DC vs Laser Mining

[LordBishop]

Hello Cmdrs,
Just a simple question: Which makes more money per hour spent in the rings? I am currently Deep Core Mining in a python as my primary source of income when I want to spend a chunk on a new ship/upgrades. I typically jump on EDDB right before I launch and check the market to see what ill be mining that night. I usually cycle between VO, Grandiderite, Alexandrite, and Musgravite. Again, whatever is selling for high within 100ly of my home area.

I can typically pull in between 50-100mil in 1 to 1.5 hours depending on how quickly I can find cores. Keep in mind, I'm only able to dedicate 2-3 hours tops to a mining session. So, with that limit of available time, which mining type can yield the most CR?

(side question, is sub-surface mining a viable method to consider for a sole focus? I've considered trying it out as I find suitable deposits while I'm out DC'ing)

 

[goemon]

mapped laser mining runs.

 

[GroG79]

Laser mining is faster. Faster in obtaining a full load and faster in selling as there are more suitable stations (and FCs)

Tritium mining is good when you want to do SSM

 

[Mrc_NorthEast]

It depends... Size of ship, skill of Cmdr to find the right rocks and extract the items. I have not mined since before the Painite Nerf. That said, mapped mining in a large ship of your choice is supposedly the best way to get $$$ in mining right now. Not the most fun, nor the most skillful, but raw #'s with low prices, seems to beat harder to find cores for much higher prices.

Myself, I am enjoying pirate massacre missions, and aba trading loops to make money, and CG's when they are running as a break from mining.

 

[Ydiss]

I thought this was about a new crossover combat game between different comic book worlds.

I preferred using a mix of laser and sub. Deep core felt too slow in between and I don't like the mini game much. I also wasn't after credits so that explains that more and I'm maybe not the best to answer your specific question.

On the other hand, I love dancing about rocks firing subs into them. It felt really fast too, particularly tritium mining in a triple. I tend to take Lasers too because you can get some fat leftovers after subs are done.

 

[here_it_comes]

To determine how lucrative a task in ED is, simply invert the skill/attention required. Which requires more skill, DC or laser mining? DC. Therefore we can safely assume laser mining is more lucrative.

Yes, this is a joke. But, yes, it is also generally accurate.

 

[Darth Ender]

dc requires marginally more skill than laser mining. The most significant function deep core mining has to limit how lucrative it is has to do with scarcity rather than skill.

This scarcity has no means of being dealt with thru skill (it's just random given any ring you drop into how scarce deep cores are and how to identify where they're at as there aren't really any ways you can "get better" at finding them outside of third party mapping tools allowing you to revisit already identified locations).

This is what drives people away from it. That no matter how "good" you are at mining, unless you're revisiting places you already mapped it's a crap-shoot on if you'll find deep cores or not and that unreliability vastly dwarfs any improvement in income or even gameplay offered by the mechanic. It becomes a no-brainer to just laser mine vs potentially waste a bunch of time doing nothing trying to identify deep cores - much less deep cores with anything worth mining.

edit: you could do both if you have enough hardpoints, so you laser mine and if you happen to cross a deep core rock you can mine it... but you're still essentially laser mining. And while it does require more effort than shooting a rock, its not much more.

 

[Brrokk]

dc requires marginally more skill than laser mining. The most significant function deep core mining has to limit how lucrative it is has to do with scarcity rather than skill.

This scarcity has no means of being dealt with thru skill (it's just random given any ring you drop into how scarce deep cores are and how to identify where they're at as there aren't really any ways you can "get better" at finding them outside of third party mapping tools allowing you to revisit already identified locations).

This is what drives people away from it. That no matter how "good" you are at mining, unless you're revisiting places you already mapped it's a crap-shoot on if you'll find deep cores or not and that unreliability vastly dwarfs any improvement in income or even gameplay offered by the mechanic. It becomes a no-brainer to just laser mine vs potentially waste a bunch of time doing nothing trying to identify deep cores - much less deep cores with anything worth mining.

