Fancy a new mining ship. Suggestions welcome.

[Stealthie]

Currently, my mining operation is pretty comprehensive.
I have a oair of T10s as my "bulk" miners, I have a pair of Pythons as my (currently unemployed) DC mining ships and I have 4x AspXs as "wildcat" miners I can transfer around to do a bit of everything when an opportunity arises.
The T10s are pure laser-miners, The Pythons are dedicated DC miners and the AspXs have all the mining toys so I can dabble in any kind of mining, but not terribly well.

This is where my new ship will come in.

I'm thinking it might be handy to have a ship that's a bit larger than an AspX, is still weighted toward laser-mining but also carries an Abrasion Blaster and a SSD missile launcher to extract more ore from the rocks I find while laser-mining.

I'm thinking a pair of C2 mining lasers, C1 Abrasion Blaster, C1 SSD launcher and then, ideally, a couple of additional C2/C3 hardpoints for defensive weapons cos I don't like letting pirates get away with scanning me.
Cargo capacity isn't hugely important. 64t or more is fine. This is just going to be for opportunistic mining.
Agility IS important, though. I know it's possible to operate the Abrasion Blaster and SSD Launcher from something like a T10 but it's an absolute breeze in a Python and I want a similar level of agility.
It needs a reasonable number of limpets. a Pair of C3 launchers as a minimum but ideally a pair of C5s would be better.
I'd like it to be a medium-pad ship, simply to minimise transfer costs when I'm moving it around.

I've been wrestling with Coriolis, trying to build something with an Alliance Challenger or Crusader due to the number of hardpoints they have.
Trouble is, the internal slots don't seem terribly useful.
They've both only got 2 big slots (C6/C5) and the rest are C3 or smaller.
That means, after you bung a cargo rack in the biggest slot, you've got to put a shield in the other big slot (if you actually want a shield) and that, in turn, means you're left with C3 slots for limpet controllers etc.
Not ideal.

The other ship I was looking at is the Fed Dropship.
That has decent internals, which means I can fit a C6 cargo rack, a pair of C5 Limpet Controllers and bung a shield in the C4 slot - which is adequate if I bung a heap of Guardian Shield Boosters in the mil slots.
On the down-side, it only has 5x hardpoints so, by the time I've fitted 2x mining lasers, an Abrasion Blaster and a SSD Launcher, there's only one spare slot for a defensive weapon (large MC/Frag/Beam, I guess).

Anybody have any suggestions for how I should proceed or for other ships I might look at?

 

[ADAMtheWELSHMANz]

My Corvette is setup for all mining types with plenty of armaments and a SLF for defence.

Nimble, plenty of capacity and safe as houses. Few tweaks to weapons etc if I was mining in a haz rez plus drop HRP to slot 1 and add a 3A collector in its spot.

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

s.orbis.zone

 

[goemon]

it's quite simple. more than 5 hardpoints = not many choices.

that said, some of my favourite mining ships you haven't listed.

a t7 can be a good combination of laser and ssd/abrasion mining. you'll loose the core though. using ta t7 on my colonia account.

as small mining ships (below AspE) i run an AspS - 48t of cargo, 4 hardpoints and a shieldless core mining cobra.

of the larger ships i really love a clipper for mining - 1 medium mining lasers, and 3 hardpoints for core/ssd/abrasion. you don't need weapons, as you outrun any pirate.

dropship has a great atmo. gunship would allow you more hardpoints and is surprisingly manouverable. you'll have to run it shieldless though.

 

[Northpin]

I know you asked for agility, but well... this Conda got me like 25 bn for my alt account on PC

As far as i'm concerned, it's the perfect universal miner. It's a bit heavy on laser mining, and a bit limited by the size 1 subsurface launcher.
But you can swap things around if you find out you have to resynth too oftern and use a mining lance in the small slot (the lance because it's so damn far from the medium lasers)
and use a medium subsurface in the underbelly large slot.

This build is also exceedingly good because it makes use of the front cargo hatch so limpets have a much shorter run to bring in the fragments

 

[Kekkonshiki]

My Corvette is setup for all mining types with plenty of armaments and a SLF for defence.

Nimble, plenty of capacity and safe as houses. Few tweaks to weapons etc if I was mining in a haz rez plus drop HRP to slot 1 and add a 3A collector in its spot.

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

s.orbis.zone

Interesting concept! A mining ship without a Refinery.

 

[Kekkonshiki]

I know you asked for agility, but well... this Conda got me like 25 bn for my alt account on PC

As far as i'm concerned, it's the perfect universal miner. It's a bit heavy on laser mining, and a bit limited by the size 1 subsurface launcher.
But you can swap things around if you find out you have to resynth too oftern and use a mining lance in the small slot (the lance because it's so damn far from the medium lasers)
and use a medium subsurface in the underbelly large slot.

