The buffs to the Hulk and the Survey Scanner have made ore mining extremely efficient. Warp your crew to a belt, have your Squad Commander hit Regroup so you're all within Fleet Hangar range of the Orca, get the Orca boosting modules going, and mine away.
If there remains a trick to yield fleet mining it's to stick to .8, .9 and 1.0 systems, have the well known gankers set with -10 standings in case they show up in local, and have a plan and execute it if they do. Of course, they will usually send in a scout first to find you and establish a warp-in. If it's a cloaky neutral alt, your first warning will be when local lights up (if it happens to be a group you've previously identified), if not a cloaky, use your own judgement but since you are so far out from the asteroids it's unlikely that any legitimate miner would stay close to you. Keeping your fleet in orbit via the Regroup command isn't a bad idea either as even that movement is better than being dead in the water (how's that for a description).
Am seeing fewer and fewer solo Mackinaws and Retrievers in the ore belts, though that's anecdotal. Would make sense though since they are so much weaker now with respect to yield than a proper Hulk. Not seeing as many Hulk yield fleets yet, but have a feeling a lot of folks are training up their skills for the Orca, freighter and maxed Hulk, so we should see more in the future.
What does surprise me a bit is what I see in the ice belts. Business as usual, meaning Macks and Retrievers still working the .5 - .7 ice belts, regardless of how many ganks take place. Even Hulks and Covetors trying to grab as much ice as possible. My Skiffs yield as much if not more ice than any other mining vessel except the mighty Hulk and have a tank to write home about. Have to admit though, it is tempting to get the Hulks out and vaporize those ice anoms, but I know that won't have a happy ending.
If you're not mining ice, you probably should be. Take a look at the market graph for Clear Icicle. Will give you nose bleed. Not that I welcome competition, but ice is nice. If you try it, take a close look at the modules, the rig, the implant and the skills that can affect your ice yield.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Eve Online Mining: Kronos and the Incredible Hulk
It's an hour or so after logging on to Kronos following its release during today's downtime and life is good.
My Hulks have (with perfect Orca boosts and Exhumers 5) a range of 32km and cycle in 82.8 seconds. My Survey Scanner II has a range of 38km (also new: the Survey Scan Results window shows a targeting icon next to the asteroids you've targeted, which for the Hulk can now be seven, though the icon isn't always showing up in a timely manner). The T2 crystals are 10 m3, so 35 will now fit in the Hulk's cargohold, which is handy, though were always accessible from the Orca.
The Charon of course was a bit of a shock after log on - cargo capacity was down to less than 600K, but now with three Expanded Cargohold IIs it's at 1,156,550.
If my little fleet was a belt buster before, it's now on turbo. Have mined out three belts so far, belts in a system for which I didn't have belt bookmarks - and I didn't need them. Warp to the default belt warp-in and everything's in reach once the boosts are up. Send in one miner, confirm the belt is still ripe, then fleet warp the crew.
Sweet, sweet Kronos - a Titan indeed.
My Hulks have (with perfect Orca boosts and Exhumers 5) a range of 32km and cycle in 82.8 seconds. My Survey Scanner II has a range of 38km (also new: the Survey Scan Results window shows a targeting icon next to the asteroids you've targeted, which for the Hulk can now be seven, though the icon isn't always showing up in a timely manner). The T2 crystals are 10 m3, so 35 will now fit in the Hulk's cargohold, which is handy, though were always accessible from the Orca.
The Charon of course was a bit of a shock after log on - cargo capacity was down to less than 600K, but now with three Expanded Cargohold IIs it's at 1,156,550.
If my little fleet was a belt buster before, it's now on turbo. Have mined out three belts so far, belts in a system for which I didn't have belt bookmarks - and I didn't need them. Warp to the default belt warp-in and everything's in reach once the boosts are up. Send in one miner, confirm the belt is still ripe, then fleet warp the crew.
Sweet, sweet Kronos - a Titan indeed.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Eve Online Mining: Another look at Kronos and Crius
I run my own little mining fleet of six toons - no bots, no ISBoxer and certainly not an AFK or even AFKish effort. And I enjoy the process. Immensely. That's important to bear in mind. I don't mine this way strictly for the ISK - technically I could possibly make more ISK per hour doing other things in Eve. I do what I do the way I do it because the process yields enjoyable game time.
Spent a year mining in a single highsec system (.7). Had a POS and perfect refine station standings. Life was good. A little far from the trade hub so that hauling minerals was bit of a chore, but I'm probably spoiled and lazy. Used the POS to research BPOs, invent, and park the Orca when I was running Mackinaws and didn't need it on the field. Also used the POS for the Macks to dump the ore instead of doing so in the station - it's a bit quicker that way.
Spent a year mining in a single highsec system (.7). Had a POS and perfect refine station standings. Life was good. A little far from the trade hub so that hauling minerals was bit of a chore, but I'm probably spoiled and lazy. Used the POS to research BPOs, invent, and park the Orca when I was running Mackinaws and didn't need it on the field. Also used the POS for the Macks to dump the ore instead of doing so in the station - it's a bit quicker that way.
Over the last few months I have switched to Hulks and .8 and .9 systems getting ready for Kronos and Crius. Kronos will have the net affect of boosting the Hulk's yield by 11%. The Orca Mining Field Laser Enhancement gang link is going to apply to the Survey Scanner, so it will have longer range. You can read about these buffs here (and certainly should - the whole thread is worth a read as various players discuss their mining experience): [Kronos] Mining Barges and Exhumers. Basically, this means that my Hulks can hit a belt and reach all the asteroids from one spot and clean the ores I'm after quicker. While already good, my little belt-busting-fleet will be even more efficient.
Hulks, however, are notorious targets for gankers. This is especially true in .5-.7 systems, though no Hulk pilot should ever feel safe in highsec. No matter how much effort you devote to tanking your Hulk, their cost is so high that it will still tempt gankers to take them out even in .8 - 1.0 systems, though it's less common. There are enough Mackinaws and Hulks in .5-.7 that it's a bit on the rare side for gankers to hunt in higher security space, but again, make no assumptions.
