Mining for Gold

[D.D.Hariman]

Putting this here because it is a broad category and I have a broad set of questions. I am working on the UNLOCK of LEI CHEUNG to take my DSS to G5.
I am currently at Wyrd having completed a 4A G5 PD / the capacitors. I have 9 more trades to make for the unlock so I am planning a Python mining build with a lot of range and 202 cargo space in the 10 bay refinery in full and go out past 250 ly so I can mine in peace and quiet where the NPC pirates are never to be seen.

Since this will not be CORE mining I see no reason to take the stuff for that.
Just a couple 2D mining lasers, some collectors and the controller.
Is the PWA of any value?
Is a prospector controller of any value?
Should I look for metal rich asteroid belts?
Should I look for Metal Rich planetary rings?

 

[Vedmo]

Is the PWA of any value?

Only for deep core mining.

Is a prospector controller of any value?

Definitely, prospecting a rock will not only tell you what is in it, but will also greatly increase the yield you get from mining it.

Should I look for Metal Rich planetary rings?

I'd be looking for Metallic rings rather than Metal Rich for gold. Pristine metallic to be specific, but if you are far out everything will probably be pristine.

Edit: you can mine asteroid belts, but I've no expertise in that. I'm assuming from the lack of anyone ever talking about mining them, rings are better.

 

[D.D.Hariman]

Only for deep core mining.
Definitely, prospecting a rock will not only tell you what is in it, but will also greatly increase the yield you get from mining it.
I'd be looking for Metallic rings rather than Metal Rich for gold. Pristine metallic to be specific, but if you are far out everything will probably be pristine.
Edit: you can mine asteroid belts, but I've no expertise in that. I'm assuming from the lack of anyone ever talking about mining them, rings are better.

Ok. Metallic planetary rings are a lot less common that asteroid belts but I found one that should be about 250 ly out from the bubble so there shouldn't be any pirates.
I need 7 more trades to get the unlock so I will start the trip set for most economical, civilization human, buy a bit of junk, trade it in for a different bit of junk and repeat until unlocked.
The set for fastest , unknown/not visited and see about collecting exploration data till I hit the last place I can buy limpets at on the edge of the bubble. Since the PSW won't be available, I will take extra limpets so I can prospect everything.
Load limpets and continue collecting exploration till I reach the mining location and settle in for a few days of leisurely quiet mining.
When full, head for LEI CHEUNG at max speed and pay him off.

 

[D.D.Hariman]

Ok. I have the LEI CHEUNG invitation.
I am at Caucuma waiting for all my modules to arrive to fit out my Gold Mining Python.

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

coriolis.io

Then I will head out to WERDGUIA KD-Z C27-22 and drop into a Metallic Ring and see what happens.

I am also thinking of stopping at a metallic asteroid field just to see what that is like.

These are places I flagged when I was exploring because I wanted to keep track of places to mine later. Now is later.

I will be in a 2 ship wing, in PG, both fitted the same.

Unless the DEV's have made a major change since the last time I was out in the black mining, I won't see any pirates on the way out or while I am there, BUT I will likely have to fight off interdiction every other jump for the last 400 LY of the trip from there to Laksak to pay off LEI CHEUNG because the game cheats and even though I will be in SC the whole 500+ LY, the pirates will know I have a load of gold and they will want it.
While I am pretty sure I can beat the interdiction's, I am taking some weapons and defensive stuff on the off chance I do lose one (A change in the last update seems to make some of the NPC's start the interdiction and then send the warning/threat meaning I sometimes have to fight the interdiction at some throttle setting above 5% where beating them is easy.) and I need to keep the pirate busying while I get back into SC.

 

[Jethro49]

Edit: you can mine asteroid belts, but I've no expertise in that. I'm assuming from the lack of anyone ever talking about mining them, rings are better.

A cluster of asteroids in a belt contains only a few asteroids (less than a dozen IIRC). So that's for a very short mining session...

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Putting this here because it is a broad category and I have a broad set of questions. I am working on the UNLOCK of LEI CHEUNG to take my DSS to G5.

Question to which I assume there's an obvious answer ... why not just buy the gold he wants?

Or are you using this as an opportunity to qualify with Selene Jean as well?

 

[D.D.Hariman]

Or are you using this as an opportunity to qualify with Selene Jean as well?

One must always plan ahead. I think that is why some people see some of the stuff as "grinding". They take an easy path and then find out they put themselves into a "grind".
Selene Jean doesn't have anything I want, but Bill Turner does.
That said,, It isn't clear to me that I can get her invite doing this since I have already mined nearly 1000 tons of core materials and don't have the invite. Then there is the issue of can I even get her unlocked without going down the Todd "The Blaster" engineering path?

