CMDR Hanchen - logbook entry | Elite:Dangerous

An Odyssey guide for suit modifications

24 Oct 2022Hanchen

When I started with the Odyssey expansion and was looking for tips online regarding how to progress, I could often see recommendations like "you should try to buy a pre-upgraded suit or weapon in Pioneer supplies shops, if possible with a good mod" (shortcut for "modification"). It was however quite unclear to me at the time what a "good mod" would be. Given how difficult it is to experiment with mods in Odyssey (because of their high material cost and the inability to remove them once installed on an equipment) and how fuzzy their description can sometimes be, new Odyssey CMDRs have to mostly rely on the experience of veterans who had the opportunity to experiment with various modifications.

Many CMDRs have shared their experience online regarding which mods they prefer, and which ones they thought to be useless. But this information is somewhat fragmented, not necessarily easy to find and sometimes contradictory. I wanted to compile the information I found online or got from my own experience in one place in this guide, with the hope it would help new Odyssey CMDRs in their decision process when considering modifying their equipment. Because of my own limited experience with weapons, I decided to focus this guide only on suit modifications, which is the topic I am the most experimented with and for which I found there was the largest consensus among veteran CMDRs.

As a reminder, 3 different types of suits can be purchased:

Dominator suit: the suit dedicated to combat with the highest defence and ability to carry 2 primary weapons (instead of only one), but also the poorest mobility (shortest jump assist and sprint duration) and lowest battery capacity.
Maverick suit: the suit dedicated to salvage operations, in the middle of the road when it comes to defensive abilities, mobility and battery capacity. Has the highest carrying capacity for goods, data and assets (chemical, circuits, tech) of all 3 models.
Artemis suit: the suit dedicated to exploration with the best mobility (longest jump assist and sprint duration) and battery capacity, but worst defences.

The following modifications can be applied to any of the 3 suit models:

Added Melee Damage
Modification cost:

[Data] 10 combat training materials
[Data] 10 combatant performances
[Chemical] 10 epinephrine
[Tech] 15 micro thrusters
500,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Jude Navarro, Kit Fowler
[Colonia] Eleanor Bresa

This mod increases the damage dealt by fists and weapon strikes, by 50% for both.

Recommendation: a worthless mod that wastes one mod slot more than anything else. In addition of dealing ineffective damage, melee attacks require you to go to the contact of the enemy therefore exposing you to lethal counter-attacks. For stealth gameplay purposes, it is strictly worse than either the Energylink tool in overload mode, or simply a weapon with audio masking (for outdoor uses) or noise suppressor (for indoor uses). Avoid this modification for all suits.

Combat Movement Speed
Modification cost:

[Data] 10 evacuation protocols
[Data] 5 genetic research
[Chemical] 10 epinephrine
[Chemical] 15 pH neutralisers
750,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Terra Velasquez, Yarden Bond
[Colonia] Baltanos

This modification reduces most of the speed penalty when moving while carrying a weapon, and while using Aim Down Sight (ADS), i.e. using your weapon in aiming mode. According to veteran CMDRs experienced at combat, this makes a very big difference regarding your mobility in critical situations, which is especially important in PVP combat. Not very useful if you prefer to use your weapons in hip mode (i.e. outside of aiming mode), which is the default mode.

Recommendation: a fairly good mod on a Dominator suit if you enjoy doing combat zones and use your weapons in ADS mode. It is also said to be mandatory if you intend to take part in on-foot PVP combat. Depending on how much on-foot combat against scavengers you intend to take part in, this mod might also be useful on a Maverick suit (although I would personally recommend against it because there are more useful mods for it). Not advised to put on an Artemis suit, unless you want to build a combat build with it (only for very experienced FPS combat players).

Damage Resistance
Modification cost:

[Data] 10 weapon inventories
[Data] 10 ballistic data
[Tech] 5 titanium platings
[Tech] 5 carbon fibre platings
[Chemical] 15 epoxy adhesives
750,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Jude Navarro, Uma Laszlo
[Colonia] Eleanor Bresla

This modification increases the explosive, plasma, thermic and kinectic resistances of your suit by 10% each. Although this number seems to be small, the consensus seems to be that it makes a notable difference between life and death in critical situations.

Recommendation: quite decent on a Dominator suit which is mostly used in very intense combat situations (e.g. combat zones). Depending on how much on-foot combat with scavengers you intend to do, it could also be used on a Maverick suit. Useless on an Artemis suit since using it for combat situations is not recommended anyways.

Enhanced Tracking
Modification cost:

[Data] 10 topological surveys
[Data] 10 stellar activity logs
[Data] 10 spectral analysis data
[Tech] 5 transmitters
[Circuit] 5 circuit boards
750,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Domino Green, Oden Geiger
[Colonia] Rosa Dayette

This modification doubles the scanning range for other players and NPCs, and makes scanning instantaneous.

