Newcomer / Intro Deep core mechanics of the game

[Cooladinho]

Hello,

i got some deep core mechanics, which i haven't figured out yet and want to know what you think about it:

Primary questions:

• How do i find deep cores as fast as possible?
• How do i "always" find deep cores?

Secondary questions:
* What is the average time you need to spend to get 100 tons of, for example "alexandrite"?
My average time is 1,5 to 2 hours for 100 tons.

* Is that true that "systems" resets all 3 hours (filling up reserves to pristine)?

* Every 3 to 10 minutes, the pulse wave analyser result is reset.
Some yellow marked asteroids gets unmarked and some unmarked gets marked instead.
Is that an instance change of the nearby location? (nearby = approximately 10x10x10 km)

* Sometimes (1x in a month or so) i don't find any kind of deep core in deep core hotspots. Why is it?
Everytime the issue has gone after a complete game restart.
Last time i had it, i was searching in two different asteroid rings, no luck.
I changed the system, was flying in a ring with > 15 pristine hotspots, no luck.
After game restart, that identical hotspot where i did not find anything,
i found core after core in a time interval of 10 minutes.

Maybe this is a graphic bug and the deep cores are not marked and i have to check the unmarked as well?



About me:

• Inara miner rank level 3 (22,125 minerals refined)
• deep core and surface focused
• Not using mapping methods (remembering the exact location of good asteroids and exploit it)

Is the latest video of "Down to earth astronomy"
"Deep Space Mining - Elite Dangerous Odyssey Live With Down To Earth Astronomy"

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhSsiyp3dOk

i have found still up to date for deep core mining? he was suggesting the following:

• Search for poorly visited systems (like 500-1000ly away from bubble) to get excellent pristine reserves.
• Search for overlapping hotspots.
• He did not care if he drops in the center or the border of the hotspot. He just dropped in by random.
• He searched for teardrop-/egg-shaped asteroids.
• Nightvision highlights fissures. so you can see if an asteroid is a deep core, even if you have not scanned it yet.
• In his video he got around 3 hours for 200 tons -> 1,5 hours for 100 tons.

 

[d8veh]

Core mining isn't as reliable nor as profitable as laser mining platimum, where you can mine 750T/hr x 280k/T = 210 mil/hr, reducing to 150mil/hr when you add travelling and selling time . To answer your questions:
1. Go to the right place.
2. Go to the same rocks each visit.

 

[Cooladinho]

My jaw dropped when I read 750T/hr. However, i think that's the thruth. Thanks for your answer. I appreciate it and will definetly give it a try next time i do mining.

Hope that will work for deep core as well.

 

[d8veh]

My jaw dropped when I read 750T/hr.

You have to do it right. You need a fully-optimised Cutter, then go to a haz RES that has platinum. You get around 500T/hr in a platinum hotspot in metallic rings using an engineered Cutter. A fully-engineered Python would get about 65% of what the Cutter gets, i.e. 480T/hr in haz RES and 325T/hr in a hotspot. Platinum is worth 280k/T, and you have to make allowances for the time to travel and sell the platinum. The class 1 lasers and the 3C collector limpet controllers are the new special ones, not standard, but Coriolis doesn't have the new ones yet.

Haz RES Python:

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

s.orbis.zone

Haz RES Cutter:

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

s.orbis.zone

A hotspot miner doesn't need strong shields nor the 500m/s boost speed. The PD, lasers and limpets are the same as for the has RES

 

[JetsonRING]

Deep-core mining has the steepest learning-curve of the 3 types of asteroid mining in Elite Dangerous.
This is partly because at some point, the HUMAN has to have discretionary capability (can recognize the right rocks) and some beyond average piloting skills.

The FASTEST way to find cores is to boost along the middle of a planetary ring, VOpal (or your material of choice) double or triple-hotspot at full throttle, pinging with the Pulse Wave Scanner as fast as possible and using the Mark-1 eyeball to look around and visually RECOGNIZE the correct shape and size rock when the PWS makes it glow. Judicious use of Prospector Limpets will help filter out lookalikes and increase the yields of any asteroids they are attached to (and functioning).

