Preparing for exploration

[Spliffster]

Greetings CMDRs

I am preparing for my first extended exploration trip. Got me a brand new and shiny Asp Explorer for that matter and outfitted it for 30 Ly jumps.

Before I leave civilisation for maybe a couple of weeks, I would like to hear about your opinion (especially from people who already did extended exploring) about the following topics:

• are there NPCs out there in the void or is it really quiet (do I need weapons)?
• How far do I have to travel to get a chance to explore a system first?
• Should I (and does it matter which) use an automated field repair unit (i guess so, does it matter what class)?
• should I take heat sinks with me, just in case?
• I haven't chosen where to go, are there some places or directions than are recommendable?
  

I am very interested in your feedback, best wishes
~S~ 

[Feldspar]

1) Within 4-500 LY of civilisation you will encounter NPCs, they will try to interdict you. Either avoid, submit and boost or pack heat. Beyond that your weapons are dead weight and will just slow you down. It is perfectly fine not to carry weapons, just get ready to run.
2) You might get lucky and hit something no-one has chanced across early, or you might find yourself somewhere other people have been, uninspiring stars are more likely to be virgin territory, but it is quite random, I've had stuff really quite close to humanity.
3) I've not taken one, it's more weight. If you find yourself doing the hydrogen headbutt, running into planetary rings or taking interdiction damage they can be handy, I suppose, but most of the time you're safe without them.
4) I've never really seen the point, you have to exit supercruise to use them. It's mainly a case of never putting yourself in the situation you need to exit SC, pop a sink and then re-enter.
5) Definitely HIP 63835 as a taster, it's a fantastic system fairly close in. After that, go to the Pleiades (type Pleiades or Maia into the nav panel) it's really pretty, a great nebula, again not too far away.

[Rhysling]

You'll get NPC pirates outside the bubble, but not that far - probably another 100-150 Ly or so. You don't currently have to go that far to find unexplored systems, especially if you're happy to go for the procedurally generated ones with catalogue numbers instead of names - you'll start finding those within 50 Ly of the bubble, though it may depend where you start. I've got an automated repair unit but I'm not sure it's worth the money - and if you go on a long jaunt, you'll run out of ammo for it and then it'll just be dead weight that reduces your jump range. I'd recommend taking heat sinks though. They're worth it for the odd time you jump into somewhere unpleasantly hot.

Don't forget your fuel scoop.

Beware though, there is a bug which seems to be affecting (some?) hard-coded/named constellation systems - more details here: Cartographic Data PARTIALLY uploaded - thread on ED forum.

Edited to add - Ninja'd (I got caught in an interdiction mid-edit!)

[Artie]

I can recommend Repair unit, especially when you are admiring a view and not looking where are you flying It's not so much extra weight and better safe than sorry. Same with the heat sinks. Also, some weapons are handy (lasers, as there is no ammo needed). I have my Asp with all these and still 30Ly jump range (you can save weight on other pieces of equipment, for example D classes are much lighter than E classes, etc.).

[Zieman]

Greetings CMDRs

I am preparing for my first extended exploration trip. Got me a brand new and shiny Asp Explorer for that matter and outfitted it for 30 Ly jumps.

Before I leave civilisation for maybe a couple of weeks, I would like to hear about your opinion (especially from people who already did extended exploring) about the following topics:

• are there NPCs out there in the void or is it really quiet (do I need weapons)?
• How far do I have to travel to get a chance to explore a system first?
• Should I (and does it matter which) use an automated field repair unit (i guess so, does it matter what class)?
• should I take heat sinks with me, just in case?
• I haven't chosen where to go, are there some places or directions than are recommendable?

I am very interested in your feedback, best wishes
~S~ 

NPCs appear up to 400-450 LY from nearest inhabited system. You don't need weapons, but I carry them because I rather blow those fools up than run away from them. Even A3 shields should be enough to escape any interdictions (easiest is to submit & boost away)

With some luck you can get dibs on a system only a few jumps away from the edge of inhabited space (even inside the volume).

Higher numbered and earlier lettered units carry more 'ammo' = have more repair capacity, I have A3 unit, so far it has been almost overkill.

Heat sinks are a must IMHO, you never know when you get wedged between two close stars in a binary system.

Where to go depends on what you're after when exploring - credits/rank? awesome sights? lots of first discoveries? something else / combination?

[Spliffster]

Greetings CMDRs

Excellent, I am very happy to read about your experiences.

It looks like the AFMU is really a matter of taste. I might get rid of my weapons, shield cells and use all utility hard points for Heat Sinks.

With a jump range of 30Ly+ it seems to be pretty easy to travel those 400-500Ly away from civilisation without serious trouble.

Cheers
~S~

[Roger Wilco Jr]

...I might get rid of my weapons, shield cells and use all utility hard points for Heat Sinks...

I've used heat sinks when I got interdicted right next to a sun, so those are useful, but I've also had an NPC open up with a missile barrage, so I'd recommend you keep a point defense turret as well.

I've been to over 700 systems, and I only remember twice exiting a jump between 2 or 3 suns, where I was instantly taking heat damage. I think just picking the right exit course is the best thing to do. I'm not sure I'd want to exit SC to pop off a heat sink, and I have no idea why you can't do that while in SC. But maybe exiting SC, dropping a heat sink to cool off, and entering SC again is the right thing to do? Anybody have any experience with doing that?