Abrasion v Mining Laser

[Leadfoot]

Trying to test these new toys out and not clear on what's used for what so far.

Tried the abrasion thing, didn't get a thing off an asteroid. Going to try the mining laser later after lunch.

Notes: It used to be easy - just hook up a mining laser and blast away. Even if you have to blast an asteroid to pieces it would still be easy to just hit the pieces with a mining laser. Since this new piece of equipment came into being, not have instructions as to WHEN you'd want to use it instead of the older, more familiar one, makes it a little confusing to us older pros and noobs alike.

BTW, I do love the lighting. [heart]

 

[Andovar]

The abrasion blaster is used only for targetable surface deposits.

 

[Leadfoot]

The abrasion blaster is used only for targetable surface deposits.

On the surface of asteroids, I assume, right?

 

[IndigoWyrd]

On the surface of asteroids, I assume, right?

Check your Contacts panel. You’ll see them if there are any.

That said, in terms of raw profits, combination mining pays best. What is combination mining? A mix of mining lasers for good old fashioned rock chipping along with surface, sub-surface and blow it to bits mining.

 

[Leadfoot]

Check your Contacts panel. You’ll see them if there are any.

That said, in terms of raw profits, combination mining pays best. What is combination mining? A mix of mining lasers for good old fashioned rock chipping along with surface, sub-surface and blow it to bits mining.

Good thing I'm using an Anaconda. Sounds like a lot of extra stuff to blast things with.

 

[Darth Ender]

Mining's problems have never been in how the items get liberated from the rock you're shooting. It's been in picking up those rocks (and getting paid) ...

I'd imagine if you blew something up the trajectory of the items you'd need to collect will be randomized. As opposed to the laser that drops items in a predictable way for quick collection.

To me, if it takes me longer to collect the thing than it took for me to find it and liberate it, then it's broken. I'm not chasing impossibly small objects bouncing around my hull and other rocks.

So hopefully the collection situation is better than random trajectories to chase.

I think in terms of a gameplay mechanic. Mining is never going to be what I want, which is a job that matters in the game because the economy in some way is directly dependent on a scarce resource that you have to mine to produce. So what would make mining successful, barring the above, is that I can use it to be fully self-sustaining away from a station indefinitely. I would not expect mining to ever be as profitable as space trucking or combat. It's a far more time consuming activity.

Anyone know of any simple lists of what you need to mine in order to synth any and all things that you'd need to replenish or repair out in the black? I see mining as a means of complete independence vs an income mechanic.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

Mining's problems have never been in how the items get liberated from the rock you're shooting. It's been in picking up those rocks (and getting paid) ...

I'd imagine if you blew something up the trajectory of the items you'd need to collect will be randomized. As opposed to the laser that drops items in a predictable way for quick collection.

To me, if it takes me longer to collect the thing than it took for me to find it and liberate it, then it's broken. I'm not chasing impossibly small objects bouncing around my hull and other rocks.

So hopefully the collection situation is better than random trajectories to chase.

Everything is very neatly contained after you break an asteroid. You get a number of free floating fragments, and a number of new surface deposits that you can scrape. And limpets are behaving very well - I'm only losing them when I get my cargo hatch too close to a large chunk of asteroid.

OP - the abrasion blaster is minimally useful unless you're going after cores. See my recent thread and look at all of the photos. They explain things better than anything I typed. When you crack an asteroid for the core, the core material will become surface deposits on the newly created asteroid fragments. Navigating those with a conda is going to be a bit of a pain, though, but you can do it.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/463534-Mining-Great-Job-FD!

To me, if it takes me longer to collect the thing than it took for me to find it and liberate it, then it's broken. I'm not chasing impossibly small objects bouncing around my hull and other rocks.

So hopefully the collection situation is better than random trajectories to chase.

Wait until you see the yields when you do it correctly.

 

[BDelacroix]

My miner has all the tools. Yea, most money comes from doing it all.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

My miner has all the tools. Yea, most money comes from doing it all.