Miners tend to be creatures of habit - same belts same system day after day. This is not a good thing in Eve. Your opponents, those who would like to gank your Exhumer can be extremely tenacious when it comes to scouting and stalking. While Kronos will make Hulks more efficient, Crius will deliver another benefit that will greatly aid my kind of highsec mining - mobility. Nomad mining. No longer will I be tied to certain systems because that's where I have perfect refine standings - I will be able to refine in a POS in any security status system except for the short list of restricted systems. And I can throw up a small POS in 15 minutes when it's time to refine or compress.
If you're a serious miner you should have your eyes on this Dev post: Reprocess all the things! and the at-the-moment 104-page comment post to it: Reprocess all the things! comments.
It boils down to this - refining in highsec isn't being nerfed, but it's being changed and it will work hand-in-hand with the abolition of the current faction standings requirements and current inability to anchor a POS in 1.0 - .8 systems. You will be able to have a refining array to refine in your highsec POS, or a compessing array to compress. You will still be able to refine in station, but at the moment it seems there will be a slight benefit to yield from refining in a POS.
These changes won't take effect until the July 22, 2014, release of Crius, at the earliest so it's best to keep an eye on the above posts in case of further developments.
You should also understand that these changes don't mean you no longer need skills to refine if you refine in a POS, nor do they mean that you will no longer be able to refine in stations. In fact, the skill requirements will increase and you will need both higher skills and the Zainou 'Beancounter' Refining RX-804 to maximize your refining yields. Over the last couple of months in fact, I've done more grinding to get good NPC standings with a variety of corps because the prevalence of war decs in highsec will make station refining handy from time-to-time. You must be in a player corp to anchor a POS, which means you are subject to war decs even if only one of your toons is in that corp - and you can anticipate more POS bashers on the horizon.
Overall, very happy with the upcoming Kronos and Crius updates as my crew will be able to be much more mobile. Another benefit of this sort of mobility is spending time in systems that are good for both mining and mission running - especially systems that offer level 4 mining missions, have a decent number of asteroid belts and the right security status for Hulks.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Eve Online Mining: Small fleet mining step-by-step
A look at the typical who, what, when, where and how of a highsec small-fleet mining op in Eve Online.
Where to mine
Where we conduct our mining op depends on several factors:
What do we want to mine;
What sec status level we are willing to risk;
Where we are going to refine;
Where we are going to sell the minerals/manufacture from the minerals;
What's convenient for those participating.
If I'm running a Tank Fleet of Procurers, meaning I'll mine in .5 - .7, I prefer Amarr space as the belts will have Kernite, and with Scordite and Pyroxeres, I'll have five of the seven basic building minerals. In .8 - 1.0, the Faction space doesn't much matter.
As to refining, post-Crius this will be simple - I'll keep a small POS and a refining array in the Orca and refine wherever. Until then, I'll keep refining in those stations where I have perfect refine standings.
What to mine
The type of ore you can mine in a system varies according to the Faction in control of a region and the security status of a system. You can find a detailed location breakdown and a guide to what minerals different ores yield here:
Information about ores and minerals
If you want an idea of the current value of different ores, you can get that here:
Cerlestes.de Ore Table
Generally speaking, Pyroxeres and Scordite are fine for highsec mining, meaning you do not need to mine in security systems lower than .8, which in turn means you can field a Yield Fleet that sacrifices some tank for greater yield. However, the asteroids in lower security space tend to be larger, which is a good thing for miners. In the end, you have to weigh the balance between yield and risk.
When to mine
The prime time to mine is immediately after downtime on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Avoid Monday and Friday after downtime as the spawns on these days result in asteroids smaller than the other days - substantially smaller. As a result, the absolutely worst time to mine is immediately prior to downtime on Tuesdays and Saturdays - still small asteroids but by now the belts have been worked by miners who don't care that they're smaller. To adjust for the smaller spawns on Monday and Friday, I spend some extra time on those two days mining before downtime and after downtime do something else instead of mining the belts.
How to mine (Edited on June 12, 2014, in light of Kronos)
[EDIT: What follows below was posted just prior to the release of Kronos. I should have waited. Kronos was a major buff to the Yield (Hulk)/Fleet. The only bookmarks I need now are a safe spot rally point and I make one for the station I use (I have a folder with these for the various systems I mine and keep that folder open). The new range of the Hulk's Strip Miners (32km) coupled with the new range of the Survey Scanner II (38km) makes being picky about the warp-in unnecessary - if you're maxed, you'll have access to the entire highsec belt from the defaul warp-in point. While I used to mine primarily from various Overview profiles, I can easily do it now from the Survey Scanner results. I'll leave the material below as it was presented for folks who might not be maxed yet and still have a range handicap.]
Do your homework. Pick a system or a couple of systems that fit with the decisions you've made with respect to the topics above, and before the op create a set of bookmarks for each system - at least one safe spot rally point and one prime mining point per belt.
What is a prime mining point? Asteroid belts are essentially horseshoe shaped. If your fleet is boosted by a well skilled Orca pilot with T2 Mining Foreman links and the mining mindlink, your strip miners will have a range of 25 kilometers. If you position your miners roughly in the middle of the belt, you should be able to reach both the left and right extremes of the horseshoe, as I've tried to demonstrate in the image below.
So, to create a belt bookmark I warp to the belt, usually in a Cheetah, and jockey the ship until I can tell that all of the ore is within 25 kilometers of my ship. This may not always be possible as some horseshoes are too large, but you want to get as many asteroids into the 25 kilometer range as possible. Most belts will comply. Those that won't, you'll have to decide if it's worth the fleet's time to chase those final asteroids down after you've mined the bulk of the belt. Mobile Tractor Units have made it much easier for Yield Fleets of Hulks to spread out at the final stages of mining a belt and get those harder to reach asteroids, which might be divided on the left and right edges of the horseshoe, jet can the ore, then have the Orca pull it in using a MTU.