 

[D.D.Hariman]

Well.. Pretty sure I should have left with my hold completely full of limpets.
Total between the two ships at start 300 limpets. 27 Prospectors. 2 body's with gold. 6 collector limpets. 7 tons of gold.
BUT. I think the ones with gold are going to have a particular "look" since the first two looked the same.
Also the ring I am in appears to have both nickel and iron so if I have to, I think I could synthesize limpets and replenish that materials faster than I would be using them.
I could be here for a while.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

That said,, It isn't clear to me that I can get her invite doing this since I have already mined nearly 1000 tons of core materials and don't have the invite. Then there is the issue of can I even get her unlocked without going down the Todd "The Blaster" engineering path?

Correct - you won't get the invite from Jean until McQuinn tells you that she exists. But if you've already mined 1000 tons of core materials, you should get the invite immediately when he does.

 

[Kimosabe_X]

Btw why do you want to go that far away from the bubble ? Drop into any pristine metallic ring far away from any RES, wait for the usual pirate or authority ship(s) to drop in on you, let them scan you and wait for them to vanish. After that you won't be harrased again, unless you're leaving the ring, e.g. log out, enter SC and return, things like that...

There are quite a few suitable systems in the vicinity of Mr. Lei Chungs base and you don't have to jump that much with a hold full of gold...

 

[D.D.Hariman]

Btw why do you want to go that far away from the bubble ? Drop into any pristine metallic ring far away from any RES, wait for the usual pirate or authority ship(s) to drop in on you, let them scan you and wait for them to vanish. After that you won't be harrased again, unless you're leaving the ring, e.g. log out, enter SC and return, things like that...

There are quite a few suitable systems in the vicinity of Mr. Lei Chungs base and you don't have to jump that much with a hold full of gold...

Do you actually think anyone in their right mind would try to mine 202 tons of anything in one session??
I go out of the bubble so I never see a pirate or any other NPC. This lets me never need to have to try and escape.

 

[D.D.Hariman]

Correct - you won't get the invite from Jean until McQuinn tells you that she exists. But if you've already mined 1000 tons of core materials, you should get the invite immediately when he does.

Well then, I will probably never get the invite since I have no desire to spend days and weeks engineering a ship to do combat with since even though the new people are told they can make 1M CR per hour in their bright shiny new sidewinder by going into RES and taking pot shots at bad guys,,,, I have been told that I wouldn't survive long enough in this >>>> https://coriolis.io/outfit/python?c...BUIEsC2AHApgJzQEMAbAfQGMBXAF2vwggEYBOVxVKIA== <<< to be able to get "The Blaster" unlocked.

 

[Kimosabe_X]

Do you actually think anyone in their right mind would try to mine 202 tons of anything in one session??
I go out of the bubble so I never see a pirate or any other NPC. This lets me never need to have to try and escape.

Uhmm... well... why not ?
But if one stays next door to Mr.Lei Chung there would't be the need to do it all at once, just making a partial delivery.

However, each to his/hers own, just do it like you like it best

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Well then, I will probably never get the invite since I have no desire to spend days and weeks engineering a ship to do combat with since even though the new people are told they can make 1M CR per hour in their bright shiny new sidewinder by going into RES and taking pot shots at bad guys,,,, I have been told that I wouldn't survive long enough in this >>>> https://coriolis.io/outfit/python?c...BUIEsC2AHApgJzQEMAbAfQGMBXAF2vwggEYBOVxVKIA== <<< to be able to get "The Blaster" unlocked.

Whoever's telling you that ship isn't good enough is talking rubbish, or is so used to relying on their engineered death machine to win low RES battles they've forgotten that it's not actually necessary. McQuinn is designed as an engineer for beginners: obviously he can't require an engineered ship to unlock.

For some of the high-end combat engineers who require CZ bonds, sure, it might not be up to it. For basic bounty hunting that should be fine (you might swap a couple of the multicannons for pulse lasers, to get through their shields quicker, but it won't make much difference against the weaker pirates).

McQuinn has incredibly small unlock requirements - you need to get a small number of bounties (which can be of harmless wanted sidewinders or similar - stick an interdictor on and grab them out of supercruise, or hang around a low RES for a bit and help the cops overpower the pirates) to get the invite, and then hand in 100,000 credits of bounties (the ten you need to get the invite is probably enough) to get full access.

