Tips and recommendations for first exploration trip?

[CMDR Robb Macruz]

I just bought Elite a week ago and I'm loving it having done some combat, planetside missions, trading and such I'm about to head up to the black for the first time on monday, I'm planning a week long from point A to point B and another week long trip from B to A along another route of course.

I'm still trying to decide where to go tho so I'm looking for suggestions, the places I have in mind are Betelgeuse, Rigel, Antares, the Pipe nebulas or the good old Coalsack but I haven't decided yet.

I'm planning to make the trip on a DBX that I'm about to buy later tonight when my brother gets off the PS4 with about 36ly jump range or more (If I can engineer it tonight and tomorrow for greater jump range), I know many would recommend the ASP but I only have about 14 mill credits atm so a good DBX build is on my price range (I can buy it for a discount and grandfather some modules from my Viper like thrusters, powerplant, distributor and shields which is okay since the "Nauyakoatl" will be grounded until I go back to the bubble to cut the price some more).

also playing time is not really an issue, thanks to being my last semester in college I don't have many classes and I can play the whole day on Monday, Tuesday (when Beyond hits yeeeaaaaiiiii) and thursday while playing from 6pm to 1 am on wednesday and up to whatever time I want on Friday (yes I'm that anti social I play vidya on friday night)

please hit me up with suggestions for where to go and some tips for a noob explorer if you want

 

[iain666]

For a short first trip that doesn't go too far from the bubble there's a string of awesome sights in the nebulae out towards Orion/Barnard's star. You can check out the Galactic Mapping Project for other points of interest in the vicinity - there are a few permit locked sectors that can make plotting long routes a bit tricky, not a huge problem but if the route plotter refuses to go all the way that'll be why.

You'll soon be hooked and want to go further but that'll get you started

A 36ly DBX will get you pretty much everywhere in the local area - just don't forget the fuel scoop.

 

[Seizewell Warrior]

Well I'm currently doing my first long distance run from the Bubble to Colonia. Using a 27ly AspX which is a bit on the low side but has the advantage of dropping me in systems the Cmdrs with >40ly end up bypassing.

Initial advice for any long trip (bearing in mind I'm still a relative newbie):
1. Consider restricting the path finding to scoopable stars, that will avoid white knuckle moments if you get a succession of brown dwarves. Don't play chicken with the fuel gauge regardless.
2. Take a SRV. This will provide some variety when Jump/Honk/Scoop/Scan Star/ gets a bit tedious and will gather mats for mods.
3. Travel light. I clung to 4 of my 6 weapons at the Rohini stop and could probably have squeezed another 0.8 - 1.2 ly if I dumped them. Likewise my massive armour block, not really essential for exploration.
4. Work up a routine - if you surface scan every body in a system you'll get nowhere fast. I found the only way to stay sane is to triage what I look at - maybe run express for 10 - 15 jumps between runs out to the closer planets then on every other one of those excursions, think about taking the SRV down. If a star already has another Cmdrs name on it, I don't even bother with a detailed scan. OTOH repeated jumping can lead to a hypnotic state and you have to be careful not to lose concentration.
5. On arriving back in civilisation, tread carefully. You won't have docked (auto or manual) for several days or weeks or had to consider other traffic. Don't risk it in Open and at least make your first approach and landing in Solo.

Addendum:
Jumponium and Neutron boosts are probably overkill when there are enough stars to jump your stock distance. If using FSD boost the map will not factor that first jump into your overall route. You have to find a system roughly along the line and plot that one jump manually, then on arrival reset to your final destination. You can't even stack jumponium to do a succession of 4 or 5 longer jumps. So it doesn't really save any time over your standard range.

 

[Whiterose]

It all depends on whether you want to sightsee or get some "first discoveries". I tend to just pick a location and head for it. Its a lot easier now we have the 1000Ly route. Just do your own thing, explorers don't judge. The DBE is good fun, and you can fly it through canyons as it is relatively small.
Drop the weapons, you don't need them. Put shields on though, for those bumpy landings.
The most important thing though is.....Enjoy yourself, and its not a race.

 

[marx]

You can also combine sightseeing and getting some discoveries too, by taking detours above or below the galactic plane. Granted, in the close vicinity of the bubble (say, within 1,000 ly), you're only likely to run into unexplored systems if you go to the smallest stars. But as you pick destinations farther out, even if they are more popular ones (assume that all nebulae are, especially the real ones), travelling some distance from the plane will get you many more first discoveries. At the expense of star density being less, but with a 36 ly jump range, that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Orvidius]

I haven't covered destinations yet, but I have a Beginner's Exploration Tips page, as a work in progress.

 

[Major Klutz]

Here's an example of an optimum DBE outfitted for exploration ... https://eddp.co/u/cMAJ93wA
and here's my actual build, not quite optimized ... https://eddp.co/u/kyu294Qm

Lighweight as much as you can. Don't forget the fuel scoop and make sure you have an ADS and DSS so you can earn some money with the data from your trip.

My first time out was in a DBX with only ~1.2mil left over for rebuy. It's a perfect first ship.
just make sure you have enough for a rebuy left over. Just in case.

 

[gooddoc]

Im currently parked up in Deciat, Iv got my next trip planned out, but i'm not moving now until 3.0 drops. I know that I can get a better jump range on my 'Conda & want to sort out the Engineering side b4 I do that trip.

