Quick question about Prospector Controllers...

[Stealthie]

If I fit 2x 1A Prospector Controllers, will they operate like a 3A module - allowing me to launch TWO prospector limpets before the first one carks it?

I have an AspX mining ship with a 3A Prospector and a 2A Refinery.
With the extra, new, slot, I figure I might be able to upgrade to a 3A Refinery and then fit a pair of 1A Prospectors in the vacant C1/C2 slots - as long as the Prospectors WILL work in tandem.

 

[Watcher]

If I fit 2x 1A Prospector Controllers, will they operate like a 3A module - allowing me to launch TWO prospector limpets before the first one carks it?

I have an AspX mining ship with a 3A Prospector and a 2A Refinery.
With the extra, new, slot, I figure I might be able to upgrade to a 3A Refinery and then fit a pair of 1A Prospectors in the vacant C1/C2 slots - as long as the Prospectors WILL work in tandem.

Yes, limpet controllers stack.
More accurately I know they stack for collector limpets having done this myself recently. From less recent memory I think the prospectors stack but I've not done that for a while so I may be mis-remembering or now be wrong after subsequent updates. I think it'll be fine though...

Maybe worth just giving it a go and reporting back?

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

I think so, but I guess you need to assign each controller to a different fire button or you will shoot 2 limpets on the same asteroids....

 

[Stealthie]

I think so, but I guess you need to assign each controller to a different fire button or you will shoot 2 limpets on the same asteroids....

Close but no cigar.

Turns out they won't really work together - in tandem - cos your ship always fires from the same controller unless you fire two limpets in quick succession.
You launch a prospector and it fires from controller #1, it tags a 'roid, you then launch another prospector and it'll also fire from controller #1 - thus causing the first prospector to expire.

The game really needs to be set up to automatically alternate between all the controllers you have fitted for this to work.

You can sort of work around this by having controller #1 in one FG and controller #2 in another FG and then switching between FGs after firing each prospector but that's a bit of a faff.

Shame really.
I could make it work by putting the controllers in different FGs (or on different triggers) but that'd just lead to swearing when I forget to switch FG between shots and it'd lead to even more swearing when I'm flying a different mining ship and I reflexively switch FG and fire a seizmic charge when I meant to fire another prospector.

Think I'll just stick the 3A Prospector back in and then try to think of something else to bung in the extra slot.

 

[Watcher]

That's a shame..
It also seems a little odd, the limpet collector controllers do cycle in this way (as far as I can tell) so it might be some sort of bug associated with the prospector controller set up, perhaps worth reporting as such?

 

[Watcher]

I can also bang the universal limpet controller drum again...
Make limpets ammo, give everyone a short range, short duration, one limpet per job (and possibly one job) universal controller.
Keep modules but these basically then boost stats for limpets operating in a particular capacity - so a prospector controller would add range, duration and number allowed at the same time - possibly also ammo.

Your limpet control profile is then effectively another set of ship stats and you can do fun things like giving certain ships better default performance in certain categories to help ship role specialisation. You don't get locked out of certain gameplay areas entirely for lack of kit but are still rewarded for using limpet modules to further specialise your ship as this significantly boost performance in the given area.

 

[Sea_Kerman]

Why do you need to be able to prospect 2 rocks at once? I never fit anything over a 1A.

 

[Stealthie]

Why do you need to be able to prospect 2 rocks at once? I never fit anything over a 1A.

Just 'cos it means I can keep tabs on two 'roids at the same time.
If I find, say, one core 'roid and there's another likely 'roid near it I can prospect the 2nd one without losing track of the first one.


Thinking about it some more, this might actually turn out to be useful if I work it into ALL my mining ships.

Fitting 2x 1A Prospectors and then setting each one in a separate FG means I can switch to Controller #1, fire off Prospectors until I tag something valuable and then I can switch FGs to Controller #2 and fire off a whole bunch more Prospectors without ever having to worry that I'm going to lose track of the 'roid I tagged with Controller #1.

That actually makes Prospecting more flexible, overall.

 

[Sea_Kerman]

I have never encountered a situation where two core rocks were close enough that a prospector wouldn’t go out of range.

 

[Stealthie]

I have never encountered a situation where two core rocks were close enough that a prospector wouldn’t go out of range.

It's fairly rare but it does happen.
I've also (rather embarrassingly) had situations where I've tagged DC 'roid, found another one (thus causing the first Prospector to expire), mined the 2nd one and then not been able to locate the 1st one again.