The way to "always" find cores is (a) Use the ED Miner's Tool so you can be mining in double and triple hotspots whenever possible, (b) use the PWS to light up likely deep-core candidate asteroids and (c) learn to visually identify the correct type of asteroid from size and shape, probably in reverse order of importance.

There is no "average" time to mine anything, it is all dependent on the CMDR's ability and budget. Ability to choose the right ship, properly outfit the ship and effectively mine with it, ability to find the desired ores in high quantity and concentrations, ability to avoid pirates, to use the PWs, use prospector and collector limpets, to properly use and fill the refinery, even the RNGebus roll that determines what will be found in a given system on a given day. All you can do is stack the odds in your favor the best you can.

 

[Cooladinho]

@d8veh:
thanks for your cutter coriolis build.


@JetsonRING:
Yes you are right, deep core mining is the most challenging of the three mining types.
Your post looks like deep core in horizon or before odyssey. in odyssey it looks like this here:

alexandrite core before scan:

https://imgur.com/a/HKGLczG

Source: https://imgur.com/a/HKGLczG


alexandrite core after scan:

https://imgur.com/a/KSXOkF2

Source: https://imgur.com/a/KSXOkF2


no deep core:

https://imgur.com/a/JxppK1z

Source: https://imgur.com/a/JxppK1z


The images are already half a year old (‎from 21. ‎Juli ‎2021), but it still represents very accurate the actual situation in the game. This is how they are shown to me.
As you can see, in odyssey, it is even harder. Deep cores "normally" are glowing in full saturated yellow. But not everything which glows that way, is a deep core.


yepp. "ed Miner's tool"is a great tool. i mined in "HR6944" with 17 alexandrite hotspots (yes, 17 of alexandrite) around 2 months ago.

Like 99.9% of my minings are in hotspots, no haz res. there i dont need to fear pirates. If they are there, they will leave soon and then i can start mining without worries.
Haz res is another story. As soon as i got 1 ton of something, they are after me. Then i gotta kill one, another comes to replace, so i kill two, three, 4,5 ,6 ,7 8, 9, 10..... and so on. Sure that haz res im doing wrong, because i dont know better, or let's say, i have not heard nor tried of an exploit to get around the fighting yet.


Last week, i did not find "any" deep core in multiple deep core hotspots.
The last hotspot was an actual pristione one of "ed miner's tool" with 5 alexandrite hotspots. I was dropping into a double hotspot. and did not find any deep core for like 30 minutes.

With PWA i scanned my butt off. Most was blank, some was some yellowish and the very very very few saturated yellow glowing was no deep core.
Then i restarted my pc and in the same hotspot "tadaa", ever 10 minutes i found a deep core.

 

[d8veh]

@d8veh:
thanks for your cutter coriolis build.


@JetsonRING:
Yes you are right, deep core mining is the most challenging of the three mining types.
Your post looks like deep core in horizon or before odyssey. in odyssey it looks like this here:

alexandrite core before scan:

https://imgur.com/a/HKGLczG

Source: https://imgur.com/a/HKGLczG


alexandrite core after scan:

https://imgur.com/a/KSXOkF2

Source: https://imgur.com/a/KSXOkF2


no deep core:

https://imgur.com/a/JxppK1z

Source: https://imgur.com/a/JxppK1z


The images are already half a year old (‎from 21. ‎Juli ‎2021), but it still represents very accurate the actual situation in the game. This is how they are shown to me.
As you can see, in odyssey, it is even harder. Deep cores "normally" are glowing in full saturated yellow. But not everything which glows that way, is a deep core.


yepp. "ed Miner's tool"is a great tool. i mined in "HR6944" with 17 alexandrite hotspots (yes, 17 of alexandrite) around 2 months ago.

