Newcomer / Intro Are materials worth scooping up?

[Gobin Splat]

Are materials worth scooping up?

I'M all about the money and struggle to ignore scooping up all those materials floating around after I have blasted a mission, but apart from specific materials needed for engineering they don't seem to have any actual value, no matter how RARE. Ditto taking materials as part of a mission reward, doesn't seem to have any value unless you actually need those specific materials for an engineering improvement or anticipate needing them

 

[avow555]

Scoop them all as you will need them later.

 

[WinterKing2112]

Are materials worth scooping up?

I'M all about the money and struggle to ignore scooping up all those materials floating around after I have blasted a mission, but apart from specific materials needed for engineering they don't seem to have any actual value, no matter how RARE. Ditto taking materials as part of a mission reward, doesn't seem to have any value unless you actually need those specific materials for an engineering improvement or anticipate needing them

Always scoop up the mats. You can use them to engineer your modules and weapons; engineering makes your modules and weapons much, much better. Your shields will be significantly stonger, your weapons will do a lot more damage, and your jump range will increase a lot after engineering. However, you will need lots of creds to buy A rated modules and weapons, so focus on earning credits and buying the A rated weapons and modules first, but while you're doing that, scoop up lots of mats, scan other ships for data, and prospect on planets for raw mats, then use those mats to engineer your weapons and modules to make them much better.

 

[KRU BARANKI]

I found it very annoing that once I reach any engineer there is always not enough mats in my cargo hold, thus I can't upgrade my gears. Thus I scoop them all .

 

[aRJay]

Always scoop* materials and pick up encoded data, it doesn’t cost anything to store and if you don’t need it now you can always use it at a materials trader to get something you do need.

On the other hand scooping canisters of cargo is a dubious business as that can get you in trouble with the law and they use part of your cargo hold.

*Actually I tend to have sessions going hunting materials either on planets using my SRV or visiting signal sources in space using a ship with collector limpets.

 

[d8veh]

It takes a lot of time to pick up materials. I think that it's much more efficient to leave them and use the time for activities that gain reputation or generate wealth/rewards. Maybe just pick up any level 4 or 5 mats. When you need materials, you can go and get top tier ones then use a material trader to get the others.

 

[avow555]

It takes a lot of time to pick up materials. I think that it's much more efficient to leave them and use the time for activities that gain reputation or generate wealth/rewards. Maybe just pick up any level 4 or 5 mats. When you need materials, you can go and get top tier ones then use a material trader to get the others.

Sorry, don't agree.
Pick up as you go saves more time long term.

 

[Raino]

as soon as your ships can handle (sizewise) a collector limpet controller and some limpets this will significant reduce the time and fill your storage
i always have an 1D mounted on my bigger ones

 

[wetwire]

It is by no means mandatory to collect the material , or pick the material rewards from missions. As others have stated from experience its just a time saver down the road. When the day comes that you decide to dive into the engineers you will see why everyone says to collect them as often as you can. Because once you run out of that one material you need just to complete the grade five frame shift drive you will start mentally kicking yourself with thoughts of "all those hours of game play, i could have picked up the materials i need now, but instead i have to stop what im doing and go hunting for this one type."
Picking up a few random materials here and there during play is the same as that cup holder in your car that you empty your loose change into. It has little value right now, but down the road when you come up to a pay booth you will be thankful it was there.

 

[Rob_the_Sparky]

It takes a lot of time to pick up materials. I think that it's much more efficient to leave them and use the time for activities that gain reputation or generate wealth/rewards. Maybe just pick up any level 4 or 5 mats. When you need materials, you can go and get top tier ones then use a material trader to get the others.

I suspect you are right (generally are ) but that won't stop me collecting stuff as I just like to have materials in stock and find it hard to turn down something with zero cost to collect. Having said that if it isn't fun then don't do it, this is a game so there is no one right answer as every person will have their own preferences..

 

[d8veh]

I suspect you are right (generally are ) but that won't stop me collecting stuff as I just like to have materials in stock and find it hard to turn down something with zero cost to collect. Having said that if it isn't fun then don't do it, this is a game so there is no one right answer as every person will have their own preferences..

I have 200 billion in cash and every ship and material I need, not because I used exploits, but because I optimise everything I do for maximum gain. In the time anyone spends collecting a couple of shield emitters, I've made another couple of million credits or I've got a level 5 material that's worth nearly 4000 times as much as those shield emitters.

The same as real life, some people, like to optimise what they're doing, some just like to do specific things, and others are happy to drift through life wherever the wind blows them. There's no answer to how you want to live or play the game, but OP says, "I'M all about the money" and is asking whether it's worth the time to pick up materials. In that case the pragmatic answer is no, except for picking up free high-grade materials.

To OP: If you're really all about the money, you should go painite mining to make about a billion per evening.

 

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Agreed. Also it is rarely pointed out quite how worthless grade 1 materials are relative to grade 5. I do wonder why I bother sometimes but hey...

 

[Abysinth]

You can also scoop mats as something to do whilst your shlds recharge

 

[B.Roberts]

Get collector limpet controller and some collector limpets on the way out of the station. Those limpets disposable and cost next to nothing. Let them do the collecting and get everything you can. You never know what you might need in the future.