4.7 billion from Exobiology

[jojt45]

I just returned from my 2 month winter exploration/exobio trip. I stopped at Medusa's Rock to turn in my data because I was excited to see how much I made. I was blown away ! My trip took me to the Perseus Arm sector of the galaxy and back. I'm sure many of you have made more money in the same amount of time (or quicker) but my exceptions were not at this level. I went from 3.4B to 8.1B. I honked ever system I entered and only visited BIO planets within 1500ls from the sun.
Now the question is, should I buy a fleet carrier?

[Stelar Seven]

Of course you should, fleet carriers are awesome.

[XG99]

Yes. I'm doing exactly the same on my exploration alt - raising the cash for a carrier by doing Exobio.

I just hit 4.5 billion, and when I have about 6 billion I'll head back to the bubble for my new ride. As long as it has Vista and Cartographics the upkeep will be trivial to cover, although I'll probably add all the services as usual.

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

Originally posted by XG99:

although I'll probably add all the services as usual.

Then don't stop at 6 billion. Unless you plan to break the Rule #1. ;)

[XG99]

Originally posted by Dolphin Bottlenose:

Originally posted by XG99:

although I'll probably add all the services as usual.

Then don't stop at 6 billion. Unless you plan to break the Rule #1. ;)

The rebuy on a DBX is cheap ;-)

[ShelLuser]

Originally posted by jojt45:

Now the question is, should I buy a fleet carrier?

You can always try, and if you don't enjoy having one (which is what happened to me) then you can also sell it again and get most of your money back.

Just keep in mind that the costs of a carrier don't end with just the purchase; there's also the monthly upkeep to address. Also don't pick one up thinking it'll be a money magnet because... you have "a bit" of competition on that field.

But it could be fun or be an annoyance depending on your preferences, but it won't hurt to try. Just bring enough money and keep bringing in money ;)

[XG99]

Originally posted by ShelLuser:

Just keep in mind that the costs of a carrier don't end with just the purchase; there's also the monthly upkeep to address. Also don't pick one up thinking it'll be a money magnet because... you have "a bit" of competition on that field.

For a purely explorer account the attraction is ...

You can sell your data to your own carrier. No risk of blowing up and losing it all.
You can repair, replace an SRV.
You don't need a long-range paper ship as your carrier is right there. Anything with a surface scanner will do.
You don't get bored always exploring with the same ship. Take a Vulture, an Eagle, a Sidewinder ... anything. Hell, take 40 small ships.
You never need to return to the bubble.
Or you can take a Python or AspX along for a bit of mining now and then. As your trit runs down, fill the carrier with ores.
You can get out and walk around on the carrier, your own mini bubble of humanity far, far from Sol.

[Bordric]

They seem like on of those things that are fun for a few hours setting up then not very useful.

[andrey.skleznev]

It is possible, that the carrier will be destroyed?

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

Originally posted by XG99:

The rebuy on a DBX is cheap ;-)

Fully equipping a Fleet Carrier is expensive. ;) If I remember right from my one - much more than an extra 1 billion. You wouldn't be able to afford even the cheap rebuy of a DBX. :)

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

Originally posted by andrey.skleznev:

It is possible, that the carrier will be destroyed?

Yes - if you fail to pay its upkeep costs, and keep not paying for a few months after that, when it goes in debt. Then your carrier will be decommissioned, you will get most money from its price, minus the debt and a few hundred millions of decommissioning fees.

Destroyed by enemies: no. It works like a station (even better than one - Thargoids also don't destroy it).

[Sam Willet]

Originally posted by Dolphin Bottlenose:

Originally posted by XG99:

The rebuy on a DBX is cheap ;-)

Fully equipping a Fleet Carrier is expensive. ;) If I remember right from my one - much more than an extra 1 billion. You wouldn't be able to afford even the cheap rebuy of a DBX. :)

I have three of them already, on three separate accounts. I'm well aware of the purchase price and upkeep ;-)

This account wasn't even going to have a carrier but then they boosted Exo payouts massively, so why not?

I bought my first carrier with 5.2 billion in the bank, parked it in Mainani (which had no carriers at all in those days) and did a few stacks of massacres until I had enough to fully equip it. Since then the credits have keep flooding in, and I now have 20+ years of upkeep on each of my other 3 accounts.

[Freedekogge]

Originally posted by jojt45:

I just returned from my 2 month winter exploration/exobio trip. I stopped at Medusa's Rock to turn in my data because I was excited to see how much I made. I was blown away ! My trip took me to the Perseus Arm sector of the galaxy and back. I'm sure many of you have made more money in the same amount of time (or quicker) but my exceptions were not at this level. I went from 3.4B to 8.1B. I honked ever system I entered and only visited BIO planets within 1500ls from the sun.
Now the question is, should I buy a fleet carrier?

You got the Explorer´s spirit, Commander! In case you still want to maximize profits from Exobiology (I´m not saying that is necessary), there are planets with lifeforms that are well worth the visit even if they are orbiting a remote B-star, and others that you can safely skip even though they are quite close. As often, google is you friend. As a few hints, planets with water atmosphere (not the same thing as a "water world") do often have lifeforms with very high value, while Co2 / So2 atmosphere PLUS >33% metal in HMC Worlds is also very good.

My best single star system so far got me 672 Million in Exobio Data alone. It had two planets with water atmosphere and eight lifeforms each.

[jojt45]

Thanks, 672M is impressive. Also on planets with high metal I take the SRV to look for surface deposits. No money but they always come in handy.

[Freedekogge]

Originally posted by jojt45:

Also on planets with high metal I take the SRV to look for surface deposits. No money but they always come in handy.

If you are interested in engineering materials, watch out for planets that have no atmosphere at all yet still have one biological signal. This signal should be Crystal Shards which will yield one top tier raw material, which can be gathered in large quantities, so you can fill up your storage. Fill up to 100 (if that is your max), log off, log on, and your maximum storage should now be 150 units. You can also scan the Crystal Shards as they are life forms, for a base value of 1.7 Million.

[jojt45]

Great tip.