DolphinExploration

The Dolphin is Saud Kruger's compact luxury cruiser, and its defining trait is temperature: it runs cooler than any other ship in Elite Dangerous. For an explorer, that's a genuine advantage — it scoops fuel near hot stars, runs heat-generating modules, and stays under thermal limits with margin to spare, where other ships flirt with overheating. It's also cheap, elegant and comfortable to fly over long hauls.

Beneath the comfort it's a capable little explorer: nine optional internals (several of useful size) carry a class-5 fuel scoop, scanner, AFMU and SRV bay, and a light hull gives it a respectable ~58 LY engineered. Its small pad lands at any outpost. It won't match the premium explorers for range or capacity, but for a relaxed, cool-running, affordable deep-space ship — and as a dual passenger-and-exploration hull — the Dolphin is a quiet delight.

Four things make the Dolphin a lovely explorer:

• The coolest-running hull in the game. It scoops and runs modules near stars with thermal margin no other ship has — a real, unique exploration asset.
• Comfortable and easy to fly. A relaxed cruiser with good visibility — pleasant over the long hauls exploration demands.
• Deep enough internals. Nine optionals carry a class-5 scoop, scanner, AFMU and SRV bay — a full expedition kit on a small hull.
• Cheap and small-pad. Just over 1M Cr and able to land anywhere — an accessible, flexible explorer.

An 80 led by the game's coolest heat profile, comfort and a sub-1.2M Cr small-pad price, limited mainly by a merely-good ~58 LY range and small-hull internals that trail the premiums.

The 80/100 headline is a verdict against the exploration role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Both tables rate ships for exploration specifically. The role column is the maximum engineered jump range in light-years — the headline number for deep-space travel.

Same class — small-pad explorers

Among small-pad explorers the Dolphin is the comfort-and-heat pick. The DBE jumps further (and also runs cool), but nothing matches the Dolphin's thermal margin and comfort. For relaxed, scooping-heavy expeditions on a budget, it's a delight.

Other classes — the range step-up

The mediums jump further and carry more; the Dolphin counters with the best heat profile in the game, real comfort and a tiny price. Step up to a Phantom or Mandalay for range and capacity; stay with the Dolphin for cool, comfortable, affordable travel — and it doubles as a fine passenger ship.

At ~1.12M Cr the Dolphin is cheap, with no rank or permit gate, and its small modules keep a full explorer fit around 10M Cr all-in — a complete, comfortable deep-space ship for very little.

It's a value pick with a personality: not the longest-legged explorer, but the coolest-running and among the most pleasant, and a natural choice for a commander who also wants to run passenger missions in the same hull.

A cool-running budget explorer fit. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the expedition baseline; Engineered maximises jump range while exploiting the Dolphin's exceptional thermals. The hull flies unarmed — every kilo goes to range and endurance.

Buy the hull, fit a class-5 fuel scoop and a heat sink launcher, and otherwise fly the stock E-rated cores — including the buy-only 4E FSD. Range and refuelling come on the A-rate and engineering passes.

The Dolphin ships with Lightweight Alloy bulkheads as standard — keep them. An explorer never trades mass for armour, so this slot needs no purchase in any state.

Leave every other slot empty in this state — no shield, Guardian booster, Detailed Surface Scanner, AFMU or SRV bay until the A-rated pass.

The hull flies unarmed; the heat sink is the only utility fitted, dumping heat for safe touchdowns.

A-rating priority for a cool-running explorer:

• 1FSD → A — Jump range is everything; A-rate the drive first. ~2M Cr
• 2Fuel Scoop → A (class 5) — A big scoop plus the Dolphin's thermals refuels effortlessly. ~2M Cr
• 3Guardian FSD Booster 4 — A flat range bonus — a Guardian-site run to unlock. material cost
• 4Detailed Surface Scanner — Maps planets for cartographic payouts. ~250k Cr
• 5AFMU + SRV bay — Self-repair and surface access. ~1M Cr
• 6Shield Generator → 2C bi-weave + booster — A light landing shield (2C bi-weave, 0A shield booster) for safe surface touchdowns. ~150k Cr

Leave the bulkheads at stock Lightweight Alloy — no Military Grade. Every kilo of hull plating costs jump range, and an unarmed explorer has nothing to defend.

The exploration engineering pattern. Felicity Farseer carries the FSD; Professor Palin or Mel Brandon engineer the thrusters. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

Recommended order

• 1FSD Increased Range to G5 with Mass Manager for the Dolphin's ~58 LY range.
• 2Lightweight life support and sensors to shed mass.
• 3Low-Emissions plant deepens an already class-leading heat advantage.
• 4Clean Drive Tuning thrusters for efficient travel.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Engineered, the Dolphin jumps ~58 LY while running cooler than anything else and travelling in comfort — a relaxed, affordable explorer with a genuine thermal edge. The bulkheads stay Lightweight Alloy, rolled G5 Lightweight + Deep Plating (Selene Jean) to shave hull mass — the gain is range, not protection. Its range and capacity trail the premiums; its heat, comfort and price do not.

• Exploit the heat — scoop aggressively and travel through dense regions other ships find punishing.
• FSD and a class-5 scoop first; then fill the deep internals with scanner, SRV and AFMUs.
• It's a dual-purpose hull — the same ship makes a fine passenger liner.
• For more range, the DBE (also cool-running) or a medium is the step up; for comfort and heat, the Dolphin is hard to beat.