Beginner's Guide to Exploration in Elite Dangerous | Friendship Drive Guides

o7 CMDRs! One of my most requested guide videos is finally here, and today we're covering exploration in Elite: Dangerous! Allow me to teach you how to get started exploring in Elite, the essential exploration ships and modules, and how to use the FSS or Full Spectral System Scanner.
I'll also tell you why you should even want to explore, or at least why I think exploration is pretty great. 🌌
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Join me on Twitch four days a week! 👇
/ psyche
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LINKS:
🚀 Krait Phantom build: s.orbis.zone/jq27
⛽ Fuel & Fuel Scooping guide: • Elite Dangerous Beginn...
🌿 Exobiology guide: • Elite Dangerous Odysse...
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Twitch: / psyche
Twitter: / psycheplays
Instagram: / psycheplays
Website: psycheplays.com
Discord: / discord
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Music by Epidemic Sound
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#EliteDangerous #EliteDangerousOdyssey

[@potteryjoe]

When I discover a new system, I like to leave some planets unmapped, for the next Commander that passes through.

[@JohnsonPadder]

You're a good egg.

[@dexthecelestial]

🥺

[@bodazaphfa]

I’ve been in the black since 17 December of 2018. I’m finally heading back to cash in. All of this on a 27 LY Beluga. I love that ship.

[@styanax]

Lmk how much you make 🤑

[@onisigma2934]

how much you made my friend? $$$

[@bodazaphfa]

@@onisigma2934 cashed in at 1.25 billion about 2-weeks ago.

[@onisigma2934]

@@bodazaphfa you inspired me to leave everything and get lost Into The Black. Just bought a Phantom and I'm going for it, thanks for sharing your experience with us cmdr. O7

[@bodazaphfa]

@@onisigma2934 that is so awesome! I wish you the best Cmdr.! There is so much to see out there! Make sure to take every type of scanner and enough rovers, repair mods and materials. A bit of cargo space is needed as well. My best to you!🫡 By the way, I’d been in the black since 2018. I mistyped, so I’m going to edit the post.

[@JohnsonPadder]

Great video, thank you! Just starting out with exploration in Elite and this was very helpful.

[@nirui.o]

I'll just do that in a Sidewinder with fuel scoop, should be good enough for me to explore the space near the starting area plus I can buy all of those on Mawson Dock :D

[@seanys]

The best guide to scanning I’ve found so far. Thank you!

[@DWP13]

Thank you so much! THIS is what Ive been looking for

[@avavii]

Well done video. Keep it up and thank you. I’d love to see a detailed video like this about how to start engineering, blueprints etc as this is still beyond me.

[@PsychePlays]

Thank you! I'll definitely try and crank up a more in-depth video asap!

[@oskarjohansson7381]

O just started playing Elite yesterday. I am so completely lost. Your guides have been the only ones so far to explain things in a way that I have a chance of understanding it. Thank you!

[@cappo1178]

thank you for making these elite dangerous videos. I just got into the game and your video's has helped! Really looking forward to more elite dangerous content!

[@PsychePlays]

Welcome to Elite! Thank you so much for the kind words. 🥰 I stream Elite usually once or twice a week on my Twitch channel, but will be making more guide videos here!

[@cappo1178]

@@PsychePlays Thank you for the welcome! there is so much to do in elite it's a pretty overwhelming.

[@Pungzor]

Just got into E: D and this series have been so helpful. Found Odyssey at a really low price today so just added that as well. I hope this series will continue some day. But thanks for all the videos so far! :)

[@lucywottmott5021]

Don't forget to bind a key to "target next system in route."

[@enderwrath777]

Most helpful exploration video I have found. Thank you.

[@y_ffordd]

Thanks for the guide, a great reminder on what I need to set up having just reinstalled Elite.

[@MotoNationUSA]

I am out in the black scanning planets that have never been discovered and then mapping some of the interesting ones. If I land on one of these planets does the generation system have a chance of placing alien artifacts or guardian ruins or anything of a constructed nature?

[@adawg3032]

exobiology pays INSANE credits if your the first to discover the samples!

[@PsychePlays]

It did not when this video was published, until Update 14 this week haha. I think they may have tuned it too high so it may get nerfed again!

[@futsell]

This is a really good guide.

[@pldn11]

Hey Psyche, thanks for the content as always. Wondering if you have the route you took to Sag A recorded?

[@niibarnorsaba]

I know I’m late to this, but great video and very helpful to me as a real a relative newbie. Subbed!