This build is also exceedingly good because it makes use of the front cargo hatch so limpets have a much shorter run to bring in the fragments

I agree that the Conda is the best all-round miner.

This is the build I use: Ultimate Miner.

 

[Vedmo]

The ship you are looking for us the Krait MKII.

https://s.orbis.zone/b1Fb1F0

Size 3 or 6 shields of your choice, depending on if you want more cargo or protection. Plenty of limpets, a 4 refinery and 3 prospect controller, and a large HP for a weapon, not to mention the 7 PD that can run 2 medium beams effortlessly.

You could even run some 3 shields, have 64+ tons of cargo, and an SLF to compliment the one large weapon!

 

[Michael Whatever]

The mining lance may help you fudge it a bit ?
It is perhaps not optimal (well actually it isn't) but the ability to use them as defensive weapons "doubles up" those small hardpoints?

 

[Northpin]

The mining lance may help you fudge it a bit ?
It is perhaps not optimal (well actually it isn't) but the ability to use them as defensive weapons "doubles up" those small hardpoints?

No idea, never tried to kill anything with them
But on my Conda it is better than a normal small mining laser due to position of small hardpoints on a Conda.
And they are also good for long range Asteroid poking - some cmdrs prefer to sample a fragment before using a prospector and the lance is ideal for that

But i guess they would be pretty nice if we ever get to engineer mining gear

 

[Stealthie]

Just looking at it a bit more carefully...

Seems like the FDS and the Challenger share a lot of core modules.

The hardpoints are drawing me toward the Challenger but I'm not sure if I'll be frustrated by only having 4x Collectors available at a time.
That'd be fine for DC mining but this is, primarily, a laser-miner, with the extra toys added for any opportunities that crop up.

I think I'll buy a Challenger and an FDS, build up the Challenger, see how it flies and if I need more Collectors I should be able to strip most of the modules off it, fit 'em to an FDS, swap the C3 Collectors for C5s and then give that a whirl.

Wasn't sure if I was overlooking some other ship that might be suitable, though.

 

[goemon]

tell us how it goes. 4 active collectors would speak for 1M 1S mining laser only i think, 2M at max. interesting choice!

(i build a chieftain as a 64t cargo mission runner for BGS, but changed it shortly after for a dropship because atmo- most modules could simply be transferred)

 

[Brrokk]

Currently, my mining operation is pretty comprehensive.
I have a oair of T10s as my "bulk" miners, I have a pair of Pythons as my (currently unemployed) DC mining ships and I have 4x AspXs as "wildcat" miners I can transfer around to do a bit of everything when an opportunity arises.
The T10s are pure laser-miners, The Pythons are dedicated DC miners and the AspXs have all the mining toys so I can dabble in any kind of mining, but not terribly well.

This is where my new ship will come in.

I'm thinking it might be handy to have a ship that's a bit larger than an AspX, is still weighted toward laser-mining but also carries an Abrasion Blaster and a SSD missile launcher to extract more ore from the rocks I find while laser-mining.

I'm thinking a pair of C2 mining lasers, C1 Abrasion Blaster, C1 SSD launcher and then, ideally, a couple of additional C2/C3 hardpoints for defensive weapons cos I don't like letting pirates get away with scanning me.
Cargo capacity isn't hugely important. 64t or more is fine. This is just going to be for opportunistic mining.
Agility IS important, though. I know it's possible to operate the Abrasion Blaster and SSD Launcher from something like a T10 but it's an absolute breeze in a Python and I want a similar level of agility.
It needs a reasonable number of limpets. a Pair of C3 launchers as a minimum but ideally a pair of C5s would be better.
I'd like it to be a medium-pad ship, simply to minimise transfer costs when I'm moving it around.

I've been wrestling with Coriolis, trying to build something with an Alliance Challenger or Crusader due to the number of hardpoints they have.
Trouble is, the internal slots don't seem terribly useful.
They've both only got 2 big slots (C6/C5) and the rest are C3 or smaller.
That means, after you bung a cargo rack in the biggest slot, you've got to put a shield in the other big slot (if you actually want a shield) and that, in turn, means you're left with C3 slots for limpet controllers etc.
Not ideal.

The other ship I was looking at is the Fed Dropship.
That has decent internals, which means I can fit a C6 cargo rack, a pair of C5 Limpet Controllers and bung a shield in the C4 slot - which is adequate if I bung a heap of Guardian Shield Boosters in the mil slots.
On the down-side, it only has 5x hardpoints so, by the time I've fitted 2x mining lasers, an Abrasion Blaster and a SSD Launcher, there's only one spare slot for a defensive weapon (large MC/Frag/Beam, I guess).

Anybody have any suggestions for how I should proceed or for other ships I might look at?

I'm afraid I think the answer is "another Python".