It's probably more useful if you're just laser-mining though.
You fire off a Prospector, find a 'roid that's full of, say, Painite and then you can switch to the other Prospector and fire off a few more limpets at nearby 'roids without worrying that doing so will cause the first Prospector to expire.

Just need to have a look at my other mining ships now, and see if they can all be set-up in the same way.
I do like stuff to work consistently from ship to ship.

 

[Retropolitan]

I could make it work by putting the controllers in different FGs (or on different triggers) but that'd just lead to swearing when I forget to switch FG between shots and it'd lead to even more swearing when I'm flying a different mining ship and I reflexively switch FG and fire a seizmic charge when I meant to fire another prospector.

And yet - as was said above - that's the only way it can work.

When you map two lasers to a fire button your ship doesn't fire just one of them each time you press the button; it fires them both. If you want to use two limpet controllers separately you have to map them to different buttons or put them in different fire groups.

 

[Sea_Kerman]

I find the slots too valuable. I could be using that for more collectors or cargo.

 

[Stealthie]

And yet - as was said above - that's the only way it can work.

When you map two lasers to a fire button your ship doesn't fire just one of them each time you press the button; it fires them both. If you want to use two limpet controllers separately you have to map them to different buttons or put them in different fire groups.

This is wrong.

When you have multiple limpet controllers bound to the same fire-button, you simply launch ONE limpet from the first available controller with one press of the fire-button.
A 2nd press of the fire-button will either launch another limpet from the same controller, if it's finished the launch cycle of the first limpet, or it'll launch a limpet from the next available controller.

Think about it.
If you have something like an Annie or T10 with multiple Collector Controllers bound to the same fire button, in the same FG, does it launch half a dozen limpets when you pull the trigger?
Nope.
It launches one limpet with each trigger-press.

 

[Retropolitan]

You've said that you want to fire one limpet from controller A, then one from controller B. If that's what you want, map them to different buttons.

 

[Stealthie]

You've said that you want to fire one limpet from controller A, then one from controller B. If that's what you want, map them to different buttons.

Well, yes.

Originally I was hoping they'd work sequentially, automatically, to replicate the function of a 3A controller.

As I said, if I want to manually control which one is in use I can use different triggers or FGs.

 

[Stealthie]

I find the slots too valuable. I could be using that for more collectors or cargo.

Normally I'd agree but, TBH, my mining ships already work in a way that suits me so there's nothing glaringly obvious I could fit to them to improve them.
I mean, I could bung in a HRP or an AMFU or whatever but, thinking about it, I kind of like the benefit an extra Prospector might provide.

 

[Dragoon0123]

Yup, I had a situation where I was a dedicated prospector for a group. I could prospect 10 rocks at once. I hadn't considered having one prospector controller only for valuable rocks I'd found. That's a great idea Stealthie!

 

[Stealthie]

Yup, I had a situation where I was a dedicated prospector for a group. I could prospect 10 rocks at once. I hadn't considered having one prospector controller only for valuable rocks I'd found. That's a great idea Stealthie!

Yep, that's what I mean.

You can keep firing with one Prospector until you tag a valuable roid then switch to the 2nd one without worrying that you're going to cause the original limpet to expire.

It's not a huge deal for a lone miner but it'd probably be especially useful if you're scouting for a group.

 

[lomac]

I have never encountered a situation where two core rocks were close enough that a prospector wouldn’t go out of range.

I actually have on 2 separate occasions. I was worried that somehow the 2nd prospector might expire and "spoil" the asteroid before I could finish mining the 1st core. Worked out fine. I wouldn't bother with 2 separate controllers though.

I'm using a python for core mining, it's great because I can fight off pirates instead of running, I have plenty of cargo space, and it's quite fast and maneuverable.

Here's my mining/pirate defense build
114mil is not bad, I don't know if that uses the 15% discount. That's like 1-2 hrs core mining.

So far so good, very satisfying to be able to go kill the pirates who zone in with me to a hotspot instead of running from them.

 

[Dragoon0123]

A second prospector isn't as helpful for a core mining rig for sure. The pulse wave scanner thingy helps you locate the rocks.

However for laser mining, launching prospectors at multiple rocks is how you go about quickly finding good ones to mine. A second prospector can be more helpful in that situation than another collector for reducing how long it takes to fill your hold.