If you've seen the screenshots I posted previously, you'll see that the UI windows I use leave very little space view. If you need a quick view of space you have two choices: CTRL-F9 will completely clear your UI or, as I prefer and did to take the screenshot above, simply hit TAB and all your windows will collapse. Hit TAB again and they'll expand to their prior state.
Hauling
I prefer to haul in a very easy manner - with a freighter on the field (I use a Charon). Miners transfer their ore to the Orca's Fleet Hangar and the ore is then transferred from the Orca's Fleet Hangar to the freighter. All just drag and drop with no jet cans. There are altervatives, such as using a second Orca to haul, which has many advantages, such as the ability to use more boosting modules or a tractor unit, they tank better than a freighter and cost less. Downside is they hold less ore than the freighter so you end up warping to station or POS more often.
Another alternative is use a Miasmos, the Gallente ore hauler, instead of a freighter or a second Orca. Much more warping, but the price is right. Some folks just use the single boosting field Orca and warp to station or POS when all holds are full. This isn't a bad solution, but when you position your fleet like I do they tend to be more than 15 kilometers from the asteroids, which means when the Orca is in warp and boosts are down, they won't be pulling ore. By the way, if you're seriously into mining drones, this range from the asteroids that I prefer is also a detriment, making mining drones basically unfeasible due to your distance from the asteroids.
Where to mine
Where we conduct our mining op depends on several factors:
What do we want to mine;
What sec status level we are willing to risk;
Where we are going to refine;
Where we are going to sell the minerals/manufacture from the minerals;
What's convenient for those participating.
If I'm running a Tank Fleet of Procurers, meaning I'll mine in .5 - .7, I prefer Amarr space as the belts will have Kernite, and with Scordite and Pyroxeres, I'll have five of the seven basic building minerals. In .8 - 1.0, the Faction space doesn't much matter.
As to refining, post-Crius this will be simple - I'll keep a small POS and a refining array in the Orca and refine wherever. Until then, I'll keep refining in those stations where I have perfect refine standings.
What to mine
The type of ore you can mine in a system varies according to the Faction in control of a region and the security status of a system. You can find a detailed location breakdown and a guide to what minerals different ores yield here:
Information about ores and minerals
If you want an idea of the current value of different ores, you can get that here:
Cerlestes.de Ore Table
Generally speaking, Pyroxeres and Scordite are fine for highsec mining, meaning you do not need to mine in security systems lower than .8, which in turn means you can field a Yield Fleet that sacrifices some tank for greater yield. However, the asteroids in lower security space tend to be larger, which is a good thing for miners. In the end, you have to weigh the balance between yield and risk.
When to mine
The prime time to mine is immediately after downtime on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Avoid Monday and Friday after downtime as the spawns on these days result in asteroids smaller than the other days - substantially smaller. As a result, the absolutely worst time to mine is immediately prior to downtime on Tuesdays and Saturdays - still small asteroids but by now the belts have been worked by miners who don't care that they're smaller. To adjust for the smaller spawns on Monday and Friday, I spend some extra time on those two days mining before downtime and after downtime do something else instead of mining the belts.
How to mine (Edited on June 12, 2014, in light of Kronos)
[EDIT: What follows below was posted just prior to the release of Kronos. I should have waited. Kronos was a major buff to the Yield (Hulk)/Fleet. The only bookmarks I need now are a safe spot rally point and I make one for the station I use (I have a folder with these for the various systems I mine and keep that folder open). The new range of the Hulk's Strip Miners (32km) coupled with the new range of the Survey Scanner II (38km) makes being picky about the warp-in unnecessary - if you're maxed, you'll have access to the entire highsec belt from the defaul warp-in point. While I used to mine primarily from various Overview profiles, I can easily do it now from the Survey Scanner results. I'll leave the material below as it was presented for folks who might not be maxed yet and still have a range handicap.]
* * *
Do your homework. Pick a system or a couple of systems that fit with the decisions you've made with respect to the topics above, and before the op create a set of bookmarks for each system - at least one safe spot rally point and one prime mining point per belt.
What is a prime mining point? Asteroid belts are essentially horseshoe shaped. If your fleet is boosted by a well skilled Orca pilot with T2 Mining Foreman links and the mining mindlink, your strip miners will have a range of 25 kilometers. If you position your miners roughly in the middle of the belt, you should be able to reach both the left and right extremes of the horseshoe, as I've tried to demonstrate in the image below.
So, to create a belt bookmark I warp to the belt, usually in a Cheetah, and jockey the ship until I can tell that all of the ore is within 25 kilometers of my ship. This may not always be possible as some horseshoes are too large, but you want to get as many asteroids into the 25 kilometer range as possible. Most belts will comply. Those that won't, you'll have to decide if it's worth the fleet's time to chase those final asteroids down after you've mined the bulk of the belt. Mobile Tractor Units have made it much easier for Yield Fleets of Hulks to spread out at the final stages of mining a belt and get those harder to reach asteroids, which might be divided on the left and right edges of the horseshoe, jet can the ore, then have the Orca pull it in using a MTU.
If you've seen the screenshots I posted previously, you'll see that the UI windows I use leave very little space view. If you need a quick view of space you have two choices: CTRL-F9 will completely clear your UI or, as I prefer and did to take the screenshot above, simply hit TAB and all your windows will collapse. Hit TAB again and they'll expand to their prior state.
Hauling
I prefer to haul in a very easy manner - with a freighter on the field (I use a Charon). Miners transfer their ore to the Orca's Fleet Hangar and the ore is then transferred from the Orca's Fleet Hangar to the freighter. All just drag and drop with no jet cans. There are altervatives, such as using a second Orca to haul, which has many advantages, such as the ability to use more boosting modules or a tractor unit, they tank better than a freighter and cost less. Downside is they hold less ore than the freighter so you end up warping to station or POS more often.
