What hardpoints and utilities do you like to put on your exploration ships?

GroG79

G
You can see the xeno scanner from the dbx cockpit if you mount it front center. So I do that.. heatsink for oopsies and usually a booster to boost the shield a bit.

A energy weapon for poking science. None of this mining stuff as they can not be engineered to save weight/power. A dbx can scoop from the ground if you really have to. the energy weapon can be used to shoot metals down. Not that this will ever be needed..
 

marx

marx
+1 for heat sinks. They can be modded to weigh next to nothing, and if you stay out long, they are going to come in handy. Jump enough times, and sooner or later you will get into a situation where you are rapidly heating up immediately on arrival. Having a heat sink there can save you some serious module and hull(!) damage.

They are also handy for those NSPs which heat you up quickly. However, you pretty much have to be out looking for them specifically, the chances of randomly coming across one are astronomically low.
 

Bigmaec

Bigmaec
Oh, I covered hardpoints, but forgot utilities.

On 4 util explorers I add three 0E shield boosters, usually one of each HD, thermal and res aug, or three HD.
Nets me around 1000 mj on my Orca and Phantom explorers, safe for open. My T7 is only at under 500 mj but has much stronger hull.
Last slot is for a lightweight heat sink launcher.

On my 6+ util explorers I tend to add a point defense to hopefully blow up a grom or two while escaping.
 

Orvidius

Orvidius
On several of my ships, I've started doing a standard 2x lightweight heat sinks, and 2x 0E shield boosters with Heavy Duty. Resistances don't help much for exploration, since raw shield strength is what matters for collisions, and resistances only really apply to weapon shots.

I used to explore with the smallest shields I could use, but I'm more cautious now, after doing expeditions with other players (ship collisions at meetups), and also having gotten myself killed at a lagrange cloud once, due to a stupid peduncle pod that decided to jet closer just when I fired my boost. Extra shield strength can be helpful.

However, if I have the extra utility slots, sometimes I'll load up with other scanners (for the SCIENCE). All lightweighted where posible, of course.
 

Susanna

Susanna
Yurika Shirayuki said:
Having a fleet carrier in tow behind me, I explore now by jumping ahead of the carrier kind of like a pathfinder, then I bring the carrier forward when I'm about 500 ly away, sooner if I find a double or triple tritium hotspot. So my AspX and DBX have empty hardpoints and 2x heatsinks engineered lightweight G5 and 2x 0E shield boosters engineered heavy duty G5 super-cap. The AspX is setup for straight space exploration with no SRV hangars, and the DBX is setup for planetary landings with a 4G SRV hangar since it has a smaller footprint and can land in tighter spaces than the AspX.
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You have an Interesting use of the FC...

My approach is to jump the FC, explore in a sphere around the FC, out to about 150 light year radius from the FC (just the three main star classes K, G, F or two G, F if nearer the core). If I find a great ring to mine (and I'm minded to) I'll mine for a bit. Then do another jump in the FC.
 

varonica

varonica
marx said:
+1 for heat sinks. They can be modded to weigh next to nothing, and if you stay out long, they are going to come in handy. Jump enough times, and sooner or later you will get into a situation where you are rapidly heating up immediately on arrival. Having a heat sink there can save you some serious module and hull(!) damage.

They are also handy for those NSPs which heat you up quickly. However, you pretty much have to be out looking for them specifically, the chances of randomly coming across one are astronomically low.
Click to expand...

Gone around the galaxy twice, never had a situation where I couldn't escape safely with zero damage, of course this is after the binary nerf, they used to be nasty and I have jumped through a few stars but still paying attention and quick reactions and decisions serve me well, I have never even bothered carrying heatsinks, let alone used any!
 

marx

marx
varonica said:
Gone around the galaxy twice, never had a situation where I couldn't escape safely with zero damage, of course this is after the binary nerf, they used to be nasty and I have jumped through a few stars but still paying attention and quick reactions and decisions serve me well, I have never even bothered carrying heatsinks, let alone used any!
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For me, it happened twice in the last six months. Maybe I was unfortunate, maybe you were lucky - hard to say from just two Commanders. (My total over the years is coming up to 3,250,000 ly and 80,000 jumps.)
I'd say it's better to be prepared though, especially seeing that a lightweight heat sink launcher will cost you around -0.05 ly jump range on most ships. Or even unengineered, it'd be around -0.2 ly.
Let's not forget that they also protect you from NSPs with heat attacks.
 
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WeComeInPeace

WeComeInPeace
UTU2TM said:
Nothing. Zip, zero, nada.
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Exactly, and that goes for many of the optional internals as well. I've flown a stripped down Mamba, without shields, AFMU, limpets or whatever to Sag A* and back with 100% hull. The only use of AFMUs is when you use the Neutron Highway, which I personally don't because VR. The only internals you need are a FSD booster and a fuel scoop. The rest is just a matter of not crashing into stars. If you like you can bring a SRV.
 
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