Context: I finally tested a Federal Dropship as a mining vessel, and went to try out some ice ring mining in the Beta. Found valuable stuff I can't even begin to pronounce in English, moved into the metal rich part of the ring, mined on, checked my contact list and was, too my surprise, surrounded by a cloud of Germanium and Cadmium. (Avid reader of patch notes that I am, I shouldn't have been surprised, but the whole Engineers thing got me distracted.)
I think that's exciting for future exploration, because it means that not only will we have to prospect rings as well as planets, it also means an alternative to taking SRVs, especially in smaller ships. A small mining laser has a mass of only 2 tons and doesn't take up an internal slot (while drawing the same amount of power as a 2G planetary hangar). Even Frawd could have taken one.
There's a lot of open questions, as always - will material spawning in rings be constant, how much influence do prospector limpets (and prospector limpet controller types) have on the outcome, and of lot more my tired mind can't come up with right now.
But hey, I just found half the materials needed for two standard FSD injections by blasting two big rocks in space instead of many small ones on the ground. Isn't that something?
Edit: Quick and Dirty Testing (Beta 5/6, work in progress)
(to be continued)
Notes:
- Depleting a prospected lump of ice with a class 1 mining laser takes ages. (25-30 fragments v. 8-12 unprospected)
- A class 1 mining laser can be fired forever by an exploration Type-6 with 4 pips in WEP. Tired of holding the fire button? Go to the debug cam and take screenies, but keep in mind:
- Materials degrade fast. (roughly 3 minutes)
- Collector Limpets can collect materials.
- As long as you only collect mats and carry limpets, you can safely mine HiRes.
- Are smaller rings more crowded (with rocks, not materials)?
- I just fell in love with the Clipper as a mining ship. Stupid Empire.
I think that's exciting for future exploration, because it means that not only will we have to prospect rings as well as planets, it also means an alternative to taking SRVs, especially in smaller ships. A small mining laser has a mass of only 2 tons and doesn't take up an internal slot (while drawing the same amount of power as a 2G planetary hangar). Even Frawd could have taken one.
There's a lot of open questions, as always - will material spawning in rings be constant, how much influence do prospector limpets (and prospector limpet controller types) have on the outcome, and of lot more my tired mind can't come up with right now.
But hey, I just found half the materials needed for two standard FSD injections by blasting two big rocks in space instead of many small ones on the ground. Isn't that something?
Edit: Quick and Dirty Testing (Beta 5/6, work in progress)
| Location | Equipment used | Rocks shot at (Material content) | Results |
| Initial Discovery: Cuachini 4 A Ring (Metal Rich, Pristine Reserves) | 1A Prospector Limpet Controller, Class 2 Mining Laser | 2-4 | Germanium, Cadmium, Carbon |
| Cuachini 4 B Ring (Icy, Pristine Reserves) | Class 1 Mining Laser | 5 | (none) (none) (Carbon, Nickel) (Carbon, Phosphorus) (none) |
| Cuachini 4 B Ring (Icy, Pristine Reserves) | 1A Prospector Limpet Controller, Class 1 Mining Laser | 5 (all low) | (Carbon, Sulphur) (Sulphur, Iron, Nickel) (Selenium, Iron, Sulphur, Phosphorus, Carbon) (Sulphur, Sulphur) (Sulphur, Nickel, Nickel, Carbon) |
| Cuachini 4 A Ring (Metal Rich, Pristine Reserves) | Class 1 Mining Laser | 5 | (none) (Nickel, Phosphorus) (Carbon, Iron, Iron, Iron, Iron, Iron, Nickel, Sulphur) (Iron, Phosphor, Zinc) (Zinc, Nickel) |
| Cuachini 4 A Ring (Metal Rich, Pristine Reserves) | 1A Prospector Limpet Controller, Class 2 Mining Laser | MM | (Nickel, Sulphur, Selenium, Phosphorus, Phosphorus, Iron, Carbon, Nickel, , Molybdenum, Iron, Nickel) (Selenium, Carbon, Iron, Zinc, Nickel, Sulphur, Iron, Carbon, Selenium, Carbon, Nickel, Sulphur, Sulphur) |
| Cuachini 4 A Ring HiRES (Metal Rich, Pristine Reserves) | 1A Prospector Limpet Controller, Class 2 Mining Laser | ML | (Sulphur, Carbon, Germanium, Germanium, Germanium, Zinc, Germanium, Nickel, Iron, Sulphur) (Sulphur, Carbon Germanium, Carbo,n Iron, Selenium, Carbon) |
| Cuachini 6 A Ring (Metal Rich, Pristine Reserves) | Class 2 Mining Laser | 3 | (Phosphorus, Iron, Sulphur, Phosphorus, Vanadium, Sulphur, Carbon) (none) (Vanadium, Chromium) |
(to be continued)
Notes:
- Depleting a prospected lump of ice with a class 1 mining laser takes ages. (25-30 fragments v. 8-12 unprospected)
- A class 1 mining laser can be fired forever by an exploration Type-6 with 4 pips in WEP. Tired of holding the fire button? Go to the debug cam and take screenies, but keep in mind:
- Materials degrade fast. (roughly 3 minutes)
- Collector Limpets can collect materials.
- As long as you only collect mats and carry limpets, you can safely mine HiRes.
- Are smaller rings more crowded (with rocks, not materials)?
- I just fell in love with the Clipper as a mining ship. Stupid Empire.
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