Another alternative is use a Miasmos, the Gallente ore hauler, instead of a freighter or a second Orca. Much more warping, but the price is right. Some folks just use the single boosting field Orca and warp to station or POS when all holds are full. This isn't a bad solution, but when you position your fleet like I do they tend to be more than 15 kilometers from the asteroids, which means when the Orca is in warp and boosts are down, they won't be pulling ore. By the way, if you're seriously into mining drones, this range from the asteroids that I prefer is also a detriment, making mining drones basically unfeasible due to your distance from the asteroids.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Eve Online Mining: Kronos and Crius usher in the Age of Nomad Mining
June 3, 2014, marks the release of Eve Online point update, Kronos, On July 22, 2014, a point update named Crius will be released. Together, they signify a new age in highsec mining.
After July 22, mining groups will be free to mine in any highsec system without sacrificing the logistic convenience (if not necessity) of mining close to a station owned by a corp with whom you have high enough standings to do a perfect refine. This is because post-Crius, we will be able to anchor a POS in any highsec system (save for a rather short list of restricted systems) without the need for faction standings, and, we will be able to refine or compress ore within that POS.
In other words, throw a small POS and a refining or compressing array in your Orca, and you're ready to hit the road. You essentially have a 15-minute-to-online mobile factory ready to refine/compress wherever and whenever it's convenient for your operation (subject to it being a non-restricted system and there being a moon available for anchoring the POS).
Freedom. No more being tied to a system or group of systems in which an NPC corp with which you have high standings has a refining facility. Almost all of highsec is at your feet - and even those restricted systems in which you can't anchor a POS, will be next door to systems where you can.
Nomad Mining. That's what I call it. A system is dry, overly hostile, need a change of scenery, tired of being a creature of habit (a dangerous habit in Eve)? Pack your bags, fire up the map, and hit the road.
Good times ahead.
After July 22, mining groups will be free to mine in any highsec system without sacrificing the logistic convenience (if not necessity) of mining close to a station owned by a corp with whom you have high enough standings to do a perfect refine. This is because post-Crius, we will be able to anchor a POS in any highsec system (save for a rather short list of restricted systems) without the need for faction standings, and, we will be able to refine or compress ore within that POS.
In other words, throw a small POS and a refining or compressing array in your Orca, and you're ready to hit the road. You essentially have a 15-minute-to-online mobile factory ready to refine/compress wherever and whenever it's convenient for your operation (subject to it being a non-restricted system and there being a moon available for anchoring the POS).
Freedom. No more being tied to a system or group of systems in which an NPC corp with which you have high standings has a refining facility. Almost all of highsec is at your feet - and even those restricted systems in which you can't anchor a POS, will be next door to systems where you can.
Nomad Mining. That's what I call it. A system is dry, overly hostile, need a change of scenery, tired of being a creature of habit (a dangerous habit in Eve)? Pack your bags, fire up the map, and hit the road.
Good times ahead.
Eve Online Mining: User interface screenshots
I run six characters when I mine - four miners, an Orca and a hauler. I use two 22-inch monitors. I have two miners on each monitor and the Orca and hauler pilots minimized on the right-hand monitor. In the screenshots below you will only see the miners. I don't expand the Orca or hauler until they are needed.
Screenshot 1: Both monitors (four miners)
Notes to Screenshot 1
The two miners in the monitor on the left mine Pyroxeres, the two on the right mine Scordite. This is a .9 security system, so only three ores are available, the third being Veldspar, which I do not harvest. Two miners are assigned to an ore, one starts by mining the closest and the other mines the farthest. This is very easy to do with the proper Overview Profile loaded as shown below.
Screenshot 2: Closeup of the left most client
Notes to Screenshot 2
Although there is some variation for the lead miner shown below, the UI of the miners is an imprecise three-column layout. The left column contains Local chat and the Drone window; the middle column contains two open cargo views - one for the ore hold of the Hulk and below that the Fleet Hangar of the Orca. As the Hulk's ore hold fills, the ore is dragged down to the Orca's Fleet Hangar. The column on the right contains the Overview, targets and the Selected Item window.
The Overview contains five Tabs labelled ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR and FIVE. This labeling system is convenient for a number of reasons, such as an FC telling fleet members what Overview Profile they should load into what Tab. Active at the moment in the image above is a Scordite Profile sorted by distance. The other Scordite miner will have the same Profile loaded, also sorted by Distance, and be mining the Scordite asteroids that are farthest away.
Although the asteroids are chosen and targeted via the Overview instead of Survey Scan results, the Hulk does have a Survey Scanner II and will use it in situations where all of the Scordite has been mined and that pilot will switch to Pyroxeres. Although he also has a Pyroxeres Profile, it's more efficient to move to Survey Scanner results to see what types need the most help. The Survery Scan results will be nested with the Overview.
Screenshot 3: Closeup of the lead miner (third from the left)
Notes to Screenshot 3
A slight layout variation for what I call the lead miner. The lead miner functions as the fleet's scout. He has a full set of warp-ins for each belt in the system. He finds a good belt while the fleet is at a safe spot rally point, enters a fleet broadcast to align to the belt he's chosen, and proceeds to target the Scordite farthest from his position. When he lands at a potential belt he immediately does a Survey Scan to get an overall snapshot of the health of the belt (although he will use the Overview to actively mine). He could also use the Mining Profile and sort by Name or Type to get this info, but a Survey Scan is quicker and easier. Nested with the Survey Scan result window are a couple of chat windows.
Note the one person in local with bad standing. The lead miner maintains most of the standings for the fleet. In this case, the pilot with bad standings was flagged for competing with the fleet for asteroids.
