yojimbo

Or, How Much Does A Light-Year Cost?

August 3310 (2024), CMDR Yojimbosan, Radio Sidewinder Crew

If you want the maximum frameshift drive jump distance in Elite:Dangerous, your choices have been pretty stable for a long time – the Anaconda holds the record, and the Asp Explorer comes a really really close second, expensive but much less than its big cousin.

Over the years, the technology has improved and more ships have become available. Engineers have squeezed maximum performance out of standard units, Guardian technology has been integrated with ours, and now Thargoid technology is available via the Achilles Supercruise Overcharge FSDs. The Diamondback Explorer and Krait Phantom are new and very strong challengers for the crown of long range jumping ships as well.

So, just as the Lakon Spaceways Type-8 is being released (and before there are changes to Engineering & materials gathering) I thought I'd do some quick theory-crafting using Coriolis.IO and see what the situation is ... I described a couple of real ships I had to Coriolis, and the final jump distances agreed with no more than a 0.05ly discrepancy – either I forgot something, or their models are a little off. But that's more than enough accuracy for our purposes here ... I checked 14 different ships, so there might be a surprise waiting for us in the others, but I doubt it.

The Long Range Build

As far as possible I'm keeping the same reference build choices for all of the ships. This has no hardpoints or utility mounts, and only a Fuel Scoop and a Guardian FSD Booster in the optional slots (i.e. no shields, repair technology or surface vehicles). For the core internals we will target the lowest mass, using engineering/experimental effects to get there. I'm not reducing the size of the fuel tanks, however, even though that makes a ~2ly difference to the Anaconda. It's also possible to make some more shavings on the Anaconda by switching in pre-engineered 'drive distributor' 4D thrusters, but I couldn't get that working on Coriolis.

• Hull : Lightweight Alloy (no changes)
• Power Plant: the smallest that works – usually the 2A Guardian Hybrid model, but if not then a traditional model, with Grade 1 Overcharge + Stripped Down
• Thrusters: the smallest again, Grade 1 Clean Drive, Stripped Down.
• FSD: The largest A-rated SCO model, with Grade 5 Increased Range + Mass Manager
• Life Support & Sensors: D-Rated, Grade 5 Lightweight
• Power Distributor: The Guardian models, or Grade 1 System Focus + Stripped Down
• Fuel Tank: The default, often a 5C.

Results

The final results are not surprising in terms of the ordering of ships; but perhaps the actual ranges themselves are.

Unladen Jump Range top 5

On sheer jump range, there's no real surprises :-

• Anaconda – 83.85
• Diamondback Explorer – 75.89
• Krait Phantom – 73.98
• Asp Explorer – 73.10
• Orca – 70.77

Oddly, the Python Mk II makes only 53.01 ly, despite integration with the Achilles SCO FSD for supercruise – the older Python can make 60.09.

Cost per Light Year

But when we look at the total cost of these ships, we start to see some other things stand out. If you're not the sort of commander that's swimming in credits you'll have to look at the price ticket carefully ... how many lightyears does a million credits buy you?

• Diamondback Explorer – 75.89 ly – 14 million credits – 5.42 ly/mil
• Asp Explorer – 73.10 ly – 48 million credits – 1.52 ly/mil
• Krait Phantom – 73.98 ly – 78 million credits – 0.96 ly/mil
• Orca – 70.77 Ly – 90 million credits – 0.79 ly/mil
• Anaconda – 83.85 ly – 262 million credits – 0.32 ly/mil

The Diamondback Explorer is so small that it can only use the 4H Guardian FSD Booster, and all the other ships on that list are using the 5H. So we get an excellent price per lightyear result. But there's another surprise hidden further down the figures ... the Sidewinder! This little-ship-who-could, the starter ship that every new pilot gets, is just so cheap that you can upgrade it to a startling jump range of 47.25ly for only 1.3 million credits! The next best super-jumper surprise is the Hauler, spending 3 million credits gets you 63.80 ly performance.

Conclusion

• The Anaconda is still the best deep-space longest jumping ship, and with such an immense hull you can fill up with useful equipment and still outpace the competition. But you pay a premium for equipment on such a large vessel. 83.85 lightyears for 262 million credits.

• The Diamondback Explorer is almost 20 times cheaper than the Anaconda, but has 90% of the range capability. It's far less flexible in terms of mission capability though. 75.89 lightyears for 14 million credits.

• The Sidewinder wins the value prize, with a stunning range capable on a shoestring budget. 47.25 lightyears for 1.3 million credits. You should listen to the radio station too!