Like 99.9% of my minings are in hotspots, no haz res. there i dont need to fear pirates. If they are there, they will leave soon and then i can start mining without worries.
Haz res is another story. As soon as i got 1 ton of something, they are after me. Then i gotta kill one, another comes to replace, so i kill two, three, 4,5 ,6 ,7 8, 9, 10..... and so on. Sure that haz res im doing wrong, because i dont know better, or let's say, i have not heard nor tried of an exploit to get around the fighting yet.


Last week, i did not find "any" deep core in multiple deep core hotspots.
The last hotspot was an actual pristione one of "ed miner's tool" with 5 alexandrite hotspots. I was dropping into a double hotspot. and did not find any deep core for like 30 minutes.

With PWA i scanned my butt off. Most was blank, some was some yellowish and the very very very few saturated yellow glowing was no deep core.
Then i restarted my pc and in the same hotspot "tadaa", ever 10 minutes i found a deep core.

The hardest thing is to find a suitable hotspot. I see a lot of bad advice about core mining. This is how I do it:
1. Keep boosting above the rocks while holding the up-thruster. This tilts the ship downwards so that you can get a good view of the rocks while you cover a lot of gound.
2. Hold the pulse wave scanner on all the time to indicate potential candidates. The core rocks often reflect light onto rocks around them, so look out for that.
3. The core rocks of each type have exactly the same shape, so whatever you mine for, learn the shape, which can look different from different directions
4. When you see a candidate from its bright or reflected light and its shape, move in to inspect it
5. You should have your night vision on. When you get close to the rock, you can see whether it has the fissures or not. There's no need for prospector limpets to identify a rock suitable for mining.
6. When you see the fissures, fire a prospector to confirm and get the best yield.
7. Plant your charges. Everybody has their own way of doing that to get the graph in the blue zone.
8. After exploding the rock, as far as possible, keep your ship in the plane of separation of the rock to give your limpets the easiest path to the fragments. Don't fly around the rock aimlessly while using the abrasion blaster. Plan where you're going so that the limpets always have a straight path to the fragments

In the haz RES, you have to stay in the zone 16km to 20km from the marker, then you will hardly be bothered by pirates. If they do come, you have to use the contacts panel to see how many different ones and whether they're in wings. A wing counts as one. If only one or two, give them the cargo they demand plus what they demand again - normally not much. If there are three or more, note your position relative to the planet and the haz RES zone marker so you can return to the same spot. Boost away and keep boosting a couple of times after they disappear from your radar. Mine a rock while you wait for the wake on your radar that shows the pirate/s has/have warped out, then go back and carry on mining. Rocks further than 20km out are equivalent to normal hotspot rocks and they can still have a good yield of fragments, but they don't get the haz RES bonus.

It's funny when there are more than one pirate demanding cargo. If you give it to them, they start fighting over it, so you can go back to mining while you watch them shouting at each other on the comms. Pirates never come back after you've dealt with them, but other ones may still come. When you get to understand their behaviour, it's very easy to deal with them without danger.

Obviously, it helps to have a well-shielded Cutter or Python because they do fire on you while you're taking your bearings before boosting away, and they sometimes fire for a bit while you're giving them cargo, but none of it bothers a Cutter. I sometimes carry on mining a couple of rocks while they're shooting me before leaving.

 

[Northpin]

Hello,

i got some deep core mechanics, which i haven't figured out yet and want to know what you think about it:

Primary questions:

• How do i find deep cores as fast as possible? Use a very fast ship, boost and use the PWS. Keep in mind that you can have even 30-50km between cores
• How do i "always" find deep cores? You dont - not everything Yellow is a core. Most of them have only surface/subsurface deposits. In ICE rings, cores have a special shape.

Secondary questions:
* What is the average time you need to spend to get 100 tons of, for example "alexandrite"? Back in the days i used to get up to 6 cores per hour, that's an average of about 90t per hour
My average time is 1,5 to 2 hours for 100 tons.

