Great guide! Just started mining today and it was very helpful. I used my ASP since it's easy to store modules and transfer ships now. Kind of a waste of funds when I could use a transport but oh well. Haven't been chased yet, taking the advice of waiting for the first scan works well. The bin getting stuck issue is a little frustrating though. Having to go into the hold and hit it with a wrench is hard on the equipment.
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Guide / Tutorial The popular guide to mining.
- Thread starter Lance 'Spacecat' D.
- Start date
Thank you for this guide; you are now on my list of favourite cats of space, alone with Jonesy and that cat from the old Disney movies. I built a vessel using your Asp build and have finally gotten out mining in pursuit of Engineer goodies and the chance to test out a new trade. I kind of like it.
I was messing with the hardpoint loadout, is it overkill to have this setup? I also need to find some A-rated controllers, there were only B's in my last few op zones. Is it worth it to upgrade or Engineer this ship past the build from the guide or would that be wasted credits?
I also see what you mean in the guide about a 9-bin setup being a sweet spot. Sometimes I've found strings of asteroids where I'm wasting things I could be processing due to poor prioritizing with a 6-bin. Also I thew away a big hork of samarium by accident when the venting priorities changed on me during processing. Overall though I find mining to be kind of zen.
I was messing with the hardpoint loadout, is it overkill to have this setup? I also need to find some A-rated controllers, there were only B's in my last few op zones. Is it worth it to upgrade or Engineer this ship past the build from the guide or would that be wasted credits?
I also see what you mean in the guide about a 9-bin setup being a sweet spot. Sometimes I've found strings of asteroids where I'm wasting things I could be processing due to poor prioritizing with a 6-bin. Also I thew away a big hork of samarium by accident when the venting priorities changed on me during processing. Overall though I find mining to be kind of zen.
Wait, you know the cat from that old Disney movie? 'The cat from outer space'? That's actually where I picked my nickname from, decades ago! (Yes, I've been Spacecat since 1993 or so) hah.
As for hardpoints for a mining Asp... I never got around to really test the darn thing, so I can't comment effectively. I -know- a 6A distributor, four pips to weapons and a pair of medium mining lasers is perfect since you can empty a 'roid in one volley... But no clue what one can do with a 4A on four pips.
I'd appreciate anyone telling me how many 'volleys' it takes with a 4A distributor. Say with setups of one med mining laser, one med and one small, or 2-3 smalls...
As for hardpoints for a mining Asp... I never got around to really test the darn thing, so I can't comment effectively. I -know- a 6A distributor, four pips to weapons and a pair of medium mining lasers is perfect since you can empty a 'roid in one volley... But no clue what one can do with a 4A on four pips.
I'd appreciate anyone telling me how many 'volleys' it takes with a 4A distributor. Say with setups of one med mining laser, one med and one small, or 2-3 smalls...
Hey great guide, i start it with these guides and some BH+missions now and then, i mostly mined my way to Anaconda (with type6, python and bit with FDS) and just tried my first mining operation with it last night, made an quite easy 12mil on approx 2h mining trip+20min flying around finding best prices for 50 painite.
Im wondering do Resource extraction sites have btter yielding rocks, is it worth to try mining those or is they only if one want to do mining with some piracy fighting along side? I guess i could just try it out now, since Anaconda can be fitted for both quite nicely.
Im wondering do Resource extraction sites have btter yielding rocks, is it worth to try mining those or is they only if one want to do mining with some piracy fighting along side? I guess i could just try it out now, since Anaconda can be fitted for both quite nicely.
12 mil with two hours mining? Well done!
And I couldn't tell you, I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to try those pirate-infested res sites. You tell me!
And I couldn't tell you, I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to try those pirate-infested res sites. You tell me!
Please forgive a really DS mining noob question....
Where the flip do I get limpets?
All I can find in Outfitting, is controllers.
Where the flip do I get limpets?
All I can find in Outfitting, is controllers.
