You should
NOT have to give up VO Cores just because FDEV jacked up your PWS! If your PWS is truly broken, mine is meh, iffy, and still want VOs because LTDs, and anything else, pretty much blows, plus core mining is just a blast, literally.... Just look for the
Popcorn asteroids. I can spot them without a PWS now that I have done it enough, and you can too! So this is for anyone that might be a beginner or unsure. They will almost certainly have all three of the characteristics:
1. Slightly Icy
but not Overly Icy.
2. Will ALWAYS, IME, have at least one, but more often,
two little mountain bumps that plateau at the top with fissures smack in the middle of the plateau. Can't miss these!
3. Fissures. Look for the prominent spidery fissures, with their veins a greenish, nearly glowing, color of a green'ish hue.
Now, these could also be LTDs, so you may as well take 'em if you hit 'em. You should not have to stop VO mining just because FDEV messed up your PWS. Just look for the characteristics above, and pictured below, and Prospect that rock! Also, the VO cores are never, again in my experience, inside the field. They will always be at the edges of the ring. I have never seen a VO Core that was not either right on the ring's edge, or more common, no more than one asteroid back. I think they do this to give you a little room to get out of the way before detonation. Also, two last observations would be there's almost always a LARGE asteroid very close to the VO Core (more so after this break patch), but not always, and VO Cores tend to spin a little faster, than directly adjacent asteroids, umm, mostly. If they are spinning too fast, I usually pass 'em up, as trying to keep up with aiming at the fissures can be a little much, but if your ship and your flying is good, you should be fine. Don't let them take your money, just learn to "Read the Rocks". One thing I will say, that's about as bad as a jacked up PWS, is that FDEV has now tossed in (more) impostor Cores. You think you hit a Core, you're SURE this is a Core and nope, it's a dupe! I guess we just got to play their "game". Good luck! Hope this helps a new miner, that doesn't want to sit there and laser for chump change. And use your
Night Vision, helps with the fissure spotting.
