Newcomer / Intro How profitable are Passenger missions?

What do you guys think of the Keelback for a dedicated Mining ship?

and yes I was looking at an Asp X as well but the Keelback gives me a little more wiggle room as far as spending goes.

If it makes me lots of cash and the mining works out Ill just purchase the Asp X once I have enough to outfit it like I want to.
Works for me.
As you say, if it's not to your liking you'll quickly have enough money to buy something else anyway.

I quite like the Keelback.
 
I skipped all the T ships.
As I said, one load of Void Opals in that Cobra and you have about 50 millions
Then spending 16-20 millions on a AspX is not that scarry anymore

But feel free to experiment, makes the game less tedious
 
What do you guys think of the Keelback for a dedicated Mining ship?

and yes I was looking at an Asp X as well but the Keelback gives me a little more wiggle room as far as spending goes.

If it makes me lots of cash and the mining works out Ill just purchase the Asp X once I have enough to outfit it like I want to.
Keelback looks good. Go make your fortune!
 
What do you guys think of the Keelback for a dedicated Mining ship?

and yes I was looking at an Asp X as well but the Keelback gives me a little more wiggle room as far as spending goes.

If it makes me lots of cash and the mining works out Ill just purchase the Asp X once I have enough to outfit it like I want to.

Keelback is a nifty mining ship. It certainly looks the business.

For Core Mining, you'll only need a small refinery (ie 2A), a 3A collector and prospector. You should be able to jam in 64 cargo space with shields. That's a respectable mining ship.
 
Question - Is Laser mining profitable at all right now? I have only done it once in the tutorial (a few months ago) but it seemed to be quick and easy.
 
Question - Is Laser mining profitable at all right now? I have only done it once in the tutorial (a few months ago) but it seemed to be quick and easy.

In real terms yes because you will make much more than the costs of any limpets and fuel used and any mining equipment can be sold for what it cost plus you will pick up raw materials, elements, that can be used in engineering.

In the minds of many in other areas of the forums no because they seem to think nothing is profitable if there is something else that makes more money.
 
Question - Is Laser mining profitable at all right now? I have only done it once in the tutorial (a few months ago) but it seemed to be quick and easy.

Most activities in ED are "profitable", it all depends on how much profit you want to make for your time investment.

Laser mining: OK if you target the right commodities (ie painite) and could be a good intro into asteroid belts. Ultimately to make it really profitable you need a big ship.
Core mining: Highly profitable (particularly void opals, but others core minerals are good too) can be done in most ships, and will really hone your piloting skills

With mining, you receive 100% value for what you sell (ie you don't pay for the commodities) so you'll always return a profit. But generally laser = bulk, whereas core = small volume high value.

If you want to test the mining waters then laser mining could be the go, but you'll probably want to change to core mining for the credits.
 
Most activities in ED are "profitable", it all depends on how much profit you want to make for your time investment.

Laser mining: OK if you target the right commodities (ie painite) and could be a good intro into asteroid belts. Ultimately to make it really profitable you need a big ship.
Core mining: Highly profitable (particularly void opals, but others core minerals are good too) can be done in most ships, and will really hone your piloting skills

With mining, you receive 100% value for what you sell (ie you don't pay for the commodities) so you'll always return a profit. But generally laser = bulk, whereas core = small volume high value.

If you want to test the mining waters then laser mining could be the go, but you'll probably want to change to core mining for the credits.
Totally agree with you. I only mine ice rings, so the best you can hope for from laser mining in ice rings is bromelite, which sells for about 8,000 cr per ton. Compare that with void opals which can go for up to 1.6 million cr per ton, but you need to do core mining to get to the opals. But core mining is a lot of fun, I love cracking open asteroids!
 
... and if you do you risk having your brain turn to goo from watching size 1 mining lasers prise fragments off as slowly as a very slow thing.
Nah just two size 1's: they chew up the surface very quickly and release all sorts of goodies, ...........

I honestly tried to ignore this but I just couldn't, sorry. This is the newcomer's section and we should avoid misleading information that might confuse the new commander.

Here is a quick video I made to illustrate the difference between the small (class 1) and large (class 2) mining laser. I hope it illustrates how frustrating it can be to do laser mining in craft with only size 1 hardpoints (the video uses a CobraIV).



Personally I go mining in a Python but I understand some people like the AspX, Keelback and the Kraits.
 
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Well I scanned through a few mining vids and picked out a hotspot to mine. It wasn't Void Opals but another element (I forget) but I wanted to practice and get used to mechanics.

I guess you have to actually target the Seismic charge. I was slinging them toward the rock and they were bouncing off. WHen they exploded nothing happened to the rock 😞

I was only able to be on for about an hour. Ill go back and watch some vids on the subject.

It seems that many instructional videos assume you know the basic functions of each module.
 
Regarding the topic title, yes. I have been doing Robigo runs.
Started with an AspX (That i got by doing some exploration in a hauler), and after a while i had enough to move to a Python. I then took a break to visit Felicity Farseer, and came back to do a bit more runs. Besides the good money you can also gather a reasonable amount of engineering materials.
In a safe round trip of about 12-14 minutes, (by safe i mean: as long as you don't have to deal with interdictions) you can easily make 20 million, and frequently more. I am now using a FSD engineered Python that does the trip in 3 jumps. Not yet ideal, but getting there.
 
