Yep, you can ditch the fuel scoop if you know you can comfortably make your trips. I only bring it on long travel trips.

Yeah why not right? I recently downgraded my Asp shield from 5 to 4, but was hesitant to go further due to my penchant for bouncing off high-G planets. What's the shield strength you've got with that setup RK?

You're making good exploration data money. It's the luck of the draw. I seem to get way too many ice worlds which aren't worth much. Although in the trip I just took to visit Bond Station I hung around to scan the whole system and it was worth about 350k due to a number of high metal content planets. But usually that's about what I would make for a whole sightseeing trip. I might scan planets within 1000Ls of the entry, but rarely will I go any farther if I am on a passenger mission at the time.

Do you filter your stars when plotting your sightseeing routes? Isn't it true that you can increase the odds of finding high-metal, terraforms or earth-likes by jumping to certain types of stars? I need to brush up on that. Because I am likely jumping in to low-paying systems and jumping over and around ones that are likely to yield higher profits.

I don't know about what star = what, but I do filter out the ones that aren't scoopable that cause trouble.
I've found some systems on these runs that have 30+ planets and moons to check out that were packed with metal filled planets. I bookmarked some to come back to to explore fully when I give mining a run and skipped the actual planet scanning for the time being.
I went from a 5c(?) biweave shield down to a 3c. I'm not getting into any fights.
I'll likely drop the fuel scoop in favor of a small cargo hold so I can pick up the commodity requests the passengers have.

I like the additional fuel tank idea. Especially if you're not scanning, that can make these trips speed right along.

I added a post to the exploration thread regarding star type and planet probability.

Something I've been needing to ask for a while...

Why am I allowed to do missions that are above my pay grade? This wasn't always so was it?

I have no idea but don't say it too loudly as those are the best moolah makers. Especially with sightseeing, for whatever reason these are usually available a rank or two above me, even Elite sometimes. They pay a princely sum and are critical to my plan to hit Elite rank..

We wouldn't want FDev to nerf them.

Indeed, in times past, missions above the CMDRs rank could not be accepted. They did change this deliberately to allow CMDRs to accept any missions they wish..

The catch is that the NPC enemies and targets *do not* reduce themselves to match the CMDRs current rank/skill level. An Elite mission may easily spawn Elite ranked hostiles. Lower ranked CMDRs may not all be properly equipped to deal with such, in either equipment or skill. But trial by fire is a good teacher!

Thanks for the explanation adlabs

Time for another question.

When in Supercruise I sometimes get the message that I can drop out to 'normal' space before the distance counter says I can.Is that a bug?

Also,always check station distances.Last night I incorrectly read the distance wrong and ended up with a mission to a station that was well over a million Ls away On the plus side,I had time to go make tea,have a bath etc etc.

Yeah, noticed that on several systems as well and seems to be the norm for those systems so might not be a bug. Can't really tell what's different and why you can drop out of SC earlier than what is the norm.

I got a little frustrated tonight

I'm doing an Empire rank-up mission. I need to collect 2 canisters of something or other. I got one before I got jumped by 3 ships who took my shields down very quickly so I had no choice but to FSD out. A further 3 attempts ended the same way. I can get the second canister targeted and get quite close to scooping it up but then they jump in and attack. The canister seems to always veer off course just before I scoop it up,by the time I've re-aligned with it I have to bail and FSD out. I got really pissed off tbh.

The mission seems impossible to me,even if I had weapons it's 1 vs 3. Not sure what to do. I'm assuming that ships will always appear on this mission to make things difficult. I'm thinking I need to abandon it and try another one.

Collector limpits! Get them out immediately, be ready to close up the cargo and stow weapons with power to propulsion and shields. You can’t fight, so take those pips off weapons.
If they jump in, keep what you have and jump out of there. On salvage missions, I would grab one, they come in guns blazing..I jump out but throttle down to a stop during the transition before moving far. Turn right around, pop back in. The salvage respawns so you just supplement what you already picked up and leave. They jump in just as before, but you can repeat as needed until you get enough of them, you don’t have to grab all in one go. The limpits save a LOT of precious seconds. I’d get the 2 limpit controller, not a single.

I've never used limpits before,I'll look into it. Do they have to be told which items to pick up. One of the problems is that there are usually 5-6 items,only 2 of which I need so I waste time targeting the right ones. From what you say I've been doing it wrong.When I FSD out I've been on full throttle and the pick-up point has gone so I have to wait for another to show up.

Yeah, you target and then fire off a limpit and it goes to get that item. You have to open the cargo to let it back in. If your controller handles two, target one container, fire, immediately target the other, fire, then wait for them to come back. The limpits expire, so they won't be coming back onboard.
Close up the cargo hold, jump out, but after the animation starts for the FSD, throttle back down all the way. When the animation is over, turn around and you won't be far from the point to jump back in. You won't be right on top, but not far. The salvage missions eventually have 3 or more containers, so learn how to do this. Grab at least one before you jump and you can just keep coming back in for more until you have what you need.

The limpets expire after a certain time period **OR** if you have something targeted, they'll pick that up and self-destruct. Stupid drones.

You can pick up a module that controls two limpets. Target your item, fire off one limpet, open cargo hold. As soon as you see it pick up the item, target the next item and fire off the second limpet.

I abandoned the mission in the end.Took the next one offered which was the same type (collect 4 black box) only this time no interference. If only there was an option to exclude combat for us pacifists I'd be clicking on that sucker in double-quick time

That's what makes the salvage missions exciting, the speed and tension of it. Gotta be fast!

The only type of rank-up missions I've taken are delivery and courier. I ignore the salvage and strike missions, and any else I'm forgetting. Rank missions refresh each time you load the mission board now that they are chain missions, no mode-switching required. Of course it's RNG and it could be one or it could be 20 before you get what you're looking for, but usually just a couple. I like courier missions for rank if I can get 'em.

I've been doing loads of boom data and delivery missions whilst ranking up but I think I've burned out on them tbh. Doing a bit of exploring for a while although I am seeing quite a few SRV missions that crop up that give good rewards. I'll have to YT a few videos to see how it's done.

I'm picking up what you're putting down. Just my 2 credits, and in case someone might not be aware you can be selective and avoid certain potentially tricky rank missions if desired. But yes, I understand burnout and the importance of mixing things up.

Good luck out in the black.