Mining Fighters

[Darth_dave]

Forgive me if this has already been suggested else where, but with the new surface deposits and mother load asteroids the larger, less agile ships (cutter, anaconda etc...) are not really suited to the task of precision shooting surface deposits, particularly on the inside of a cracked open asteroid.

So I would suggest a fighter outfitted with an abrasion blaster, possibly with a pulse wave analyser as the secondary fire.

This would also add some additional multicrew options for mining (possibly difficult to implement for AI fighters), and while it would mean the larger ship would not require the blaster saving a small hardpoint it would sacrifice a defensive fighter.

Thoughts?

 

[Daynen]

Getting a big ship with a fighter bay for mining seems...self defeating. You'd be wasting the hardpoints you have AND taking up an internal, reducing your available cargo space. I don't think I'd ever use such an option, honestly...

 

[MK Regular]

Getting a big ship with a fighter bay for mining seems...self defeating. You'd be wasting the hardpoints you have AND taking up an internal, reducing your available cargo space. I don't think I'd ever use such an option, honestly...

Since you would have an abrasion blaster (presumably with infinite ammo) on the SLF, there would be no requirement for you to mount an abrasion blaster on your ship for surface deposits. This would free up a hardpoint (possibly a larger hardpoint if you change the locations of your mining tools) for you to mount an additional mining tool or [another] weapon for self defence. So no, you are NOT wasting a hardpoint by using a mining SLF.



For taking up an additional slot, if you had a fighter bay to begin with, by all means bring the mining SLF. You would effectively be trading a fighter for an additional hardpoint and a maneuverable mining platform. Seems like a fair trade to me.

If you didn't have a fighter bay to begin with, you could still consider getting a size 5/6 fighter bay to improve your mining experience. If you are worried about sacrificing cargo space, check out these builds (I did have to cheat a bit since not all of the modules are present in Coriolis):

• Type-9 (640T cargo, 4 collectors, single SLF, all mining tools (incl. twin smalls) + 1x medium)
• Type-9 (512T cargo, 7 collectors, twin SLFs, all mining tools (incl. twin small) + 1x medium)
• Cutter (512T cargo, 6 collectors, twin SLFs, all mining tools (incl. 2 med lasers) + 2x large +1x huge)
• Conda (320T cargo, 5 collectors, single SLF, all mining tools (incl. 2 small lasers) + 3x large +1x huge)
• Conda (256T cargo, 8 collectors, twin SLFs, all mining tools (incl. 2 small lasers) + 3x large +1x huge)

Personally, of those builds, I would probably go for the 512T Type-9, and set up the 2 top mediums with mining lasers, the lower centreline medium with seismic charges, and the 2 smalls with displacement missiles (the second launcher is for extra ammo). Optionally, I would also take the 256T Conda with a similar setup (2x medium lasers, 2x small displacement missiles, seismic charges on lower centreline large).

 

[Jaylem]

Hmmm, more uses for multi-crew other than fighting...count me in my friend!!!

+1 from me!

I also suggested a while back that Powerplay modules be removed and added to tech brokers, allowing for more variations on the weapons. among the new variations suggested, I also recommended a Mining lance fighter, equipped with twin mining lances, sure it wont pack a punch, but at least you could use it for mining and self defence

 

[trollson]

I like this idea for extending the gameplay with multi-crew - anything other than combat.

Could the mining pods also hold and/or haul back minerals to the mothership as well? Would make an interesting scenario.

 

[Daynen]

Okay but remember, no ship comes with a fighter bay attached. Some ships are CAPABLE of equipping one, but unless I am SORELY mistaken (and I'm fairly sure I'm not) a fighter bay isn't just bolted on as stock. So...yeah, you kind of are losing cargo space. Might not be much if you don't bring a large bay, but I'd still rather have the space. Also, given that several ships have multiple hardpoints of varying sizes to begin with, you wouldn't really gain THAT much by putting one on the SLF, honestly.

Would it be an interesting use of multicrew? Maybe. Depends on whether you have enough friends who find mining interesting. I still can't help but frown at the notion of using a "fighter" for mining. I mean, weren't they designed for...fighting? I dunno, maybe there's merit but the whole idea just feels a little bit off to me...

 

[nightride]

Okay but remember, no ship comes with a fighter bay attached. Some ships are CAPABLE of equipping one, but unless I am SORELY mistaken (and I'm fairly sure I'm not) a fighter bay isn't just bolted on as stock. So...yeah, you kind of are losing cargo space. Might not be much if you don't bring a large bay, but I'd still rather have the space. Also, given that several ships have multiple hardpoints of varying sizes to begin with, you wouldn't really gain THAT much by putting one on the SLF, honestly.

Would it be an interesting use of multicrew? Maybe. Depends on whether you have enough friends who find mining interesting. I still can't help but frown at the notion of using a "fighter" for mining. I mean, weren't they designed for...fighting? I dunno, maybe there's merit but the whole idea just feels a little bit off to me...

on the other hand, it might be a cool addition to have a small mining ship instead of a small fighter inside the fighter bay, and use that to quickly do surface mining or anything that could use the fast shamm repositioning ship, while the mothership pilot focuses on scanning and collection. would be a very cool addition to the multi-crew

 

[DaxxArmetrius]

As a new miner alternating between Anaconda and Type 10, I have started to think that yes, I'd like a fighter to jump into and scoot in and blow out the surface deposits.

Sometimes I feel like Austin Powers getting my Anaconda wedged between two asteroid chunks.