Exploration is the part of Elite Dangerous that sold most of us on the game. Four hundred billion star systems, most of them never visited by another player, and the chance to put your name on a world nobody has seen before. It also pays properly if you know what to scan. This guide covers how exploration works now, how to set up a ship for it, and how to turn a long trip into real credits.
How Exploration Works
Every ship has a built-in Discovery Scanner. When you arrive in a new system you fire it (the “honk”) and it reveals how many bodies are in the system. From there you’ve got two main tools:
- Full Spectrum System Scanner (FSS). Opens a scanning mode where you tune into signals and zoom in on bodies to identify them. You can scan an entire system without leaving the arrival star.
- Detailed Surface Scanner (DSS). Fires probes at a body to map it. Mapping pays much more than scanning, and it reveals biological and geological signals on the surface.
Sell your data at Universal Cartographics, found at most stations. If you’re the first to discover or first to map a body, your name is tagged on it and you get a bonus on the payout.
What’s Actually Worth Scanning
Not everything pays the same. The bodies worth your time are:
- Earth-like worlds. The top prize. Always map them.
- Water worlds and ammonia worlds. Both pay very well.
- Terraformable bodies. Terraformable high metal content worlds and water worlds are worth far more than their normal versions.
- Gas giants with life. Worth a scan, though they pay less than the above.
Icy bodies, rocky bodies and most standard gas giants pay very little, so a quick FSS is enough. Map efficiently in the DSS by hitting the target number of probes or fewer and you’ll get an efficiency bonus.
Exobiology: Where the Big Money Is
Since Odyssey, exobiology has become the best-paying part of exploration. Planets with biological signals can have plants, bacteria and other life on the surface. To scan them you land, get out on foot in your Artemis suit (or use an SRV), and take three samples of each species with the genetic sampler. Each sample has to be a minimum distance from the last, which the scanner shows you.
Sell exobiology data at Vista Genomics, found in Odyssey settlements and many stations. If you’re the first to log a species on a planet, you get a large bonus. Some species are worth far more than others, so learn which ones pay and prioritise them. Stratum Tectonicas, Fonticulua and some Bacterium variants are common examples commanders hunt for.
Building an Exploration Ship
The core of any explorer is the same:
- Engineered frame shift drive. Jump range is everything. Get Felicity Farseer’s FSD upgrades as early as you can.
- Fuel scoop. The biggest you can fit. Remember the scoopable stars: K, G, B, F, O, A and M.
- Detailed Surface Scanner. Essential for mapping.
- Auto Field-Maintenance Unit (AFMU). Repairs modules in the field.
- Repair limpets if you have room, to fix your hull.
- SRV bay if you’re doing exobiology or want to drive on planets.
- Lightweight modules. D-rated where you can get away with it, to save mass and boost range.
Good exploration ships include the Diamondback Explorer, Asp Explorer, Mandalay, Caspian Explorer and Anaconda. The ship guide covers them in more detail.
Long-Range Travel: The Neutron Highway
Neutron stars and white dwarfs can supercharge your frame shift drive. Fly into the jet cone and your next jump is boosted, by four times for a neutron star. That’s how commanders cross the galaxy quickly. Route planners like Spansh can plot neutron routes for you. The jet cones are rough on your ship, so carry an AFMU and keep an eye on your FSD’s health.
Staying Alive Out There
The risks in deep space are simple but brutal:
- Running out of fuel. Always scoop when you can.
- Overheating. Scooping from bright stars and supercharging both build heat. Throttle back if your temperature climbs.
- Bad landings. High-gravity planets will wreck you if you come in hot. Check gravity before you land.
- Dying with unsold data. Everything unsold is lost when you die. On longer trips, sell your data at a carrier or a remote station when you get the chance.
Making Credits from Exploration
For the best return, combine both sides of exploration. Use the FSS on every system you pass, map the valuable bodies with the DSS, and land on planets with good biological signals for exobiology. Avoid heavily travelled areas near the bubble if you want first-discovery bonuses. Head a few thousand light years out and almost everything is untouched.
Fleet Carriers and Group Expeditions
Fleet carriers changed long-range exploration. A carrier is a mobile base that can jump hundreds of light years at a time, with refuel, repair and rearm services, and Universal Cartographics and Vista Genomics if the owner has installed them. Many player carriers sit out in deep space or join expeditions, so you can sell your data far from the bubble and cut the risk of losing everything.
Community expeditions are a great way to explore with company. Groups plan routes to famous regions, from the galactic core to the edges of the galaxy, and fly them together over weeks. Check the official forums and community sites for upcoming ones.
The Codex and Points of Interest
Your ship’s Codex logs everything you find: stellar phenomena, notable bodies, biological species, Guardian and Thargoid sites. Filling it in is a goal in its own right. It also tracks regional discoveries, so species you log in one region of the galaxy count separately from the same species elsewhere.
Look out for nebulae, black holes, rings around earth-like worlds and planets with unusual features. Some of the most famous screenshots in Elite came from commanders who just happened to check one more system. For organised sites, the Guardian ruins near the Gamma Velorum area are worth a visit, and my Guardian blueprint farming guide explains why.
Where to Go Next
If you’re new to the game, start with the beginner’s guide. For specific ships, read my Caspian Explorer review and how the Nomad handles exobiology. Everything else is on the Elite Dangerous hub.
Fly safe, Commander. o7