Screenshot 1: Both monitors (four miners)
Notes to Screenshot 1
The two miners in the monitor on the left mine Pyroxeres, the two on the right mine Scordite. This is a .9 security system, so only three ores are available, the third being Veldspar, which I do not harvest. Two miners are assigned to an ore, one starts by mining the closest and the other mines the farthest. This is very easy to do with the proper Overview Profile loaded as shown below.
Screenshot 2: Closeup of the left most client
Notes to Screenshot 2
Although there is some variation for the lead miner shown below, the UI of the miners is an imprecise three-column layout. The left column contains Local chat and the Drone window; the middle column contains two open cargo views - one for the ore hold of the Hulk and below that the Fleet Hangar of the Orca. As the Hulk's ore hold fills, the ore is dragged down to the Orca's Fleet Hangar. The column on the right contains the Overview, targets and the Selected Item window.
The Overview contains five Tabs labelled ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR and FIVE. This labeling system is convenient for a number of reasons, such as an FC telling fleet members what Overview Profile they should load into what Tab. Active at the moment in the image above is a Scordite Profile sorted by distance. The other Scordite miner will have the same Profile loaded, also sorted by Distance, and be mining the Scordite asteroids that are farthest away.
Although the asteroids are chosen and targeted via the Overview instead of Survey Scan results, the Hulk does have a Survey Scanner II and will use it in situations where all of the Scordite has been mined and that pilot will switch to Pyroxeres. Although he also has a Pyroxeres Profile, it's more efficient to move to Survey Scanner results to see what types need the most help. The Survery Scan results will be nested with the Overview.
Screenshot 3: Closeup of the lead miner (third from the left)
Notes to Screenshot 3
A slight layout variation for what I call the lead miner. The lead miner functions as the fleet's scout. He has a full set of warp-ins for each belt in the system. He finds a good belt while the fleet is at a safe spot rally point, enters a fleet broadcast to align to the belt he's chosen, and proceeds to target the Scordite farthest from his position. When he lands at a potential belt he immediately does a Survey Scan to get an overall snapshot of the health of the belt (although he will use the Overview to actively mine). He could also use the Mining Profile and sort by Name or Type to get this info, but a Survey Scan is quicker and easier. Nested with the Survey Scan result window are a couple of chat windows.
Note the one person in local with bad standing. The lead miner maintains most of the standings for the fleet. In this case, the pilot with bad standings was flagged for competing with the fleet for asteroids.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Eve Online Mining: Mining preparation
There is a fair amount of preparatory effort that can be made to help your mining run smoother and more efficiently
1. You are at risk
A large red cross hair has been painted on every mining vessel. Ganking and otherwise harassing miners is a popular Eve activity. You should spend time studying the information provided by these links:
Recent Exhumer Kills
Recent Mining Barge Kills
New Order and Minerbumping.com
Belligerent Undesireables
Feyds Blog
Eve-O Crime & Punishment Forum
A good amount of information about systems that interest you or that you frequent is available from the Dotlan website. Here's an example: Azizora.
What should you learn from the above? Essentially, what to fly or not fly and where or where not. Also, fittings that don't work. Look at what the gankers are up to and where. You think it's worth flying a Hulk or Mackinaw in .5-.7 space?
Ganking and third party harassment can be kept to a minimum by matching ship, fit and a system's security status in such a way as to make you less of a target. A miner's worst enemy isn't a ganker, it's the miner's own greed and laziness. Fly smart and make an effort.
2. Bookmarks
For every system in which my fleet mines I have a set of bookmarks that include:
Safe Spots: Prefer them outside of D-Scan range from any celestial. Use these as a rally point for your fleet.
Belt Warp-in: You want a warp-in for each belt in the system that puts you in a good spot to start mining. A good spot is one that is within your strip miner's range to as many asteroids in the belt as possible. With Orca boosts my strip miners can reach out to 25 kilometers. With this range most highsec belts can be covered from a single spot. I use a Cheetah to quickly warp to each belt, find that sweet spot, and bookmark in advance to a mining op. On the op, I have all the vessels meet at the safe spot rally location, I warp the lead miner to the Belt Warp-In, use the UI Overview to confirm positioning when the lead miner lands and a Survey Scan to confirm the belt is worth mining. Once confirmed the lead miner broadcasts an Align to the belt and I warp the Orca to the lead miner while the other vessels are aligning. When the Orca has landed and come to rest, or close to at rest, I begin warping the rest of the fleet to the Orca. This routine results in all ships in position when they land to access the Orca's Fleet Hold and begin mining, or in the case of the freighter, to pull ore from the Orca when it appears.
Belt Tactical: If it's a system I mine frequently, I will make a tactical bookmark for each belt, a bookmark that is 200 - 300 kilometers to the belt. I can warp to this spot, see if anyone's mining there and see how many asteroids are left and their location, then pick a warp-in asteroid if I decide the belt is worth mining.
3. Your OverviewThe importance of the Overview can't be exaggerated. Take time to learn how to master it and all the somewhat hidden features it provides.
I use five Overview Tabs and name them, from left to right, ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE. I know, creative. I name them like this to emphasize that the Tabs themselves are simply neutral placeholders for the Default Profiles or your saved Custom Overview Profiles. What you load in to any particular Tab is not written in stone. I alter what's in a Tab frequently depending on what that ship is up to at the moment.
For general highsec ore mining I have the following Profiles loaded: Tab ONE: Default Profile (a custom default profile); Tab Two: Probes and Ships (including friendlies); Tab THREE: the Mining Profile provided by CCP under the Load Default option in the Overview Settings window - this profile shows all ore types; Tab FOUR: a custom Profile I made that shows only one particular ore type (top level types like Kernite, Pyroxeres, Scordite, Veldspar, etc., you can't specify the sub-variants) - I do this because each miner will be assigned a particular ore type; Tab FIVE: Asteroid Belts. As they mine, the miners will have Tab FOUR active and sorted by distance - I usually have two miners assigned to each ore, one starts with the closest and the other starts with the farthest away.