* Is that true that "systems" resets all 3 hours (filling up reserves to pristine)? Yes, but only for laser mining, cracked cores resets in 6 days

* Every 3 to 10 minutes, the pulse wave analyser result is reset. Not sure about that, could be a distance/perspective issue.
Some yellow marked asteroids gets unmarked and some unmarked gets marked instead.
Is that an instance change of the nearby location? (nearby = approximately 10x10x10 km) No. Cores are fixed in a ring - you will always find them exactly at the same position (10x10x10km is a very small place to search for cores)

* Sometimes (1x in a month or so) i don't find any kind of deep core in deep core hotspots. Why is it? Search farther - sometimes you can find 2 cores with 5 km, sometimes you find one in 39km
Everytime the issue has gone after a complete game restart.
Last time i had it, i was searching in two different asteroid rings, no luck.
I changed the system, was flying in a ring with > 15 pristine hotspots, no luck.
After game restart, that identical hotspot where i did not find anything,
i found core after core in a time interval of 10 minutes.

Maybe this is a graphic bug and the deep cores are not marked and i have to check the unmarked as well?

I gave you some answers in-line in Yellow

The images are already half a year old (‎from 21. ‎Juli ‎2021), but it still represents very accurate the actual situation in the game. This is how they are shown to me.
As you can see, in odyssey, it is even harder. Deep cores "normally" are glowing in full saturated yellow. But not everything which glows that way, is a deep core.


yepp. "ed Miner's tool"is a great tool. i mined in "HR6944" with 17 alexandrite hotspots (yes, 17 of alexandrite) around 2 months ago.

Like 99.9% of my minings are in hotspots, no haz res. there i dont need to fear pirates. If they are there, they will leave soon and then i can start mining without worries.
Haz res is another story. As soon as i got 1 ton of something, they are after me. Then i gotta kill one, another comes to replace, so i kill two, three, 4,5 ,6 ,7 8, 9, 10..... and so on. Sure that haz res im doing wrong, because i dont know better, or let's say, i have not heard nor tried of an exploit to get around the fighting yet.


Last week, i did not find "any" deep core in multiple deep core hotspots.
The last hotspot was an actual pristione one of "ed miner's tool" with 5 alexandrite hotspots. I was dropping into a double hotspot. and did not find any deep core for like 30 minutes.

With PWA i scanned my butt off. Most was blank, some was some yellowish and the very very very few saturated yellow glowing was no deep core.
Then i restarted my pc and in the same hotspot "tadaa", ever 10 minutes i found a deep core.

Those images are obvious not Cores. As i said, you do need to learn the shapes. And you do need to learn the colors - which might not be exactly the same on each and every computer/screen.
In my own experience, pure shiny yellow was a dud most of the time, while core had a particular shade of yellow with sometimes with greenish accents

But even if you learn the shapes, sometimes you will expect a core and not find it, while some other time you will get an unexpected core

 

[aRJay]

@d8veh:
thanks for your cutter coriolis build.


@JetsonRING:
Yes you are right, deep core mining is the most challenging of the three mining types.
Your post looks like deep core in horizon or before odyssey. in odyssey it looks like this here:

alexandrite core before scan:

https://imgur.com/a/HKGLczG

Source: https://imgur.com/a/HKGLczG


alexandrite core after scan:

https://imgur.com/a/KSXOkF2

Source: https://imgur.com/a/KSXOkF2


no deep core:

https://imgur.com/a/JxppK1z

Source: https://imgur.com/a/JxppK1z


The images are already half a year old (‎from 21. ‎Juli ‎2021), but it still represents very accurate the actual situation in the game. This is how they are shown to me.
As you can see, in odyssey, it is even harder. Deep cores "normally" are glowing in full saturated yellow. But not everything which glows that way, is a deep core.


yepp. "ed Miner's tool"is a great tool. i mined in "HR6944" with 17 alexandrite hotspots (yes, 17 of alexandrite) around 2 months ago.

