What is your favorite ship, or favorite ships, for exobiology?

[Neestar]

I started exobiology only recently,

Finally about to delve into the whole 'Exobiology' thing myself and noticed your awesome thread here!

if so, you may find that the Sidewinder is really good, the smallest ship ever - just perfect to land in the mountains and find some of the elusive herbs that thrive only there.

i'm confused about why/how the starter Sidewinder is considered "smallest" smaller than the Cobra? To me, in the purchase ship screen, they look exactly the same ship frame & shape , no? ( i didn't really pay attention yet to actual specs & measurements of it though )

I am out testing my Cobra MKII now and loving it, it is engineered out the wazoo, lands in a tight area, and you exit right at the front, and I have a jump of 48 LYs.

How come i keep seeing everyone mentioned that ^ exit in the FRONT thing so much? Why is that such a gamechanger in this Exobiology case?

IEagle, lands everywhere and most important, exit is in front.

Again, very curious to understand the "exit in front" aspect... Is that because of certain terrain impedements? Or is it just a basic visibility/convenience issue?

 

[Releaux]

How come i keep seeing everyone mentioned that ^ exit in the FRONT thing so much? Why is that such a gamechanger in this Exobiology case?

Again, very curious to understand the "exit in front" aspect... Is that because of certain terrain impedements? Or is it just a basic visibility/convenience issue?

I do 99.9% of my exploration / exobiology in a Krait Phantom, which is also front exit. For me, it's just a slightly easier / convenience thing. I use the lower windows to position the bio directly in front of the ship and often don't even have to take a step out of the teleport zone to do my scan.

When I switch to the iCourier (rear exit), I sometimes get lucky and do the same thing, but it's not as easy. For that matter, I'm not quite as good at positioning an Orca because I can't see out around my feet like I can in the Phantom.

None of these things are insurmountable or make things exceptionally hard - you'll figure out ways to deal with whatever ship you use, so it's more important that you like the ship you're flying because you're going to be spending a lot of time in it. I have an almost illogical love for the Phantom, even when it takes me a long time to find a parking spot in the mountains (or even longer time to drive up the mountain in my SRV, hoping I can still find those @#$#@^ fungoids I saw).

 

[K Olley]

i'm confused about why/how the starter Sidewinder is considered "smallest" smaller than the Cobra? To me, in the purchase ship screen, they look exactly the same ship frame & shape , no? ( i didn't really pay attention yet to actual specs & measurements of it though )

It is half the length and just over half the width, this enables it to land in a smaller space than any other ship.

I use a Sidewinder for some of the hard to reach Bio's, I keep it in my carrier and only use it occasionally, most of the time I use an AspX which is my normal exploration ship, but I keep my carrier within 1 jump of my location and call it to me as needed.

 

[grimreaper]

I really enjoy the hauler (when out with carrier), I've been fortunate gathering bio's with it and have been able to land it anywhere I could with the sidey. I'm still out about 7000ly and heading back to the bubble monday.

 

[aRJay]

Finally about to delve into the whole 'Exobiology' thing myself and noticed your awesome thread here!

i'm confused about why/how the starter Sidewinder is considered "smallest" smaller than the Cobra? To me, in the purchase ship screen, they look exactly the same ship frame & shape , no? ( i didn't really pay attention yet to actual specs & measurements of it though )

…

See this image, a little out of date but will give you an idea.

Ship sizes/types

I have a lot to consider, beginning this journey, and am looking into which ship I want to purchase first. With 3 core "sizes" to choose from I'm curious where I want to focus my efforts. Obviously "large" ships are likely more trouble than they're worth for a newer player and likely...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[varonica]

How come i keep seeing everyone mentioned that ^ exit in the FRONT thing so much? Why is that such a gamechanger in this Exobiology case?

No, it's just a convenience when you are doing exo with a largish ship tp be able to see it in front of you and stop, it's such a short dash from front to rear in a T6 that it's immaterial, anyway you just fly over them or beside them and stop and the bio ends up right beside the rear exit. But if you are used to one way of doing it there's an adjustment if you swap ships, once you get used to it there's really no difference, you just position the bio differently for front and rear exiting ships.

 

[sinisalo]

I recently picked up Odyssey after coming back to Elite after a long break. Looking to sample the exobiology side of the expansion I needed to choose a ship. For this role there isn't much that is essential. Lots of things you might want or like to have, like jump range, cool running, AFMU, rovers and so on, but as I soon found out none of that is necessary.

I ran the rule over half my fleet it seems, deciding on which ship would make the cut, and the answer would not surprise

-- Dolphin. Nearly perfect. Small, good jump, runs very cool (12% heat) and has the optional internals to pack in the stuff you'll want to take along. But it is so finely engineered to run fast and cool that adding the hangar exceeds retracted power limit. I could solve this with a different power plant but then the ship loses its mojo.

-- Courier. I have a very fast one (800 boost) and I thought that might be useful for quickly traversing planets looking for the exo sites. Can fit a rover, good shields, decent integrity and acceptable jump.

-- Krait II. What can't this ship do? Has everything you need. Jump's in the 40s though and I wanted more reach.

-- Type 6. Got this for free from a CG a couple years ago and have never found a role for it. This could work, but then when I look at it from the outside, like on foot on a planet or in the hangar, it fails to inspire, to put it diplomatically.

-- Orca. High speed, great jump, runs super cool, but too big for landing.

-- Phantom. Probably a good choice and another ship I keep despite having no role for it. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew whatever I picked should be small landing footprint. Just makes sense.

I considered and rejected a few more, like DBS and Python for various reasons.

