Ships & Modules

Vexor is the classic all in one explo boat. I imagine the arbitrator could pull it off too but you don't have as much fitting room. I have seen all in one rupture fits...ikr...

With a mobile depot you can do anything in anything. I would suggest a cruiser though, if you have your heart set on getting into the smaller sites.

Maybe something like this

[Arbitrator, All-in-one]
Damage Control II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Shield Power Relay II

Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Relic Analyzer I

Core Probe Launcher I
[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I

Those rigs may not be necessary in high sec... in fact it may be way overtanked for high sec pve... I don't know. But you get the picture. Play around with it in eft until you can fit the stuff you need and carry a mobile depot to swap out fits where necessary.

Short term: anything with drones and a probe launcher
Long term: Ishtar, Stratios, or T3

As mentioned, learn the mobile depot, love the mobile depot. It is CCP's greatest gift to us in ages.

To answer your second questions: Do not bother with the curse or sac for exploration unless it's for sheer rp novelty. Anyone who talked those ships up to you is an idiot.

gila is a good alternative to ishtar.

[Stratios, Exploration]
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Centum C-Type Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane
Corpum C-Type Medium Armor Repairer
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II

10MN Microwarpdrive II
Relic Analyzer II
Data Analyzer II
Cargo Scanner II
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 400

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Sisters Core Probe Launcher, Sisters Core Scanner Probe
Heavy Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency M
Heavy Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency M
Heavy Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency M

Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump II
Medium Anti-Explosive Pump II

Bouncer II x4
Garde II x4
Hammerhead II x5
Warrior II x5
Hobgoblin II x5
Light Armor Maintenance Bot I x2
Salvage Drone I x5
Vespa EC-600 x5
Hobgoblin II x1
Hammerhead II x1

This is what i used when i was in high sec for a while, no boundries, no fit changes.

For 4/10's warp in, pull range, drop sentries, blap fastest rats first as they come towards you.

For a low skill point pilot, fitting becomes esier with meta 4 guns, t1 scanners etc but is still a pretty forgiving ship

Now here's the thing.

Do you train for a Gila, with its huge drone bonus, an Ishtar with good shield resistances, or a Stratios with an excellent probing role?

There is also the Cerberus which is apparently quite good for DED's and anoms.

In the end it's your choice of what you fly, and you might be better off with something designed for what your looking for.

I'm not sure but I think the Gnosis is also a good choice and is capable of multiple bonuses.

Fly safe.

P.S. Yes Null is where it's all at.

As far as t3 goes, is the tengu the only real choice, or do all the strategic cruisers perform well?

For boats without a turret bonus, is railgun the preferred platform? Or are artys and ac's performing well?

As others have mentioned, droneboats are generally the best way to go about with an all-in-one exploration boat, with the Ishtar being the best option (IMO). If you're low skilled and skilled into Amarr, start with an Arbitrator, then focus on training Gallente Cruiser, once you have it at IV you can switch to a Vexor Navy Issue. Start training for good heavy/sentry drone skills and eventually get Gallente Cruiser V and go with an Ishtar.

Stratios. And don't be afraid to pimp it out a bit, it really pays off.

As a low SP player I used one to great effect and fitted some of the nice stuff I'd find in the DED sites. Because my fitting skills were pretty horrible I just put a smokescreen cloak on it and an expanded probe launcher. I could run data and relic sites in low really easily, and if I saw something that looked baity on D-scan I'd launch some combat probes to chase him off. Combat sites in low didn't work well as a low SP player. They took too long and you can't always get the warp scrambling frigs off of you in time. (If you want an example, go look at my killboard. You'll also find my fitting there. Any seasoned player will tell you it's awful, but it works great for a low SP player)

After all of the money I spent on the ship, it still earned me over 3 billion in a couple months. A pretty decent haul for a noob doing high sec exploration.

Not something a low SP player is going to be doing in a 300 mil hull. And please note that the expanded probe launcher is on there specifically to deter PvP, and never failed to chase off an uncloaked ship. I should have noted that the expanded launcher is only useful for low sec though, so thank you for saying something. A regular launcher will save him some time launching a mobile depot in high sec.

Core launcher or expanded launcher, 1.5 mil SP doesn't give enough room to fit a Stratios in anything but nonsense. That's okay though, because you don't need anything spectacular for high sec.