[@potteryjoe]

Type-6 makes a fine exploration ship. I love it.

[@DrFrankNStein-sf2ww]

The Dolphin makes an even better one. And the Diamondback Explorer of course. o7 Commander

[@potteryjoe]

@@DrFrankNStein-sf2ww I have both of those set up for exploration as well, but they don't have the charm (for me) of the Type-6. With the loadout I have, I average 54Ly per jump on exploration trips. And I'm exploring, not just traveling. I think some Commanders miss the point of exploration, and are just concerned with jumping the furthest distance possible, and arriving at their destination in the least number of jumps possible. In my book, that's traveling, not exploring. I have a second account that's just for exploration, and that Commander is in a DBX. The Dolphin makes a weird noise & I don't like it as much.

[@peterodonnell1963]

Thanks for Vid PP - I keep finding that I get to a 'dead-end' where I can't keep jumping ahead when I'm out +1000LY from bubble. I have ok jump range I think - +60LY in my ASP. I've tried 'up' and down and keep having the same problem getting to the 'unknown'. Any tips on what I'm doing wrong from you or the team would be much appreciated.

[@svendtang5432]

High metal that are candidate for terraforming also pays really well.

[@PsychePlays]

They do! I'll go into more detail about bodies that are valuable and how to identify them in a future video since some requested we go more in-depth, but I was just giving a few examples for the sake of this beginner's guide!

[@TheValiant]

Hey Psyche, I just watched a few of your guide and I find them all amazing. They are very good edited, nicely structured and have a relaxing background music. May I ask, how you find on Epidemic Sound that kind of relaxing songs? With best regards, Sedaris

[@PsychePlays]

Thank you for the kind comment! I started looking for music on Epidemic Sounds that was "atmospheric" and instrumental, and over time with downloading any I found that were good it started recommending me music that was similar to ones I downloaded. Hope that helps!

[@TheValiant]

@@PsychePlays Thank you very much :)

[@ddviper8813]

well done

[@andrewmiller4753]

@psycheplays How do you map you fire groups for all the different scanners for exploration?

[@Lhyight]

I'm new to the game. The furthest I've been so far is Deciat to unlock Felicity Farseer. I've noticed that when I use my D-Scanner and FSS it will show the system bodies on the Navigation HUD but it won't always show all of them on there or say discovered until I fly close enough to them. It won't say system scan complete until I discover all of them this way. Unless I leave them as Unexplored until I fly to them I quickly lose track of which ones to go "discover". How is this different than using the D-scanner, FSS, and planetary probe things in regards to the rewards from the cartographer?

[@drshinobi3979]

im out exploring and love it! but im thinking if theres something i can do and to find, with the signals as well ? but usually i only find scraps of shattered ships out there and dont want to have fitted to much cargo in my explorer ship to just bring back salvage

[@PsychePlays]

Sadly there aren't a ton of varied signals to find when out in the galaxy, it's something I really hope they improve and add some mysteries in the black for us to solve!

[@Bapzi]

Alright, so as a new player.. How do i get my hand on a detailed surface scanner?

[@jason-qc5lr]

is there a website that shows you which system is paying the highest for certain data?

[@johnpooky84]

My Krait Phantom is the best exploration ship I've got. 74.8 LY, for its current jump range (Max is 77 LY). I can go 11k LY in 130 jumps.

[@hungryowl1559]

Just started exploring again and the heat map is throwing me off. It says 2 geological sites but I can only find 1 type of ice geyser. I checked the light blue and dark blue but nothing different.

[@jason-qc5lr]

what does energy tuning failed and adaptive zoom failed mean

[@neverpure20]

Awesome video! I like exploring a lot in games like this. But I wish there was more “game” stuff to find in space. I guess it is more a sim than a game. And space is mostly empty :d I haven’t played Odysey yet though. Maybe there’s more in Odysey?

[@PsychePlays]

I'd really love to have more reasons to map planets and some sort of unique stuff to find while exploring. There are definitely more surface sites in Odyssey, and space is a bit prettier (the planets look better in my opinion!), and then there's plant life to look for, but space is still quite empty!

[@garynevills5562]

I have a question about the game, but not related to the video. I just started playing about a week ago (just Elite Dangerous, not Odyssey) on solo, and as soon as I leave the comfy confines of the Pilot's Federation, within an hour or so, I have one or more NPC goons trying to kill me. Now, I absolutely suck as a combat pilot, so taking them out in combat is totally out of the question. Is there anything I can do, any version of gameplay where I can shed these clowns? Or am I stuck with them as long as I'm playing. The only missions I've been doing have been cargo & courier missions. Thanks for the help.

