Whats the best way of finding room to buy and install Scanners to go on a Scanning Run? I never seem to have near the room to uninstall modules in order to buy new Scanners to install on my ship. Even after I sell off most of my minerals I'm not left with much Cargo space to hold my modules while I install the scanning modules.

Size Class: Light Dreadnaught
Space: 522 / 537
Attack: 734
Defense: 110
Scan: 76
Cloak: 100
Cargo: 178.6 / 300

Weapons Heavy Graviton Shearer x7, Prototype Mech XV
Energy Dark Energy Core x3, Q-Pedd Logic Servo x2, F.A.T.H.E.R. x2, Transconduit x4, Omicron Injector
Sensors Datastream Compiler, Stryll Transponder x2, AI Supercomputer
Hull Q-Phased Plating x5
Shields Q-Phase Battery Array, Harmonic Resonator
Cloaking Zolazin Jammer x2, Gamma Channeler
Defenses Thrust Stabilizer

I'd like to go on a Scanning run, but would like to buy and install 5 Sub-Dimensional Sensors. Problem I need to find enough space to hold the 300 it will take to install them. As you can see my Cargo space is at 178.6/300 and that is only having 38.6 worth of minerals. The rest of the space I'm assuming is taken up by artifacts. Should I sell off Artifacts? Should I sell off modules and then rebuy them after my scanning run? I really need to figure out how to fit 5 Scanning modules on my ship. What am I doing wrong that I can't fit them? Thanks for any help you can give me.

Also is 300 Cargo space enough Cargo to have or should I have more?

your cargo hold is tiny, sell weapons/defence modules, of course, dont sell anything that ISNT researched. (npc modules or specials).
sell hull if you have too... just make sure you can afford to re install/BUY, after your scanning blitz.

As you progress, you're going to need A LOT more cargo than 300.

Unfortunately, at low ranks, the only realistic option you have, if you want to install 5 scanners, is to scrap some other researchable mods and rebuild them when you're done. So before you do your scan run, make sure you have enough credits/minerals to cover the cost of the scanners, the cost of replacing scrapped mods (most people do their weapons), and your daily upkeep.

I'll personally wait until I want to upgrade my weapons or hulls, and then I can just sell off all the weapons and hulls, do my scan run, and then buy the upgraded weapons/hulls. As I progress my cargo continues growing from artifacts though.

So what is a good amount of Cargo? I don't put much toward Cargo because I thought I read you shouldn't waste many RPs on it.

You shouldn't use any rank points on cargo. You will pull tesseract containers, and eventually mass storage pods, from artifact points that will give you more cargo.

^ this is the way to do it! Also good to save up some energy cubes for the run.

It's also why I keep putting off my next run, because it's hard to get all those ducks in a row.

Definitely.



This is the best way to do it, saves more money.

I am rank 149 and my cargo is 1440. I was fortunate enough to join Phoenix Rising when i 1st started, and since they have a main focus on arti (with a little bit of research) i was able to kick off my cargo to a good start, then we had a merge and once i left (i had at that time bout somewhere in the 800's) i was able to continue with cargo even tho my legion's base is research orientated, because i increased my arti production. But yeah if not already, this is only a suggestion, move to an arti orientated legion, or start increasing arti now.

Now looking at what u have on your ship u could easily sell all the researched mods and have decks left. 5 sub-dimensionals cost 320 decks, if u sell all researched mods which costs 436 decks, then u will have 131 decks left (including the spare u already have), with 5 sub-dimensionals on, so cargo doesn't need to play a part in your next scan run but hopefully u get some good arti planets in your next run and goodluck.

If you do have extra decks after removing researched mods, it's always best to leave on, in my person priority: A few spaces of Cloaking (2-3 CipherBots for me), followed by Energy, followed by as much hull as possible, followed by defense. The first things to be removed for scanners is Weaponry for me, then Defense, then as little hull as possible.

Cloaking keeps you off the BT and makes people less liable to attempt to red badge you.
Energy is necessary for the scanning.
Hull will allow you more time to respond to someone attacking you, and defense can help reduce the damage taken.
Weaponry isn't necessary during the run and won't help keep you alive as well.

Of course having the full space open for scanners is still a priority.

For the short while you're on a run, you probably won't get badged any more often than you usually do.

If ur scanners are researched high enough, u may not need all 5 to get the max success rate. What I sometimes do is install enough to get max success, then as my success rate decreases, I uninstall energy mods and install more scanner mods. This tends to work at the lower ranks since most of us don't have enough scan to actually make an energy cube necessary.

If you don't plan on invading planet right after ur scan run:
amp up(note that not only would this make u able to safely remove hulls etc, it also make u immune to CM removing ur scan buffs)
uninsall/sell all ur researched module other than energy, including hulls if you need space--u won't be really needing those thanks to amp
install as many best scanner as u can.
If you did not reach max scanners, do the sell/uninstall energy module-install scanner thing Darkness said. That will help.
And at the end, sell all scanners and reinstall/buy all the stuff u got rid of in the first place.
NEVER put RP into cargo, it's better to waste some CR than to waste cargo

A few personal perferences about scan runs: Time the scan run so that ur scan module won't hit the upkeep mark(that is to say if your upkeep is at say 11:00 am, don't start this at 10:55), this is especially true for higher lvl where u r uninstalling instead of selling modules: u will have to pay upkeep on both the scanner and the other stuff if you do hit it. For players that still need to sell modules, the best time is ~20 min before upkeep. ideally speaking, you will be done before upkeep hits, sell ur scanners and wait for AFTER the upkeep to rebuy ur stuff, hence avoiding upkeep on most of ur modules for the day(thou if you are still sell/buying... ur upkeep is really peanut~ but hey). The higher lvl scanner upkeep really hurts.
Also, I perfer to do scan runs when I'm fairly close to a lvl up(roughly estimate will need 100-200 exp after considering the exp I expect to gain from planet scanned), this way, when I have barely enough energy to lvl up, I will end my scan run, switch back all my stuff(except relay ofc) and lvl up. This way, your shield/hull u took off will be refilled right away for free, you don't have to take of relay twice(once for scan and once for lvl up), you now have a fresh bar of energy to colonize/invade planets(thou the latter is impossible until amp wear off, if u used amp).

For low lvl, use the "sell"/"buy" option of the uninstall/sell and reinstall/buy choices. Your research module should be cheap enough for you to afford doing that.
For higher lvl, use the uninstall/install options as you would have more cargo space aviliable. By rank 300, you will probably have more cargo than u will ever need(well, you will eventually need more cargo than what u have at rank 300, but by that time ur cargo grow more~ so~)

oops. :/ I've used a few on cargo...dang

I put a few rank points in cargo when I was a low rank, but the artifact production from my planet's and the legion base has more than made up for those few initial rank points.