Mining lasers - pointless?

[barnett71]

Obviously when you first start the game as a miner you will need to use lasers but once you've got the new mining tools then the lasers just seem pointless

The only benefit I can see is to collect elements and that's it.

I do like the new mining system but I kind of miss the old ways too

 

[Deleted member 115407]

Obviously when you first start the game as a miner you will need to use lasers but once you've got the new mining tools then the lasers just seem pointless

The only benefit I can see is to collect elements and that's it.

I do like the new mining system but I kind of miss the old ways too

So use the old stuff. I do. Using it right now.

 

[fus roh potato]

Does anyone know if they can pull all the mats out listed in the surface scanner? That would be a major reason to use them if so.

 

[Stealthie]

There's nothing to deter you from continuing to use a mining laser, really, although they're obviously not the best source of credits.

Seems, to me, that mining is intended to be a "process" now.
You pick a 'roid, hit it with the shotguns to chip off surface ore, use the sub-surface doodads to deplete those veins of ore, then zap it with lasers to deplete the 'roid and then, if possible, nuke it to get even more ore.

My personal "routine" is to launch a bunch of collectors, use the shotguns to chip off surface ore and then just keep my finger on the laser trigger while I'm manoeuvring around the 'roid to line up my shots with the sub-surface doodad and the nukes.
Again, the stuff you generate with the lasers isn't the real prize but anything the lasers can generate is "free credits" and if you've got a refinery bin that's already, say, 90% full of something valuable the lasers can generate the fragments that'll be enough to take that to 100%.

It's kind of a shame that we've currently got this whole "ZOMG! VOID OPALS!!!!! BOOOMMMMM!!!!!!" frenzy going on 'cos it renders a lot of the (presumably) intended gameplay related to mining a bit redundant.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Not all, but any of the listed materials. May or May Not RNGesus bless you.

Here's the thing, you can use the abrasion blaster to strip surface deposits, followed by Sub-surface missiles to get the sub-surface stuff, then (actually you can do it either way) strip the rock with mining lasers, and finally detonate it, to get the absolute maximum yield from any given rock.

Of course, not ALL of these are options for every rocks, and yes, you can detonate and then laser-mine one of the large fragments the rock breaks into (all the pieces are still considered 1 rock for the purpose of laser-mining).

So if you REALLY want to maximize your yields, lasers are still viable.

They're also useful for Exploration craft as a means of gathering materials where there either are no landable planets, you have no SRV, or you just don't want to go rock-hounding.

 

[metatheurgist]

Yep. Not sure why the mining laser couldn't knock off resource nodes. It's called a mining laser.

 

[Ozram]

Yep. If you’re mining to get credits all you need are blasters (more the merrier so long as they’re in a close cluster) and charges (one will suffice) and dss. Go for Void Opals as nothing else sells for that price (over 1.6 million credits per unit). I’ve mined in a few ships now and have decided to stick with my Phantom but really the Asp is probably the most efficient mining ship in the game and the Cobra four is nice (can make 95+ million credits per run).

Only thing is now credits no longer have any meaning for me. The only choke point is materials grind. Kinda meh about it tbh but whatever. The act of mining is fun though. I like choosing a system, scanning the rings for Void Opal hotspots, then dropping in and searching for viable rocks to crack. It’s nice gameplay and probably the most fleshed out that FD has to offer.

 

[Vardaugas]

So, let's retire mining lasers and turn every rock into a collection of surface and sub surface deposits with the occasional material node. Asteroids showing up with the PWS merely have higher density fragments if they're not motherlodes.

 

[Stinja]

Not sure why the mining laser couldn't knock off resource nodes. It's called a mining laser.

Or why can't the mining laser dig a little hole-fissure for you to stick a seismic charge into any asteroid you find. It's called a mining laser.


Yeah they might not all have valuable cores, but it'd be fun just blowing them up.

I think the main point of mining lasers now is material gathering.

 

[Ozram]

Or why can't the mining laser dig a little hole-fissure for you to stick a seismic charge into any asteroid you find. It's called a mining laser.


Yeah they might not all have valuable cores, but it'd be fun just blowing them up.

I think the main point of mining lasers now is material gathering.

That would at least give it some meaning, but alas you can get more raw from 15 minutes in an srv than you can with 8 hrs with a mining laser.

