Exploration is a cornerstone of the Elite Dangerous experience, and efficiently mapping planets is crucial for maximizing your earnings and discovering valuable points of interest. The Elite Dangerous Planet Scan Tool, specifically the Surface Scanner, is your key to unraveling the secrets of celestial bodies. This guide will provide you with all the essential information to effectively use this tool and become a proficient explorer.
Before embarking on your planet mapping expeditions, ensure you have a Surface Scanner module fitted to your ship and assigned to a fire group for easy activation. Once you’ve located a planet using your Full Spectrum System (FSS) scanner, approach it until you are within scanning range. Activating the Surface Scanner will bring up the dedicated Heads-Up Display (HUD), providing you with the tools to map the planetary surface.
In the lower left corner of the Surface Scanner interface, you’ll see a percentage indicator displaying the progress of your current planet mapping. Once you achieve 90% mapping, the process will automatically complete to 100%, fully revealing the planet’s surface data. To the right of this percentage, the interface shows the number of probes currently loaded in your launcher. You can load up to three probes at a time, and the system automatically reloads, ensuring a continuous supply. While only three probes can be loaded at once, you can have more than three in flight simultaneously due to the rapid reload mechanism, similar to a “running” reload system.
The lower right corner displays the efficiency target. Achieving a full 100% map using the indicated number of probes or fewer will grant you an efficiency bonus, significantly increasing the value of the exploration data when you sell it at a station.
Probes launched from your ship are influenced by the gravity of the planet you are scanning. This gravitational pull can be strategically used to your advantage, allowing you to slingshot probes around the planet to map the far side efficiently. A common technique involves launching an initial probe towards the center of the visible side and another aiming for the backside, utilizing the planet’s curvature. Distribute the remaining probes (up to the efficiency target number) around the planet’s horizon for optimal coverage.
To accurately target the horizon, utilize the horizon marker visible in the Surface Scanner UI. This marker serves as a visual guide for aiming probes towards the planetary horizon. While hitting the backside requires some practice and depends on factors like your distance to the planet and its gravitational force, the horizon marker provides a valuable reference point to develop your aiming skills through experimentation.
Upon achieving 100% mapping of a planet, the upper right corner info-box will display the number of “points of interest” (POIs) detected on the surface. These POIs can now be directly targeted from your ship’s navigation panel, allowing you to easily locate and investigate valuable surface features and locations revealed by your efficient planet scan using the elite dangerous planet scan tool.
