Newcomer / Intro Getting Raw Materials in My SRV

[L M P]

When my engineer wants raw materials I use an SRV to find them. I look for bodies with a high Selenium percentage and use whatever I find to trade for whatever I need. When landing on a planet I generally look for flat areas to land on so I don't have problems with the terrain being difficult to drive on.

What I'm wondering is, are there terrain features I should look for to get the most materials (like maybe landing inside a crater)?

Do the colors on the planet tell me anything?

 

[Non Grata]

When my engineer wants raw materials I use an SRV to find them. I look for bodies with a high Selenium percentage and use whatever I find to trade for whatever I need. When landing on a planet I generally look for flat areas to land on so I don't have problems with the terrain being difficult to drive on.

What I'm wondering is, are there terrain features I should look for to get the most materials (like maybe landing inside a crater)?

Do the colors on the planet tell me anything?

ISTBC but I don't think there's any evidence that terrain/colour have any bearing on materials.

 

[Chris Simon]

If you are after certain materials (mostly ore and other stuff found in outcrops, meteorites etc.) your best bet is to equip the detailed surface scanner. When you scan a planet, check it on the system map and it will tell you which materials are found there and the percentages they're in there.

As for specific locations, craters are nice. Not because there would be more outcrops, but because the bed is usually flat and easy to drive on. And they're simply nice.
I also like ice planets, because the outcrops contrast against the ice and are visible from far.

 

[metatheurgist]

Having maxed out my elements and fully upgraded 17 ships I will confidently say that there is absolutely no difference in where you drive the SRV to collect elements, and if there is, any advantage is overcome by the ability to drive on flat terrain.

 

[Codger]

Having maxed out my elements and fully upgraded 17 ships I will confidently say that there is absolutely no difference in where you drive the SRV to collect elements, and if there is, any advantage is overcome by the ability to drive on flat terrain.

What he said.

 

[Morbad]

Having maxed out my elements and fully upgraded 17 ships I will confidently say that there is absolutely no difference in where you drive the SRV to collect elements, and if there is, any advantage is overcome by the ability to drive on flat terrain.

I've got twenty thousand km on my SRVs and I'm fairly confident that location does have at least some influence on the prevalence of mineral types.

 

[Dommarraa]

If you find one my posts from pc that has a sig, there is a link to a spreadsheet gathered by many Cmdrs that proves that different areas like craters have a higher proportion of high grades.
HOWEVER, the increased time to collect them outways this difference, so you are better off hunting on the flat.

Fd have said that one day, terrain colour will indicate mineral content, but not yet.

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

I'm not averse to using material traders personally. For me - and I think it's a vendetta the big guy in the sky seems to have against me - arsenic is the bane of my life so those traders are invaluable .

 

[Dommarraa]

I'm not averse to using material traders personally. For me - and I think it's a vendetta the big guy in the sky seems to have against me - arsenic is the bane of my life so those traders are invaluable .

Use EDDB to look for a planet that has all 3 minerals in the Arsenic catagory : Arsenic, Mercury and Polonium. Then virtually everything you pick up will help at the traders without having to pay to swap catagories.
Lots of people dont realize you can search for a planet that has multiple materials.

 

[Shir]

Many people are unaware that when driving the srv, you can put 4 pipes to engines, keep the booster pressed for periods of times, and literally fly over the surface making the ride much easier, faster, and more fun.

Regarding areas, I just go for daylight and even terrain. But craters are fun too..

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

Use EDDB to look for a planet that has all 3 minerals in the Arsenic catagory : Arsenic, Mercury and Polonium. Then virtually everything you pick up will help at the traders without having to pay to swap catagories.
Lots of people dont realize you can search for a planet that has multiple materials.

Commander, you are correct; I had no idea. Many thanks!

 

[aRJay]

Many people are unaware that when driving the srv, you can put 4 pipes to engines, keep the booster pressed for periods of times, and literally fly over the surface making the ride much easier, faster, and more fun.

Regarding areas, I just go for daylight and even terrain. But craters are fun too..

I am aware of that but due to my poor skill the easier and fun bit are overbalanced by the tumbling ignominious crash that often occurs at launch and almost always occurs on "landing".

 

[L M P]

Use EDDB to look for a planet that has all 3 minerals in the Arsenic catagory : Arsenic, Mercury and Polonium. Then virtually everything you pick up will help at the traders without having to pay to swap catagories.
Lots of people dont realize you can search for a planet that has multiple materials.

I did a search on eddb for Arsenic, Mercury and Polonium now I’m wondering which one of the three should I pick that has the highest concentration percentage?

 

[aRJay]

I did a search on eddb for Arsenic, Mercury and Polonium now I’m wondering which one of the three should I pick that has the highest concentration percentage?

The one you need most of or the one that has the best exchange rate for the others would be my primary criteria another consideration would be the planet where the sum of the concentrations is highest.

 

[Non Grata]

I did a search on eddb for Arsenic, Mercury and Polonium now I’m wondering which one of the three should I pick that has the highest concentration percentage?

I wouldn't overthink it as RNG will partially dictate whether you find lots of good stuff or not. But I suppose if you want to consider it, then you'd also need to look at the combined percentage of the three...

 

[Chris Simon]

I would chime in with a piece of knowledge that is not something that's proven, bud during countless hours of mats collecting and general shenanigans on the surface I came to a conclusion that it might be the case.
It feels like the game RNG works in a way that when you shoot up and collect a certain outcrop, it will spawn another one of the same type, nearby.
What that means is - don't collect any outcrop you run into. If you're after higher grade mates which are more often found in "high grade" outcrops (Mezosiderites and Metallic meteorites) only pick up those. What seems to happen is that when you pick up a meteorite, for example, another one is spawned. If you keep yourself in one place (let's say 1-2km²) and all you do is shoot Metallic meteorites, after a while you will have Metallic meteorites all around you.

Like I said this isn't something I could really prove, but it has worked for me so many times, that I just believe it.

 

[CMDR CMDR Clarkson]

Many people are unaware that when driving the srv, you can put 4 pipes to engines, keep the booster pressed for periods of times, and literally fly over the surface making the ride much easier, faster, and more fun.

Regarding areas, I just go for daylight and even terrain. But craters are fun too..

I like using that technique for longer distances. It's a lot of fun in low g because I'll use small hills as a ramp to launch me in the air before even using the thrusters. You usually can get quite high and far before you settle back to the surface.

 

[Para Handy]

Or just go to a crashed 'conda, fill up with G4 mats from the cargo racks and trade down.

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

I did a search on eddb for Arsenic, Mercury and Polonium now I’m wondering which one of the three should I pick that has the highest concentration percentage?

The highest tiers are worth the most, but what's also important is the lack of competing high level mats.
I don't even worry about arsenic myself.
So if you want polonium, make sure there isn't also technetium, antimony etc, since those will dilute the rare mat spawns.

Polonium > mercury > arsenic.

I saved the material charts from the OP here, to make it easier.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/405498-Material-Trader-Helper

Also, don't ignore the crashed Anacondas!
That's the quickest way for many raw mats.

 

[Moriendor]

BTW, can't you still get materials from the barnacle forests or have those been nerfed/removed? I remember last year when I was grinding mats for engineering it was pretty effective to just mow down barnacles, pick up the mats, relog to respawn the forest, rinse, repeat. Is that no longer an option?