Recommendation: not recommended on any of the suits. Useless for Artemis because you will most likely not encounter anyone in the black when exploring, and mostly useless for Dominator because your radar indicates the position of enemies in combat zones without having to scan them. Could maybe be useful on a Maverick suit if you are into missions requiring you to do illegal activities in occupied settlements, but there are more useful mods than that in my opinion.

Extra Ammo Capacity
Modification cost:

[Data] 15 recycling logs
[Data] 10 weapon test data
[Data] 10 production reports
[Tech] 5 weapon components
750,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Jude Navarro, Kit Fowler
[Colonia] Eleanor Bresa

This modification increases the amount of ammo you can carry with you by 50%. This can be useful for weapons with low ammo counts, like the Manticore Intimidator (plasma shotgun) or Karma L-6 (rocket launcher).

Recommendation: a good mod for the Dominator suit since it allows you to reduce the number of trips needed to refill ammo in combat zones, especially if you like using weapons with low ammo counts. I think there are more useful mods than that for the Maverick suit, unless you intend to use it in combat-intense situations. Useless for the Artemis suit (unless you really like to shoot at plants/rocks/the sky in the black

).

Extra Backpack Capacity
Modification cost:

[Data] 10 weapon inventories
[Data] 10 chemical inventories
[Data] 10 digital designs
[Chemical] 10 epoxy adhesives
[Circuit] 5 memory chips
750,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Domino Green, Wellington Beck
[Colonia] Rosa Dayette

This modification doubles your carrying capacity for data, goods and assets (chemical, circuit, tech). It should be noted that it does not increase your capacity for consumables (e.g. energy cells, grenades, medkits, shield disruptors, etc.).

Recommendation: a good mod for the Maverick suit, although it loses a little bit of relevance in the end game when you start to cherry-pick your loot to avoid reaching full storage capacity. Useless for either the Dominator (no loot in combat zones) or the Artemis (no loot in the black).

Faster Shield Regen
Modification cost:

[Data] 10 reactor output reviews
[Circuit] 5 ion batteries
[Circuit] 15 micro transformers
[Circuit] 15 electrical wirings
750,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Kit Fowler, Uma Laszlo
[Colonia] Eleanor Bresa

Makes the shield regenerate at a 25% faster rate. I have to admit it is unclear to me whether this applies to the regular shield regen, broken shield regen or both since very little information can be found about that online.

Recommendation: the consensus seems to be that this a good mod for the Dominator suit that is often used in combat-intense situations, especially when paired with the damage resistance mod. This could also be used on the Maverick, although I would recommend against it because there are are better mods for this suit. Useless on the Artemis, as you should not have to use your shield - let alone have it drained - while exploring.

Improved Battery Capacity
Modification cost:

[Data] 10 reactor output reviews
[Data] 15 maintenance logs
[Tech] 5 ion batteries
[Circuit] 15 micro supercapacitors
[Circuit] 10 electrical wirings
750,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Wellington Beck, Oden Geiger
[Colonia] Rosa Dayette

Increases the suit battery capacity by 50%. This allows you to use your tools, shields and stay in dangerous environments (e.g. too hot or too cold) for longer.

Recommendation: a very good mod for all 3 suits in my opinion. It helps a lot with the poor energy capacity of the Dominator suit, allowing you to have to recharge less often in combat zones. The Maverick suit tends to use tools quite often, so more energy is always welcome. It also allows you to stay for a very long amount of time in dangerous environments and mitigate the high energy consumption of the Genetic sampler tool of the Artemis suit.

Improved Jump Assist
Modification cost:

[Goods] 10 G-meds
[Data] 10 topological surveys
[Tech] 5 micro thrusters
[Circuit] 10 motors
750,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Hero Ferrari, Yarden Bond
[Colonia] Baltanos

This mod extends the duration of your jumping thrusters, although I could not find online by how much (in my experience, somewhere between x1.5 and x2).

Recommendation: a fairly good mod for all 3 suits. Very recommended on an Artemis, as it allows you to nearly perma-glide on very low-G worlds. Can be helpful to reach roof-tops in combat zones for the Dominator, especially on high-G (above 1.5-2 Gs) worlds. Also potentially useful for the Maverick suit, for the same reasoning.

Increased Air Reserves
Modification cost:

[Data] 5 pharmaceutical patents
[Data] 15 air quality reports
[Chemical] 10 oxygenic bacteria
[Chemical] 15 pH neutralisers
750,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Hero Ferrari, Terra Velasquez
[Colonia] Baltanos

This mod extends the suit oxygen reserves (that are used when the energy is fully depleted) from 1 to 5 minutes.

Recommendation: basically useless and a waste of a mod slot. If you are ever finding yourself in a situation where you have to rely on oxygen reserves (which should very rarely or never happen), it is doubtful that the extra 4 minutes will really help you.

