Rating difficulty of KSP celestial bodies (edit: for Kerbals)

[M_Rat13]

Just wanted to know everyone's opinions on how they rank the celestial bodies for how challenging they can be to reach/land on (not counting places you can't land).

A (original) rough listing for me (from easiest to hardest), would be:

-Minmus

-The Mun

-Ike

-Gilly

-Duna

-Moho/Dres

-Bop/Pol

-Vall

-Laythe

-Tylo

-Eeloo/Eve

What are your lists and why?

Edit:

After some discussion here (and in other threads), I've come to the conclusion that difficulty is a lot more nuanced than I thought, so:

Minmus/Mun are 'equal', in that it's easier to get to the Mun, but harder to land and take off from.

I put Ike before Gilly, as it's easier to encounter Ike.

I still think Duna is harder than Gilly. Once you encounter Gilly, even an ion probe can land on it. Not the case with Duna.

Then, obviously, Duna.

Jools moon come next in the list, as it's actually quite easy to line up to Jool, and use the moon's to slow down. As for their order, Pol/Bop are the easiest, followed by Laythe/Vall, as they are similar to Kerbin/Mun, which you should of already been capable of dealing with, if you got this far. Then, Tylo, becuase it's so hard to land on, but not the worst to leave, as you can refuel on the surface once landed, and everything bar jet engines has access to max Isp.

I then put Dres/Eeloo together, as while they are hard to reach, they are also similar to the Mun.

I'd then have to put Moho after the above too, as while it's similar in difficult to reach it as those two, it's far hotter, which is going to cause problems.

Finally, there is Eve. The easiest to land, yes, but good luck getting off there. Let me put it this way, if someone designs an SSTO to everywhere, it can't go to Eve, and you need a seperate ship for Eve.

Feel free to continue discussing, however.

Edited March 25, 2019 by M_Rat13

[magnemoe]

Tylo is the obvious hardest body to land on, has never managed to land manual on simply as things goes to fast at the end, yes I could probably done it with enough spare dV. 

[soulsource]

In my opinion Eeloo is easier to return from than Moho, at least without TACLS.
I agree with magnemoe that Tylo is the hardest body to land/return from.

Actually I think we need two lists, as there's usually quite a difference in difficulty between getting to a celestial, and returning from there. Just look at Eve. It's quite easy to get and land there, but returning is quite a challenge.

[The Aziz]

I'd separate this into two lists - landing and returning.

And I'd move landing on Gilly even further than Moho (you need to first find that little blob, fiddle with inclination, then slow down so much), and Eeloo much closer than on the far end (yes, it's the most distant one, but it's not on a so much inclined orbit as Dres for example)

[Stormpilot]

My list (Landing):

Kerbin (duh)

minmus

mün

duna

ike

gilly (tip: use RCS to land)

duna 

Jool orbit 

laythe

bop/pol

eve (one way)

eeloo

eve (return)

 

 

 

[Jon Tash]

I find it easy to land on any atmospheric body as the air(or whatever gas it is) slows me down so much. Eve is particularly easier than Kerbin.

Also the very low G of Gilly, Bop and Minmus make it easy too.

The hardest to land for me would be Tylo just as magnemoe mentioned.

[M_Rat13]

15 hours ago, soulsource said:

In my opinion Eeloo is easier to return from than Moho, at least without TACLS.
I agree with magnemoe that Tylo is the hardest body to land/return from.

Actually I think we need two lists, as there's usually quite a difference in difficulty between getting to a celestial, and returning from there. Just look at Eve. It's quite easy to get and land there, but returning is quite a challenge.

 

14 hours ago, The Aziz said:

I'd separate this into two lists - landing and returning.

And I'd move landing on Gilly even further than Moho (you need to first find that little blob, fiddle with inclination, then slow down so much), and Eeloo much closer than on the far end (yes, it's the most distant one, but it's not on a so much inclined orbit as Dres for example)

You shouldn't land on a body you can't return from, at least with Kerbals. That's sort of why I made the thread, to see if some consensus could be reached, that people might find handy. Like, oh, I just landed and returned from Duna, where next? Or, where should my first interplanetary mission go?

Granted, for rovers, you only need to care about landing, but that should probably be in a different list. In fact, I'll edit this thread to point that out.

[Chel]

For me (Easy to most difficult)

Kerbin

Mun

Minmus

Ike

Duna

Moho

Dres

Eeloo

Laythe

Vall

Tylo

Gilly (enjoy landing there!)

Bop

Pol

Eve (hope you packed SRBs and a ladder)

[GRS]

Kerbin (LKO)

Minmus

Mun

Ike

Gilly

Duna

Pol

Bop

Dres

Vall

Eeloo

Laythe

Moho

Tylo

Eve (bring Vectors for maximum efficiency)

All those contains returning, Gilly is harder than Ike since Gilly is harder to counter, Moho is quite hard for bad inclination in a low SMA, i have my methods to counter those three (Moho Eeloo Dres).

[farmerben]

Landing difficulty is purely a function of acceleration caused by that body.  I have run out of fuel to get home at Moho and Jool.

[M_Rat13]

11 hours ago, farmerben said:

Landing difficulty is purely a function of acceleration caused by that body.  I have run out of fuel to get home at Moho and Jool.

It also depends on the climate of that body. Eve for example is easy to land on, but difficult to get off of. Tylo, is the opposite of Eve, sort of, in that all engines bar jet engines have max Isp.

All the other moons at Jool are pretty easy in comparison, becuase you would of encountered similar bodies before. The only difficulty is the distance.

I guess the only "easy" interplanetary (bar Gilly and Ike, as they're moons) trip is Duna, as it's quite close, and not the worst to land on or take off from, being a middling planet.