4. Your User Interface
This is a complex but very important issue. There are some windows that you will want to have open at all times and their placement can be critical. This can be further complicated if you are running several clients simultaneously and interface real estate is condensed. I will prepare and display some screenshots of my UI and discuss the reasoning at a later date.
5. Know What You're Mining - Ore Matters
Simply, some ore is worth more than others. For current information as to ore value, go to this site: Celestes.de then click on the ISK column heading and the page will sort by ore value. Also, understand that each ore comes in three varieties - basic, +5% and +10%, so naturally you'll want to mine the +10%, then +5% then the basic.
1. You are at risk
A large red cross hair has been painted on every mining vessel. Ganking and otherwise harassing miners is a popular Eve activity. You should spend time studying the information provided by these links:
Recent Exhumer Kills
Recent Mining Barge Kills
New Order and Minerbumping.com
Belligerent Undesireables
Feyds Blog
Eve-O Crime & Punishment Forum
A good amount of information about systems that interest you or that you frequent is available from the Dotlan website. Here's an example: Azizora.
What should you learn from the above? Essentially, what to fly or not fly and where or where not. Also, fittings that don't work. Look at what the gankers are up to and where. You think it's worth flying a Hulk or Mackinaw in .5-.7 space?
Ganking and third party harassment can be kept to a minimum by matching ship, fit and a system's security status in such a way as to make you less of a target. A miner's worst enemy isn't a ganker, it's the miner's own greed and laziness. Fly smart and make an effort.
2. Bookmarks
For every system in which my fleet mines I have a set of bookmarks that include:
Safe Spots: Prefer them outside of D-Scan range from any celestial. Use these as a rally point for your fleet.
Belt Warp-in: You want a warp-in for each belt in the system that puts you in a good spot to start mining. A good spot is one that is within your strip miner's range to as many asteroids in the belt as possible. With Orca boosts my strip miners can reach out to 25 kilometers. With this range most highsec belts can be covered from a single spot. I use a Cheetah to quickly warp to each belt, find that sweet spot, and bookmark in advance to a mining op. On the op, I have all the vessels meet at the safe spot rally location, I warp the lead miner to the Belt Warp-In, use the UI Overview to confirm positioning when the lead miner lands and a Survey Scan to confirm the belt is worth mining. Once confirmed the lead miner broadcasts an Align to the belt and I warp the Orca to the lead miner while the other vessels are aligning. When the Orca has landed and come to rest, or close to at rest, I begin warping the rest of the fleet to the Orca. This routine results in all ships in position when they land to access the Orca's Fleet Hold and begin mining, or in the case of the freighter, to pull ore from the Orca when it appears.
Belt Tactical: If it's a system I mine frequently, I will make a tactical bookmark for each belt, a bookmark that is 200 - 300 kilometers to the belt. I can warp to this spot, see if anyone's mining there and see how many asteroids are left and their location, then pick a warp-in asteroid if I decide the belt is worth mining.
3. Your OverviewThe importance of the Overview can't be exaggerated. Take time to learn how to master it and all the somewhat hidden features it provides.
I use five Overview Tabs and name them, from left to right, ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE. I know, creative. I name them like this to emphasize that the Tabs themselves are simply neutral placeholders for the Default Profiles or your saved Custom Overview Profiles. What you load in to any particular Tab is not written in stone. I alter what's in a Tab frequently depending on what that ship is up to at the moment.
For general highsec ore mining I have the following Profiles loaded: Tab ONE: Default Profile (a custom default profile); Tab Two: Probes and Ships (including friendlies); Tab THREE: the Mining Profile provided by CCP under the Load Default option in the Overview Settings window - this profile shows all ore types; Tab FOUR: a custom Profile I made that shows only one particular ore type (top level types like Kernite, Pyroxeres, Scordite, Veldspar, etc., you can't specify the sub-variants) - I do this because each miner will be assigned a particular ore type; Tab FIVE: Asteroid Belts. As they mine, the miners will have Tab FOUR active and sorted by distance - I usually have two miners assigned to each ore, one starts with the closest and the other starts with the farthest away.
4. Your User Interface
This is a complex but very important issue. There are some windows that you will want to have open at all times and their placement can be critical. This can be further complicated if you are running several clients simultaneously and interface real estate is condensed. I will prepare and display some screenshots of my UI and discuss the reasoning at a later date.
5. Know What You're Mining - Ore Matters
Simply, some ore is worth more than others. For current information as to ore value, go to this site: Celestes.de then click on the ISK column heading and the page will sort by ore value. Also, understand that each ore comes in three varieties - basic, +5% and +10%, so naturally you'll want to mine the +10%, then +5% then the basic.
Eve Online Mining: Mining fleet variations
My mining fleets come in three basic variations:
Yield Fleet: 4 Hulks; 1 Field Orca; 1 Field Freighter (Charon); Sec status systems: .9 and 1.0
Tank Fleet: 4 Procurers; 1 Field Orca; 1 Field Freighter; Sec status systems: .5 through .7
Mack Fleet: 4 Mackinaws; 1 POS or Safe Spot Orca; 1 Freighter or Station/POS; Sec status systems: .8 through 1.0
There is no perfect choice. Each has pros and cons concerning risk and yield. Generally, I won't use Hulks or Mackinaws in systems with a security status below .8 because they are at higher risk of being ganked. Tank fitted Procurers in .8 or higher is tanking overkill. Macks are my specialty fleet - I use this setup on mining clean-up ops where I'll send them to different belts for leftovers before downtime.
Other variations include friends joining the fleet with non-doctrine ships or fits. I'll let pretty much any mining vessel into the Yield Fleet and Mack Fleet (though I doubt I'd accept Covetors/Hulks into a Mack fleet). Tank Fleets require Procurers, period. Skiffs would be fine, but in my opinion they're pricey overkill.