Increased Sprint Duration
Modification cost:

[Data] 5 troop deployment records
[Data] 5 gene sequencing data
[Data] 5 clinical trial records
[Chemical] 10 oxygenic bacteria
[Chemical] 15 chemical catalysts
750,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Hero Ferrari, Terra Velasquez
[Colonia] Baltanos

This mod extends the duration for which you can sprint, by a factor close to x2.

Recommendation: not considered to be as useful as the improved jump assist mod because you can "bunny hop" to avoid depleting your sprint meter, but still a fairly decent mod. I find it nice on the Artemis suit so that you can have a very mobile suit when moving around station concourses/landing pads. It could also be useful on the Dominator since you often have to run in CZs, or on the Maverick if you need to quickly escape a settlement in case of an illegal operation gone wrong (I however personally think that there are better options for both of these suits).

Night Vision
Modification cost:

[Goods] 10 surveillance equipments
[Data] 5 surveillance logs
[Data] 5 radioactivity data
[Data] 5 NOC data
[Circuit] 10 circuit switch
1,000,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Oden Geiger
[Colonia] Yi Shen

This mod gives night vision to your suit, allowing you to see in the dark without relying on the torch.

Recommendation: arguably one of the most useful mods for all 3 suits. You will very often have to operate on the dark side of a planet regardless of your activity, and the difference between having to use the torch and being able to use night vision is basically night and day. I found night vision to be helpful even in day time situations, for instance to spot objects or NPCs in the shadows. Not relying on the torch also makes you harder to spot by enemies, which is very relevant for both the Dominator and Maverick suits. One remark: the only engineer in the bubble offering this mod is locked behind Terra Velasquez who is notoriously hard to unlock. If you were not lucky enough to find a pre-moded suit with this mod and do not want to complete the 6 cover thefts and heists for Terra, consider paying a visit to Yi Shen in Colonia, who is significantly easier to unlock (basically mostly locked by Rosa Dayette and her 10 cocktail/culinary recipes).

Quieter Footsteps
Modification cost:

[Data] 5 settlement assault plans
[Data] 10 tactical plans
[Data] 10 patrol routes
[Tech] 5 micro hydraulics
[Chemical] 15 viscoelastic polymers
1,000,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Yarden Bond
[Colonia] Yi Shen

This mod decreases the distance at which NPCs can spot you while crouching, walking and running. The exact values are difficult to find online, although it is said that modded walking is as noticeable as unmodded crouching, and that modded crouching allows you to get right next to a NPC without them noticing you as long as you are not in their direct line of sight.

Recommendation: a very good mod for the Maverick suit that helps you to remain undetected against groups of scavengers, or evade security when conducting illegal operations. Not useful for the Dominator since you will often have to run and jump in combat zones. Basically useless for the Artemis (no one to hide from in the black).

Reduced Tool Battery Consumption
Modification cost:

[Data] 10 reactor output reviews
[Circuit] 5 electrical fuses
[Circuit] 10 micro transformers
[Circuit] 15 electrical wirings
500,000 credits

Provided by:

[Bubble] Domino Green, Wellington Beck
[Colonia] Rosa Dayette

This mod reduces the suit tool energy consumption by 50%. This affects in particular the Energylink tool (both in normal and overload modes), the Maverick Arc cutter and the Artemis Genetic sampler. Note that this does not affect the energy consumption of shields.

Recommendation: less useful than the increased battery capacity mod since it does not affect shield battery consumption. Regardless of this, it is still a very decent option for the Maverick suit that tends to use tools quite often, and the Artemis suit to mitigate the high energy consumption of the Genetic sampler. It is however completely worthless on the Dominator suit, since you will generally not use any tools with it.

Conclusion:

I hope this guide will be useful to CMDRs new to Odyssey who feel lost in front of all the suit modifications offered by the game (like I used to be when I started Odyssey). As a summary, I would recommend you to pick a combination of the following mods for each suit (in no particular order, depending on your build preferences):

Dominator: combat movement speed, damage resistance, extra ammo capacity, faster shield regen, improved battery capacity, improved jump assist, night vision
Maverick: damage resistance, extra backpack capacity, improved battery capacity, improved jump assist, night vision, quieter footsteps, reduced tool battery consumption
Artemis: improved battery capacity, improved jump assist, increased sprint duration, night vision, reduced tool battery consumption

Fly safe!

o7
CMDR Hanchen

Cmdr Hanchen
Role Wanderer	Registered ship name Kingfisher	Credit balance 130,703,125,292 Cr
Rank Elite V	Registered ship ID Mandalay HA-19M	Overall assets 153,100,885,805 Cr
Squadron Virtual Vacuum Vagabonds	Allegiance Independent	Power Li Yong-Rui

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An Odyssey guide for suit modifications

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