Which of these two sensor options would you pick (PvE context)

[Quantis Trap]

I'm not sure what of these two option is currently the best.
In PvE context and disregarding power consumption, which is better:

• Long range D sensors
• Light weight A sensors

The reason I'm saying to disregard power consumption for this discussion is because it's obvious what you need to do if you don't have the power for an A sensor.

Edit: Looks like the consensus is that, of the two options, Long Range D sensors are most often used. If power is not an issue but weight is Light Weight A sensors might get the edge. This is, however an outside case because most small ships which need to be lighter also need to conserver power.

 

[Vedmo]

Long range D will get you a significantly better scan distance than Light weight A while weighing more, but not getting crazy in tons like long range A can. I don't even always go G5 with long range D, depending on module size G3 or 4 is usually plenty of range (7km and I'm usually happy). If you don't care about weight, or have a Type-10 situation with small module size for the ship, might as well go long range A.

 

[ForeverN00b]

Long range D for sure. I use LR D sensors on all my combat ships except my courier, which gets LW D sensors.

LW A sensors are useless.

 

[CMDR DragonHorn]

Personally I use A lightweight, since weight>speed>jump range is most important for me in every ship. I run it on all heavy combat ships, and really, the range I get is more than I need. On non combat I run D lightweight.

 

[Riverside]

Of the two I'd go for long range D rated, but myself I'd use D-rated lightweight if mass over sensor range is the priority (high jump range explorer or small fast ship).

Most of my 'open viable' ships have A-rated long range for maximum range though, it can be useful for resolving distant NPC targets in a RES as well as IFFing other players from far enough out that they may not have me resolved on their own scanner.

 

[rrobes]

Ahh, sensors and weight, apparently they are developed and manufactured by the Ministry of Silly Weights and Measures.

If you could strap a Sidewinder with A sensors to a Corvette, that rig would weigh less and have the same range as the Corvette A sensors. Nonsense.

 

[khalismur]

We often bring a class 8A LR sensors in a Vette into our wings, to spot ships from very far in CZs. That thing weights more than a couple small ships at 320T

 

[metatheurgist]

Ahh, sensors and weight, apparently they are developed and manufactured by the Ministry of Silly Weights and Measures.

Those guys are right next to the Guys that make Kill Warrant Scanners.

 

[Hooplah]

There is a 4:1 weight ratio between A-lightweight and D-long range. More weight lowers jump range and speed.
The answer depends upon how critical weight is to your ship build. Here's some examples with a popular medium
Krait, large Cutter and small Courier. The Krait could go either way as in exploration versus combat. The Cutter
handles weight very well so I can use A-lightweight for trading and even A-long range for combat (although it is
overkill). The Courier is sensitive to weight so I opted for D-lightweight.

I find that A-long range is best for REZ and CZs to boost and engage ships normally out of the standard scan range.
After that A-lightweight for everything else works fine for me.

Perhaps build one of each then fly with them to see which one works best for you. The secondary sensors can always
be installed in another ship.

Krait Mk II
6A lightweight = 8t / 7.20km
6D long range = 32t / 9.45km

Imperial Cutter
7A lightweight = 16t / 7.44km
7D long range = 64t / 9.77km

Imperial Courier
2A lightweight = 0.5t / 6.34km
2D long range = 2t / 8.19km

Regards

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't they put something into the game a while back, circa 2.3 IIRC, which linked the accuracy of gimballed / turreted weapons to grade of sensor used? That being so, if you want to run gimbals / turrets, which is perfectly valid PvE load outs, then your hand is really forced to the A grade sensors.

 

[Hooplah]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't they put something into the game a while back, circa 2.3 IIRC, which linked the accuracy of gimballed / turreted weapons to grade of sensor used? That being so, if you want to run gimbals / turrets, which is perfectly valid PvE load outs, then your hand is really forced to the A grade sensors.

I'm not aware of any jitter etc unless the engineered weapon falls out of the sensor scan angle. A-lightweight drops the scan angle by -25% and A-long range to -30%. Not a big difference with good piloting.

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

I'm not aware of any jitter etc unless the engineered weapon falls out of the sensor scan angle. A-lightweight drops the scan angle by -25% and A-long range to -30%. Not a big difference with good piloting.

I've just been fact-checking myself, and it appears that the idea of linking gimbal / turret performance to sensor quality was mooted, but later was canned:

A rated sensors are used most often to keep instancing issues at bay (since you can see further) but really there is no real pressing need for them in PvE. Once there was a call to link sensor grade to gimbal efficiency, but that was shouted down sadly.

 

[znôrt]

Personally I use A lightweight, since weight>speed>jump range is most important for me in every ship. I run it on all heavy combat ships, and really, the range I get is more than I need. On non combat I run D lightweight.

yes, that's another angle. i use lightweight d even in combat. visual range is enough for target identification, speed is much more important. also more speed means you can also close in faster, so it can actually be more "efficient". unless you fly a brick past optimal mass for your thrusters, that is.

 

[Susanna]

I'm not sure what of these two option is currently the best.
In PvE context and disregarding power consumption, which is better:

• Long range D sensors
• Light weight A sensors

The reason I'm saying to disregard power consumption for this discussion is because it's obvious what you need to do if you don't have the power for an A sensor.

Thanks

My opinion:
LW-D Class for non-combat builds aka explora ships where sensor range isn't a big deal.
LW-A Class for a little extra range (only used in a couple of situations)
LR-D Class for anything that is a 'hunter' ship.
LR-A Class for the PvE Vette lol

 

[CMDR D Noize]

Long Range D Class every time on my combat ships.

Less mass and longer range comes in very handy for CZs and Bounty Hunting.

 

[GoldenSilver484]

Long Range D Class every time on my combat ships.

Less mass and longer range comes in very handy for CZs and Bounty Hunting.

Being able to find your next target from 14km away, instead of the stock 8km, is such a great QoL improvement. I hate to think of all the potential bounties that slipped away because they were just drifting outside my sensor range.

You can see how sensor ranges affect NPC behavior too, farther than 8km and pirates haven't a clue of your presence but enter that 8km range and they're suddenly drawn to you like a moth to a laser disco.

The only ships out of the 20ish I've engineered that don't use D-rated long-range sensors are my DBX (A-LW) and racing/wake scanning ICourier (D-LW).

 

[Ydiss]

Long range A, dude. Go big or go home.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Lightweight D, plus an Emissive weapon, for me.

For an option not mentioned yet, I've seen Wide-Angle recommended for some roles - makes it a lot easier to collect data materials in supercruise on ships which aren't going to do much fighting, and scan range isn't as important in supercruise anyway.

 

[d8veh]

For some activities, like CZ combat and RES bounty farming, long range A or C sensors would be better along with long-range weapons. I was in a Haz RES last night. Nearly every new wanted ship that dropped in was 10km to 12km from me. I wouldn't have known they were there wih D-grade long range sensors, so it would have been very boring and I wouldn't have made anywhere near my normal 70 mil per hour.

 

[Eraden]

I have long range A sensors on my Type 10. When you are big and tubby, what's a few extra tons?