Scarab Overview Manufacturer Vodel Years Produced 3301-Present Type Surface Recon Vehicle Cost 5,270 CR Expansion Elite Dangerous: Horizons Specifications Hangar Type Planetary Vehicle Hangar Dimensions 4.8m x 4m x 2.5m Hull Mass 4 t Armour 108 Shields 25 MJ Top Speed 38 m/s Cargo Capacity 2 t

Lightweight, all-terrain wheeled vehicle designed for exploring planetary surfaces. Equipped with a turret-mounted, dual-plasma repeater weapon. — In-Game Description

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Capabilities

Mobility

Theis a Surface Recon Vehicle manufactured by Vodel . It is used by pilots to traverse the surfaces of terrestrial planets and moons , enter Settlements , and retrieve commodities and materials that ships are too cumbersome to reach. Currently the only SRV model available on the market, the Scarab is a low-cost, swift, and relatively durable ground craft most commonly carried by explorers , but it is also popular among racing and stunt enthusiasts.

The Scarab is capable of impressive speeds; it can clock up to 38 meters per second on flat terrain (~136.8kph or ~85mph) and still drive comfortably at 10-20m/s on rougher terrain. It's also quite agile in terms of general mobility. Gravity also affects how fast the Scarab can move.

The Scarab is also outfitted with booster jets that allow it to glide for short periods in low-gravity, or to help right itself and perform other maneuvers. These jets also provide additional downforce in low gravity, to keep the vehicle (somewhat) grounded on worlds where it might otherwise be stuck airborne for minutes at a time.

Sensors

Like most other ground targets like Skimmers, the Scarab is a small, low-profile target that is difficult for ships to lock on to at longer ranges. NPC ships can (and will) engage SRVs at certain outposts if that outpost is attacked by the SRV.

As far as its own sensors go, the Scarab has a 1C sensor that can detect (and scan) ships out to around 1-3 kilometers (depending upon the ship's size and thermal signature), and Skimmers and other ground threats out to around 600m. It's also equipped with a Data Link Scanner for interacting with scannable items, and the Wave Scanner module; a unidirectional, long-range, forward facing scanner that detects a variety of vehicles and points of interest. The Scarab features three-mode headlights (off, dipped, and full) and brake lights. When attempting to avoid detection from other players, turning off headlights is advised. Night Vision can be used on the dark side of planets and moons.

Weapons and Defences

Combat-wise it is outfitted with a fairly strong, rapidly-recovering shield, and a plasma repeater turret. The Scarab is reasonably tough compared to the armaments of common Skimmers or light Defense Platforms, but it is unlikely to be able to survive against starship-mounted weaponry for long, especially railguns or missiles. It should also be noted that the Scarab's shield does not offer protection against hard impacts with terrain features, nor does it protect against many kinds of explosions (such as the Stinger-2's suicide blast).

The Scarab's plasma repeater turret fires 498rpm (8.3/s), dealing 1.2 kinetic damage per shot, has a maximum range of 800 meters, a falloff start range of 200m, and a maximum capacity of 2,000 rounds. The turret is fairly inaccurate unless manually controlled; the crosshair will shakily 'walk' around the target in a clockwise direction. Assuming manual control of the turret makes it far more accurate, and is strongly recommended for engaging fast-moving targets like Skimmers at shorter ranges, as the turret operates much like a gimbal-mounted weapon when operated from the driver's seat. The plasma repeaters are technically capable of destroying smaller ships, but this requires sustained fire and a relatively stationary target; it can take over 500 shots (a quarter of the Scarab's reserve) to destroy even a humble Eagle MkII.

It is also worth noting that the turret controls may feel somewhat 'stiff' by default; it can be worth (temporarily) reducing or disabling the relevant Deadzone values under Controls to make the turret more responsive to minor input adjustments.

Cargo

The Scarab also comes equipped with a Cargo Hatch and a Class 1 Cargo Rack, giving it 2 tons of cargo space for transporting cargo canisters or similar items.

Controls

There are two drive modes for the Scarab: Drive Assist Off and Drive Assist On. Drive Assist On sets the SRV to your desired speed. It's quite like cruise control. Drive Assist Off lets you control the SRV similar to driving a real car.

Drive Assist is primarily useful for maintaining a steady speed and direction whilst operating the turret manually. The SRV can still be steered and operated via standard inputs with drive assist disabled, but it can be more fiddly to juggle all of the various controls such as aiming, power assignment, and so on.

Outfitting

Main article: Outfitting

Unlike ships, the Scarab SRV cannot be modified. Its default loadout is listed below for comparison purposes.

Main article: Outfitting

Notes

To assist with manoeuvring on low-gravity planets, the SRV thrusters produce downforce, resulting in artificially higher gravity than actual gravity. On planets with gravity less than 1G, the SRV's effective gravity is the average of 1G and the actual value [2] . For example, on a 0.2G world the effective gravity will be 0.6G. The lowest possible effective gravity is therefore slightly above 0.5G. On planets above 1G, downforce is not used and the actual gravity value applies.

. For example, on a 0.2G world the effective gravity will be 0.6G. The lowest possible effective gravity is therefore slightly above 0.5G. On planets 1G, downforce is not used and the actual gravity value applies. Whilst the Scarab has a Canopy 'subsystem', its canopy has no weight or integrity and so cannot be broken by incoming damage or impacts.

Trivia

Over 92,322,972,771 meters have been driven in SRVs so far as of March 4, 2018. [3]

The Scarab was added with the Elite Dangerous: Horizons expansion.[4]

See Also

Videos

Development Videos

Elite Dangerous Horizons - Inside the SRV Elite Dangerous Horizons - Exploring the Unknown - First SRV combat

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