Question about collector drones
- Thread starter Cola_BH
- Start date
I think it works like this but others can correct me if i'm wrong. If you target a fragment the drone will collect only that fragment. If you don't target anything the drone will go around and collect fragments that are in range.
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I dont have acces to beta so any info is apriciated.Would like to hear something about collectors from someone in beta(If you are not in beta) Anyway would highly apriciate if someone could test it.
I'm in the beta and pretty sure that's how it works from what I've read of other player experiences in the beta. I tried to do a quick bit of mining with drones before bed last night but I forgot to reload the drone collector before setting off 
The Drone control module comes in different flavours ie the lifespan of the drone is longer, the better the module you buy, the best been able to use more drones.
If you target an object and cargo scoop is open it will just collect the one item, and expire.
If you just lanch a limpet drone, it will gather the mined fragments and keep going till either the hopper is full, or it expires.
One drone is enough I think, due to managing the refinery, pretty good and quite fast they are.
If you target an object and cargo scoop is open it will just collect the one item, and expire.
If you just lanch a limpet drone, it will gather the mined fragments and keep going till either the hopper is full, or it expires.
One drone is enough I think, due to managing the refinery, pretty good and quite fast they are.
Do they only collect fragments, or could you, for instance, drop one while in a Weak Signal Source to grab all the cargo canisters?
The way prospectors have been working for me is that you fire one drone at a rock, then it sticks to it, and you can select the drone as a target which show the percentages of the rock content. Useless really! If you don't aim it at a rock, it just flies off in a straight line until expiring.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
As I understand it, prospector drones are for finding the best rocks to mine, and collector drones are for helping with the actual mining process.
Yes, but it's almost as quick to prospect using your mining laser.
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Testing mining ATM assuming I can find any drones! but the other issue is that smaller ships (sub Cobra size) will run out of internal slots as survey drones take up a slot as do collection drones so including the refinery you've used up three and you'll need at least one more for refined ore. It's workable on a Cobra although cargo capacity is limited an Asp would be better suited but that's an expensive ship for casual mining.
But now you can mark the asteroids that have really juicy stuff, while you go look for more.
The prospectors will give you composition data for a rock which is much further away than your mining laser will reach - but only if you can hit the target rock with your drone from that distance.
The collectors fetch anything within their range (until they expire), unless you target a particular object when you fire the drone, when it will fetch that particular object and then expire.
It is not much better than 1.2. You just spend your time fiddling with different things.
The new mining concepts are fine but I believe the execution has some flaws, in my earlier post I couldn't find any drones that was because I assumed that being "ammo" you could like other ammo types load up a full magazine (40 - 50?) and come back when they were expended.
Unfortunately they take up cargo space and the Diamondback I was using had no cargo slots with the refinery and drone controllers installed so that explains the inability to load up on drones doh!, it does however limit the ships that can use these new systems a Cobra is barely usable as it has at best 20 cargo spaces available so at most 10 drones (4 survey and 6 collection), it looks like an Asp would be an entry level miner with drone capability (20 drones + 50 cargo).
To me a better approach would be reusable drones for both controller types, at least two for entry level controllers with more better spec drones on the higher end ones, they'd be destructible, subject to wear and tear and non repairable so would eventually have to be replaced but would be stowed in the controller modules and not in general cargo slots.
Unfortunately they take up cargo space and the Diamondback I was using had no cargo slots with the refinery and drone controllers installed so that explains the inability to load up on drones doh!, it does however limit the ships that can use these new systems a Cobra is barely usable as it has at best 20 cargo spaces available so at most 10 drones (4 survey and 6 collection), it looks like an Asp would be an entry level miner with drone capability (20 drones + 50 cargo).
To me a better approach would be reusable drones for both controller types, at least two for entry level controllers with more better spec drones on the higher end ones, they'd be destructible, subject to wear and tear and non repairable so would eventually have to be replaced but would be stowed in the controller modules and not in general cargo slots.