Asp Explorer Build for Exploration Help

[Satsuma]

One thing that hasn't really been discussed in here is what *sort* of Explorer (or pilot, even) the OP is. That has a big effect.

If you take a lot of chances with an SRV, and would be bored to tears driving safely, maybe a size 4 hangar with 2 buggies is better.

If you're a careful pilot, you could probably dispense with the AFMU entirely, or stick with just one small one.

Are you careful with plotting your courses? A stock fuel tank is plenty, so long as you don't blindly let it run dry.

Are you the sort who gets nervous if you hit 2 unscoopables in a row, and immediately open the galaxy map to look where you can take on fuel? Then you could squeeze a little more jump range by dropping *down* to a 16 ton fuel tank.

If you have a history of face planting into stars, take a few heat sinks. If you can count the number of times a star has sucked you out of supercruise on one hand, then maybe you don't need any.

There are a few tricks you can do, too. You can depower your AFMU to fit a smaller power plant, thus extending your jump range. If you need to repair anything, just depower your thrusters (not in flight!) to free up enough power to run the AFMU. You can technically depower your hangar, too, except when you're on a planet. I ran that way for all of Distant Worlds.

Here's my current build, by the way. It's a fairly standard, conservative explorer's build. I got a decent roll on a grade 5 engineered FSD, so the jump range stands at just under 50 light years with a full tank and no cargo carried. I have a large cargo bay carried so that I can do plotting tricks. I can use the cargo carried slider to shorten my jump range in the core (if you don't know what this means, don't worry about it), and to go into a semi-economy mode if I want to do a surveying route through an area.

[LeDoyen]

From my experience i remove some of the modules i see in many builds so far.
Heat sinks are not really useful as long as there's an AFMS onboard. whenever i do faceplant anyway, the ASP runs rather cool and don't overheat too much while escaping. if needed, a bit of AFM repair fixes those little damages but it's usually not much.
Shield generator is just dead weight too if you don't land like the hammer on an anvil.
Also, the fuel tank, i always downgrade one step. that's a big improvement on jump range and it still is rather safe regarding non fuel-scoopable stars as long as you keep track of when you need to side track from your neutron highway to refill.
On long trips, i also don't take any vehicle, but that is totally up to you and what you intend to do

This old habit will clearly change with 2.4, and then a build closer to what ObsidianAnt has will then make a lot of sense.. flying with mining laser and SRV to gather materials for repairs and limpet manufacturing. This update is going to change quite a lot of our exploration builds !

[Orochimaru]

This old habit will clearly change with 2.4, and then a build closer to what ObsidianAnt has will then make a lot of sense.. flying with mining laser and SRV to gather materials for repairs and limpet manufacturing. This update is going to change quite a lot of our exploration builds !

That will take exploration into a whole new level. In theory you can explore for ever, without the need to come into the bubble except to collect the ca$h for the exploration data. Cool stuff.