Random idea:
Currently, I view three ships as somewhat dedicated to exploration: the Shepherd, the Venture, and the Apogee. The Shepherd is a very useful utility ship that not only helps reduce surveying costs but also gives a bump to salvage recovery. The Venture is a hardy (but slow) centerpiece to surveying missions, although Militarized Subsystems is a must. The Apogee is a full-fledged exploration cruiser with decent firepower for the fringe but also a host of built-in hullmods that help with scanning and surveying. It also has a very nice logistics profile with good storage and modest deployment cost.
Along these lines, it would be nice to have more dedicated exploration ships, namely ships that tend to be jack-of-all-trades that I, personally, don't see much use out of but might if they were useful in an exploration role. Exploration fleets could be built that remain swift, combat-capable (though not particularly good) and have bonuses to sensors, surveying, and/or salvaging. Here are my candidates and proposed changes:
WayfarerI don't think I've used the Wayfarer since 0.8 when it was introduced as a starting ship. It's touted as being relatively tough and relatively strong in combat but awkward converging arcs has always made it a non-contender for me. It does have the benefit of not being a Civilian vehicle, being fast (Burn 10), and having modest storage capacity.
An Explorer variant (or I could argue, the base ship) would simply add High Resolution Sensors and Surveying Equipment as built-in Hullmods. I would never pilot it but the AI handles them decently and they'd make capable combat ships if part of a larger fleet.
GeminiI tend to skip the Gemini because I don't like my freighters joining the battle, but like the Mule, the Gemini does pretty well in combat. It's OP-starved but since it tends to hang back and let its fighter wing do the work, it doesn't get into a lot of trouble. Having decent cargo capacity also gives it the ability to support itself (and other exploration vessels) out in the trackless regions of space. Its downside is that it costs 3x more to maintain than a Buffalo or Tarsus (with less storage capacity!) so for hauling duty, it is grossly inefficient.
An Explorer variant would add Surveying Equipment as a built-in hullmod, increase the cargo capacity to 300, and reduce the logistical profile down to 7 supplies/month. Combat performance would suffer a little by way of turning the 2 Medium Ballistic mounts into 2 Small Ballistic, dropping base dissipation to 150 (from 170), and lowering the base capacity down to 2500 (from 2700). It would retain its fighter bay and Medium Missile mount (which is the bulk of its combat prowess) but it would be much more vulnerable due its inability to mount Flak or other defensive weapons.
VentureBut you say, "I thought it was already an exploration ship!" You're right but I think it should also get the Salvage Gantry hullmod. I know with the salvage mechanics this might seem overboard but the Venture ought to be an oversized Shepherd (it practically is already). Would this make Salvage Rigs obsolete? I don't think so. The Venture has 5x the logistical profile for a 5% salvage boost relative to the Salvage Rig. I might even consider hauling a Venture around just for the perks. In all honesty, I don't think I've
ever had a Venture in my fleet.
OverallYou can add some of these hullmods to the ships as-is, however, by doing so, you're reducing their combat capability (which wasn't all that high already). Having some Exploration variants that "bake in" these exploration perks would keep some of these marginally useful ships in consideration for longer. But then again, the next patch might change everything so...
