On the subject of heatsinks - My last exploration trip took me from the bubble to Colonia, then to Sag A*, then to Beagle Point and back to the bubble, I used two heat sinks, one when the game exited me from a jump right between two binary stars (yes it still happens), and once when I screwed up because I was distracted (most of us are human and make mistakes).
Elijah Winter wrote:
1 - Is there any benefit or reason to actually make planet landings? I do have Horizons and can do planetary landings, but it is never really explained in any of the explorer videos why I would want to do so. If I am just out scanning systems and planets why land on a planet? Am I missing something? Do I gain more credits when I turn in the scans if I have landed on a planet? Are there discoveries to be made on the planet that could benefit me?
Synthesis materials, so for example ammo for an AMFU, or for jumponium (the name given for the materials needed to give your FSD a boost). However, also for the fun of it, if you are going to spend several weeks for months out then it breaks up the journey.
Elijah Winter wrote:
2 - If I decide not to do the planetary landings, will I need a shield generator? Again the videos I watched mentioned equipping shields but only in the context of taking damage when doing planetary landings.
Landing is the only reason to have a shield, and then you only need a weak one, you can get away without one, but again mistakes happen when landing. If you are never going to land, then no you don't need one.
Elijah Winter wrote:
3 - And last question. The AFM units. It says they use their own ammo that can be purchased from stations or synthesized. I am assuming if I restock at stations that the ammo is stored in the AFM unit itself and not in cargo space? If I do not restock at stations then I assume I gather the materials needed for synthesis by landing on planets and finding them? This would explain the possible need for planetary landings I would assume?
They carry their own ammo, and yes landing is needed for synthesis. AMFU used to be a bit of a debating point like heatsinks, however if you intend to use neutron star boosts then you will need one as you take 1 percentage point of damage to your FSD for every boost. When you get below about 75% then your FSD will start to play up.