Here's my build for a Python which can mine any kind of deposit, carry 128 tons and still run 8 collector limpets:-

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

For core rocks I also wouldn't want to give up the manoeuverability, medium size and forward cockpit position of the Python.

 

[Bottom Hat]

A purple python?

 

[Kekkonshiki]

A purple python?

snigger

 

[Trollymctrollerson]

I like the dropship myself. I run a class 5 bi weave and some HRP though. i use a class 3 +class 5 collector for 5 limpets. It might not be best but i just like the darn thing.

 

[ADAMtheWELSHMANz]

Lol, yeah noticed after I posted I must have yoinked a few things off for my T9 laser miner.

Good eye there Cmdr, reminds me to go buy another one.

 

[NorthernDevo]

Currently, my mining operation is pretty comprehensive.
I have a oair of T10s as my "bulk" miners, I have a pair of Pythons as my (currently unemployed) DC mining ships and I have 4x AspXs as "wildcat" miners I can transfer around to do a bit of everything when an opportunity arises.
The T10s are pure laser-miners, The Pythons are dedicated DC miners and the AspXs have all the mining toys so I can dabble in any kind of mining, but not terribly well.

This is where my new ship will come in.

I'm thinking it might be handy to have a ship that's a bit larger than an AspX, is still weighted toward laser-mining but also carries an Abrasion Blaster and a SSD missile launcher to extract more ore from the rocks I find while laser-mining.

I'm thinking a pair of C2 mining lasers, C1 Abrasion Blaster, C1 SSD launcher and then, ideally, a couple of additional C2/C3 hardpoints for defensive weapons cos I don't like letting pirates get away with scanning me.
Cargo capacity isn't hugely important. 64t or more is fine. This is just going to be for opportunistic mining.
Agility IS important, though. I know it's possible to operate the Abrasion Blaster and SSD Launcher from something like a T10 but it's an absolute breeze in a Python and I want a similar level of agility.
It needs a reasonable number of limpets. a Pair of C3 launchers as a minimum but ideally a pair of C5s would be better.
I'd like it to be a medium-pad ship, simply to minimise transfer costs when I'm moving it around.

I've been wrestling with Coriolis, trying to build something with an Alliance Challenger or Crusader due to the number of hardpoints they have.
Trouble is, the internal slots don't seem terribly useful.
They've both only got 2 big slots (C6/C5) and the rest are C3 or smaller.
That means, after you bung a cargo rack in the biggest slot, you've got to put a shield in the other big slot (if you actually want a shield) and that, in turn, means you're left with C3 slots for limpet controllers etc.
Not ideal.

The other ship I was looking at is the Fed Dropship.
That has decent internals, which means I can fit a C6 cargo rack, a pair of C5 Limpet Controllers and bung a shield in the C4 slot - which is adequate if I bung a heap of Guardian Shield Boosters in the mil slots.
On the down-side, it only has 5x hardpoints so, by the time I've fitted 2x mining lasers, an Abrasion Blaster and a SSD Launcher, there's only one spare slot for a defensive weapon (large MC/Frag/Beam, I guess).

Anybody have any suggestions for how I should proceed or for other ships I might look at?

Well, while my suggestions won't give you all you want, if you want to try something smaller, handy and nimble in the Rings, one ship I had great success with was the Keelback.
Her cargo is right in the area you want - 64t - and deep-cores beautifully; I got my Elite Trader in her by accident lol
You can't mount weapons and shields will take away from your capacity, but I greatly enjoyed VO mining in the little box - give it a try; you might like it.

Another ship I found to be a surprisingly good smaller miner was the Dolphin. She is delightfully maneuverable in the rings, around 70t capacity and is another great VO miner.

If you don't mind giving up offensive capability she is a LOT of fun to mine with. Not everything you want, but for fun check them out - you might like them.

 

[Viscera]

I ran this build, which works fine.

I had engineering, but to my taste, and normal small mining lasers (I unlock the pp ones this week, just for extra firepower and because... )

With the small lasers, 4 collectors is not such an issue keeping up.

The guardian shield booster is also a great aquisition for this ship, as it makes the shields worth having.

The other bonus... This can have two multicrew added for profit share schemes...

 

[BL1P]

The ship you are looking for us the Krait MKII.

https://s.orbis.zone/b1Fb1F0

Size 3 or 6 shields of your choice, depending on if you want more cargo or protection. Plenty of limpets, a 4 refinery and 3 prospect controller, and a large HP for a weapon, not to mention the 7 PD that can run 2 medium beams effortlessly.

You could even run some 3 shields, have 64+ tons of cargo, and an SLF to compliment the one large weapon!

This ^^

 

[CMDR Serra]

No idea, never tried to kill anything with them
...

One of these days I'm going to take out my Mining-De-Lance and see how it performs...