I checked a little, but did not see anything about this. Why are there no ships that are specifically designed as Mining vessels? Most ships can be fitted to do pretty much any role, yes, but many of them do have specific roles attached. Fighting, Trading or Hauling, Exploring and even Passenger specific, why no mining specific roled ships. Seems like a no brainer.
Ships for Mining
- Thread starter foxwalker
- Start date
If you designed a mining-only ship, it would look exactly like the Python.
nope, because a mining specialised ship would have a modified SLF hangar to not have to rely on collector limpets.
and it would look like a small dredger
You're talking about an entire redesign of the mining process. And what benefit do you get for using a SLF over mining limpets?
What would a space dredger actually look like?
who said anything about using an SLF?
the slf hangar has a huge scooping forcefield that it can project forward or backward.
AKA there is no reason that it couldn't be used to scoop in fragments at ~100m range forward
You got that right, I have been using my Python for that role for a while now. I actually feel the same way about the Anaconda with Passenger missions. Can't find a good reason to drive any of the passenger ships since Lux Cabin missions are not significantly better than any other passenger related mission. In fact the Passenger ships are ill equipped to handle most of the high end passenger missions since they are mostly smuggling secretive or criminal passengers and the Passenger liners are too slow and hard to maneuver to handle that type of activity.
But it does not explain why one of the major game specializations has no specialized ships.
I am not sure about the super refinery, but I like the idea of something more like the Keelback. Maybe a bit larger so you could still have all your essential mining related internals, a fighter bay for protection and still have enough cargo space to make the trip worthwhile.
Wouldn't a Type 9 fit this role? Horrible jump range, but massive cargo space for mined goods, limpet controllers and a fighter bay for protection (in addition to turrets)?
Absolutely commander, I'm saving my credits and working on Imperial rank for a clipper right now... Can't wait
Let's see, I've been making money hauling passengers for the last couple of weeks. For a change, I've been mining 3 different rings in 2 systems for about 10 hours. I made approximately 130,000 cr compared to my average 1.3mil cr hauling passengers in one 5 minute run.
Yeah, we need a mining ship, totally worth the x million cr to buy it.
As said, retro-fit a Python, ASP or Type X and there's your mining ship.
Yeah, we need a mining ship, totally worth the x million cr to buy it.
As said, retro-fit a Python, ASP or Type X and there's your mining ship.
Sounds like a Gunship to me! ( a bit poor on the optional internal side though)
Dropship?
Last edited:
dropship is the best low-cost mining ship out there.
lots of internal slots for multiple collector, max refinery, prospector and still having enough cargo and shields for profitable mining runs.
and a distributor strong enough to use ~3 med mining lasers.
It was an experiment. Actually, the Gunship's distributor isn't up to powering 7 mining lasers for more than a few seconds.
the point is - it doesn't need too
you have to find the balance between how fast you deplete an asteroid,
and how fast you can collect the chunks before they despawn.
thats where my suggestion topic comes from, to repurpose the tractor-forcefield of the SLF bay into a collector device, replacing collector limpets.
i would think such a gunship fit you have there, could be ideal for asteroid mining of arsenic...
Id rather Fdev spend the time creating more worthwhile things for the game. There already is an in game mechanic for mining and the collection of the "chunks"...theyre called limpets. If anything, the only thing they should improve for mining is the payout. As it stands its pointless doing mining for peanuts...increase the payouts then i may consider it as a profession and not just another obstacle to overcome for the unlock of an engineer.
When I took that screenshot, I got some arsenic.
Actually, combat ships are the best for mining for materials. You don't need a refinery, or even many collectors, just a good distributor and prospector limpets. I have a mining Vulture parked near a good source of tungsten, which is the only mineable element I ever run short of on a regular basis.
mining payout is tied to cargo space and collection time.
i have suggested something that increases cargospace availiable on mining ships, and reducing collection time.
and that is basicly replacing the pointless collector limpets with something different...