I'll Hate it - but - I'll do it...

Been playing ED since Jan 2015. And in all that time I've landed on a planet/moon once - jusst - once. Decided not for me.

The weather changes, the seasons change, the constellations change - even old farts like me change; all things change. There's materials I need to upgrade 2 of the 5 ships in my fleet to G5 FSD's that need arsenic and a few other upgrades (at least 3) that need technetium. Not in the mood and no longer have the patience to depend on getting what I need from missions, grave robbing or blowing up innocent traders in an anarchy system.

Which leaves planetary mining as the most viable solution. So - this old bounty hunter needs some info and some advice from you guys that are old hands at this type of thing.

1) How long can you drive an SRV around if you aren't a jackrabbit or in a big hurry to get somewhere? The indication on the right HUD shows .23H (i've always assumed that was a time measure) which would mean about 14 minutes which I can't believe can be right. So how about it. How long.

2) Other than the scanner on the ground are there clues that can be seen while flying around in one's ship close to the ground that would indicate minerals in the area so one can land close by? If so what are they?

Speak up guys and when I leave I'll buy a round of drinks for all on my way out of the Horny Mule Bar and Grill at Melnick Ring. OH... and mention my name to Marcy while yur there - she'll give ya a discount.
 
Head to Deciat 4 for arsenic, same system as the FSD upgrade. Fuel in the ship and SRV is given in tonnes per hour, you can shut down modules to reduce fuel flow, unlike in our ships, the throttle position in the SRV also dictates how fast you burn fuel, not that it matters, there is fuel on every planet for SRV's.

Have done thousands of Km's and never needed to worry about fuel.
 
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I got the majority of my mineral based materials while visiting Barnacle sites and Thargoid surface bases in the Pleiades. The spines that grow out of the ground around those places can be shot up for material pods.
 
Head to Deciat 4 for arsenic, same system as the FSD upgrade....

On that note, if you google "Elite where to find arsenic" you'll see a lot of results which suggest Deciat 7B as a good source.
Ignore this.
It might be correct but it fails to consider that the terrain on Deciat 7B is a complete and utter PITA to drive on.
Deciat 4 is much easier going.

Regarding SRV fuel, you just need to mix up Sulphur and Phosphorous to refuel your SRV so as long as you've got a few lumps of each, you can't go wrong.
And, if you haven't, they're two of the most common elements around so as soon as you deploy your SRV, and shoot some rocks, grab some Sulphur and Phosphorous and you'll be set.
 
1) For hours. For me, driving an SRV is as good as flying a ship. It is part of the game, gives good reward, when you plan to upgrade your ship and it is a welcome change to flying around during exploration...
2) Not yet, but advanced scanner mechanics have been announced for the Q4 update of the Elite Dangerous: Beyond series.

Keep them doggies rollin´

o7 CMDR
 
Been playing ED since Jan 2015. And in all that time I've landed on a planet/moon once - jusst - once. Decided not for me.
That's kind'a impressive in itself. :D

It's fun to drive around the SRV, if you have the right surface (not too rocky). Learning how to boost and use it to you advantage, and learn how to control the turret while driving.

1) How long can you drive an SRV around if you aren't a jackrabbit or in a big hurry to get somewhere? The indication on the right HUD shows .23H (i've always assumed that was a time measure) which would mean about 14 minutes which I can't believe can be right. So how about it. How long.
Haven't timed it, but I'm sure it's more than that. Also, if you're only out to get minerals and not combat with skimmers, turn of the shield. It doesn't help against bumps, scratches, and hull damage from rocks anyway, so it's just wasting fuel. Also, if you do run out of fuel, load up on the synthesis materials first, and if you have to do the premium refuel, do it, it lasts a lot longer.

2) Other than the scanner on the ground are there clues that can be seen while flying around in one's ship close to the ground that would indicate minerals in the area so one can land close by? If so what are they?
I don't know of any trick from the ship. This is something FDev should do, add some kind a aerial scanner for the ship. Usually, I go for the craters that look fairly smooth in the center so I can drive fast. It speeds up the hunt.