Regarding the topic title, yes. I have been doing Robigo runs.
Started with an AspX (That i got by doing some exploration in a hauler), and after a while i had enough to move to a Python. I then took a break to visit Felicity Farseer, and came back to do a bit more runs. Besides the good money you can also gather a reasonable amount of engineering materials.
In a safe round trip of about 12-14 minutes, (by safe i mean: as long as you don't have to deal with interdictions) you can easily make 20 million, and frequently more. I am now using a FSD engineered Python that does the trip in 3 jumps. Not yet ideal, but getting there.

I would suggest, for the sake of your sanity, that you take a trip (not in your Python!) to garner the requirements for the Guardian FSD booster (you only ever have to do it once). The additional 10.5Ly that a class 5 one gives to the Python makes travel rather more bearable.

 
Well I scanned through a few mining vids and picked out a hotspot to mine. It wasn't Void Opals but another element (I forget) but I wanted to practice and get used to mechanics.

I guess you have to actually target the Seismic charge. I was slinging them toward the rock and they were bouncing off. WHen they exploded nothing happened to the rock 😞

I was only able to be on for about an hour. Ill go back and watch some vids on the subject.

It seems that many instructional videos assume you know the basic functions of each module.

Yes the seismic charge needs to be aimed carefully at the targeted fissure,
  1. so target the fissure then manoeuvre so your ship is pointing directly at where the fissure reaches the surface,
  2. align the Seismic Charge aiming reticule at that point it helps if the launcher is near the axis of your ship,
  3. hold the appropriate trigger while keeping aimed this can be tricky if the rock is spinning or tumbling rapidly,
  4. when the charge has built up to an appropriate level for the strength of the fissure release the trigger,
  5. target another fissure and repeat until the detonation graph is in the blue,
  6. if the graph goes red disarm that charge using the contacts section of the left hand screen and go back to 5 an overpowered detonation destroys some of what you were after.
  7. when the countdown gets short back away from the rock 1-2kms
  8. after the bang head in and abrade the goodies free so your limpets can collect
  9. find another rock and goto line 1.
 
I honestly tried to ignore this but I just couldn't, sorry. This is the newcomer's section and we should avoid misleading information that might confuse the new commander.

Here is a quick video I made to illustrate the difference between the small (class 1) and large (class 2) mining laser. I hope it illustrates how frustrating it can be to do laser mining in craft with only size 1 hardpoints (the video uses a CobraIV).



Personally I go mining in a Python but I understand some people like the AspX, Keelback and the Kraits.
Porkchop* has 2 size 1 hardpoints, 2 size 2's, 3 size 3'e etc. I put 2 mining lasers in the size 1 hardpoints. They must be class 1 because they go in the size 1 hardpoints. Using both mining lasers simultaneously chews up the surfaces of the huge chunks left over from a seismic charge detonation within a few seconds i.e. the asteroid is depleted very, very quickly. This maybe because I have already cracked the asteroid, abrasion blasted the opals etc off the surface and I'm just getting the last few goodies off what's left of the asteroid. So my laser mining is limited to what is left over after cracking the asteroid and abrasion blasting off the surface deposits.
*My anaconda.
 
Porkchop* has 2 size 1 hardpoints, 2 size 2's, 3 size 3'e etc. I put 2 mining lasers in the size 1 hardpoints. They must be class 1 because they go in the size 1 hardpoints. Using both mining lasers simultaneously chews up the surfaces of the huge chunks left over from a seismic charge detonation within a few seconds i.e. the asteroid is depleted very, very quickly. This maybe because I have already cracked the asteroid, abrasion blasted the opals etc off the surface and I'm just getting the last few goodies off what's left of the asteroid. So my laser mining is limited to what is left over after cracking the asteroid and abrasion blasting off the surface deposits.
*My anaconda.

That is not the point though. I clearly show in that video the different rates of production of fragments by the two sizes of mining lasers. I made that video to stop any newcomers being misled by your own subjective experiences. I don't know why you cannot accept the evidence I present.
 
That is not the point though. I clearly show in that video the different rates of production of fragments by the two sizes of mining lasers. I made that video to stop any newcomers being misled by your own subjective experiences. I don't know why you cannot accept the evidence I present.
I think you missed my point, which is: I only use the 1D lasers after I have cracked the asteroid and used the abrasion blaster to remove the surface deposits. I don't think there is a lot left after that so the 1D lasers are all I need for removing the last few morsels off the broken asteroid and that only takes a few seconds. I don't do laser mining other than cleaning off the last few morsels after the seismic charge launcher has cracked the asteroid and the abrasion blaster has removed the surface deposits. Having said that, I am on an exploration run atm, trying out planetary landings etc now that I (finally) have Horizons. On the way back I will do a bit of mining and try the lasers on a whole asteroid. It will be interesting to see how the 1D's perform on a whole asteroid. Will let you know how that goes.
 
That is not the point though. I clearly show in that video the different rates of production of fragments by the two sizes of mining lasers. I made that video to stop any newcomers being misled by your own subjective experiences. I don't know why you cannot accept the evidence I present.
Just timed using the 1D lasers to deplete a whole asteroid vs a cracked asteroid: 2x 1D lasers depleted the whole asteroid in 90 seconds. They depleted the cracked asteroid in less than 40 seconds. So yes, if I was into laser mining I would buy a couple of size 2's, but I'm not into laser mining, and the 1D's do the job I need them for in less than 40 seconds. I can live with that 😀
 
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