[@PsychePlays]

Hey! Unfortunately even in solo mode there are other NPCs and some of them may be hostile. You don't HAVE to fight them though! If they're pulling you out of supercruise, you should have a mini game that pops up over your HUD and you just have to keep facing the escape vector until your bar fills up on the HUD, and their bar empties. This can take some practice but you'll get it eventually! That will prevent you from being pulled out by their interdictor. Alternatively, when that happens you can throttle to zero and you'll drop out. Immediately fly in a straight line away from the enemy ship, boosting when you can (all pips to engines!) and charge your FSD to get back into supercruise as soon as it's available (it'll be on a short cooldown). Some missions will be worse than others for this, make sure to read the mission description as some will tell you that enemies will likely come after you. If you're encountering them elsewhere let me know and I'd be happy to give some tips on how to evade!

[@garynevills5562]

@@PsychePlays They seem to be after me specifically, not my cargo, I've been interdicted over a half-dozen times by the same NPCs in different systems. I've become pretty good at evading interdiction, but it's becoming tiresome.

[@DrFrankNStein-sf2ww]

@ Psyche Plays : Great video as always. Please don't stop making them ! A few words of advice from one explorer to another 😉: You should add a class 5 AFMU to the class 5 slot and get rid of one of the class 3 ones. Instead add a 1D Repair Limpet Controller and an 8 tons cargo rack to the class 3 slots. Just in case you have to synthesize some limpets to repair your hull. Exchange 6D thrusters for 5D (because of weight (don't worry, 5D is still powerfull enough)) and change the engineering of the distributor from "Engine Focused" to "Charge enhanced" still with stripped down. That reduces the boost intervals from 9 seconds to 8 seconds. Also change the Power Plant to a 2A (overcharged 5 with stripped down). And see a Technology Broker (for human technologies). There you can unlock a pre-engineered 5A FSD (add Mass Manager to it). It will bring your jump range to a over 70 light years. Maybe we meet each other out there. So if you see a 60ly Python out there it's probably Commander F r u, or me. o7 Commander !

[@BrightonGemstones]

Same ship, same paint job lol . See you in the black commander 07 . Commander John Allison

[@Ozric42]

The D-Scanner... 😎

[@PsychePlays]

Teehee 😎

[@potteryjoe]

Even if they're just Rice planets, I'll generally map at least one, just to say I was there

[@Sleepydwagonman]

Reason for picking one exploration ship over another, when it has a great view out of the cockpit :-D Like the Asp Scout.

[@PsychePlays]

ABSOLUTELY NOT

[@bartykrajewski5123]

Why the ASP Scout when you can get the ASPX, It's better at everything.

[@phantomzero3929]

@@bartykrajewski5123 I haven't taken it out on a long journey, mostly 4k LY trips out of the bubble to get more comfortable with it, but I ended up choosing to invest my engineering/time/resources into it because its got the lakon bubble canopy, I can bring a friend along, and out of any of the exploration focused ships it handles the best, and although some see it as a negative, its slow speed is better for safety. At full thrust it feels like its operating in the blue zone for most other ships, and this high handling is great for higher gravity worlds. I get very bored flying the less maneuverable ships too which is a personal thing XD. I definitely skimped a little on the internals which sucks but hopefully I won't run into anything XD. Plus that's what the DSSA is for now.

[@edmartin875]

To.each.his.own...YOU.are.making.the.decisions.according.to.YOUR.playstyle...Nothing.says.you.have.to.conform.to.the.dictates.of.other.players...

[@alkatz9895]

I thought it was Frame Ship Drive?

[@PsychePlays]

In case you're being serious and not just joking, it is Frame Shift Drive, it's just a long standing joke in the Elite community because the default English COVAS sounds like she says "friendship drive". 😁

[@alkatz9895]

@@PsychePlays I am a total newb and realized after I made the comment how stupid I was. Been playing Star Citizen in an ORG and since we are waiting on a new patch, I wanted to try ED. It is pretty fun and has a lot of content, at least so far. Lesson learned, do not make comments until I know what I am talking about. ;-)

[@OldManPaxusYT]

Thanks! ← ↑ Comment for algorithm + 👍 'd & *_Sub'd!_* #OldManPaxus Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ { Wow, 5/5! ]