Ships Giving my laser mining ship some teeth?

IstvaanDCIV

IstvaanDCIV
So I recently bought and outfitted a Type-9 for laser mining, since Selene Jean doesn't want to know you unless you've spent some time shooting space rocks. Last time I tried mining I remember getting frustrated and giving up, but this time around something must have clicked, and I now find laser mining to be an inherently pleasing activity. I'm using a slightly modified version of D2EA's non-engineered build, I've upgraded the range of the FSD and thickened up the bulkheads a bit, while adding an additional Sirius Heatsink Launcher and a Point Defence Turret to guard the cargo hatch.

The_Industrious_Ox.jpg

The Industrious Ox approaches a mining location

But something happened which got me thinking about a possible avenue of further improvement. A couple of days ago I had arrived at a Painite hotspot to grab 50 tons of the good stuff, and I did manage to get more than I what I came for, but real life impinged and I had to log off until the next day. I had hoped to continue mining upon logging back in, but as I'm sure most of you are aware, this automatically causes a pirate to drop in and demand cargo with menaces, and after the previous day's activities there was quite the haul in my cargo hold. Having no offensive capabilities whatsoever, I was forced to withdraw and make my way to Selene Jean's base earlier than I had anticipated. Funnily enough it turned out that I didn't need the 50 tons of Painite to get my foot in the door, but the pirate encounter still got me thinking.

I still have two unused hardpoints, and I could swap out the 5A Collector Limpet Controller for a Fighter Hangar, and still have a decent amount of limpets active for collecting mined goodies and raw materials. I'm also thinking maybe I could engineer the shield to increase survivability. The point here being not to create a fighting ship that can stand up to a wing of high-ranking ships (that's time to flee), but rather to add enough offensive capability that I have more options than just turning tail and fleeing if I encounter a lone pirate when logging back in to an asteroid field or other mining spot.

So am I on to something here?
 

Zador

Z
If you just want to avoid the one pirate on a relog I would not say its worth compromising your collection capability.

Platinum and Osmium sell for around double the price of Painite.

If you switch your class 7 collector for a class 7 universal limpet controller you get 8 collector limpets instead of 4. In that case you could drop the class 5 collector for some more offensive capability if you want.

If you're going to engineer anything on a mining ship I'd focus on the power distributor. I usually put Weapon focussed/super conduits for mining-only ships, if you're going to use this for any other purpose then Charge enhanced/super conduits would be more flexible.
 
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GroG79

G
Just pay the pirate and have your limpets scoop the cargo back up at the same time :D

Also.. Yes.. Stop mining Painite
 

HRDiagram

HRDiagram
One thing I would suggest (although perhaps not the best option on a T9) is the adoption of the Modified Mining Lasers: they are double engineered, so they have long range and can be used as weapons, in addition to having a lower power requirement and distro draw.
You would need to get the permit to the system and unlock them at the tech broker, but they are better than the Power Play ones.
The down side is that they are fixed, so not necessarily nice to use on a T9
I use them on my mining ships with teeth, although they are more agile than a T9.
If interested, you might read more about them on the wiki

https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Mining_Laser
 

IstvaanDCIV

IstvaanDCIV
HRDiagram said:
One thing I would suggest (although perhaps not the best option on a T9) is the adoption of the Modified Mining Lasers: they are double engineered, so they have long range and can be used as weapons, in addition to having a lower power requirement and distro draw.
You would need to get the permit to the system and unlock them at the tech broker, but they are better than the Power Play ones.
The down side is that they are fixed, so not necessarily nice to use on a T9
I use them on my mining ships with teeth, although they are more agile than a T9.
If interested, you might read more about them on the wiki

https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Mining_Laser
Click to expand...

Now that is an interesting idea. I was thinking of putting railguns on the spare hardpoints, but as you say, fixed weapons are not exactly easy to use on a lumbering beast like the T-9. Modified Mining Lasers might add some extra punch to make up for that. Especially if I were to combine that with a Fighter Hangar, and perhaps the class 7 Universal Limpet Controller suggested by @Zador
 

AlSki

AlSki
Or.... Mine with a Clipper, and just boost away from pirates... well if you want to.
AlSki said:

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone s.orbis.zone
Started as a combat ship and got repurposed, so its a bit overkill. But its fast from rock to rock. I also run more cargo so I can waste more limpets searching for the right rocks. You can swap in more mining lasers & collectors. Or more prospectors if you want to search faster that way.
But for me this was a nice balance.
Click to expand...

Although a multi mining limpet controller would make it even better.
 

Kyle Stryker

Kyle Stryker
You probably could make it work with a T9, but if you want an armed miner the T10 would probably be a better option. You’ll lose some cargo capacity, but it will be much more survivable.
 

SergMx

SergMx
HRDiagram said:
One thing I would suggest (although perhaps not the best option on a T9) is the adoption of the Modified Mining Lasers: they are double engineered, so they have long range and can be used as weapons, in addition to having a lower power requirement and distro draw.
You would need to get the permit to the system and unlock them at the tech broker, but they are better than the Power Play ones.
The down side is that they are fixed, so not necessarily nice to use on a T9
I use them on my mining ships with teeth, although they are more agile than a T9.
If interested, you might read more about them on the wiki

https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Mining_Laser
Click to expand...
Is it possible to shoot them?
I just unlocked https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Mining_Lance and as soon as I switch to combat mode, I still have a combat laser, I get a message that this weapon can not shoot in combat mode.
 

SergMx

SergMx
HRDiagram said:
They shoot (and damage ships) in mining mode.
Click to expand...
So my regular weapons are useless ?
How do I combine them into one group ?

I think it's just a bug, when they introduced the switch between combat and research just forgot about this weapon.
 

Codger

Codger
I always fly a fully armed miner, myself. I'm not overly concerned with mining efficiency, and I rarely go out long enough to fill 256T of cargo space, so my ship is built with that in mind.

I just find it fun to show those pirates a good time with a face full of lasers and multicannons. It spices up the mining trip.

So, go for it, I say.

Here's what my build looks like (it's a Cutter). Nothing special about it, but it works very well for me :)

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous
edsy.org edsy.org
 

SergMx

SergMx
Codger said:
I always fly a fully armed miner, myself. I'm not overly concerned with mining efficiency, and I rarely go out long enough to fill 256T of cargo space, so my ship is built with that in mind.

I just find it fun to show those pirates a good time with a face full of lasers and multicannons. It spices up the mining trip.

So, go for it, I say.

Here's what my build looks like (it's a Cutter). Nothing special about it, but it works very well for me :)

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous
edsy.org edsy.org
Click to expand...
so many collectors and only two mining lasers ... Hmm.
 
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