Newcomer / Intro There must be a quicker way to get Tritium

[Red Anders]

Or it could be me that is terrible at mining - Just started doing it (and not liking it). Sounds like I need a bigger ship to fit more collector limpet controllers.

The Python is fine for mining - the key is to use one for just mining and only have mining gear. Especially for mining tritium in the middle of nowhere, which is about as low-risk an activity as you can do in the game. When I said ideally 8 collectors, that's what I use on my mining Python. The aim is to fill your hold quickly, how much you can actually collect in any one session isn't really important. I don't have a fuel scoop (I don't need it for making one or two jumps to a mining location and back) and I don't have a shield (nothing is going to shoot at me) which leaves plenty of room for cargo racks even with more collectors.

If you're new to mining completely then yeah, that's also going to be a factor and you do get more efficient with practice for sure but filling anything with just three collector limpets out is a drag, which probably won't be helping with giving you a negative impression of the activity.

End of the day though, a lot of people just can't stand it and you might be one of them, in which case stocking up at stations is probably your best option.

 

[Codger]

There must be a quicker way to collect tritium.

Out in the black you're kinda stuck. What I do is make money first, in the bubble, by mining or other means, and then buy enough Tritium for my exploration trips.

Mining Tritium is dead slow. I'd rather mine platinum, sell it, and buy the tritium. I'd get 5 times as much for the same mining effort.

But if you're already out in the black and have to mine it, well...enjoy

 

[Teiri]

As others said, your setup is not ideal, but main thing is that you shouldn't be mining Tritim unless absolutely necessary, ye, as it's too long. Regarding setup, i'd install a newly available Multi Limpet Controller and purpose it as all Collectors (it's C class, so don't prospect with it) - that's 3 size for extra 4 collectors, + 3A Prospector, + 2*5A Collectors. 3*medium class lazers for a Python, 7A Distributor as others mentioned, Refinery up to preference and depending on what you mine. That'll make a great miner from a Python and for the case you need to mine anything (Python is surely fine mining ship, some like other/bigger ships more for mining, but i doubt someone will say Python isn't good).

And be back to the Bubble to stock up. 50k is ok station price for Tritium, you either load yourself, either put a 70-80k order and preferably sync with Inara or EDDB, that'll work. That'll also work without sync, if you don't want to dig into that, but may take a couple of days (or weeks). Can spend this time to get more ships to your fleet for example, don't you want smth small for Exo Bio and Planetary Ops, or a Core Miner for example? And you also apparently need some hauler - as you have a carrier - preferably with 700 tons - Cutter or T9, even if you don't haul, you need that at least to transfer fuel from your carrier's cargo.

Got also to have credits for that, 0.5b per 10k tons at least. Oh and i agree on subsurface, and your Python can equip 2*medium, 2*small mining lasers + a 2B missile - and then you gather all subsurface on your way too. Also + for no shield, no scoop - miner mines, if you're uncomfortable without a shield, put a little HRP (therefore wasting size 2 in place of size 3 compartment for the shield) or a better armor - even 1k integrity for collisions and things like that is fine.

Then, with 10-20k Tritium in your hold and a faster miner for the case when you need mining, it will all feel different.

 

[Ultra Fluffy]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Heading back to the bubble. Stocking up on tritium and going to improve my python (or get something bigger) when I get there. I might enjoy a relaxing mining session if the process was more efficient.

 

[nemolomen]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Heading back to the bubble. Stocking up on tritium and going to improve my python (or get something bigger) when I get there. I might enjoy a relaxing mining session if the process was more efficient.

When I go exploring with my carrier, I have a T9 Miner that I use to laser mine Platinum hotspots. Upon my return I sell kilotons of Platinum, Osmium, Palladium & Gold, and a hundred tons or so of Painite and use the proceeds to then top off my carrier with Tritium, preferably paying another commander to do some of the hauling.

Collector limpets are one of the keys to relaxing mining. I have 8 and really should add another 2, but I don't want to give up the 64 tons of cargo space.

On a good run, it takes me about 2.5 hours* to fill 576 tons of cargo space. Typically I'll park the carrier next to the mine and switch off exploring and mining each time I play.

* Others here can do it faster, the additional 2 limpets are probably part of that difference, but I'm usually not in a hurry either...I also usually split the mining run across 2 sessions...no pirates in deep space...

 

[Greasetrap42]

10,000 ton of tritium costs 500 million.
20,000 ton of tritium costs 1 billion.

It is much easier to raise the credits doing other activities than trying to mine it. Exobiology while exploring.
If you are coming back to the bubble to purchase the tritium take your time and do exobiology on the way. You can easily raise these credits on your way.