 

[D.D.Hariman]

Whoever's telling you that ship isn't good enough is talking rubbish, or is so used to relying on their engineered death machine to win low RES battles they've forgotten that it's not actually necessary. McQuinn is designed as an engineer for beginners: obviously he can't require an engineered ship to unlock.

In this thread >>>>> https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/unlocking-juri-ishmaak.539471/unread < < I got told repeatedly that ALL the NPC's in ALL CZ's would have major Engineering mods and that the Python wouldn't last long enough to get the stuff I needed to get the unlock.

My original point exactly.

But, I have committed to a different path to get the DSS upgraded.

Kimosabe_X However, each to his/hers own, just do it like you like it

By doing the way I am I will collect another 1st Discovery for a system with 8 planets

 

[Bigmaec]

In this thread >>>>> https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/unlocking-juri-ishmaak.539471/unread < < I got told repeatedly that ALL the NPC's in ALL CZ's would have major Engineering mods and that the Python wouldn't last long enough to get the stuff I needed to get the unlock.

My original point exactly.

But, I have committed to a different path to get the DSS upgraded.


By doing the way I am I will collect another 1st Discovery for a system with 8 planets

You linked another ship first, one with significantly less hull. I guess that was a misunderstanding, at least on my side.

 

[uncle bulgaria]

Just buy it unless you’re short of cash. If you are and you have to mine as you can’t afford it then mine painite as it’s worth much more then buy the gold and enjoy a pocket full of leftover cash to spend on toys

Gold galactic average is about 8-9000/tonne so you’re looking at less than 2m to buy it. Mining 200 tonnes will take quite a while (even with a python it’s two sessions) so if you have to go this way mine something much more valuable and buy the gold with the proceeds

 

[Just Call Me Dave]

In this thread >>>>> https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/unlocking-juri-ishmaak.539471/unread < < I got told repeatedly that ALL the NPC's in ALL CZ's would have major Engineering mods and that the Python wouldn't last long enough to get the stuff I needed to get the unlock.

My original point exactly.

But, I have committed to a different path to get the DSS upgraded.


By doing the way I am I will collect another 1st Discovery for a system with 8 planets

You keep conflating RES and CZ, they are different. Low/Med/high RES have un-engineered NPC's and system security; you collect bounties. CZ have engineered NPCs and you collect Combat Bonds. They are not the same, you should stop saying that people are giving you misinformation when you are the one (deliberately at this point, it seems) spreading untruths.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

I got told repeatedly that ALL the NPC's in ALL CZ's would have major Engineering mods and that the Python wouldn't last long enough to get the stuff I needed to get the unlock.

For a Combat Zone (CZ) to get combat bonds that's true - unlocking Juri Ishmaak or Bris Dekker with that ship would be very tricky, as CZs are supposed to be some of the toughest NPCs in the game. Regardless of your ship you don't want to go in there without practicing on weaker NPCs first.

However, Combat Zones aren't relevant here. McQuinn wants bounty vouchers rather than combat bonds, which aren't available in CZs, and instead are available generally from pirate or smuggler ships elsewhere.

Those ships are much weaker both on attack and defense than the military-spec ships in a CZ, and you additionally get assistance in most cases from the system authority ships which add a lot of extra firepower to your side. In the Low, normal and High RES the system authority NPCs can take out the wanted pirates without your help at all, so you can help them out (and get bounty vouchers for McQuinn) with minimal risk to your own ship. RES also have the advantage that so long as you don't carry cargo nothing will attack you unless you shoot it or its wingmate first, unlike a CZ where they'll take first strikes, so you can control what you're fighting a lot better: looks too tough for you? Wait for the police to soften it up first, then help finish it off after they've done most of the work.

 

[WeComeInPeace]

When I started mining, I used to travel far from the bub to find a good ring safe from pirates. Then I learned how to kill them, which led me to mining closer to where I wanted to sell. Finding a good system with a well paying market and a good ring can be a fun challenge, but it disappears quickly again.

My point is that when you finish mining and rush to sell, the pirates used to be sneaky and wait for me in the system where I planned to sell anyhows. Of course, staying in the ring, and relogging after a break will bring them back, but if you mine closer to the system, the "running" used to be more or less the same.

On the other hand, going far away to mine was also something special. Sometimes NPC pirates popped up rather far away from home, adding to the excitement back then. I used to be a pacifist, but once you get a hang of it "I am the law" can be quite entertaining as well, especially after having lost a cargo or two. Mining teaches you a lot of handling, so most miners are better at combat than they think. Once I started hitting back, I was slightly disappointed that the NPC pirates blew up so quickly. Then you can start considering bringing less guns, to up the ante.