It's been a few years since I've played this game and all the mining seems to have changed, my book marks from a few years ago seem to now be worthless. My theory is any mining hotspots posted on the internet will now be drained, is this the case? I've been trying to get my exploration rank up at the same time as doing the AW community goal and also looking for undiscovered mining hotspots, book marking LTD and VOpals (I now realise these have been nerfed). I must have spent 10+ hours fast jumping a few hundred LY away from the bubble and then efficiently jumping and surveying everything (except Icy/Rocky bodies without rings). I've made 500m from UC, I assume with the AW buffs, unless this is retrospectively awarded, I didn't quite understand the all the tier business.
I guess my question is, should I continue exploring and review my journals for any missed ores/metals I wasn't initially looking for. Or just google what everyone else is doing, I like the idea of having my own hotspots, that will likely never drain. But
My theory is any mining hotspots posted on the internet will now be drained, is this the case? ...I like the idea of having my own hotspots, that will likely never drain. But
hotspot won't drain - only for some time for the individual commander, so beside rp'ing there is no reason to search your own hotspots. that said, i love mining in deep space galactic nebulae just for the view.
and yes, with the adding of trtium hotspots hotspots got rerolled, so any list older than that will be outdated.
generally you will want to decide each session whether you want to do primarily laser mining, or core mining. laser mining platinum and osmium is highly profitable, and you need no hotspots doing so - only pristine metallic rings.
if core mining it can be worth it to go for metal rich rings - as of today Monaszite, Musgravite and Rhodumplumsite are highest selling, but that can change quite a bit daily. still bookmarking those hotspots might be worth it as well. in the latter case you want for sure have a good jumping core-hunting ship, or a high-jumping delivery ship parked close by to sell to a high price location.
I strongly reccomend using a third party tool like eddb.io or the Miner's Tool. Simply look for systems where things like Monaszite are selling for 600k+ and have rocky rings in them, then travel there, scan up, and start mining. I made about 110 million in just under and hour and a half last night doing this, with similar results pretty much every time I go out into the rings.
If you don't like using third party tools, I can't really help you. I rely on them for maximum efficiency, especially when core mining. Although I enjoy it, it can get very tedious, so I squeeze every spacedollar I can out of it.
I see this makes more sense now. I've dropped into a platinum hotspot in omni cap b b1a, and I am finding the highest level of ore I've ever seen. But are you saying this will be the same wherever I go on the ring?
This place despite being inside the bubble seems very safe? I've been scanned twice now by the feds, it's quite reassuring, is this just rng? Could/will pirates drop in? I logged out after a couple hours with my hold half full. So when I log back in, is it safe to continue. Or should get out as quick as possible just incase.
If it is safe, I'm thinking I could sac my shields and probably fsd booster for more limpets, this is my bottle neck, 6 limpets is slowing me right down.
Question on the cool down, is that by specific location in the ring or the ring as a whole? Ie I can mine anywhere on the ring once a week.
Thanks both, I did want to avoid mining in the bubble due to previous experience but on the first try it seems too OP to not.
the pirate mechanic for mining is laughably predictable and easily handled.
Generally if you are mining in a hot spot that isn't a res site near the bubble, you'll have a pirate or 2 jump in around the same time you jump in. If you have stuff in your hold other than limpets, they will ask to steal it. Cuz they're nice pirates. If you have nothing , they will stomp their feet and tell you how upset they are they can't steal from you. Then they'll fly around a bit before heading off. dont start mining near them or they'll ask to steal your stuff.. but they wont follow you if you go 8km away from them. After that initial interaction, you are left alone forever until you leave the game or instance. Then it repeats if you're still in the hot spot. This happens basically every single time in exactly the same way.
I just kill them to save time and go about mining.
Also regarding hot spots, another thing they did in the not too distant past was cap overlap effects. Such that i dont think they matter anymore or not in the same way they did before.
Question on the cool down, is that by specific location in the ring or the ring as a whole? Ie I can mine anywhere on the ring once a week.
Laser mining has a two hour cooldown on each individual rock. Except in very specific circ*mstances you won't be mining the same rock that often (or ever again) anyway, because even a small hotspot contains millions of rocks. That's a personal cooldown: other CMDRs could mine the same rock without affecting whether you can.
Core mining has a cooldown of about a week for the rock to reappear. I'm fairly sure that's still a global cooldown: though, again, the hotspots are so big and there are so many of them throughout the bubble that you shouldn't generally need to worry about other people having got there first.
So when I log back in, is it safe to continue.
Every time you reset the instance either by arriving from supercruise or logging back in, it's very likely that some new NPCs will spawn. They could be pirates.
If you aren't confident that your current ship can fight them off - or at least hang on long enough for the system authority to arrive and help out - I'd recommend getting to supercruise and returning to sell up immediately.
Thanks Cmdrs. I'll see who pops in, I have no weapons. But enough to put pips to shields and see if i can evade. If I die, oh well, it is elite "dangerous" after all. If that happens I'll keep the shields and swap out the booster for limpets. And probably add 2 small lasers.
Thanks Cmdrs. I'll see who pops in, I have no weapons. But enough to put pips to shields and see if i can evade. If I die, oh well, it is elite "dangerous" after all. If that happens I'll keep the shields and swap out the booster for limpets. And probably add 2 small lasers.