You can get them in the "Restock" area of each station
...same area you restock your Heatsinks, Chaff, Limpets, & projectile weapon ammunition
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You can get them in the "Restock" area of each station
...same area you restock your Heatsinks, Chaff, Limpets, & projectile weapon ammunition
That's the Restock screen under Advanced Maintenance. If you are docked at an outpost that does not have the Restock service you can't buy limpets. It's also worth noting that you can't store a ship that has limpets in the cargo and either need to sell them from the same Restock screen or abandon them from your cargo hold before changing ship. They can be tricky little things but they're very useful.
Thanks.
I have to wonder why they buried it there, instead of putting it it someplace more obvious or not making it a part of Reload All.
Thanks for the heads up about the limpets.
I loaded up and went out to learn a bit about mining, using the mining guide.
Made a little under 200,000 Cr on my first haul, with a Type 6 rigged with some odd bits that I had left over from my first attempt at building a Cobra III mining ship and whatever my station had available.
Lessons:
I got a little fast and looped the planet, coming down into the ring on the sunset side of the ring - but I was so focused on mining I didn't realize it until after I had finished mining my first rock and it was pitch black.
I don't know if it was because I started mining on the dark side, but pirates never came by for a visit - has anyone mined the dark side and had pirates drop in? It would be interesting to find out if pirates tend to avoid jumping in on mining that is going on in the dark.
First I was a little worried about being on the dark side, but I soon figured out that if I held to the surface of the ring, and kept heading towards a lighter part of the sky I solved a few problems at the same time:
Originally I looked to try mining in a pristine ring listed in ED Utilities, but according to my galaxy map, there wasn't even a planet in that system and when I took my Cobra III to check it out, all I found was a star and otherwise empty space, so I just hung around my home system. Still, for what was supposedly a so-so ring I don't think I did to bad on my first try.
I planned ahead for pirates, and as soon as I got within visual distance of rocks, I plotted a hyper route to my systems nearest neighboring star and booked marked it, with the idea to hyper to it and then immediately double back to my home system. When I finished with mining I realized I really didn't want to plod some 7000 LS to the nearest station, so I used my escape plan, jumping to my neighboring star and then as soon as I cooled enough (~20 seconds) back to my home system, which left me only about ~700 LS ( some 2-3 minutes ) from my home station.
Questions:
If I find a particularly reliable spot, is there any way I can come back to it after taking a load in, or is it by complete chance?
What is the best way to deal with those odd lots in the refinery that don't make up a complete ton of material, once you are finished mining ( either because your cargo bay is full or you run out of collector limpets )?
I loaded up and went out to learn a bit about mining, using the mining guide.
Made a little under 200,000 Cr on my first haul, with a Type 6 rigged with some odd bits that I had left over from my first attempt at building a Cobra III mining ship and whatever my station had available.
Lessons:
I got a little fast and looped the planet, coming down into the ring on the sunset side of the ring - but I was so focused on mining I didn't realize it until after I had finished mining my first rock and it was pitch black.
I don't know if it was because I started mining on the dark side, but pirates never came by for a visit - has anyone mined the dark side and had pirates drop in? It would be interesting to find out if pirates tend to avoid jumping in on mining that is going on in the dark.
First I was a little worried about being on the dark side, but I soon figured out that if I held to the surface of the ring, and kept heading towards a lighter part of the sky I solved a few problems at the same time:
- I could see silhouettes of the rocks against the lighter parts of the sky.
- By continuously heading towards those silhouettes, against the lighter part of the sky, I also didn't double back on myself.
- With extra use of prospector limpets I would fire one towards towards a more distant silhouette and as soon as I could lock on to one I would engage my thrusters and follow it to a rock - it would typically get 1.5-3 km in front of me before attaching to a rock, and then I would have a course distance reading, and an idea what kind of spin the rock has. Once I was within 1km I would activate my mining lasers and slow down a little, as soon as my mining lasers would lock on, I would do a hard break and come to a stop. I would then observe for a bit to see if my mining lasers would stay locked on for the majority of the time if so I would start mining, if not I would edge a little closer.
