Elite: Dangerous Mission Briefings
Elite: Dangerous Mission Briefings
I returned to Elite: Dangerous after a lengthy break—around nine months—and I’m enjoying the passenger transport missions. However, I’m wondering if those extremely long-distance missions are worth the effort. There’s a mission that offers a 66 million CR payout for transporting someone 24,000 LY to gather data from a black hole. Is it worth it? My total light years covered is just over 15,000, meaning even a one-way trip would surpass everything I’ve done while playing. I could still do some research during the journey, but it might take too long. I’m using an Asp Explorer that can travel just over 25 LY at once. Any advice or tips on improving passenger transport and finding jobs would be appreciated. Thanks!
If you decide to proceed, keep in mind the kind of travelers you're transporting. Some could be sensitive to scans or pirate threats. On /r/EliteDangerous there were reports of folks quitting missions over $20k just to avoid certain scans.
I can't discuss the mission directly, but for long-distance trips it's essential to maintain a certain mental attitude. The Asp can be adjusted to improve jump height. Research explorer settings that favor lighter parts besides the drive system. I’m unsure how much a passenger area affects performance, but generally people reach about 34LY in an Asp, or slightly less with extra gear. Make sure you have a good fuel scoop and AFMU. Since I haven’t flown recently, I know repairs might be possible at remote stations if needed. Depending on your route, you could achieve up to 2kly/hour on an Asp by using short bursts and quick scooping. If you upgrade the engineer for jump range, you may reach that speed more efficiently.
You're likely to experience around 1000 jumps with your current ship. It sounds like a long and monotonous ride. I might even consider creating an autohotkey script to make it more enjoyable while watching a movie. Though I'm not sure if that's feasible, back in the day when I played the X series, I'd pack as many passengers as possible heading in the same direction.