Truth be told, you can explore in anything. You can't get to every single point in everything -- sooner or later, for fundamental accessibility, jump range is king -- but you can have a perfectly cromulent explorer that isn't a Jumpaconda.

For this guide, I'm building off a Mandalay, which is one of the new SCO-optimized ships and offers the best all-around explorer performance in the game. The old non-Anaconda trio of Diamondback Explorer, Krait Phantom, and Asp Explorer were separated largely by their varying hull masses -- 260, 270, and 280 tons -- with generally common core module sizes (and a common FSD). The Mandalay masses just 230 tons with the same core modules, and so it's got that much extra jump range optimization baked in.

So, at right, a stock Mandalay, jumping 31 LY (huge versus the old stock ships thanks to the default SCO drive). Let's fix it.

For exploration ships, only two grades of module really matter: A and D. D-rated modules are, famously, low-mass. Exploration ships love D-rated modules... except when they don't. A-rated modules, meanwhile, are the "best", or at least generally the most efficient mix of mass and capability. For an explorer, two modules are must-have A-rated: the FSD (for jump range) and the power plant (for thermal performance and, unexpectedly, mass). A downsized-A power plant always gives more power for less mass (as well as better thermals) than a upsized-D plant. This pattern doesn't hold elsewhere, but it's relevant here.

So, step 1 to fit a Mandalay for jump range is to put in the biggest A-rated SCO FSD, the smallest D-rated power distributor that still allows boost, the smallest D-rated shield that works, D-rated other modules, and the smallest A-rated power plant that runs the show. That's a 5A SCO FSD, 3D distro, 3D shield, and a 2A plant. We also add in the biggest fuel scoop we can afford (here a 6A for $29M, but even a 6C for $2M is great). Tack on an SRV hangar, a DSS, and a heat sink launcher to round out basic equipment. Oh, and drop the weapons. We've jumped from 31 LY to 43 LY (+12 LY), enough to reach Beagle Point.

The single biggest jump range upgrade available is getting the pre-engineered V1 5A SCO FSD from a Human Tech Broker. Unlike earlier iterations of pre-engineered drives, the SCO FSDs are available in all sizes and so fit all ships. Later when we add experimental effects, we'll put Mass Manager on this, which I recommend regardless of FSD size. Technically Mass Manager gives a little less performance than Deep Charge for FSD classes 2-4 (the difference is completely negligible on class 4), but Mass Manager is always more fuel-efficient. This is particularly of interest to me in the SCO era, as SCO drives also eat a little more fuel per jump than the old drives, and fuel scoop times are usually most impacted on smaller ships with smaller scoops.

The V1 FSD raises the jump range from 43 LY to 72 LY (+29 LY), enough to reach Semotus Beacon with a few Jumponium boosts.

Felicity Farseer is one of the first engineers every Commander unlocks, and it's for good reason for explorers, as she covers a grab bag of relevant modules.

In addition to max-grade FSD mods, Farseer does Grade 3 upgrades on a DSS (which is all we ever practically need), sensors, and thrusters, plus Grade 1 upgrades on power plants and shield boosters (and experimental effects on all of them).

Shown here is Mass Manager applied to the FSD, three 0E Shield Boosters with G1 Heavy Duty + Super Caps which raises shield strength from XXX to YYY, 4D Thrusters with G3 Dirty + Drag Drives, 6D Sensors with G3 Lightweight, and an (upsized again) 4A Power Plant with G1 Low Emissions + Thermal Spread. Most are self-explanatory, but why Low Emissions? It reduces plant output and increases mass. However, and important for fuel scoopers, it reduces the heat of the ship. Note at the bottom thermal ("THM") block that idle ("IDL") heat has fallen from 20% to 17%. That's additional margin against heat damage when fuel scooping, planetary maneuvering, escaping an exclusion zone, and more. Idle temp is also baseline supercruise temp.

We've tweaked power priorities to expand the list of systems available in emergency conditions as the power plant size increases. We've also gained 2.5 LY of jump range thanks to Mass Manager, in spite of the additional mass added to the build.

At this point we skip ahead to a full-featured build with complete G5 engineering access. Notable module swaps include:

• The shield generator is now a 4D running Enhanced Low Power + Hi-Cap. Coupled with G5 shield boosters, the ship's base shield strength is now XXX (up from YYY with an equivalent 3D generator).

• The life support is a 4A instead of a 4D. With G5 Lightweight, the jump range penalty is 0.17 LY, but the 4A will last us long enough to get to a station from anywhere (provided we've got a reasonable stock of life support synthesis materials). It's an insurance policy.

• The power plant is G5 Low Emission + Monstered, and the thrusters topped out at G3 Dirty + Drag. This puts the thrusters, FSD, and the fuel scoop (the only modules at power priority 1) under the 40% plant output threshold guaranteeing that they'll run no matter how badly the plant malfunctions. Coupled with life support endurance, this ship can limp home from anywhere. Note also the super-cool 12.8% idle temp.

Well, I don't, but you do.

Here, then, is a maximum jump range Mandalay build. D-class everything except the FSD, Lightweight or Stripped Down engineering mods, and no non-core modules with mass except for the FSD Booster. Note that the FSD experimental does not become Stripped Down; there's more to gain by improving its performance than by shaving a bit of mass.

The Mandalay can jump 91 LY with a fully-sized fuel tank. If the tank is downsized to a 2C plus a 1C optional (6T of fuel against the FSD's 5.2T/jump consumption), the fuelled jump range rises to 99.11 LY. 99.38 LY is the theoretical max for a tank level of exactly 5.2 tons.