My advice would be go out for a short trip & be back for Tuesday's update, but kit out your DBX after the update. No point doing much engineering on your ships now, that's my opinion, others will look at it from a different angle.

 

[CMDR Robb Macruz]

Just bought my DBX and currently sits at 34 Ly might go for the 3D powerplant instead of the 4D I retrofitted from my Viper, I put my 4h hangar because I'm to careless driving around but might go with a single SRV to squeeze 2 more Ly there, probably I'll without engineering and wait until I get back to tweak it under the new system


I'm planning also to start a WordPress to log the Journey and share with the community (also to work on my writing :v)

Here's my current DBX build:
https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/diamondback_explorer?code=A0pdtdFflddisdf5----02--43v3-2t2f2i.Iw1gMZcQ.Aw18UA%3D%3D..EweloBhBmSQUwIYHMA28QgIwV0A%3D&bn=%20DBX%20build%201.1

And this is the one I most likely go with
https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/diamondback_explorer?code=A0p8tdFfldddsdf5----02--43v6-2t2f2i.Iw1gMZcQ.Aw18UA%3D%3D..EweloBhBmSQUwIYHMA28QgIwV0A%3D&bn=%20DBX%20build%201.2

 

[iain666]

Just bought my DBX and currently sits at 34 Ly might go for the 3D powerplant instead of the 4D I retrofitted from my Viper

If you can run the ship on a 3D then you can run it on a 2A and it'll be lighter again plus have better heat management.

 

[Major Klutz]

What iain666 said.
Never D rate your power plant. A lower sized A rated will be lighter, will have more power and will run cooler. Cooler running is a benefit when fuel scooping, esp in a DBX when you have to sit there for a while to fill up.
You can power anything you can carry on a DBX with a 2A.

Your fuel scoop is in the wrong slot. You'll want a size 4 scoop. The DBE is already handicapped with a maximum size 4 scoop, no need to make it any smaller. The less time you spend scooping the better. Especially on a long trip.

Fixed. https://eddp.co/u/3FkGdcLJ and with a slightly better jump range. I know the price goes up by a few million but it's worth it.

Tip: You don't need to leave your AFMU powered on when you aren't using it. Since you have to drop out of supercruise anyway before repairing, we typically just power off thrusters in order to free up the power needed to turn on the AFMU.

Engineering suggestions. https://eddp.co/u/QykocQDZ
Any engineering mods you can manage will help with your range. Do whatever you reasonably have access to. Increased range on the FSD is the most important. The other lightweight mods will only help incrementally.
You can under size your Power Distributor and you'll still be able to boost with an Engine Focused engineering mod.

Here's a video I made demonstrating AFMU repairs and neutron star supercharging.
Here's a guide I wrote on High Gravity landings but most the info is applicable to all planetary landings.

 

[Mitch Brewer]

Always know where your towel is.

And A rate your PP and take the biggest Fuel Scoop you can afford.

 

[CMDR Robb Macruz]

Damn man! thank you for the build I currently have 10 mill to spare after putting together my build, will tweak it to yours for that sweet jump range didn't know anything about the module size and such will put more attention when I log later tonight,

 

[acg515]

The Veil nebulae are good, a trip out through the Pleiades, on to Barnard's Loop, and then on to Thor's Helmet is another cool one because you can cut it short at various points and still see a lot of cool stuff, though that area has been charted more heavily than most, you should still get some first discoveries.

 

[EDanaII]

Barnard's Loop is well worth the trip, but be careful of the Col 70 Sector. The whole area is permit locked for some inexplicable reason and can sometimes make traveling to and from difficult. Also, just inexplicably locked is the Horsehead Nebula, within Barnard's Loop. Stunning when I first visited, but haven't been able to return since. Still, you can get close enough to get some awesome

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

If you have not unlocked Professor Palin yet you might consider making sure you pass 5 kly from your starting point.
That's a pretty reasonable goal for a first exploration trip, assuming you've already unlocked Farseer.
You can see that stat in your right UI panel.

 

[CMDR Robb Macruz]

I've decided for a trip to the barnard's loop and will stop throught the pleiades on my way back to get Meta Alloys for Farseer, my DBX sits at 36.64ly with a max of 39.97 or should I take a short trip to Maia, get the alloys, go back to Farseer on Tuesday and engineer my FSD and then into the black?

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

That Maia idea is a quick trip even with that range.
You can be back before you know it, but it's pretty down there.
I'd recommend taking it in a bit in Maia, then going back to Farseer's, then take your longer trip.

 

[CMDR Robb Macruz]

hmm that's a good idea, I'm in wolf 406 where I bought my DBX (it had a discount I think) Might start heading up to Maia tonight get some metas (no classes tomorrow yeah!), explore the pleiades tomorrow and then go to Farseer and start the long trip once I get my FSD engineering for the Beyond release

 

[Dr. Nagi]

As others mentioned, it's a bit tricky to get to Barnards Loop, but there actually is a safe way to do it:
Go to Rigel first and then you can directly plot a route to Orion's Reach. Downside of it: You won't come accross many undiscovered systems that way.
But I still recommend going there
And about the ingame route-plotter, it seems to have increased in range as I was able to plot a 2000+ly route some days ago. Over 50 jumps^^

Btw there is a black hole in Maia, check it out.