ELITE DANGEROUS - All About the Mandalay (from a Professional Explorer's Perspective) 

It’s the perfect explorer and daily driver too. Day 1 buy for me without a doubt.

My first trip to Colonia was in an adder 😅 I called her adderantics. By the time I came back I renamed her addernuff 😂

Nice video mate thank you ,though i am not much of an explorer but a fighter i have done some little my self i have a krait phantom who is at 70 ly jump range so the Manda will be my main ship as i will scrap said phantom i dont remember if the phantom and manda have similar slots for transfering engine and gear from it..curious,day 1 buying among T8 .I wish they could add more love to the exploration side(more bio diversity,thicker atmos etc) .

The Mandalay looks awesome but we need more to explore, thicker atmospheres with weather and new elements and flora , maybe and ancient alien complex to explore on foot. Maybe uncover new weapons or ship add on...just something please.

I can't wait to get it and try it out.

Saw video title and wondered who you were interviewing 🤣(sorry mate). I had a feeling you would be hurt by the lack of the SLF but I suspect the Mandalay would look great in any of your exploration videos. Having hung out in the Bubble for almost 3 years, the void is calling and an ARX purchase plus engineering will happen in short order to go roam the galaxy in style.

I'm excited for the ship, exploration is my default playstyle.I am eager to learn more about Powerplay too, for me that's kind of my endgame objective when it comes to roleplaying in this universe

Thanks for the vid. And also thanks for your honesty.

With the supposed speed, and foot window, does it really need a fighter bay?

Thank you Commander Explorcist 😉

Pretty much the exploration ship I've always wanted. Jumpaconda still useful for Brain tree farming or long range cargo transport for CG's and the like. Asp and Phantom make good Core miners or ground assault ships. DBX and Dolphin still are good bubble buses on top of another use or 2. But for long range exploration, the others are effectively retired.

Thanks for the excellent update video Exorcist. The Mandalay will be a D1 purchase for me. I don't mind paying for stuff like this. Its a good way to give something back in lieu of any kind of Elite DLC from Frontier. I have never got into Powerplay. But it seems as though a lot of players are very disappointed following the wider reveal of whats coming and are calling this a reskin rather than a rebuild/reinvention of powerplay gameplay. o7

Good way for the Elite team to show investors that it’s possible for the game to be very profitable. Seems like EVERYONE likes this ship.

Funny how exploration (my very first activity) in the game can differ between player. To me, seeing just below is useless. Left and Right very low to look for things is very important (which the Mandalay isn't very good at). The jump range of my ship isn't that important as 40-50 is far enough. Resisting to my piloting mistakes is important. Being able to find ground "anomalies" is important. My hope is that it goes as far as my Krait Phantom but without guardian module. Thanks for the enthusiastic video ^^

Dude! Whole heartedly agree on this breakdown. Especially the one red flag. It was huh moment for me too. That the ONLY red flag and I can't wait to get this ship. I will gladly send money their way to help encourage this version of Frontier to continue. Thanks for the video and your views. Fly safe out there, CMDR o7

They said it would outjump a Jumpaconda, but I took that to mean a bare bones Jumpalay will do it, rather than one fitted with all the luxuries. Hope I'm wrong.

When it come's to exploring, it's true a lnger jump range does shorten the time. But speed as it most often accepted to be isn't to the N-th degree, an important part of exploring. Speed can be utilized using semantic to be different, meaning's. Just as the shortest way between to point's isn't alway's the fastest. One can do the math, which I haven't. But how much difference would there be in weight, having one less srv and replacing it with at least one fighter bay?

You mentioned the Krait (MKII) has a fighter bay.... but alas the Phantom has not. So really the only mainstream exploration ship which can have their own exploration SLFs are large ones. I am so hyped for Ascendancy!

you could carry 6 SRVs in the thing, not 3 (incl class 6 fuel scoop and class 5 fsd booster, 2 AFMUs, DSS and SCA) - I suppose you arrived at "3 SRVs" when building it with cargo space and a limpet controller. also the "smoothest SCO"-flight might come in handy, next to the fuel efficiency

Looks like a combat ship, flies like a combat ship ... it's a combat ship! 😄 Frontier can't tell me what to do! 😆

I've played ED since launch on and off, but never really been out exploring, I even restarted my chr a couple of times. I've recently come back to the game to try it out again, got my asp explorer, but not kitted out good... Now this ship looks awesome. Will you be doing a video on how to kit it out for exploring for beginners to intermediate level - I'd love to actually leave the bubble and wonder off into the black later this year when this is released. I'm even thinking of spending some arx to get this.

no fighter bay, its like going on a date and she doesnt show up. yeah your alone n heartbroken. . . . what i dont like is the optionals, not enough for me, that will make Conda still the better choice! you want srvs longe away from home? Conda Holds as many as you care to bring. Mandy will hold just enough. will Mandy replace the great Conda? only as a taxi it may sting the DBX a lil in range but it wont replace Phantom Asp X or the great Conda.