Edit: If you don't have a dedicated exobiology ship pick one up while at bubble. I recommend a Viper4 or Eagle MK II. Small for easy landing in tough spots. Robust enough to smack into the ground. Good cockpit visibility. Fuel Scoop.

 

[K Olley]

I mainly laser and I am not in a hurry but my main Ice ring miner is the Ice Maiden a T9. Remember that once you are properly out in the black there are no NPC's so you do not even have to return you can just stop in the ring and re-start later.

I keep my carrier light weight, I do not have shipyard, outfitting or secure warehouse fitted, the lower the weight the less Tritium used for each jump. your own ships and spare modules do not count towards weight so you can stock up with everything that you may need before leaving civilisation.

I keep the carrier's tank full and normally hold 1,000 - 2,000 ton in reserve, mining as I need to, this is where keeping your carrier light counts, the less weight the less Tritium needed.

When I start thinking of returning I change my mining habits, I start collecting from Icy rings Bromellite and Lithium Hydroxide as well as Tritium both can be sold easily to other carriers back in the bubble, on a good day you can sell 10kton of Bromellite at over 300k a ton - a nice little earner. If I find a metallic ring then I may take a spin in that as well.

 

[Faded Glory]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Heading back to the bubble. Stocking up on tritium and going to improve my python (or get something bigger) when I get there. I might enjoy a relaxing mining session if the process was more efficient.

The Python should be fine for mining tritium, it's what I use and I have a cargo capacity of circa 140 tons and have shields and a fuel scoop as well as the required mining gear. I'll go slightly contrary to some of the other opinions that you need a lot of collector limpets, although I guess it will depend on what kind of mining you are doing. I have a maximum of three collectors, and often use only two...

The key here I think is whether you are doing sub-surface and surface deposits or laser mining an asteroid that has a tritium 'percentage' content which IMHO is very inefficient not to mention dull as dishwater. Blasting an asteroid with a laser results in lots of low value stuff which you need lots of limpets to collect and get not much tritium as a result. If you can get the hang of sub-surface blasting - it's not really difficult - you'll get anything from 8 to 14 tons per deposit with each lump of tritium needing to be picked up giving you typically one ton of refined tritium. To pick up 8 to 14 lumps of ore doesn't take many limpets.

I do have a couple of mining lasers on my Python, also two displacement missile launchers and an abrasion blaster. I use the lasers very rarely. The missile launchers are mediums and have around 90 missiles each (you use one at a time) and I don't often use even one fully.

The trick to mining this way is to use the pulse wave analyzer to find very brightly glowing asteroids. In Odyssey (and Horizons 4) plenty of asteroids glow, but only a few are the full on bright ones, and they will end up being core asteroids of void opals or low temp diamonds and will have anything between one and four sub-surface tritium deposits, so it'll be possible to get between about 8 and 35 tons of tritium form an asteroid.

Whatever you decide, I find mining to be a pleasant change from exploration and exobiology gameplay for a couple of sessions at each location I park my carrier.

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

I'm in the process of taking my fleet carrier for a road trip into the black. It has two ships on board at the moment, an explorer and a miner. The problem is that all this jumping is using up tritium and the mining I am doing takes forever and is SO BORING.

I am currently doing surface mining in tritium hotspots that I come across. My mining ship is a Python with:

• Three 6E cargo holds (192 tonnes tolal capacity)
• 5A collector limpet controller (3 limpets on the go at once)
• 3A refinery (8 bins)
• 3A prospector limpet controller
• Two 2D mining lasers
• 2B seismic charge launcher
• 1D abrasion blaster
• 7D power distributor
• 7A power plant
• Some other stuff

So it is more than capable of cutting the surface, waiting for the collector limpets to collect and then moving onto the next rock. I start off with 180 limpets and I have no problem finding asteroids with 5,10, 25 and sometimes 33% tritium, but it still takes me 4 hours to fill up the cargo holds, enough for 2, 3 or 4 jumps. I have developed a technique for not going over ground I have been on before. If I fill up the cargo holds and the refinery then I waste limpets to make space. I've tried looking for mother loads, but never found any tritium ones. Do they actually exist? Never done sub-surface mining. I don't think I have the right equipment. There is nobody around to donate it to me. I'm nowhere near a starport, so I can't buy any.

There must be a quicker way to collect tritium. I just want to get on with the exploring. Taking the fleet carrier for Vista Genomics, repaits etc. Happy to wander great distances from the fleet carrier and then come back to it via a different route, But I want to get the fleet carrier to the other side of the galaxy. I know I can use DSSA carriers, but would rather take mine for the ride.

Do I need to engineer something? Should I be doing asteroid cracking or sub-surface mining instead?

I didn't read the whole thread but... I have a real problem with the tritium yields in mining for it. It has been a gripe of mine since I bought my carrier. I won't rant (yet)again though