Agreed. I'm running with everything. Nice to have options.

 

[ithinkiam]

In beta I decided that seismic chargers + abrasion blasters were the optimal balance of load-out and return - if hardpoints are at a premium. Carrying four hardpoints and switching between them was too much of a faff and the most interesting minerals are in the core/deposits IMO.

To the OP use collector limpets. Chasing down fragments before they expire gets old very quickly.

 

[Leadfoot]

.....
To the OP use collector limpets. Chasing down fragments before they expire gets old very quickly.

Oh, yeah, learned to bring loads of collector limpets a loooooong time ago.

 

[Aussiedroid]

Frontier posted some tutorial videos today on YT. I assume they go over the basics, but yeah I found the same issue, just didn't know what to do with what. Still dont really understand it well.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Good thing I'm using an Anaconda. Sounds like a lot of extra stuff to blast things with.

As the old saying goes: "Explorers do it in the Asp", so too do Miners do it in Type-9'ers.

 

[Rick Bo]

I don't understand where all this confusion is coming from. In game descriptors on the hardpoints detail exactly what they're used for.
If you can figure out the necessity of fuel scoops and prospector limpets you can figure out abrasion blasters and Pule wave analyzers.

And if you can't there are guides and videos out there that can help.

 

[Weps]

My miner has all the tools. Yea, most money comes from doing it all.

Agreed. I'm running with everything. Nice to have options.

So what's your modus operandi?

Back when I used to mine I would just pick a direction and fire prospectors left and right looking for juicy roids (desired metals & yields).

Do you guys just do the same in order to find good targets for the laser mining roids? And if you come across one of the new roids switch to the new mining technique (I assume that all the new roid features will appear when you prospect it even if you did not use the PWS beforehand)? Do you use the PWS at all?

Or do you use only the PWS to look just for bright roids, and run the new and old mining techniques just on those roids?

 

[CMDR Redcrest]

I'll be outfitting my T-10 with the new gear when I'm finished my night shifts.
I'm low on raw engineering materials so hopefully I'll be able to do a bit of restock and make a profit.
Maybe the next ship should be the Type 8. All the slots for mining and enough hardpoints for all the tools plus good defence. A sturdy but slow ship. With 6 utility mounts.
Along with a medium Imperial combat ship naturally.

 

[Rick Bo]

So what's your modus operandi?

Less reliant on RNG now. though certainly more involved.
I go all out on mining; need four firegroups but managing them is simple when lined up correctly:
A1 Pulse wave A2 Prospectors
B1 Abrasion Blaster B2 Mining Lasers
C1 Sub-surface C2 Mining lasers (same as B2)
D1 Seismic charges D2 Collectors

Process as follows;
In firegroup A Pump your Pulse wave as often as it allows looking for brightly lit 'roids. So bright you almost can't even make out the grid on them. Send prospectors that-a-way.
Once you have a prospector on it check contents. if not materials you want move on, though surface deposits are easy to get on the way and tend to be higher density so consider blasting a few as you go.

If it's a decent roid get started in firegroups B and C:Abbrasion and subsurface. Hold the mining lasers as you circle the roid swapping back and forth between abrasion and the subsurface depending on what nodes you come across. Each node has it's own distinct icon. I don't put too much attention towards fragment and limpet orientation as even only three limpets will have plenty of time to keep up.

Once the roid is depleted of innate materials (target your prospector again to check) and there are no more surface or sub-surface deposits you can move on to blasting the roid if available. Check ALL fissures for weak nodes first, then average. There should be plenty of strong nodes that you'll use to fine tune your blast at the end. Starting with A(1)(Single) weak node stuff a medium-Strong charge in it and the timer should start. You should also be halfway if not right close to finishing the blast meter. If almost at optimal blast then use the strong nodes with weakest possible charges. You need minimum three, but no maximum number of charges. If you go over; Disarm some charges.

RNG is still a factor in finding good 'roids with decent core materials, but if you do it right and get lucky you can get over 3.5M from a single roid.