As someone who also thinks of themselves as an explorer and hasn't touched his AspX in years (fond memories, though) and hates/refuses to take an Anaconda out into the black, the one thing I have YET to hear them talk about is its thermals. I could care less if it goes 100LY in a single jump. I'm not exploring to get anywhere fast. I don't dislike large jump ranges... but if I can get a ship to about 40LY I'll explore in it, and if I can get it to 60LY I consider it ideal. What I care FAR more about are the thermals, and that's why even though I have 10 fully engineered exploration ships... the Dolphin is the one I take out 90% of the time. That sucker can already outrun a jumpaconda just by scoop-jumping, plus it handles better and has a great landing footprint for exobio. I'll definitely own one of these, but as of yet I'm unconvinced that it will replace my true Dolphin exploration love.

shut up and take my arcs!!..lol i use a dbx for my explorer, nice lil ship, great jump range ..terrible fuel scoop!!, so for me , ill be grabbing one as soon as its available

I've also focused on exploration since I started so many, many hours ago. I switch between my ASP X and my DBX for trips into the unknown. I had created an Exploraconda, but she's my rock buster now. I love the concept and design of the Mandalay - but those wings? Since we're not accessing planets with atmospheres, what's the purpose? There are no hard points, utility mounts, or main engines out there.

Hey dude! I would call the view in the Mandalay... ok vs. great. Cheek windows looking from pilot to over the pilots hands in the floor would get me to say "yeah.. that looks like a great view!"

Furthest star in the system i've been to so far is 560.000ls And always my fuel tank is near 10%. If that is not a star to refuel from, you have to keep in mind to have enough fuel for a jump to a fuel star, .... or go back the way you came on fumes(doable)

That's a hard buy for me. And I'm not a hardcore explorer to start with. But I do know that when I'll feel the need to scratch that itch, it'll do it wonderfully.

So does the mandalay have any downsides or is it just better than everything else for exploration? I guess hardpoints is meant to be the downside?

I don't think the ship needs a fighter bay due to it's increased agility and the window at your feet, allowing you to see the planet below you.

Very excited I will use this new ship to fly my first time to Colonia and first time deep space

They say it's gonna be fast and maneuverable and it has the bottom bit of canopy so the lack of a fighter bay is not such a big deal IMO.

I too wish the Mandalay had a fighter bay, but realistically that would have probably increased its foot print quite a bit.

Can't wait to make this my everyday ship. Might even take up exploring finally heh

Kinda a strange update name that’s focusing on power play and a new ship.

Mandalay arrives on my 60th birthday - guess I get a present to buy myself!

o7, entirely going to make it into a combat ship just to try it.

Pretty sure the Mandalay is the fighter.

Class 6 for fuel scoop, Class 5 for FSD booster, Class 4 for Shield. A few 0E Shield boosters fix its low power. About the fighter bay - thanks to its absence the ship will have a smaller landing footprint

Compare it to a phantom which is already better than an asp. The only 5 slot is for your fsd booster so there goes your AFMU. The phantom comes with 7 power plant and distributor, 6 thrusters and sensors. The mandalay are all 5s. If I were to trade in my phantom for this new ship I wouldn't be able to move all my modules over. There isn't room for what I already have so it would be a downgrade. It's pretty and I like the new floor window, but as an explorer it isn't as good as a phantom. Exploration isn't about max jump range, that's just called travelling. It looks like a new mat farmer and bubble jumper but without AFMU's and repair limpits your trip out to the black won't be for the long haul.

My only sadness: As best I can tell, this thing all but completely edges out the use of a Krait Phantom, right? At least the DBX still gets to claim being small for squeezing into tricky landing spots around Guardian sites or the like, while Anacondas can theoretically be a 'bring everything, jump far'... but the AspX? Phantom? I think they just became stepping stones, which is a strange thought.

Beside the nice look, it's sad that they made the Mandalay an nobrainer. Theres no single thought for the build needed. Every single build will nearly look the same.

I am not convinced of the great view yet. And as a VR Explorer view is absolutely everything for me. Everything else has to follow the view. The bottom window beneath the legs ist nothig i would compare with what lacon is doing. And honestly i will not get all optional slots filled. Might be i will stay with the asp. The mandalay is nice on paper. But there have to be drawbacks. An I fear view is one of them.

I am not going to spend any more money on this game, there are other things they should have done! You all know what I am talking about, all they are doing now is equal to lipstick on a pig. Forty years and the major thing they give us is a few ships? "Elite Dangerous I feel like I am the ship, Star Citesen I feel like I am the person who flys the ship", they still have not made something that we can walk around while the ship is parked. So, we are all the ship.