Depending on what you're flying, the other easy option is just to outrun them - I think it's enough to just fly 20 km or so in a straight line and since you aren't in a hot spot that shouldn't cause any mining problems. My mining Python can easily outrun NPC pirates, for example.
I'm currently outfitting my type 9. So it's slow and a big target to run away in a straight line. Needs a lot of work still.
As long as you don't have any other cargo than limpets you should be safe. Just let the pirates scan you and move in the opposite direction afterwards to get rid of them.
As long as you don't have any other cargo than limpets you should be safe. Just let the pirates scan you and move in the opposite direction afterwards to get rid of them.
Sadly I have 250+ tonnes of platinum
Sadly I have 250+ tonnes of platinum
Run
Yeah but this is when one might find oneself cursing at the Type-9's ridiculous mass lock factor... So high wake might be the best option despite being slower 
(Tbh, I can't recall if any of the NPC pirates actually fly Pythons or Krait Mk IIs, which can mass-lock a Type-9.)
It's been a few years since I've played this game and all the mining seems to have changed, my book marks from a few years ago seem to now be worthless. My theory is any mining hotspots posted on the internet will now be drained, is this the case? I've been trying to get my exploration rank up at the same time as doing the AW community goal and also looking for undiscovered mining hotspots, book marking LTD and VOpals (I now realise these have been nerfed). I must have spent 10+ hours fast jumping a few hundred LY away from the bubble and then efficiently jumping and surveying everything (except Icy/Rocky bodies without rings). I've made 500m from UC, I assume with the AW buffs, unless this is retrospectively awarded, I didn't quite understand the all the tier business.
I guess my question is, should I continue exploring and review my journals for any missed ores/metals I wasn't initially looking for. Or just google what everyone else is doing, I like the idea of having my own hotspots, that will likely never drain. But
Look for your own, forget third party tools they are a waste of time and you will find as soon as a discovery is posted its soon overrun with carriers, not an issue if your in Solo mode.
I have found many overlaps for Trit/VOs/Plat in undiscovered systems less than 500LYs from the bubble, peaceful and quiet.
My advice is grind a few weeks and get a carrier, chuck some mining ships on it and head out.
O7
Quick update if anyone cares, no pirates just feds, although I only made Cr150m in about 3 or 4 hours, I've optimised my ship so should be able to do it half the time now. Sacrificed the shields/fuel scoop/booster for limpets. I might build some kind of hauler (maybe another type 9) and park it nearby to transport it for sale.
Look for your own, forget third party tools they are a waste of time and you will find as soon as a discovery is posted its soon overrun with carriers, not an issue if your in Solo mode.
I have found many overlaps for Trit/VOs/Plat in undiscovered systems less than 500LYs from the bubble, peaceful and quiet.
My advice is grind a few weeks and get a carrier, chuck some mining ships on it and head out.O7
Thanks, I might still find my own. Although carriers are everywhere even in solo, I just filter them out of the nav panel, so not a problem. I do tend to grind in solo and play in open. And the tools do have their place. I prefer to use them when I'm not in the game to plan ahead.
Carrier upkeep is a little off putting, I might be on a different game in a few months and may not come back for a year. I assume my carrier would be repossessed by then.
may not come back for a year. I assume my carrier would be repossessed by then.
Not if you stick a few hundred million in the bank. In fact though, my experience has been that the carrier balance doesn't go down anything like as much as it should when you go cold turkey for several months.
Not to mention that you get most of your credits back when the carrier is liquidated..
Mining's yesterdays craze, as far as I'm concerned. My Exploration trips into the black would focus around discovering Metallic Rings with Platinum hotspots, these would be Mined for Platinum, Osmium & rare Core material.
Although this would take a full play session to fill my Cutter's hold, the rewards when returning to the bubble & selling at good high prices, would pay, nearly or in full, to restock my Carrier's hold for my next trip into the black.
However, since the introduction of the price increases in Exobiology Data, basically going through the roof, I'v ditched the Mining bit of my Exploration (bar Mining for Tritium if needed) & instead hunt out Bio stuff on Planets.
On this trip alone Iv gained at least twice as much in credits from selling Exo Data (& the added bonus of increasing my once lowly Bio Rank) than I would have through Mining.....and I'm still out there!
As long as FD keep these Bioscan prices at this high level, I'll continue to obtain these instead of Mining, to 'fund' my next trip
Carrier upkeep is a little off putting
My Carrier is fully upgraded its just over 30mil credits a week, that's an hour mining VOs, 2 Robby passenger runs, or a few full system scans.
Its not even an effort 
O7
Carrier upkeep is a little off putting
With the variety of activities that pay really well, carrier upkeep is a non-issue. On the weekend I made 12 weeks of upkeep for my carrier in 2.5 hours of playing by tagging along with a group of other players fighting Thargoids at an attacked ground port - and I had never done that before and still made a boatload of money. Not that I needed that money, I parked 1.8 billion credits in my carrier's account. If you can afford to buy and outfit a carrier, the upkeep is irrelevant.
Having said that, ED is not a game you play for 50 hours and then put it aside. It is in many ways a long term engagement, and a carrier is one such thing.