Like 99.9% of my minings are in hotspots, no haz res. there i dont need to fear pirates. If they are there, they will leave soon and then i can start mining without worries.
Haz res is another story. As soon as i got 1 ton of something, they are after me. Then i gotta kill one, another comes to replace, so i kill two, three, 4,5 ,6 ,7 8, 9, 10..... and so on. Sure that haz res im doing wrong, because i dont know better, or let's say, i have not heard nor tried of an exploit to get around the fighting yet.


Last week, i did not find "any" deep core in multiple deep core hotspots.
The last hotspot was an actual pristione one of "ed miner's tool" with 5 alexandrite hotspots. I was dropping into a double hotspot. and did not find any deep core for like 30 minutes.

With PWA i scanned my butt off. Most was blank, some was some yellowish and the very very very few saturated yellow glowing was no deep core.
Then i restarted my pc and in the same hotspot "tadaa", ever 10 minutes i found a deep core.

None of those images look like core rocks to me, at that range and with night vision on they would be almost filled with a black and green grid and the remaining yellow would be a deeper shade. Admittedly that memory is from Horizons as I haven’t gone mining since Odyssey dropped.

 

[Cooladinho]

The hardest thing is to find a suitable hotspot. I see a lot of bad advice about core mining. This is how I do it:
1. Keep boosting above the rocks while holding the up-thruster. This tilts the ship downwards so that you can get a good view of the rocks while you cover a lot of gound.
2. Hold the pulse wave scanner on all the time to indicate potential candidates. The core rocks often reflect light onto rocks around them, so look out for that.
3. The core rocks of each type have exactly the same shape, so whatever you mine for, learn the shape, which can look different from different directions
4. When you see a candidate from its bright or reflected light and its shape, move in to inspect it
5. You should have your night vision on. When you get close to the rock, you can see whether it has the fissures or not. There's no need for prospector limpets to identify a rock suitable for mining.
6. When you see the fissures, fire a prospector to confirm and get the best yield.
7. Plant your charges. Everybody has their own way of doing that to get the graph in the blue zone.
8. After exploding the rock, as far as possible, keep your ship in the plane of separation of the rock to give your limpets the easiest path to the fragments. Don't fly around the rock aimlessly while using the abrasion blaster. Plan where you're going so that the limpets always have a straight path to the fragments

In the haz RES, you have to stay in the zone 16km to 20km from the marker, then you will hardly be bothered by pirates. If they do come, you have to use the contacts panel to see how many different ones and whether they're in wings. A wing counts as one. If only one or two, give them the cargo they demand plus what they demand again - normally not much. If there are three or more, note your position relative to the planet and the haz RES zone marker so you can return to the same spot. Boost away and keep boosting a couple of times after they disappear from your radar. Mine a rock while you wait for the wake on your radar that shows the pirate/s has/have warped out, then go back and carry on mining. Rocks further than 20km out are equivalent to normal hotspot rocks and they can still have a good yield of fragments, but they don't get the haz RES bonus.

It's funny when there are more than one pirate demanding cargo. If you give it to them, they start fighting over it, so you can go back to mining while you watch them shouting at each other on the comms. Pirates never come back after you've dealt with them, but other ones may still come. When you get to understand their behaviour, it's very easy to deal with them without danger.

Obviously, it helps to have a well-shielded Cutter or Python because they do fire on you while you're taking your bearings before boosting away, and they sometimes fire for a bit while you're giving them cargo, but none of it bothers a Cutter. I sometimes carry on mining a couple of rocks while they're shooting me before leaving.

Thanks for the HAZ RES description. I'll give it a try.

 

[Cooladinho]

I gave you some answers in-line in Yellow




Those images are obvious not Cores. As i said, you do need to learn the shapes. And you do need to learn the colors - which might not be exactly the same on each and every computer/screen.
In my own experience, pure shiny yellow was a dud most of the time, while core had a particular shade of yellow with sometimes with greenish accents

But even if you learn the shapes, sometimes you will expect a core and not find it, while some other time you will get an unexpected core

My bad. I forgot to mention that i play odyssey.
The first and second picture are taken from the same asteroid, containing alexandrite. On the second you can read "core detected: alexandrite". So this was a real core.