Edit: It’d be great if the system allowed you to focus on mats so that missile that digs in for example, could be primarily a mats extractor and mining laser could continue with what it is, but the materials drop increase somewhat.

 

[Han Zulu]

Did my first mining in the new system today, and I used mining lasers on top of the other modules.

 

[Han Zulu]

Or why can't the mining laser dig a little hole-fissure for you to stick a seismic charge into any asteroid you find. It's called a mining laser.

Oh, that's a cool idea. Like it.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

although they're obviously not the best source of credits.

I'm not sure that's necessarily true.

Void Opals are 1.6M/tonne at best, and the other gems are less. Painite is close to 800k/tonne at best, though, which is still pretty good ... and with the right preparation I'm pretty sure you could mine Painite with mining lasers quite a bit more than twice as fast as blowing up rocks for Void Opals.

Based on the 3.2 mining rates with the old Painite prices, I'm pretty sure that properly optimised Painite mining (which is a lot tougher and higher skill than just poking around a ring with a laser hoping to get lucky) would be by far the fastest earner in the game.

 

[dm0815]

Painite and Low Temperature Diamonds can still be mined with those lasers. Having at least one wouldn't hurt.

 

[BL1P]

I'm not sure that's necessarily true.

Void Opals are 1.6M/tonne at best, and the other gems are less. Painite is close to 800k/tonne at best, though, which is still pretty good ... and with the right preparation I'm pretty sure you could mine Painite with mining lasers quite a bit more than twice as fast as blowing up rocks for Void Opals.

Based on the 3.2 mining rates with the old Painite prices, I'm pretty sure that properly optimised Painite mining (which is a lot tougher and higher skill than just poking around a ring with a laser hoping to get lucky) would be by far the fastest earner in the game.

Also that type of roid handwavium respawns every 2hrs.
So a good way is collect your cargo hold of mapped Painite and sell, then core mine for 2hrs then sell, then return to your mapped painite site.

repeat until mind goes numb !

 

[Red Anders]

So, let's retire mining lasers and turn every rock into a collection of surface and sub surface deposits with the occasional material node. Asteroids showing up with the PWS merely have higher density fragments if they're not motherlodes.

Let's not. They deliberately left the 'old-style' mining completely untouched when introducing the new stuff because they recognise that some players like it and will want to continue to do it. It can also be used in a complimentary way with the new tools to maximise yields, as was pointed out above painite (for example) is still valuable. There is no reason whatsoever to remove anything - if people just want to do 'new' mining, they can crack on and do it without needing to remove gameplay options for other players.

 

[Han Zulu]

Painite and Low Temperature Diamonds can still be mined with those lasers. Having at least one wouldn't hurt.

Agree.

I think it all depends on what kind of mining one is out to do. If it's for the big and quick "ka-ching" (credits ) then it's not necessary, but if you want to have a good time mining this-and-that and just not bother about time or how much you make per hour, then it's quite fun.

And another thought, for most of the new modules you have to either fly around with the rotation of the rock to blast and dig with the torpedoes, or you stay in one place and wait for the spots to come around. While waiting for them come back, you can keep on lasering the rock so the limpets have something to do.

 

[Han Zulu]

So, let's retire mining lasers and turn every rock into a collection of surface and sub surface deposits with the occasional material node. Asteroids showing up with the PWS merely have higher density fragments if they're not motherlodes.

99% of the rocks can't be mined with the new tools. The large majority of rocks won't glow by the scanner, and those won't have anything to harvest. All the other dull rocks can only be mined with the old laser. And the stuff you get from those relate to almost all mining missions. So to remove the old laser is to remove most mining missions and the market for them.

 

[Arkadi]

If minig missions would be a bit more worthwhile, mining laser would have theire niche maybe.

I used mininglasers to take samples to see what a random rock has. It saves you some limpets, you won't have to fire that many prospectors. It's only relevant if you are looking for particular ore's for missions. And missions could need a littel buff. Also mining missions should get material deposit abiltiy like trade missions have, so we can go on mining missions with smaller mining ships.

 

[Blackcompany]

Yep. Not sure why the mining laser couldn't knock off resource nodes. It's called a mining laser.

Exactly. The mining laser should both abrade, with single blasts. and mine subsurface deposits, with focused fire.

The only reason for the new modules, was to fill hard points and force early players to need a second ship or extra time swapping loadouts.