Tips On Mining Equipment Please!

idahosurge

idahosurge
I want to Rank up to L5 with Selene Jean so I need to go do some mining, a lot! I have done a little in the past with my Asp, a small refinery and a small mining laser. Just enough to get the few mining materials I needed for some Engineer's recipes.

Now I need to go mine another 462 units to get Selene unlocked so the Asp method is not going to cut it.

I want to outfit my Cutter to mine the required number of units as quick as possible, but I have no idea what to outfit it with other than a bigger refinery and a bigger mining laser. How does all the other mining equipment work? I know that there is something that can be used to gather asteroid chunks rather than using the cargo scoop to collect the chunks individually. What else is available?

Any tips and pointers will be appreciated.
 

RamirezKurita

R
You will want limpet controllers, collector limpets collect the fragments for you while prospector limpets massively increase the yield of asteroids. Generally speaking, collector limpet controllers are the limiting factor for mining speed, so for a ship the size of a cutter you will want 10+ collector limpets flying around.

Also, with mining lasers, it's not just a matter of going bigger as they only go up to medium hardpoints - you will want multiple mining lasers. A Cutter will want at least 3 medium mining lasers, more if engineered as you will want to be able to deplete an asteroid before your power distributor runs out for maximum efficiency.
 

CMDR Corlas

CMDR Corlas
Use collector limpet controllers to use collector limpets to automate material recovery. Don't reflexively A-rate these either. Different grades offer different limpet ranges and durations. Choose what fits your playstyle best. I personally like D-grade ones when mining. When deploying collectors, don't have anything targetted, and then the limpet will stay out for its full duration (or until it crashes) rather than just recovering one item and then suiciding.

You want to have enough collectors (input into your ship) to support your mining lasers (output from the asteroid). 3 - 5 active collector limpets per medium mining laser is usually comfortable. Too few and you end up waiting a long time for the limpets to pick up everything, too many and your limpets end up waiting for your lasers to shoot off more things to pick up. Find what balance works best for you.

As long as you have enough collector limpets to support them, have as many medium mining lasers as your distributor can support. In a Cutter, that's probably two or three. You want to mine a rock down to nothing without waiting on your WEP to recharge too often.

You'll notice efficiency is the name of the game here. :)

Always run with an A-class prospector limpet controller. Grade is a personal choice, but a 1A works just fine. A prospector not only tells you what materials are in the rock you're about to mine, but gives you significantly more resources per rock, making mining far more efficient.

Generally, if you head out with 66% - 75% of your cargo space filled up with limpets, you'll use the limpets at about the same pace you fill up with mined goods.

If you mine in a RES, you get more loot, and in a Cutter, it'll be a lot of fun too. Slap some turrets in there and bring a SLF with an AI pilot. You can pretty effortlessly mine in a Low or regular RES just using turrets, your SLF, and AI cops for defense. HighRES'll have a good bit more combat, but that can break up mining if you find it boring. I wouldn't go into a HazRES unless you wing up for it.
 
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Belthize

Belthize
To add to the above, I prefer to have two prospectors active at once. Speeds up the prospecting bit, after I finish mining a rock and I'm waiting for the collectors I'll fire off two prospectors and either pick the best of the two or move on and find another pair.

Maximizing lasers vs collectors depends on how close you get to the asteroid which is itself typically a function of finding the center of rotation. If you get at the center so you're burning a hole in the same place relatively close in then your collectors have a much shorter distance to travel and it takes fewer of them to keep up with the mining lasers.
 

kofeyh

kofeyh
This is Helga II, I have an engineered version that has a charge enhanced distro, and a class 5 FSD range upgrade: https://eddp.co/u/uR1uUs5u

Type-9 is great for mining, and somewhat cheaper than Anaconda or Cutter. People whine that type-9 isn't survivable but this is nonsense now. With over 350Mj of shields, and decent hull, it's actually pretty survivable and with Bi-Weaves the regen speed is such that even chain interdictions aren't a concern. Never mind that you can fight interdictions in even a type-9 now (they are so easy to win now).
 

JetsonRING

JetsonRING
Cutter is a good choice, if a bit on the expensive side to use (or lose) for mining, I used a Corvette. Think Limpet Controllers. A single (large) PROSPECTOR Limpet Controller capable of running at least 2 limpets simultaneously and two (2) COLLECTOR Limpet Controllers. Also, fit two (2) yes, I said 2 mining lasers, two to start breaking off a lot of chunks initially which gets all 12 collector limpets working, then just one to sustain the rate, to keep them all working while not breaking off more than you can collect before it floats away and a large refinery. Aside from that, before leaving port DO NOT FORGET to FILL THE HOLD with limpets. It is better to have to throw a few limpets over the side to make room for more ores rather than having to make a trip to buy more limpets.

Point your ship at a rock, switch to prospector limpet controller and fire off a prospector limpet (#1). When it attaches to a rock it transmits the composition of the rock to your ship but do not wait for that, point the ship at another rock and fire off another prospector limpet (#2). Switch targeting back to limpet #1. If there is Painite there, mine it! DO NOT target the ores, target the prospector limpet, switch to the collector limpet controller and release 6 limpets, then switch to the other collector limpet controller and release 6 more and start breaking off chunks. If the rock limpet #1 is attached to shows no Painite, point the ship at another rock, fire off another prospector limpet (#3, #1 will expire) and switch targeting back to limpet #2 to check the composition of the rock it is attached to. Rinse & repeat, always keeping 2 prospector limpets working. Firing a third prospector limpet always "expires" the first so you will get "limpet expired" warnings.

Prospector Limpet Controllers have the added benefit of DOUBLING THE ORE YIELD OF ANY ROCK THEY ARE ATTACHED TO! It will be necessary to continually monitor the refinery to prevent refining and filling your cargo hold with ores you do not need. A note: Do not carry any cargo into a mining area. MATs are OK but no cargo. Also, do not carry any refined ores from one mining area to another in order to continue mining. Always dispose of (sell, donate, etc.) your ores before continuing to another mining area. The reason for this is the NPC pirates that will slide up a minute or so after you enter a mining area and ask you about your cargo. If you have any cargo or refined ores they will try and take it, if you have none they will leave. In my Corvette Betty they usually slide up, mumble something about mistaken identity and leave . . . o7

PS: A good way to attract pirates and collect bounties is go to a mining area with a little bit of cargo in your holds. The pirates will come to YOU . . .
 
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