Elite: Game talk
04 Dec 2018, 9:47am
It is simply so annoying to change outfits in the hangar. I think FD had to make possible to save configurations and when you choose the outfitting you want it will be applied if the modules are available in storage. And according to Inara many commanders are doing the same even if the ship is multi-role capable commanders would buy 2 or 3 and fit them accordingly.
The price of the modules is sometimes 10X the price of the ship. Just changing 2 or 3 things is not enough for changing entirely the role of the ship.
Example: Switch from bounty to trading configuration: You need lighter power-plant, drop all the weapons, lighter everything. For exploration outfit of the Anaconda you have to change everything drastically again. And it is so time consuming that it would be better at the end to buy another ship. Time in the game is also a commodity, the time you spent on outfitting you can run missions.
Last edit: 04 Dec 2018, 9:53am
04 Dec 2018, 1:52pm
SuperFixxxeRJames HussarThere are only three ships in the game that are good for everything, the small Cobra, the medium Python, and the large Anaconda.
Never spent a lot of time in a Cobra, many many hours in my Python.... I think I'll invest in a Cobra after hearing so much about it. Are they any good for mining or is that a waste?
I tried mining in a Cobra, and it's not a bad entry-level miner, but you sacrifice the small hardpoints for mining lasers, and can't fit a lot of cargo. If you're OK scooping fragments, you can do alright, but mining with limpets is really how it ought to be done and the Cobra just doesn't have the cargo capacity for a meaningful miner. The Mk IV is better suited to mining, if only because of the extra hardpoint, but for mining earlier in the game (before you have the money for a "proper" mining ship with cargo room to spare) I would suggest the T6 or Keelback instead.
Of what I consider the three core ships (and yeah, AspX really does belong on the list - there are FOUR, FOUR core ships!!!) the AspX, Python and Anaconda are your miners. The Cobra is a perfect Smuggler though, if that's still a thing. Was when I get my legs under me.
04 Dec 2018, 3:35pm
James HussarSuperFixxxeRJames HussarThere are only three ships in the game that are good for everything, the small Cobra, the medium Python, and the large Anaconda.
Never spent a lot of time in a Cobra, many many hours in my Python.... I think I'll invest in a Cobra after hearing so much about it. Are they any good for mining or is that a waste?
I tried mining in a Cobra, and it's not a bad entry-level miner, but you sacrifice the small hardpoints for mining lasers, and can't fit a lot of cargo. If you're OK scooping fragments, you can do alright, but mining with limpets is really how it ought to be done and the Cobra just doesn't have the cargo capacity for a meaningful miner. The Mk IV is better suited to mining, if only because of the extra hardpoint, but for mining earlier in the game (before you have the money for a "proper" mining ship with cargo room to spare) I would suggest the T6 or Keelback instead.
Of what I consider the three core ships (and yeah, AspX really does belong on the list - there are FOUR, FOUR core ships!!!) the AspX, Python and Anaconda are your miners. The Cobra is a perfect Smuggler though, if that's still a thing. Was when I get my legs under me.
I know your talking about small ships but i like to say the T7 is an excellent mining ship when you get the creds.
04 Dec 2018, 4:04pm
Excellent is an exaggeration. If all you care about when mining is cargo space and you don't care about how long that takes to fill, then the Type-6 and Type-7 are suitable for you. Otherwise if time is a factor for you then I suggest evaluating medium hardpoints and decent power distributors on a more even footing with cargo capacity and internal slots. The Type-6 and Type-7 are pretty much soft-locked into non-combative, slow-paced ring mining. Other ships are far more flexible when it comes to ring mining vs RES mining (i.e. being able to choose more defenses when RES mining or more cargo when ring mining).
Kari Kerenski,
You might have some fun once 3.3 releases trying out a Chieftain with a single Seismic Charge Launcher and five Abrasion Blasters. The AspX might be able to do the same thin but I didn't get around to testing that one with five ABs.
