Your preferred ("best") ship for exploration/exobiology?

GetUP

G
Looked around youtube for a while, and everyone seems to recommend basically every ship in the game and since a lot of the videos are few years old I wanted to ask.

What is your current go to ships for exploration/exobiology? (asking as someone who has no experience in those parts of the game so far, so idk what to look for apart from the jump range)
 

Ashnak

Ashnak
Cobra Mk. V.
A good compromise between landing footprint (Dolphin, DBX), downward view (DBX, Phantom), number of slots (Dolphin, Phantom) and travel speed. Haven't checked out the Manadalay yet.
 

DjVortex

DjVortex
Well, the Mandalay is far superior to anything else, with perhaps the only and minor exception of a somewhat restricted cockpit view. The other classic exploration-focused ships, the Asp Explorer, the Diamondback Explorer and the Krait Phantom, have more unrestricted canopies, but are inferior in other aspects.

I would love for the canopy of the Mandalay to be more open and less restricted, but that's just a minor annoyance, and its strengths way outweigh that one weakness.

The Cobra Mk V, as mentioned above, is a good option too, but you need to be ok with about 15 Ly shorter jump range (when fully optimized for that).

If I had to choose between the old ships, that would be a tough question. However, if we are talking about exobiology in particular, then perhaps the Diamondback Explorer, as it has the smallest footprint and thus can land on much rougher terrain. (Btw, the Mandalay has about the same footprint, so the DBX doesn't beat it even on that front. But if for some reason I had to choose an old ship for exobiology, it would probably be the DBX for this reason.)
 
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marx

marx
My favourite is the Corsair. It's pretty much a Phantom / AspX with the all-important enhanced SCO, which saves you a lot of time. I've explored a lot in a Courier, so I was right at home.
Currently though, I'd rank ships for exploration like this:
#1: Mandalay. It's grossly overpowered compared to everything else, there is no contest.
#2: Cobra Mk V. The enhanced SCO counts for a lot, and it's better for exobiology than the Mandalay (although not by a lot!), and it also has the second-best supercruise handling in the game, just slightly behind the Mandalay. (And both of them beat all other ships there, by a large margin.)
#3: Corsair. Its SCO enhancement isn't as overpowered as either of the above two's, while still being much more useful than not having one. Also, it can easily do a lot of speed and good shields while still holding on to a good jump range.

Then there's a large gap between these and the rest, because the easymode SCO saves you a lot of time when supercruising to distant places.
So, #4-5 would be a Phantom / AspX tie, #6 is DBX if you like exobio or Anaconda if you don't, and so on.
The Python Mk II and the Type-8 also have SCO enhancement, but they are thoroughly average in all other exploration aspects.


Oh, and about this:
GetUP said:
(asking as someone who has no experience in those parts of the game so far, so idk what to look for apart from the jump range)
Click to expand...
Let's see then... Supercruise handling (see here), shield strength, for fuel scooping: the ship's heat characteristics, fuel scoop / FSD ratio, for exobio: landing footprint, acceleration, max speed. There are some other things too, like the number of internal slots, but every ship can carry everything that's needed there, even the tiny Sidewinder.
Then there are also subjective things, like how do you like the cockpit, the engine sounds, and so on. Personal preferences.
 
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DjVortex

DjVortex
marx said:
and it also has the second-best supercruise handling in the game, just slightly behind the Mandalay.
Click to expand...
Not according to my experience. The Cobra Mk V is more fuel-efficient in SCO mode, and a LOT faster.

I wonder if you are misled by the fact that its stock fuel tank is half the size, and thus it looks like you can't get as far as the Mandalay? If both have the same amount of fuel, then the Cobra beats it (as seen in that post.)
 

DjVortex

DjVortex
marx said:
No, I believe you misunderstood what I meant about supercruise handling. It's not SCO, it's about regular supercruise handling; pitch, roll, yaw. See the link later in my previous post.
Click to expand...
Ah, I was indeed thinking that you were talking about SCO handling.
 

Lhorndra

Lhorndra
A lot of good advice and pretty spot one descriptions here already, so I just keep it to my very subjective point of view.

Before the new ships with SCO (Supercruise Overcharge Overdrive) were available, I used the DBX as my main exploration ship. Granted, its internal slots are very limited, but the smooth handling and the tiny landing footprint are big advantages. I also like the look and the cockpit.

Sometimes, I used the Asp Explorer, mainly because as a medium ship, it gives you more options outfitting it. It is also really good for gathering manufactured materials at High Grade Emmisions.

I always wanted to do some serious exploring in a Krait Phantom, and I know many CMDRs love the Phantom, but it always felt to big and wide. Especially if you are hunting some exobiology in ragged mountains, it's not easy to land. If you don't plan on landing in jagged terrain, the Phantom will serve you well.

After the new Mandalay was introduced, it replaced all my previous exploration ships. Yep, it's just that good. Only the cockpit view could be a bit better, but then again, it's already overpowered as it is.

Edit: corrected SCO, thanks to @DjVortex
 
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cmdr chequers

cmdr chequers
Carrier based Exploration + Exobiology, You only need two ships, the Mandalay and a fully engineered Sidewinder.
The Sidewinder when well engineered is a joy to fly for economical routing exploration from the Carrier and can land in places no other ship can land.
Needs a second fuel tank then it gets good range.
 

vuteq

V
T9 most memorable landings ;-)
Answer more seriously, I went the route of choosing a ship for exploration by choosing the design that best suited me in terms of appearance and I adapted this ship to my preferences. I chose Krait Mk II, I made it a ship for everything and nothing in particular, I have such armament that I can fly in haz res, can do passanger missions, 64t of cargo and have 42 LY. In exploration I am in no hurry. I have covered the road to Colonia many times with this ship, I went to unexplored regions. I'm lazy to change builds so I'm flying with 42LY and I have cool screen shoots in my opinion with this ship (best ones ;-) )
If u want easy, pick Mandalay or Cobra MkV for new designs.
 
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STRONTIUM DOG

STRONTIUM DOG
like
supermarket honey nut flakes £ 1.09
Kellogg's Crunchy Nut cornflakes £2.75
overcharge is correct but unlike the above comparison theres a huge difference;)
 

Tyres O'Flaherty

Tyres O'Flaherty
There is, also, the Anaconda.

A long, long time ago people used to kit these out with light modules, engineering up the ying-yang and all sorts of stuff to keep exploring almost indefinitely. With super-long jump reaches to boldly go... somewhere.

There may even be some out there in the deepest reaches still doing that.

Maybe they found a jump point to take them into another galaxy, far, far away.
 

DjVortex

DjVortex
Tyres O'Flaherty said:
There is, also, the Anaconda.
Click to expand...
The problem with the Annie is that it's a huge ship, which is not very good for exobiology, and all that extra module space isn't really needed for anything in exploration. Quite literally the only advantage that it has ever had is the largest jump range of all ships, but now the Mandalay has caught up quite well to it, and it's just the better choice. (Even the Mandalay has so many module slots that you won't be using all of them for anything exploration-related, so it's not like it's a compromise even in that regard.)
 
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