Spawn chance of metallic meteorite?

[Zing Freelancer]

As the title says, what is the spawn chance of metallic meteorite? I can't seem to be able to consistently find them, despite doing my best research on wave scanner and learning by experience the other sounds and wave patterns. It makes me feel like it takes 0 skill and 1000000% luck to come across a metallic meteorite signal. Which makes me kinda depressed.

Is there anyone out there who can land on a planet and consistently find metallic meteorite's?

 

[Dommarraa]

No. They are random.
If I was on my PC, I could give you a link to a vast amount of prospecting data that proves there is no magic place where the number is significantly higher. Near craters is slightly better, but you travel so slowly, you actually find a lot less

 

[Morbad]

Anecdotally, I seem to find them noticeably more frequently near clusters of craters...not in them, but around the outside of them, presumably as ejecta.

Shouldn't be travelling much slower around most craters than anywhere else as it's not hard to find craters with relatively smooth terrain around them.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

Here's a fun anecdote for you. Metallic Meteorites are a pain for me too, usually. I just went out to farm Sulphur for G1 rails... 160 sulphur. I ran across so many metallic meteorites it wasn't funny. Even ran across a group of five of them full of all kinds of good stuff.

Last landable planet in Kuk, if you want to go drive around there.

 

[racer1]

I tend to go for in/around craters because of the data already mentioned.

It just seems random though TBH. Ice moon, metal rich, metallic or rocky I don't see any noticeable difference.

These days I'll target a gas giant with loads of landable moons just because it is easy to scan them.

I tend to go for all the mesoderite and metallic meteorites on the scanner and then relog I'm afraid...

 

[Aashenfox]

There's no need to relog, just pick a direction and keep going. I have had a good deal of success with landing near the central mountains in large craters, doing a quick scan around, then picking a direction (compass direction, numbers at top of hud) and sticking to it, chasing only gold outcrops (large wave, mid-spaced twin bands, hard to differentiate from chondrites, worth checking usually if you aren't sure), mesosiderites (small wave single band), and metallic metorites (small wave widely spaced twin bands). I wouldn't be surprised if the node spawns share some code with the USS spawns, in that as you go, they will be randomly created, seems to be what happens for me. Using this method and given enough TIME (I think this is important, you have to put the time in to increase the chances of a MM spawn), I always eventually run a cross a field of MMs, usually three, sometimes two. I've been trying morbad's method lately, not enough data to report back, but so far seems about the same (going around the outside edge of craters, particularly those with multiple overlapping craters).

 

[GunnerBill]

I would like to add that in my experience (reasonably extensive prospecting for jumponium mats to/from Beagle) that they always come in pairs.

I think all types of drop do but I've noticed it more with metallic meteorites.

 

[Julio Montega]

From my own recent experience
i feel that metallic stuff is more often found in rocky
areas near craters or mountains, had several double/triple spawns there.
But i have no data to prove on that.

In Elite all is slave to "procedural generation" a.k.a. RNGeesus.

 

[GG7]

No. They are random.
If I was on my PC, I could give you a link to a vast amount of prospecting data that proves there is no magic place where the number is significantly higher. Near craters is slightly better, but you travel so slowly, you actually find a lot less

They are random, but they are also planet specific in terms of how random they are. I have been in some systems and planets where they constitute a large number of the material sources that spawn on that planet.

In other cases they are no where to be found. With hundreds of explored planets under my belt since Horizons/Engineers came out, there is no doubt in my mind that these particular objects ARE planet specific in terms of quantity.

 

[JetsonRING]

How to prospect on surfaces:

(1) "Dismiss" your ship and choose a direction to travel (maybe write down the heading/direction). I try to stay on reasonably smooth, reasonably level ground. The perception is that materials spawn more often near crate rims and there may be something to that but going down into craters is often a waste of time even if there are mats down there.
(2) Drive in that direction, fairly quickly (15-20 m/sec) keeping an eye on the wave scanner for any signal.
(3) When a signal is spotted, drive quickly to the signal source and prospect it. It does not matter what it is, sources often lead you to other sources i.e.: When you find something the wave scanner will often show other things nearby.
(4) Follow the trail of breadcrumbs. Remember to go fairly fast. Driving slowly just wastes time.
(5) If the wave scanner is completely blank, return to your original course (you wrote it down, remember?) and drive quickly for 1 or 2 minutes, then turn a slow circle and watch the wave scanner.

In my experience, metallic meteorites are the rarest of sources however, often the material you are seeking can be spawned from other sources such as chondrites and mesosiderites. Just prospect everything. If you are looking for specific materials you can usually avoid the caches and bases. Those sources usually require you to fight skimmers to collect their canisters and the contents of the canisters while often valuable, are usually not what you are looking for. Also, keep the scanner zoomed all the way OUT so you can identify targets and bases from relatively far away. Often when you target something you find there are several targets on the scanner. o7