Elite Dangerous Exobiology Guide: Get Rich Scanning Plants

Exobiology has become the most profitable activity in Elite Dangerous: scanning alien life forms can bring in hundreds of millions of credits per expedition. Here's how to get started.

The required gear

You need the Artemis suit (with its Genetic Sampler) and a ship that can land anywhere: the Cobra Mk III does the job perfectly at first, while the Mandalay has become the exobiologists' reference (fuel-sipping supercruise, easy landings). Add a Detailed Surface Scanner to map planets and reveal biological zones.

The scanning technique

From orbit, the FSS then DSS reveal biological signals. On the ground, each species requires three samples taken at sufficient distance from each other (the distance varies by species). The pros' method: land near a concentration, scan, take off in low flight to the next area, land, repeat. With practice, a rich planet is "cleared" in twenty minutes.

Optimising your earnings

A single Stratum Tectonicas pays around 19 million credits. First discoveries (never-scanned planets) multiply payouts by five — exploration beyond the bubble then becomes extremely lucrative. Sell your data at Vista Genomics, and remember: unsold data is lost if you die.

Cockpit comfort

Exobiology endlessly chains the same commands: landing gear, lights, scanner, take-off. Having them at your fingertips changes everything over long sessions — our X55/X56 plates with Elite Dangerous markings keep every control readable, and backlighting accompanies your nights in the galactic dark. Happy credit hunting, commander o7