Happy hunting.
 
The types of materials that can be found on a moon is shown in the system map. The rarest and most exotic materials are usually meteorites, and the best place to find those are in the moon's craters.

Alternatively, you can always wait for the end of the beta. Just get yourself a mining rig and go ring mining. You should be able to swap any materials that you find for whatever you need at a Material Trader
 
1) How long can you drive an SRV around if you aren't a jackrabbit or in a big hurry to get somewhere? The indication on the right HUD shows .23H (i've always assumed that was a time measure) which would mean about 14 minutes which I can't believe can be right. So how about it. How long.

If I remember correctly it's not 0.23 hours it's 0.23 units of fuel per hour. Don't remember the size of the fuel tank though...
Anyway, you can drive for quite a long while. Generally my srv hull goes down much faster than my fuel tank. :D
 
I really hate all that boring grind stuff that comes with the Engineers, specially when the game seems to be designed to make it difficult, boring and, sometimes even near impossible to get certain mats... Sometimes I really wonder how anyone can think those activities can be funny from a gameplay perspective, and I do hope FD starts offering things that are fun and rewarding at the same time...

I've been engineering my Cutter for more than a month and I'm doing quite OK, but I've been, for example, forced to mine 500 tones of Ore, and I just never got too interested on mining...

Those kind of things, for me, are completely nonsense... there is no fun, no logic, and no reason for it, and I don't get the point of forcing the player to do something that he probably doesn't want...

Yet, I recognize that the effort is rewarding, as the results once your ship is engineered are something else entirely to the default ship specs....
 
On that note, if you google "Elite where to find arsenic" you'll see a lot of results which suggest Deciat 7B as a good source.
Ignore this.
It might be correct but it fails to consider that the terrain on Deciat 7B is a complete and utter PITA to drive on.
Deciat 4 is much easier going.

Regarding SRV fuel, you just need to mix up Sulphur and Phosphorous to refuel your SRV so as long as you've got a few lumps of each, you can't go wrong.
And, if you haven't, they're two of the most common elements around so as soon as you deploy your SRV, and shoot some rocks, grab some Sulphur and Phosphorous and you'll be set.

Phosphorous. I got 80 tonnes of the stuff if you want it! Just engineered a mod 5 shield for my cutter, thought it would take a while so I collected 100 tonnes of it, I guess I got lucky
 
1) How long can you drive an SRV around if you aren't a jackrabbit or in a big hurry to get somewhere? The indication on the right HUD shows .23H (i've always assumed that was a time measure) which would mean about 14 minutes which I can't believe can be right. So how about it. How long.

I believe it's best translated as "you will use 0.23 full-fuel-tanks per hour". Which would give you about 4 hours 20 minutes per tank. Which, in turn, should be plenty of time to find what you need, and (usually) find plenty of refueling mats to keep you going, in case you need more. Or in case you're off on some darn fool quest to circumnavigate a planet.

2) Other than the scanner on the ground are there clues that can be seen while flying around in one's ship close to the ground that would indicate minerals in the area so one can land close by? If so what are they?

Unless they have changed things since the last time I paid attention, mats-dropping rocks do not spawn until and unless you're in your SRV. You can;t see them while flying around in your ship, so there's no way to know for sure. There are some general rules-of-thumb people follow, such as: the rarest mats seem to be most probable in the vicinity of large impact crater walls. Note that this is also usually very rugged terrain, so driving around there and finding a flat spot to land your ship near there can be difficult.
 
Pick pristine systems for gathering, find ship wrecks, like orrerre 2b for cargo rack goodies, if your not ill disposed relog for rinse and repeat there.
 
You can find the arsenic you need within an hour on a planetoid listed with the higher percentage of the material on eddb.io
I would take it like a casual drive or walk through an interesting desert for a less-grindy attitude. You might even run into a surface poi and find some wreckage with a cache box of rare materials or data.
 
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