In the end the answer was the same as it would always be, the DBX. Even with a rover it jumps 70, runs very cool, and I secretly think I have the fastest DBX around, so cruising above the surface looking for another patch of bacterium is a snap. AFMU, rover, everything I need in a compact lander with exceptional jump range.

So yeah, DBX for me.

 

[Felix DiCestria]

I recently picked up Odyssey after coming back to Elite after a long break. Looking to sample the exobiology side of the expansion I needed to choose a ship. For this role there isn't much that is essential. Lots of things you might want or like to have, like jump range, cool running, AFMU, rovers and so on, but as I soon found out none of that is necessary.

I ran the rule over half my fleet it seems, deciding on which ship would make the cut, and the answer would not surprise

-- Dolphin. Nearly perfect. Small, good jump, runs very cool (12% heat) and has the optional internals to pack in the stuff you'll want to take along. But it is so finely engineered to run fast and cool that adding the hangar exceeds retracted power limit. I could solve this with a different power plant but then the ship loses its mojo.

Alternatively drop the power priority for the vehicle hangar. Turns off whilst flying, turns on when you land...

 

[Aris Tarkus]

I started with a Dolphin, and took it across the Formidine Rift.

I switched to a Phantom and took it to Beagle Point.

I still like the Phantom, and I no longer enjoy flying the Phantom for some reason.

My main exploration ship is now the Orca. It carries everything I could possibly need. Has a good 60+ ly jump range. It needs more space to land, but that isn;t an issue as I can use the rover to get anywhere else with the added bonus of surface mining to keep the holds full.

I have a DBX, but I hate the engine sounds. I do still drag it out occasionally.

 

[sinisalo]

Alternatively drop the power priority for the vehicle hangar. Turns off whilst flying, turns on when you land...

Thanks, you know I didn't think about that. Once down on the ground everything else shuts down so you have the power for the rover. Good tip. The Dolphin is small, but a little long I guess and the DBX is just so easy to set down right next to the things you want to scan. My Dolphin runs very cool, and it's faster than the DBX, but having done some exo I see that flight speed isn't a big advantage. You gotta go pretty slow to spot the plants and not be flying right past their popping in to view.

The only thing exo requires is the Artemis, a DSS and a ship to bring you there. Everything else is optional. Even a rover is optional, but I'm glad I brought one with me. I could mix in raw mat farming, and zipping around to find separate colonies was a snap this way.

 

[Northpin]

Even a rover is optional, but I'm glad I brought one with me. I could mix in raw mat farming, and zipping around to find separate colonies was a snap this way.

With a small and agile ship, it's faster to use just the ship - so there is only one transition on-foot >> ship instead of having on-foot >> srv then srv >> ship
Land on top of it, disembark, scan, take off, land at the next one, disembark, scan and so on

 

[sinisalo]

Yeah, I did it each way, and both were pretty easy. But only with the SRV can I stock up on rock pinatas

 

[aRJay]

Yeah, I did it each way, and both were pretty easy. But only with the SRV can I stock up on rock pinatas

True but the last time I was out about the only thing I was using mats on was the SRV.

 

[Widsith-Bera]

I am so glad I tried the Type 6 out for this, it is almost perfect.

I stumbled across the T6 as being great for exo after I purchased one to build up my cash doing trade runs. Exo was to be my next venture and so I just repurposed it to get decent jump range. Vis is great from the cockpit. Survives some heavy g crashes (I've actually been THROUGH the landscape and survived), usable footprint (although struggles a bit in mountainous areas).

Yeah. It's a brick. But it's MY brick

 

[Kissamies]

Now that this thread is necroed, I must revisit my old comment to say that the Mandalay makes my whole concept of "far and near explorers" completely obsolete. My alt had enough ARX for early access. My main is too busy in the Bubble right now, but eventually the Mandalay will replace both his far exploration Krait Phantom and exobiology DBX. It's simultaneusly superior in both roles.

I have used a Krait Phantom for general exploration for ages and it's not likely to change. However, I also have a concept of "near explorer" that is supposed to go check out all the interesting bio signals near the carrier base camp. For a time, I used my leftover Viper mk.IV for that, but the cockpit view wasn't the most satisfying for landing's and such. When the C-grade SCO came, I built a DBX for the role. Now that the SCO FSD is A-grade and engineered, the jump range is unnecessarily good, but I guess it's a nice problem to have. Perhaps I shall reinforce the lithobraking capabilities and make it heavier. Big extra fuel tank is an obvious thing to add too.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Many DBX's died to bring you the Mandalay...

 

[Koma Pahu]

My main is too busy in the Bubble right now, but eventually the Mandalay will replace both his far exploration Krait Phantom and exobiology DBX. It's simultaneusly superior in both roles.

The DBX already did both roles! The Mandalay does it much more comfortably. - Although still doesn’t fit in all the same gaps that the DBX could.

 

[Kissamies]

The DBX already did both roles! The Mandalay does it much more comfortably. - Although still doesn’t fit in all the same gaps that the DBX could.

Maybe for some, but it didn't scoop fast enough for my tastes to be a long range traveller, or have enough room for all extra stuff I like to have on board to be self-sufficient.

 

[o2thaZ]

Imperial Eagle boosting at 900m/s flying upside down.
No problems spotting stuff and it's fun to.

 

[Stonelaughter]

I use the Mandalay. However - I think I'm doing my exobiology different to everyone else; I land my ship in a nice flat spot, drop the SRV, drive until I find the good stuff (using the free camera at 250m to find it) and then get out and scan. I like this a LOT better than searching with the ship.