- Helped to have a Prospector Limpet Controller that could handle 2 limpets ( I know it would normally cost more, but it's all that was available, and really came in handy to keep track of my route and occasionally use 2 prospecting limpets on the same rock to get a better idea of it's spin in the dark relative to my ship ).
Originally I looked to try mining in a pristine ring listed in ED Utilities, but according to my galaxy map, there wasn't even a planet in that system and when I took my Cobra III to check it out, all I found was a star and otherwise empty space, so I just hung around my home system. Still, for what was supposedly a so-so ring I don't think I did to bad on my first try.
I planned ahead for pirates, and as soon as I got within visual distance of rocks, I plotted a hyper route to my systems nearest neighboring star and booked marked it, with the idea to hyper to it and then immediately double back to my home system. When I finished with mining I realized I really didn't want to plod some 7000 LS to the nearest station, so I used my escape plan, jumping to my neighboring star and then as soon as I cooled enough (~20 seconds) back to my home system, which left me only about ~700 LS ( some 2-3 minutes ) from my home station.
Questions:
If I find a particularly reliable spot, is there any way I can come back to it after taking a load in, or is it by complete chance?
What is the best way to deal with those odd lots in the refinery that don't make up a complete ton of material, once you are finished mining ( either because your cargo bay is full or you run out of collector limpets )?
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Not sure about re-locating tasty specific spots but you can just vent out the partials from the refinery if you don't want them, same as when you need to clear out a blocked loader or re-prioritize your refinery. I usually leave stuff in there and vent it as needed onsite; plus I've been loathe to discard 9% of Low Temp Diamonds just yet.
Thanks for the guide. Things have changed since the last time I tried mining about 2 years ago. I'm in a T-6 out of Colonia - shame about only having 2 small hardpoints. Anyway, just a couple questions.
On my first trip out I was interdicted before even reaching the rings. I submitted, was only carrying limpets, and was attacked anyway. I thought that wasn't supposed to happen (?).
There were two gas giants with rings in the system. On the system map, neither one showed any detail about the rings. I did have the system data. I remember seeing ring details before, but I haven't really paid much attention for quite a while. They both had RES sites, so I'd expect to see either icy or rocky at the least (?).
One more. Is it realistic to only use 1 small mining laser with a T-6 and can you defend yourself with the other small hardpoint with a laser or missiles or something? It doesn't seem very feasible to me.
On my first trip out I was interdicted before even reaching the rings. I submitted, was only carrying limpets, and was attacked anyway. I thought that wasn't supposed to happen (?).
There were two gas giants with rings in the system. On the system map, neither one showed any detail about the rings. I did have the system data. I remember seeing ring details before, but I haven't really paid much attention for quite a while. They both had RES sites, so I'd expect to see either icy or rocky at the least (?).
One more
. Is it realistic to only use 1 small mining laser with a T-6 and can you defend yourself with the other small hardpoint with a laser or missiles or something? It doesn't seem very feasible to me.Sounds like you haven't scanned the planets with DSS, that should give you the ring details.
So scanning the nav beacon for the system info isn't good enough (or buying it)?
I guess I need to make room for a DSS.
And to be clear, the system map showed the rings, but didn't even list they were present on the info panel, let alone their composition or quality.
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Thanks for the guide. Things have changed since the last time I tried mining about 2 years ago. I'm in a T-6 out of Colonia - shame about only having 2 small hardpoints. Anyway, just a couple questions.
On my first trip out I was interdicted before even reaching the rings. I submitted, was only carrying limpets, and was attacked anyway. I thought that wasn't supposed to happen (?).
There were two gas giants with rings in the system. On the system map, neither one showed any detail about the rings. I did have the system data. I remember seeing ring details before, but I haven't really paid much attention for quite a while. They both had RES sites, so I'd expect to see either icy or rocky at the least (?).
One more
I have found that for me, it's easier to fight an interdiction, than to actually succeed at actually fighting with a T6, so arming it with only one small mining laser doesn't actually offer any benefits and only slows down the rate at which I can mine - YMMV.
So scanning the nav beacon for the system info isn't good enough (or buying it)?
I guess I need to make room for a DSS.