04 Dec 2018, 4:08pm
04 Dec 2018, 4:43pm
I think a small ship where I can make a few million doing something different would suit me fine... if its engaging I may heavily invest. I doubt I'd try protecting myself if I was attacked in a mining vessel... probably dash, so the Cobra or the Viper are probably a good choice.
Thanks for the recommendations CMDRs.
04 Dec 2018, 5:00pm
04 Dec 2018, 5:23pm
Laser mining has always suffered a ton of bottlenecks in small ships and a number of medium ships. From what I've seen while testing in the beta, it looks like core mining will be a better avenue for mining credits for small ships and early-game miners than laser mining. And some of the ships have good grouping of hardpoints for Abrasion Blasters, because it's possible to get a chunk per AB blast from the surface deposits, especially the surface deposits revealed after cracking open a core deposit.
Python is already good for laser mining, too, and a number of other things, so it seems kindof an unfair comparison.
Instead, I wanted to look at what ships could do a darn good job with core mining that could hardly do mining at all before. For example, it seems possible for the Chieftain to crack open half a dozen cores and make back its own hull cost in one trip. I was able to regularly enough (not always - yet) get 5 chunks per core surface deposit, which is 1-2 tons per deposit in addition to the initial ~10 tons from free-floating chunks after an optimal cracking.
Cobra3 was actually worse for AB grouping than an Adder because the small hardpoints are way out near the wing tips.
04 Dec 2018, 5:58pm
SuperFixxxeR
Never spent a lot of time in a Cobra, many many hours in my Python.... I think I'll invest in a Cobra after hearing so much about it. Are they any good for mining or is that a waste?
Depends on what waste means but most miner types consider the T6 as the first really (currently) viable entry level miner, myself included. Not a waste but compromises have to be made, too many for me.
Interesting that you mention the Cobra's reputation, I think that was part of my disappointment with the Cobra, after hearing so much hype about it I expected too much. If I had gotten into it earlier in my ED career and not heard so much I would probably be in the Cobra fan club now.
But I do agree with the sentiment posted earlier that every CMDR should spend some time in the Cobra, the earlier in their career the better I think. The same goes for every ship, to a less (or more) extent. At least so far I have found every ship worth getting and playing around with.
WilliamReace
Sure I could reconfigure them every time I take a mission from a station, but I'd rather have it capable of doing whatever I feel like doing without having to reconfigure it every time.
That's in the definition of a multi-role, not having to mess around with it's modules every time you take something different from the previous task.
Well then that is my confusion with thinking the T6 is so great because what I think makes the T6 great is how may things it is really good at, considering it's price point, when configured properly for that task.
The Elite Dangerous Wiki defines multipurpose as "Multipurpose ships are a jack-of-all-trades in that they can easily be fitted for whatever role the player needs". By that definition the T6 is a good multipurpose ship for everything but combat related stuff (in it's price point range). Now the question becomes is multi-roll different from multipurpose, I did not think so but maybe.
Mobandito
I know your talking about small ships but i like to say the T7 is an excellent mining ship when you get the creds.
Sort of the same conclusion I came to, not that it is all that special at mining but what the heck else to do with it? I needs a large pad and I have a T9 for hauling, the Python can do everything else as well or better on a medium pad so mining it is.
Lyonhaert
Excellent is an exaggeration. If all you care about when mining is cargo space and you don't care about how long that takes to fill, then the Type-6 and Type-7 are suitable for you. Otherwise if time is a factor for you then I suggest evaluating medium hardpoints and decent power distributors on a more even footing with cargo capacity and internal slots. The Type-6 and Type-7 are pretty much soft-locked into non-combative, slow-paced ring mining. Other ships are far more flexible when it comes to ring mining vs RES mining (i.e. being able to choose more defenses when RES mining or more cargo when ring mining).