By "field Orca" or "field freighter" I mean those ships are actually active in the belt with the miners, as opposed to sitting in a POS, at a safe spot, or within docking range of a station. My Orcas are usually fit with two T2 Mining Foreman Links (Laser Optimization II and Mining Laser Field Enhancement II) and the T2 Siege Warfare Link - Shield Harmonizing II. They are heavily tanked (DCU II and Reinforced Bulkheads II in the lows; four shield modules in the mids, and three shield rigs). I do not use a tractor beam. Instead, I carry a Mobile Tractor Unit in the ship's cargo hold for use in those belts where the mining vessels have to spread out a bit to get the last asteroids, sometimes in opposite directions (the opposite ends of the belt horseshoe).
I'll sometimes swap the freighter for a second Orca in the Tank Fleet. The Orca costs less than a freighter, can tank better than the freighter, and can provide other services, such as Armor and Info Warfare links and a tractor beam instead or sometimes in addition to the Mobile Tractor Unit. Certainly more warping than when using the freighter for storing ore on the field, but a tradeoff worth considering in .5-.7 systems (especially .5 and .6 systems known to be frequented by gankers - but then again, why mine in those hot systems when there are so many other choices?).
Yield Fleet: 4 Hulks; 1 Field Orca; 1 Field Freighter (Charon); Sec status systems: .9 and 1.0
Tank Fleet: 4 Procurers; 1 Field Orca; 1 Field Freighter; Sec status systems: .5 through .7
Mack Fleet: 4 Mackinaws; 1 POS or Safe Spot Orca; 1 Freighter or Station/POS; Sec status systems: .8 through 1.0
There is no perfect choice. Each has pros and cons concerning risk and yield. Generally, I won't use Hulks or Mackinaws in systems with a security status below .8 because they are at higher risk of being ganked. Tank fitted Procurers in .8 or higher is tanking overkill. Macks are my specialty fleet - I use this setup on mining clean-up ops where I'll send them to different belts for leftovers before downtime.
Other variations include friends joining the fleet with non-doctrine ships or fits. I'll let pretty much any mining vessel into the Yield Fleet and Mack Fleet (though I doubt I'd accept Covetors/Hulks into a Mack fleet). Tank Fleets require Procurers, period. Skiffs would be fine, but in my opinion they're pricey overkill.
By "field Orca" or "field freighter" I mean those ships are actually active in the belt with the miners, as opposed to sitting in a POS, at a safe spot, or within docking range of a station. My Orcas are usually fit with two T2 Mining Foreman Links (Laser Optimization II and Mining Laser Field Enhancement II) and the T2 Siege Warfare Link - Shield Harmonizing II. They are heavily tanked (DCU II and Reinforced Bulkheads II in the lows; four shield modules in the mids, and three shield rigs). I do not use a tractor beam. Instead, I carry a Mobile Tractor Unit in the ship's cargo hold for use in those belts where the mining vessels have to spread out a bit to get the last asteroids, sometimes in opposite directions (the opposite ends of the belt horseshoe).
I'll sometimes swap the freighter for a second Orca in the Tank Fleet. The Orca costs less than a freighter, can tank better than the freighter, and can provide other services, such as Armor and Info Warfare links and a tractor beam instead or sometimes in addition to the Mobile Tractor Unit. Certainly more warping than when using the freighter for storing ore on the field, but a tradeoff worth considering in .5-.7 systems (especially .5 and .6 systems known to be frequented by gankers - but then again, why mine in those hot systems when there are so many other choices?).
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Eve Online Mining: Mining orientation
I'm not interested in creating a step-by-step mining guide for a first-day player. Instead, I'll focus on how I mine because that's what gives me a great deal of satisfaction. Having done it for a couple of years, those new to mining, especially those new to small fleet mining, may find a few tips that help them enjoy the activity a bit more.
Roles
Miner: The pilot who extracts ore from asteroids.
Booster: There are skills, ships, modules and an implant that will increase the efficiency of your miners. My booster flies an Orca as all of my mining is done in highsec. I will discuss the Orca and the Orca pilot at some other point. I won't mine without a booster.
Hauler: I don't like jet can mining, warping to stations to empty my ore hold or trading off the yield of the Hulk or Covetor for a larger ore hold. Instead, I use a combo of the Orca and a freighter (Charon) in the field so my miners can continue to do their thing until the belt is cleared of the ores I'm after. Miner-Orca-Freighter is one field combo. There are others I'll discuss later. Your hauler will also be used to transport your ore, minerals or finished products to market.
Refiner: The ore you extract from asteroids can be sold as ore or can be refined into minerals and then either sold on the market or put to use in the manufacture of items. The goal of each step subsequent to ore extraction is the adding of value - minerals worth more than ore and manufactured items worth more than their component minerals. That's the idea at least - value added. However, adding value to ore through this chain requires a decent amount of market knowledge and perhaps a trader.
Trader: Whether you sell the ore, the refined minerals, or manufactured items, some selling will take place. If you mine/refine/manufacture in significant quantity you won't want to give away your margin to poor trading.
Inventor/Manufacturer: You mined ore. You refined the ore and received minerals. Now, if you choose, you can take those minerals and use them as components in the manufacturing process. The key point is that each step of this process - refining to manufacturing - should add value to the mined ore.
Ships
T1 Mining Vessels and their T2 Counterparts
Venture/Prospect (frigate-sized miner) (solo)
Procurer/Skiff (tank) (solo/fleet)
Retriever/Mackinaw (cargo hold) (solo)
Covetor/Hulk (yield) (fleet)
Of course, the big question is, what ship should I use/train for?
And of course, this being Eve, the answer is: it depends. Each ship has its purpose and there are situations in which it is probably more appropriate than the alternatives. I'll discuss this in more detail as we go along. I made a note of whether the ship is used primarily solo, in fleet, or both, but that doesn't mean you couldn't use a Retriever/Mackinaw in a fleet, etc., it's simply my opinion as to the ship's primary use.
