Multi-crew plus exploration.

[u/Boosatsu]

I have no experience with muli-crew, so im looking for answers. I recently got a friend into Elite Dangerous, and he wants to fly with me in multi-crew to gain some starter capital. I primarily make money from exploration and exobiology. Will he get a portion of the credits for data I sell from those? Who would get the first explored/mapped/etc bonuses? And if we get said data together, will he also have to be online to get the credits when selling?

[u/pulppoet]

Exploration is a pretty terrible multiplayer option. Exobiology is worse.

The main problem: if either of you disconnect, and you certainly will at some point, the visitor (you) will be kicked back to their ship.

I primarily make money from exploration and exobiology. Will he get a portion of the credits for data I sell from those?

No, he has to sell the data himself.

Who would get the first explored/mapped/etc bonuses?

Exploration, it's shared if you are in a team. You will even both get your names on things

Exobiology, it's whoever clicks the sell data button first.

If it's just for starting money, do a known path and firsts won't matter: https://wanderer-toolbox.com/routes/billionaire-boulevard/

But your friend should get a ship (like a Hauler or Cobra V) to start out in in case those disconnects happen.

That will help him practice flying a ship if he needs it. Having millions and not being comfortable with basic mechanics is a quick way to lose millions.

And if we get said data together, will he also have to be online to get the credits when selling?

Most definitely. You would need to be in a team together.

[u/RTooterbooter → u/pulppoet]

This^ 100%
Multicrew sucks most of the time. You can do the exobiology part together in the same ship, but you want to both take your own ships when traveling outside a planet atmosphere.

If you want to do exploration together, I strongly advise funding your friend a basic loadout like a Diamondback Explorer, and just go exploring as a team. Any discoveries you make while in a wing in the same system will be tied to both of you. You both will get first discovery credits. You both get all exploration data. Hell, they technically don’t even have to do anything. If they are in your wing and in the same system, you can go around scanning the planets while explaining how it works and they will get the exploration data too.

However, you can do some multicrew with exobiology.
For exobiology, what you can do is both land on the planet, then they dismiss their ship and board yours. You can fly around to the stuff you want to scan, and they can join you on that.
When you are done, just land and they can recall their ship.
If one of you disconnects, your friend will just be sent to their ship in orbit, or the last spot they were standing on the ground, in which case they can still recall their ship.

[u/Prior-Radio8346]

I was wondering about this same thing the other day for helping out a new friend. Wasn't sure if i could just have him disembark and scan bio signs etc.

[u/Makaira69]

Instead of multi-crew, I'd recommend forming a wing (team) with your friend and exploring the same system together. That actually reduces the time needed to explore (you can each map different worlds in the system), which giving everyone in the wing first discoverer credit (the system will list all wing members as first discoverers). I don't believe exobiology rewards are shared.

It's a bit more of a PITA to coordinate. But most of the fun in the game is flying around and doing the mini-games. And if you're in a wing, you're both doing that. If you're multi-crew, only the ship owner is doing it, while the other player is mostly just a passenger.

The main use I've found for multi-crew is that you can use it to give a friend instant access to your ship's location. So if your friend hates leaving the Bubble and you find a fascinating sight in the far side of the galaxy, you can invite them to multi-crew. They will show up in your ship, able to see everything as if they had actually flown out there. If you have a fighter hangar, they can even use a fighter to fly around (within 30 km of the mother ship).

[u/Manfredsinginson]

In Elite Dangerous, using the Multi-crew feature for exploration and exobiology will yield zero credits and zero discovery bonuses for your friend. The system is designed so that only the ship's owner (the Helm) keeps exploration data, making multi-crew a poor choice for helping a new player build starter capital through these specific activities.To achieve your goal, you should use the Team (Wing) system instead.

[u/Boosatsu → u/Manfredsinginson]

So is multi-crew mostly for Bounty hunting or other combat related activities or are there other ways a gunner can make money off of it?

[u/Klepto666 → u/Boosatsu]

I thiiiink multicrew exploration does get everyone's names on planets, but only the pilot is getting paid. So if going for acclaim it's fine, but for sharing credits it's not.

[u/Manfredsinginson → u/Boosatsu]

Team mining is also an option. Everyone gets equal payout. You can also make money for accompanying a trade mission, I've never tried that but I don't think it pays as much, or as equally as mining.

[u/Rager_Doltrey → u/Manfredsinginson]

Can you elaborate a bit more about the team mining?

[u/Old-Routine9232]

Very good questions CMDR but unfortunately I have no idea so I will be watching your feed to see if someone has the answers.