I think it depends on how good you are at spotting core asteroids. Some experts seem to be able to recognise them reliably, others (like me) know the shape but still hit a few non-cores. Then there's the question of how fast you can blow a core and collect the bits. If all this takes too long, laser mining is probably more profitable. Cores are more fun though, which should be taken into account!

 

[Winterwalker]

Why no mention of sub-surface then? Get the hang of it, use a Class 2 - because you have more ammo - use it to support laser and/or core mining and when you hit the right (slow spinning) rocks, the spice doth flow! All hail the subsurface deposit!

 

[Rock Hunter]

Two lasers, a sub surface jobbie, abrasion blaster and a seismic charge launcher all fit into a Python. It may not (or perhaps it is now, I don’t keep up) be the meta miner but it lets you mine whatever you come across.

If I was in it purely for credits per hour, willing to suck up the boredom but avoid the random chance frustrations; I’d go laser mining every time........and yet I prefer DC.

 

[Darth Ender]

I think it depends on how good you are at spotting core asteroids. Some experts seem to be able to recognise them reliably, others (like me) know the shape but still hit a few non-cores. Then there's the question of how fast you can blow a core and collect the bits. If all this takes too long, laser mining is probably more profitable. Cores are more fun though, which should be taken into account!

pulse scanner should light them up a specific way to identify core / non core. Not sure where skill factors in there. That's like saying there is skill involved in looking at the honking scanner ...or the scanner in your srv.

i'd only consider how "fun" they are compared to laser mining if the activity was something you did for a specific objective. If it's just something you are doing repeatedly for the purpose of acquiring wealth...it's likely less fun than laser mining because you spend the same amount of time to come out with less to show for it and are dividing the time between core mining with just periods of nothing flying from one roid to the next - only to repeat the same activity you just got done doing.

At least laser mining gives you the option of entertaining yourself with something actually interesting like webpages, cat videos or reading. The point is, both things are grind loops that shouldn't be how you make big mining bucks in the game. They should be how newbies scrounge up startup money.

 

[K Olley]

Simple question but too many variables to give an answer.

I do most of my mining out in the black working from my fleet carrier so have the advantage of being able to store large amounts and sell when or if a market is right I also keep an eye on the mission boards when I am back in civilisation and the prices on INARA which some items requested follow the mission boards.

Working far away from civilisation also has the advantage of being able to equip my ships purely for mining, no defensive weapons etc required, shields, hull armour and FSD optimised for working in rings, as for ships I have 2 T9's and a Krait set up but have enough spare equipment to convert almost any other of my fleet if need be for a specific mining purpose.

Even my T9's are set up to handle the occasional Core, SD and SSD as well as Laser mining faster than my limpets (11) can keep up. Krait is setup mainly for Cores. When laser mining I spot mainly by eye and deal with Cores, SD and SSD's on a regular basis.

With core mining I still carry lasers and rather than waste the active limpets I will chuck around a few prospectors and laser anything worthwhile, you will quite often find rich rocks in the close vicinity of cores or good SD/SSD rocks.

Another variable is rings, some are so much better than others, and I don't just mean the specified commodity within a hotspot, as an example I have found higher levels of Tritium in an LTD hotspot than in a regular Tritium hotspot and there was plenty of LTD's there too. Even a ring without hotspots can sometimes be well worth mining, it may be rich in several commodities rather than supposedly high in a single commodity.

My last mining run, I went out to "rescue" a FC whose Commander was running out of fuel, I took several weeks to mine my way back to Colonia, I then sold of 20kt of mined commodities at mainly local prices and ended up 2.4B richer

So the answer is, it depends on what method you choose, how skilled you are at it, where you mine and what you can sell it for.

 

[Brrokk]

All this is why I go mining in a Python which can extract all kinds of deposits. There's not one way which is obviously better and I see no sense in flying past good stuff on the way to find other good stuff.

Edit: here's the build.

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

 

[Kenneth McGrew]

the lack of C1 seismic charges means i only know laser mining, what is this mysterious deep core mining you all speak of?