Capital Industrial Ships
Orca (Highsec)
Rorqual (Lowsec/Nullsec)
I will have much to say about the Orca and the Orca pilot as I use it every day in highsec mining. If I mined every day in low or null, I'd use the Rorqual. For now, I'll just say that their primary service to the miner is boosting mining efficiency through the use of Mining Foreman Link modules.
Haulers
To haul ore off a mining field, the two basic choices are the Miasmos (Gallente T1 Industrial) and the freighter. The Miasma is a relatively inexpensive T1 hauler bonused for the amount of ore it can hold. The freighter is a capital class ship with an enormous cargohold and an enormous pricetag.
Roles
Miner: The pilot who extracts ore from asteroids.
Booster: There are skills, ships, modules and an implant that will increase the efficiency of your miners. My booster flies an Orca as all of my mining is done in highsec. I will discuss the Orca and the Orca pilot at some other point. I won't mine without a booster.
Hauler: I don't like jet can mining, warping to stations to empty my ore hold or trading off the yield of the Hulk or Covetor for a larger ore hold. Instead, I use a combo of the Orca and a freighter (Charon) in the field so my miners can continue to do their thing until the belt is cleared of the ores I'm after. Miner-Orca-Freighter is one field combo. There are others I'll discuss later. Your hauler will also be used to transport your ore, minerals or finished products to market.
Refiner: The ore you extract from asteroids can be sold as ore or can be refined into minerals and then either sold on the market or put to use in the manufacture of items. The goal of each step subsequent to ore extraction is the adding of value - minerals worth more than ore and manufactured items worth more than their component minerals. That's the idea at least - value added. However, adding value to ore through this chain requires a decent amount of market knowledge and perhaps a trader.
Trader: Whether you sell the ore, the refined minerals, or manufactured items, some selling will take place. If you mine/refine/manufacture in significant quantity you won't want to give away your margin to poor trading.
Inventor/Manufacturer: You mined ore. You refined the ore and received minerals. Now, if you choose, you can take those minerals and use them as components in the manufacturing process. The key point is that each step of this process - refining to manufacturing - should add value to the mined ore.
Ships
T1 Mining Vessels and their T2 Counterparts
Venture/Prospect (frigate-sized miner) (solo)
Procurer/Skiff (tank) (solo/fleet)
Retriever/Mackinaw (cargo hold) (solo)
Covetor/Hulk (yield) (fleet)
Of course, the big question is, what ship should I use/train for?
And of course, this being Eve, the answer is: it depends. Each ship has its purpose and there are situations in which it is probably more appropriate than the alternatives. I'll discuss this in more detail as we go along. I made a note of whether the ship is used primarily solo, in fleet, or both, but that doesn't mean you couldn't use a Retriever/Mackinaw in a fleet, etc., it's simply my opinion as to the ship's primary use.
Capital Industrial Ships
Orca (Highsec)
Rorqual (Lowsec/Nullsec)
I will have much to say about the Orca and the Orca pilot as I use it every day in highsec mining. If I mined every day in low or null, I'd use the Rorqual. For now, I'll just say that their primary service to the miner is boosting mining efficiency through the use of Mining Foreman Link modules.
Haulers
To haul ore off a mining field, the two basic choices are the Miasmos (Gallente T1 Industrial) and the freighter. The Miasma is a relatively inexpensive T1 hauler bonused for the amount of ore it can hold. The freighter is a capital class ship with an enormous cargohold and an enormous pricetag.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Welcome to New Eden Mining
Yes, a blog that focuses on mining in Eve Online.
I enjoy mining. To the most vocal segment of Eve players miners are pond scum. So be it. It's how I elect to spend my game time.
Mining in Eve Online ranges from the simple to the not-so-simple and has a variety of gaming elements that keep it engaging, but almost all dedicated miners like myself have something in common, we enjoy the actual process of it, though the nature of that process varies from miner to miner.
Mining is a strange Eve profession. Since it's generally looked down upon due to its carebearish nature, it has been swept to a dark corner of the infosphere. It's not fashionable.
Curiously though, for something so reviled, it's done by quite a few players, and by many of those players for hours on end.
AFK miners? Botters?
Botters are out there, no doubt. As to AFK mining, that's something usually shouted by the anti-carebear faction who are often clueless about what mining involves. There was a time when it was possible to mine ice in a semi-AFK fashion, but in general the activity is no more AFKish than anything else in Eve. I can watch a movie while I run missions, trade, even while I PvP in many gang situations.
The AFK mining clamor is hype. I run a group of six toons when I mine (four Hulks, an Orca and a hauler) and it is anything but an AFK proposition. Multi-toon mining is very common.
Expect information about the joys and challenges of mining in Eve Online.
I enjoy mining. To the most vocal segment of Eve players miners are pond scum. So be it. It's how I elect to spend my game time.
Mining in Eve Online ranges from the simple to the not-so-simple and has a variety of gaming elements that keep it engaging, but almost all dedicated miners like myself have something in common, we enjoy the actual process of it, though the nature of that process varies from miner to miner.
Mining is a strange Eve profession. Since it's generally looked down upon due to its carebearish nature, it has been swept to a dark corner of the infosphere. It's not fashionable.
Curiously though, for something so reviled, it's done by quite a few players, and by many of those players for hours on end.
AFK miners? Botters?
Botters are out there, no doubt. As to AFK mining, that's something usually shouted by the anti-carebear faction who are often clueless about what mining involves. There was a time when it was possible to mine ice in a semi-AFK fashion, but in general the activity is no more AFKish than anything else in Eve. I can watch a movie while I run missions, trade, even while I PvP in many gang situations.
The AFK mining clamor is hype. I run a group of six toons when I mine (four Hulks, an Orca and a hauler) and it is anything but an AFK proposition. Multi-toon mining is very common.
Expect information about the joys and challenges of mining in Eve Online.
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