When i search for deep cores, i start flying in a straight line. But if i don't find cores after some minutes, i am starting adding zigzag and circle-movements and then go back in straight line again.

 

[Cooladinho]

Northpin: "... cracked cores resets in 6 days" <-- thanks for the info

 

[sinisalo]

Laser mining is best, if you are set up for it, and know the routine. But honestly I hate it.

Back when I had just started engineering I decided to unlock Selene Jean, as being limited to G1 armour engineering was holding me back. Selene could hook me up with G5, but she wants 500 mined tonnes. So I read up on it, and pimped out the Python for the task. Found a spot and set to it. I then refined exactly one tonne, flew back to the station, sold every mining bit and bob, and accepted my G1 fate. So be it.

For a couple years my career mining total stood at that single rock. But then it was overhauled and core mining was a thing. Now, this was fun. I don't mind that it is slower. I've never put much stock in 'x per hour' objectives. Is it fun? That's my objective.

Same with subsurface using the drill-bang rockets. That's fun. Slow, but I like it. Did some of this last night actually to mine tritium to donate to the squadron's carrier. One thing I like about both core and subsurface mining is the ship control required. I enjoy flipping around the asteroid to plant charges or rockets. Using the full suite of controls, vertical and lateral thrusters, giving the Crosswinds a good workout. I use a Krait II, which is agile and has good cockpit visibility, especially overhead, and is ideally suited for me and the task.

I even like what I call 'limpet support'. That is, maneuvering my ship to maximize limpet effectiveness, by ensuring I am positioned to give the little pluckers the shortest and most obstruction-free path. It's a game within the game.

I'd rather do just about anything than laser strip mining. But core and subsurface I like.

Good advice in this thread. Is there any reference that has images of each asteroid shape according to what it contains?

 

[d8veh]

Laser mining is best, if you are set up for it, and know the routine. But honestly I hate it.

Back when I had just started engineering I decided to unlock Selene Jean, as being limited to G1 armour engineering was holding me back. Selene could hook me up with G5, but she wants 500 mined tonnes. So I read up on it, and pimped out the Python for the task. Found a spot and set to it. I then refined exactly one tonne, flew back to the station, sold every mining bit and bob, and accepted my G1 fate. So be it.

For a couple years my career mining total stood at that single rock. But then it was overhauled and core mining was a thing. Now, this was fun. I don't mind that it is slower. I've never put much stock in 'x per hour' objectives. Is it fun? That's my objective.

Same with subsurface using the drill-bang rockets. That's fun. Slow, but I like it. Did some of this last night actually to mine tritium to donate to the squadron's carrier. One thing I like about both core and subsurface mining is the ship control required. I enjoy flipping around the asteroid to plant charges or rockets. Using the full suite of controls, vertical and lateral thrusters, giving the Crosswinds a good workout. I use a Krait II, which is agile and has good cockpit visibility, especially overhead, and is ideally suited for me and the task.

I even like what I call 'limpet support'. That is, maneuvering my ship to maximize limpet effectiveness, by ensuring I am positioned to give the little pluckers the shortest and most obstruction-free path. It's a game within the game.

I'd rather do just about anything than laser strip mining. But core and subsurface I like.

Good advice in this thread. Is there any reference that has images of each asteroid shape according to what it contains?

Have you tried Haz RES laser mining? It's a bit less repetative than core mining.

 

[sinisalo]

I have not but I've read the comments you guys are making. Is it just the fact that you are under threat that makes it less repetitive? Holding lasers on a rock is just mind-numbing to me. But that's me, and for others it's a great way to play. It's more efficient when you're properly outfitted no doubt.

Mining in general is not something I do much anyway. I like to fulfill my sacred duty to keep the carrier going, and I like the money. But it's just a thing I do now and then to mix up my gameplay and chase Inara badges.

