Exploration Rank & Colonia

[DarkMere]

Next week for 2 or 3 weeks I will be focusing on my Exploration rank to the exclusion of everything else. Increasing the rank takes preference to profit. I am trying to find the best way to increase my rank without being totally boring, or that is what I would find boring.

I was thinking of taking a very deep 'take scientist to blah blah blah' type mission, or maybe heading out to Colonia and back. In either case scanning each system goes without saying, but I was wondering if anyone knows if spending the time to do detailed scans of planets versus quickly going to the next system gives the best return?

I read somewhere that the deeper into the black you drive your SRV, the more exploration credits you earn, and so does Colonia count as being very deep as I was thinking I would be able to keep getting the SRV refueled in Colonia.

Basically I do enjoy a little bit of exploration now and again, but for me its my least enjoyable pastime, and so I am seeking ways to work on the exploration rank in the most efficient way possible?

Lastly, I have not as yet taken much notice of the whole Thargoid thing. If I take a direct a heading as possible from the bubble to Colonia, does this take me into known Thargoid areas?

Thanks

[sean_crow]

If it's only about rank and cash, I would go for the "Road to Riches"
https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous ... _improved/
It leads you to the most profitable planets on a short route. Not even too far out of the bubble.

Of course you'll miss the bonus for scanning a body for the first time.

Best thing about it: When you get bored or you want to take part in a CG you simply skip and come back when you feel like.

Thargoids? I think the best way to meet them is in the area of the Maia system.

[Cometborne]

You do get some exploration rank increase for SRV driving and discovering new raw mats, and yes, there is a distance Going from aimless to mostly aimless using this is possible. For the further promotions, this is about as effective as bailing out a boat with a fork.

If you go the scientist route, pick one that does not have 'secretive, does not want to be scanned' in the description. There is nothing worse than failing a mission at the last minute after weeks of effort. And in the same time, you could do a lot of short-range sightseeing missions instead. As long as it is sightseeing, half the payout counts toward your exploration rank.

On the topic of best return, detail scan the high value object: MR, HMC, ELW, WW, and especially the terraformables. The are various goldilocks zone charts out there and ED Discovery will you tell you the approximate goldilocks zone upon jump into a system. If you cherry-pick, get a long range mod on your DSS. If you should decide to scan all the things instead ("Icy bodies matter, too!") get the fast scan mod.

Doing honk, scoop, and jump loops to Colonia and back until you reach exploration elite is a theoretical alternative. When I did them for the Jaques trade CGs last August with a 25 LY cutter, I made about 15 million in exploration data 'en passant' per loop, and each loop was about 1800 jumps. Exploration elite needs about 320 M these days, so you would need about 21 loops with 37800 jumps. Rule of thumb is one jump per minute, so we are talking 630 hours of play time. I'd call this deep in "I'd rather hit myself over the head with a hammer" territory, your pain threshold may vary.

Alternatively, road to riches or the valuable exploration router from ED Pathfinder.