 

[LordBishop]

All this is why I go mining in a Python which can extract all kinds of deposits. There's not one way which is obviously better and I see no sense in flying past good stuff on the way to find other good stuff.

Edit: here's the build.

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

I also just got into a python and was considering making a all around mining vessel so I could maximize potential. I was mining in a Krait mkII and did enjoy but the python has more cargo cap. But yes, I like the thought of mining everything with value rather than passing up goodies just to search for the specific brand of asteroid I seek.

 

[LordBishop]

Simple question but too many variables to give an answer.

I do most of my mining out in the black working from my fleet carrier so have the advantage of being able to store large amounts and sell when or if a market is right I also keep an eye on the mission boards when I am back in civilisation and the prices on INARA which some items requested follow the mission boards.

Working far away from civilisation also has the advantage of being able to equip my ships purely for mining, no defensive weapons etc required, shields, hull armour and FSD optimised for working in rings, as for ships I have 2 T9's and a Krait set up but have enough spare equipment to convert almost any other of my fleet if need be for a specific mining purpose.

Even my T9's are set up to handle the occasional Core, SD and SSD as well as Laser mining faster than my limpets (11) can keep up. Krait is setup mainly for Cores. When laser mining I spot mainly by eye and deal with Cores, SD and SSD's on a regular basis.

With core mining I still carry lasers and rather than waste the active limpets I will chuck around a few prospectors and laser anything worthwhile, you will quite often find rich rocks in the close vicinity of cores or good SD/SSD rocks.

Another variable is rings, some are so much better than others, and I don't just mean the specified commodity within a hotspot, as an example I have found higher levels of Tritium in an LTD hotspot than in a regular Tritium hotspot and there was plenty of LTD's there too. Even a ring without hotspots can sometimes be well worth mining, it may be rich in several commodities rather than supposedly high in a single commodity.

My last mining run, I went out to "rescue" a FC whose Commander was running out of fuel, I took several weeks to mine my way back to Colonia, I then sold of 20kt of mined commodities at mainly local prices and ended up 2.4B richer

So the answer is, it depends on what method you choose, how skilled you are at it, where you mine and what you can sell it for.

I too have experienced the phenomenon of being in a VO hotspot for example and finding a disproportionate amount of alexandrite. Other combinations of the same phenomenon as well. I fancy myself a fairly skilled DC Miner as I can quickly boost through fields, head look around as I pulse, and can decently reliably weed out on sight without stopping the asteroids that seem to glow bright but are still not cores. And I am very quick and accurate with the actual extraction process. That being said, all too often I find myself flying for 10-15 minutes sometimes without finding a mother load.

 

[LordBishop]

pulse scanner should light them up a specific way to identify core / non core. Not sure where skill factors in there. That's like saying there is skill involved in looking at the honking scanner ...or the scanner in your srv.

i'd only consider how "fun" they are compared to laser mining if the activity was something you did for a specific objective. If it's just something you are doing repeatedly for the purpose of acquiring wealth...it's likely less fun than laser mining because you spend the same amount of time to come out with less to show for it and are dividing the time between core mining with just periods of nothing flying from one roid to the next - only to repeat the same activity you just got done doing.

At least laser mining gives you the option of entertaining yourself with something actually interesting like webpages, cat videos or reading. The point is, both things are grind loops that shouldn't be how you make big mining bucks in the game. They should be how newbies scrounge up startup money.

So, I am just getting back into the game after not playing for a LONG time. I have been active for about a month now so I guess I do fall into the newbie trying to scrounge up money category. That being said, I kind of like mining as a peaceful activity that also allows me to build up some CR. Lately I have been mining to afford a ship I am interested in, stacking enough for ship/upgrade cost, then I break from mining and take the ship out for some bounty/assassination fun. This process has allowed me to test out alot of ships quickly which I have had fun doing. But I agree with you, which is why I am now considering moving from my mining system and joining up with a faction so I can start some new activities.