoping it will slow down the SRV. After some struggle I was able to turn the SRV so I can get back to the surface to try another site only to find out SRV was now out of control. Throttle to max, thruster nothing helped. It was shooting down like a projectile.
By this time the SRV was going so fast there was nothing could be done. It suddenly hit a big rock and exploded.

At the last moment I was able to jump out of the SRV and walked up to the ship. Totally shaken. Never lost a SRV before.
Disclaimer: I was nauseated after this experience, i think due to combination excitement and out of control 360 degree spiral motion in VR.

After I caught my breath decided to try another site. But almost all Antimony sites were similar. Finally found one in a decent size valley but with closest suitable landing surface was 4 km away.

I was happy to do the driving without extra risk and was able to fill up Antimony bin. I am happy this part of the leg is finally over. Going to take a long sleep before heading out to the real journey. Too tired..... still little shaken....

 

[Markus Saken]

You must be doing something wrong while landing. I did shards runs with my Blue Betty (aps x) and I never had problems with finding spots. Driving on low g worlds is another story. I hate it. Hard to master

 

[Northpin]

regarding spots with decent terrain, well ... it can be tricky, but if you stay over the day-side you can usually spot the main terrain features from the orbit and pick one that looks less rough

 

[Christian-A-Hill]

You must be doing something wrong while landing. I did shards runs with my Blue Betty (aps x) and I never had problems with finding spots. Driving on low g worlds is another story. I hate it. Hard to master

Is it possible I happen to pick the hard to land sites? I could see there are numerous sites per planet/moon. I have not visited all of them to see which ones had smoother terrain.

 

[Markus Saken]

Yes it may be it. When landing don't stay strictly horizontal. Sometimes you may have to land at an angle.

 

[Christian-A-Hill]

Log #6 : 29 Jan 3306
================
After double checking I have everything I need for the long journey ahead, finally started the engine and took off. Saw another proof that planets/moons does rotate on their axis. When I came here it was total darkness on this side and now I can see the terrain:


Looking at the Galaxy map I realized there are some Nebulae looks worth checking out. Have never been to any real tourists destinations. Hitting up some nebulae seems like a great way to start my exploration career. I am going to start with Seagull nebula then just circle around to complete 5k ly requirement for Palin and head straight home:


While trying to plot my route to Seagull Nebula, I was puzzled by a huge region of Permit Locked systems starts with NGC- in their name. Searching galactic database revealed that it is apparently known issue/feature/future development etc.! Everybody knows except me.

It took some manual route plotting to go around the whole thing and hopefully smooth sailing all the way from this point on. I am going to do some exploration on the way to each waypoints:

 

[B.Roberts]

I traveled over 130 000 LY on my AspX, then I bought Phantom and outfitted for long distance trips. I took it for a weekend trip outside of the galactic plane and I love it. Considering taking it on another trip across the galaxy. AspX and Phantom, both pretty good explorers. Can't go wrong with either.

 

[Christian-A-Hill]

Log #7 : 29 Jan 3306
================
After jumping for a bit, started seeing Seagull nebula in the distance. Took some shots as got closer.

Yes changed the hud color on the last shot. Just wanted to change it a bit. The green looks good in Oculus but little odd with Phantom red interior.

While inside the nebula decided to scan the system and noticed a High Metal planet had some Geological spots. Wanted to check out what those were and also needed to scout a good place to land to see the spot from up close in the SRV.

Looked like steam coming out of vents. As i got closer to the planet it felt little strange that the ship was descending faster than it should. Quick look at the info and it was apparent this was a 1.15G planet. Never landed on any >1 G planet. This should be a good practice.

After spotting a good place to land close to the vents, as soon as my untrained finger tapped the vertical thruster I realized my mistake. My ship was getting pulled towards the surface without any power to the engines. Out of sheer panic I hit the throttle to full as I pitched up. But still I hit the ground hard enough before gaining altitude. With full shield gone and hull down to 61% I was finally in the space again.

For the first time I sent out repair limpet to see it in action to repair hull. (I noticed that the repair limpet does not really run around the ship. Normal?)

2 limpets brought the hull to 98% and decided to keep it there and not waste a limpet.


Lesson learned, I think I have pretty good idea now about the benefit of Shield, Repair Limpet. If i did not have the shield i dont think I would be here still. May be a SLF would have been good to take closer look at things without putting the ship at risk. I wont go on an exploration with no intention to take close look at interesting things on the surface.

After jumping and scooping over 100 times I can see that the Phantom is really good on heat. It never heated up even when i was doing scan/scoop.

 

[Christian-A-Hill]

Just wanted to conclude this thread with some after journey final thoughts about the Phantom.

I have decided to return the Phantom. I already own Krait MK2 and can do everything in it with more than good enough jump range. Other than extra little jump range, I dont seem to get more value out of the Phantom. By jury rigging cockpit light with the help of Cmdr Old Duck ( Amazing Realistic Immersion Mod ) I have taken care of super bright Krait cockpit for exploration. I also seem to miss the SLF.

If i did not own Krait already and was not into much SLF, Phantom would be a keeper for sure. So much so I would not mind parting with my trusty DBX. Overall it was an ok mini exploration session with the Phantom. This gave me a chance to try out properly before went on a very long journey and be stuck with it.