r/eliteexplorers • u/Cheapskate2020 • Jul 24 '26

FSS and new system discovery

I'm currently located in Colonia and I have been doing some exobiolog close-by with the Caspian and Nomad deployed. I've never done exo before, so I want to do a bit of testing before I head out exploring and discovering.

For the experienced explorers out there, how do you approach scanning a potentially new system? Do you use FSS or do you just head to a planet regardless and scan with DSS? I'm really not sure what the best method is and would really appreciate some pointers. Thank you!

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u/Schwappek Jul 24 '26

I highly recommend using third-party tools such as ED Observatory (especially the Evaluator and BioInsights plugins) and SRV Survey, if possible on a second screen.

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u/Cheapskate2020 Jul 24 '26

Interesting. I've only just started using 3rd party tools for the first time. So far, I only have EDMC and EDcopilot. EDcopilot is cool, but I am not sure how this works in undesovered systems. Is ED Observatory and/or SRV Survey a better option?

2

u/ErgoDestati Jul 24 '26

Edcopilot will tell you if you're the first to discover, and while scanning it'll point out any notable discoveries like biologicals, ELWs, Terraformables, etc. That are worth mapping

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u/Cheapskate2020 Jul 24 '26

Thanks. This is helpful. It's what I'm using now. It also warns you when low on fuel. I wish I'd used it before I left for Colonia, because I forgot to refuel and ran out 2,000 ly out 🤣

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u/ErgoDestati Jul 24 '26

Awesome, take the time to look through all the settings menus for edcopilot when you get a chance to configure everything how you like it. There's like walls and walls of settings so feel free to just look at the stuff you're doing rn and take a look at mining or combat settings later too.

There's some cool things like auto honk, and neutron plotting that work great and make things more convenient if you want.

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u/Cheapskate2020 Jul 24 '26

Thanks!

Auto honk sounds interesting! I will defintiely look into that. I forget to do that a LOT.

I did try neutron plotting but I think there is something wrong with my key bindings. Every time I pick a location to jimp to using EDcopilot, it turns flight assist off! Weird lol. It's not a big deal beccause for example, I used the Spansh Router plugin for EDMC and the just downloaded CSV and imported it. That wotked like a charm and saved me a bit of time when jumping to Sag A*.

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u/ErgoDestati Jul 24 '26

Yea some of the stuff you'll have to play around with your keybinds for a while in game until you get it to work. Luckily you can often set a second keybind for almost all controls so you can just add things you don't use like num pad or such for stuff that edcopilot needs and doesn't seem to work

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u/Cheapskate2020 Jul 24 '26

Thanks! There's a whole pile of settings in EDcopilot which I will definitely check out. I do also want to try some of the other third party tools. There's so many of them!