And to be clear, the system map showed the rings, but didn't even list they were present on the info panel, let alone their composition or quality.
I usually scout an area in my Cobra III, then once I have scanned everything, I bookmark the place I want to mine and just plot the route via the bookmarked location when coming back in my T6, that way I don't have to worry about carrying a scanner in my already limited spaced T6.
Yeah, I've found fighting interdictions very easy since clearing my save, but in this case it was either crash into the rings or submit. I also could have instantly boosted away, but I thought I'd be ignored with only limpets on board.
Anyway, I confirmed that the DSS does give the ring details, but if you are in an uninhabited system, you will also need a discovery scanner so you can select the planet to be surface scanned. Even if you fly right up to a planet that you spotted by eye, you still need the discovery scanner (stupid [sour]). Of course, if you can scan a nav beacon, or buy the system info, then you don't need the discovery scanner.
Rather than sacrificing 2 slots on the T-6, I think I'll follow your example and go scanning the area in something smaller.
I have noticed that even if I scout an uninhabited system with my Cobra III, after going back a time or two ( or at least the system I am currently mining ), it reverts back to Unexplored status, but since I have the particular planet bookmarked, I can fly right to it even though it's "Unexplored" - which is fine by me, I would just as soon keep it quiet anyway, my last haul was 1.2M Cr, with my Type 6 ( 2-3 more runs like that and I'll have an AspEx ).
So scanning the nav beacon for the system info isn't good enough (or buying it)?
I guess I need to make room for a DSS.
And to be clear, the system map showed the rings, but didn't even list they were present on the info panel, let alone their composition or quality.
I've never tried scanning the nav beacon so I don't know if that works and its a long time since I bought system info so I don't remember. All my ships carry ADS, even my FdL, and the systems I've mined in I've fully scanned with DSS first.
If you scan a system but don't cash the data at a station you will see the system as explored. If you lose a ship before cashing the data at a station it will revert to Unexplored (because you lose the data with the ship). Cashing the data makes it permanent for you and it should never revert to Unexplored (bugs have caused lost data before). i.e. it sounds like you lost a ship after scanning & mining but before cashing the data for that system.
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Actually I didn't.
I scanned the system with an IDS and found nothing (despite having a good tip). Once I did a few more missions, there was enough money to buy an ADS, so I completed what I needed to do in the previous area, and then headed to a new BoO, and made sure that the particular system was on my route, and made sure to scan every system on the way. Once I hit that system, I scanned it, and low and behold, there were all sorts of objects, and I spent another ~20 min checking everything out ( it was at this time that I bookmarked the planet in question ), and this was rinse repeat, until I got to my new BoO. I cashed everything in raking in an extra ~25,000-30,000 or so.
I had my mining ship transferred to my new OoB, and went out to mine. Everything was there when I went out to mine the first time, I came home cashed in, and went out again only this time everything was there but the labels were missing ( as if I never did a planetary scan ). This time I died, and after that I didn't have anything but the star. I could still jump in, I could still find my bookmarked planet, but absolutely nothing on my system map other than the star, and everything is marked 'Unexplored'.
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That's a weird bug, something similar happened to me in the NGC 752 area, but that's because I was exploring the area back around when 1.4 or 1.5 hit: There was a big problem with FDev's exploration servers...
-Those- I can fix by winging with someone else and they do a system scan, they 'refresh' my scan data that way and the system looks good, but in no other occasion have I 'lost' known data like Chopper's describing.
Oh and @Cliché, yeah, sometimes you'll meet a particularily murderous pirate that will want you dead regardless. It's just that -usually- they'll go after your cargo and ignore you if you carry nothing, but that's not a hard and fast rule. :/
-Those- I can fix by winging with someone else and they do a system scan, they 'refresh' my scan data that way and the system looks good, but in no other occasion have I 'lost' known data like Chopper's describing.
Oh and @Cliché, yeah, sometimes you'll meet a particularily murderous pirate that will want you dead regardless. It's just that -usually- they'll go after your cargo and ignore you if you carry nothing, but that's not a hard and fast rule. :/
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