 

[d8veh]

I have not but I've read the comments you guys are making. Is it just the fact that you are under threat that makes it less repetitive? Holding lasers on a rock is just mind-numbing to me. But that's me, and for others it's a great way to play. It's more efficient when you're properly outfitted no doubt.

Mining in general is not something I do much anyway. I like to fulfill my sacred duty to keep the carrier going, and I like the money. But it's just a thing I do now and then to mix up my gameplay and chase Inara badges.

Mining with 7 lasers is not a lot different to exploding a rock with charges. The main difference is that you don't have to sit there waiting for something to happen, nor do you have to waste time scooting around the sky with a pulse scanner to find a rock worth mining.

You've got to mine 80,000T to get your mining badge from Inara. That would take about 2 weeks laser mining or a lifetime core mining!

 

[sinisalo]

Appreciate the insight and the discussion, but I was going to say I don't even have a ship with seven hardpoints. Well, turns out the Cutter does, but I'll not be mining in that thing. I'll stick to core and subsurface as it aligns with what I like to do. Small and medium ships, lots of maneuver, relatively quick and rare expeditions. To illustrate how little of my time has been spent mining, I'm 91t short of the level 1 Inara Miner's badge, which is only 2000t. You do that much in an afternoon i would guess.

 

[sinisalo]

Yes, you're level 5 Miner's badge, and I can't see what the threshold is for that. How much is it?

Your Inara badges are glorious

 

[d8veh]

Yes, you're level 5 Miner's badge, and I can't see what the threshold is for that. How much is it?

Your Inara badges are glorious

It's 80,000T. Level 1 badge can be done in two hours using a Cutter. For that sort of mining, I can do over 1000T an hour. I did 8000T in a day last week when it was raining, because I wanted to get back to my rightful no.2 in the charts. For that, I knocked off about 35,000 tons in 2 weeks.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

Most of what I have to contribute has already been said, but here goes anyway.

I hate min-maxing, and I hate laser mining. In contrast, I love core mining, and I don't think in credits per hour, but in fun per session. It helps that I play in VR though. I usually go out with a Krait Mk.II, recently I switched over to a python, because I got bored of the Krait's cockpit.

It usually takes me around an hour to 90 minutes (depending on miner's luck) to fill 128t of cargo space, plus 10 to 20 minutes to sell the stuff. Recently I've been mining Musgravite, which sells for 700-800k at the moment. A 128t-load gets me around 90 MCr. But I usually mine every core asteroid I find, which means either more flying around when selling or compromising on the sell price (which is what I do). So, one 128t mining session usually gets me around 60 to 70 and to up to 100 MCr depending on what cores I find.

Hotspots do not increase the spawn rate of cores, they only influence the material they contain. If you are not after a specific mineral, you can mine anywhere in the ring. Increasing the likelihood to get a specific mineral is the only use hotspots have for core mining. Overlaps do nothing either.

As has been said, cores are persistent and take 6 days to reset. Don't mine where everybody goes, it lowers your chances to find cores drastically.

I usually drop somewhere in the outer third of a hotspot and set the hotspot center as my target, just to have an orientation and not fly in circles. Then, as has been said, turn on night vision, fly fast and PWA the heck out of it .

The PWA mechanics have changed quite alot with Odyssey. The "second pulse" mechanic that helps you identify fissures of Pre-Odyssey is gone. You can pretty much go by colour now; inspect only the cores that glow brightly yellow and learn the shapes. Core asteroids only come in one shape per ring type. Once I get closer I try to judge if the asteroid has the right shape. If it does (or I think it does) I get closer, stop PWAing and inspect the rock visually. Once you've learned how they look it is easy to identify the fissures on the rock's surface. If I spot one, I prospect it, if not, I move on.

And that's about it. Remember to bring enough limpets. Not so much for prospecting, it's more that if you move fast chances are they get banged up and die. I usually bring 80 limpets for 128t of cargo space to fill, and end up discarding 10 or so.

And that's it. The TL;DR is: Ignore every rock that isn't brightly yellow and learn the shapes.