The large pad requirement is also negative to consider for the T7 when compared to other in class ships. I would also add price/performance ratio as a plus for the T7 although does not seem many care about that, and by the time a player can afford a T7 maybe it should not be a consideration.
For speed, they are surely slower but not to the point where it is a deal breaker for me. I think it must depend a lot on style, I have no items on ignore list and mine 90% of the rocks a prospector hits regardless of quality or content. The limpets can keep up with the lasers so no time is spent collecting, collection is done a few seconds after rock is depleted. I rely on gathering as much junk as fast as I can then working out of a good system to randomly fill source and return missions and/or mining missions for my mining profits, then sell what is left on the commodities board.
I tried RES mining and in my hands the Python is not suitable doing that, in theory the Python is better defended than the T7 but in practical terms for me they are both realistically peaceful miners. In the hands of a better pilot that would be different. I can destroy the pirate ships but often not fast enough to overcome their aggressive use of hatchbreaker limpets. Between the interruptions and loss of cargo it is just not worth RES mining in a Python for me.
04 Dec 2018, 6:16pm
04 Dec 2018, 8:12pm
Norwin PalmerDepends on what waste means but most miner types consider the T6 as the first really (currently) viable entry level miner
(Emphasis mine.) Got an entire discord server of miners and I bet most would say Cobra3 instead of T6. Not so much trying to change your mind as making sure a different voice is present.
Norwin PalmerI think it must depend a lot on style, I have no items on ignore list and mine 90% of the rocks a prospector hits regardless of quality or content.
Yes, I agree about style choice. I'm on the other end of that spectrum (mapping Haz RES, Krait/Corvette being my main mining rigs).
Norwin PalmerI tried RES mining and in my hands the Python is not suitable doing that, in theory the Python is better defended than the T7 but in practical terms for me they are both realistically peaceful miners. In the hands of a better pilot that would be different. I can destroy the pirate ships but often not fast enough to overcome their aggressive use of hatchbreaker limpets. Between the interruptions and loss of cargo it is just not worth RES mining in a Python for me.
Aye, there's a number of additional things to add into consideration with RES mining for mitigating risks. A single point defense near the cargo hatch can help against hatchbreakers, but so can rolling the ship at the right time (mostly in pancake ships like the Python). If I drop into a RES and sit there for a few minutes (usually while catching up on Discord messages) to let some scans happen and then go to the outer area of the RES, I see very few if any pirates the rest of my time there. I was in a High RES in my Corvette assisting someone in a T7 acquire Bromellite for Bill Turner last night. We were there for about 1.5 hours about 18-19km from the marker and had zero pirate encounters. And this is typical experience for me as far as frequency of encounters when I stay on the outskirts. I will be rebuilding a Python as a miner to see if it maybe has anything to do with the ship one flies (e.g., the 'conspicuous' attribute they mentioned when the Krait was released).
04 Dec 2018, 9:05pm
NumaAren't you all forgetting one ship, which is pretty much the definition of multi- or rather omnirole ? That would be the Asp Explorer, which only happens to be the #1 ship in Inara statistics, above all others mentioned.
Rumour has it, that this is also Stryker's favourite ship.
05 Dec 2018, 12:32am
LyonhaertNorwin PalmerDepends on what waste means but most miner types consider the T6 as the first really (currently) viable entry level miner
(Emphasis mine.) Got an entire discord server of miners and I bet most would say Cobra3 instead of T6. Not so much trying to change your mind as making sure a different voice is present.
Reading back what I actually wrote you are absolutely correct. More importantly you make another good and valid point.
I can not speak for anyone but myself, and even then what I wrote was not the idea I was trying to communicate.
So I will quote some lines that do capture what I was going for: from the EliteMiners Reddit - "The T6, AspX and python represent local maxima - e.g. they are better than anything cheaper than them.", and from the Popular Guide to Mining - "The first solid miner is the 3.5 mCr Type-6". Not that those are correct by they did influence my opinion on the matter.
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