Eve Online Mining: Future of the Rorqual not improving

Glad I sold the Rorquals a few months ago. In addition to requiring them to be on grid with the mining vessels in order to deliver boosts [Dev blog: Command Bursts and the New World of Fleet Boosting], CCP has announced that allowing them to dock in the Astrahus Citadel is a bug that will be fixed, probably in the November, 2016, expansion [

[Future] Rorqual Astrahus citadel docking fix]. This has not been received well.

Serious miners: Suggest you post on the threads and contact anyone you know on the CSM. What CCP proposes to do with the Rorqual and Orca will not be a benefit to miners or mining. It will benefit PvP gangs by providing more soft targets. Mining assets are already very much at risk. POS boosting was the main thing that made that risk worthwhile.

On a brighter note, collected all 58 of the Purity of the Throne event SKINs.

Will probably put the set up on contract. Have many extras for my Amarr pilots.

Eve Online Mining: Remembering the Hulk

It's early morning September 13, 2016. In about six hours the Eve Online Exhumer known as the Hulk will change. New artwork, new specs and the loss of one of its three Strip Miner high slots. Apparently, a Dev back in 2012 made a note that the next time the non-frigate sized mining vessels are updated they should all have the same number of Strip Miners - two - and CCP felt this was reason enough to drop one from the Hulk. Forget the fact that three Strips make for better mining.

Shots of the new Hulk look can be seen here: Eve Online Mining: Mining Barges and Exhumers will change in September, 2016.

Frankly, the new artwork is sweet, especially with the new SKINs, but many of us miners will lobby for the return of three high slot Strip Miner hard points.

Below are screenshots taken today to celebrate the passing of the three-Strip Hulk.  

Eve Online Mining: End of an era?

“It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse-races.” [Samuel Clemens, The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894)]

That sums up what follows about the upcoming changes to Eve Online that will affect mining. Consider me a union rep for multi-boxing miners.

CCP has decided, and we knew it was coming well in advance, that all boosting should be done on grid. Turns out, not only on grid but within relatively close proximity to the boosted ships. With the new extended grid sizes there was some hope we could park the Rorquals at the edge of the grid, fit a cloak, and hunker down if neuts appeared. Not going to happen.

In highsec, this means the end of the around the clock POS-parked AFK Orca booster. The Rorqual in null or low and the Orca in high sec will need to be huddled up with the mining vessels in a belt or anom.

Reaction has been interesting and predictable. 

The risk versus reward analysis has been slanted. Yes, the mining boosters in a POS were not at risk, but those of us fielding those safe boats usually had very expensive assets very much at risk with little defensive capabilities. Also a fair amount of talk about how Orcas and Rorquals aren't engaging to pilot, so the new system will force the owner to interact with the ship as it's boosting. Nice, but the level of interaction is ridiculously low - it's basically token interaction amounting to busy work.

Why treat mining as if it was PvP? Trading is risk free with respect to ship loss (no, transporting is hauling, not the act of trading) as is industry. Those two activities should be moved to destructible vessels or structures if we're going to be consistent.

But there's a deeper thing going on with respect to mining: a long standing prejudice against the profession and that prejudice, originally from the PvP community, is bundled with assumptions about mining that are sometimes inaccurate, if not downright false.

Here's a quote from a recent entry by an Eve blogger that manages to contain the three main weak assumptions:

If CCP were to apply the dual ideas of penalizing passive mechanics and rewarding active player engagement to resource harvesting in EVE Online, I suspect many who have made fortunes with the current AFK-friendly mechanics would vigorously oppose such changes.

Imagine if mining under the current simple mechanics generated only half of their present yields (or perhaps even less) - and that higher levels of production required more frequent player interactions during the mining process. These interactions could be in the form of some type of optimizing mini-game (an idea that Lockefox dislikes), or other type of "fine tuning" that requires ongoing player input. In other words, miners would have to actually pay attention and issue commands throughout their mining routines, in order to maximize yields and potential income.

Many who mine only as a means to other ends - that is, as a way to generate ISK to pay for PvP ships, ammo and modules, for example - will likely rebel and protest loudly against such changes. Most of these players are not interested in becoming mining experts. They are only concerned about finding the easiest ways to generate sufficient ISK to pursue their desired aims. But the trend is clear - CCP wants players who are actively playing the game, who earn rewards commensurate with the degree of their in-game engagement and interaction, even if this results in a lower number of concurrently logged-in accounts. [Neville Smit, The Passivity Purge]

 Multi-box miners actually do pay attention. Multi-box miners actually do interact with the mining process - a great deal in fact. Use six Hulks in a high sec belt and see for yourself the amount of interaction required to keep those lasers running. AFK mining? Sometimes I wish. It's a pain to warp the crew to a POS to take a bio or deal with kids.

Is mining a satisfying solo activity? Who can say? Matter of opinion. I certainly see a large number of solo miners in highsec, and some of them spend quality time at it day after day. If they're not enjoying it, it's a sad waste of their discretionary leisure time.

Imagine if we diehard miners were tasked with revamping PvP.

Forcing the mining boosting ships on to the field probably will improve the game play of some, just not the miners. In high sec having the Orca in the belt isn't a big deal as most of us do that already. But in low and null the Rorqual will really have only one main job - bait.

Another problem for both high and null sec miners is that this will spell the end of standing mining fleets which the more casual miner can join and receive the same boosts as the serious multi-boxer. It will also work to the detriment of large corps and alliances who spread out in a system to mine multiple belts or anomalies.

Of course miners complain about these changes. PvPers would complain about proposed changes that they felt negatively impacted their area, same with traders and industrialists.

The question that CCP hasn't answered satisfactorily is how do these changes really improve game play from the point of view of those who spend most of their time affected by them?

The Hulk is losing one of its laser hardpoints but hey, it can theoretically be fit for added yield and the cycle time is being reduced. Miners don't pay attention? Miners don't interact with the mining process enough? Wrong.

But what's amazing about the Hulk change is the reason for it given by CCP: In 2012, CCP Tallest "... asked the art team to make a note that next time the Barges and Exhumers were up for a regularly scheduled visual refresh they should be unified at the same number of strip miner hardpoints. [link]"

Unfortunately for all, he forgot to include in his note the reason why.

Eve Online Mining: Mining Barges and Exhumers will change in September, 2016

CCP Fozzie calls the upcoming changes to barges and exhumers "tweaks" in the title of the related Dev Blog: [September] Mining Barge and Exhumer tweaks. The Dev Blog has the proposed stat changes as they currently stand, and the changes are live on the Singularity server.

Deciding what needs tweaking and in what way a thing should be tweaked is a tweaking mystery. Frankly, given the disconnected nature of many CCP tweaks, I get the feeling that tweaking has more to do with maintaining job security than with serving the player base that will be most affected.

Seems everybody who lives in New Eden knows all about mining and has an opinion about how it could and should be improved. Unfortunately, a close read of posted comments shows most of these people maybe sat in a Venture a few years ago or play around in a single barge from time to time.

Mining in Eve makes sense only in one circumstance: multi-boxing. It scales incredibly well. Running six Hulks with max boosts I make very good ISK. I mean, very good. But, I don't do it for the ISK alone. If my goal was pure ISK generation I'd trade.

Mining results in a good amount of ISK and I enjoy being in space with my mini-fleet.

About the upcoming exhumer changes: I only care about the Hulk, though I do use Skiffs and Mackinaws sometimes. The changes to the Hulk will be fine for nullsec where the asteroids are much larger, but will be a pain in highsec where the asteroids are so much smaller, meaning more micromanagement of the strip miners.

All the mining vessels will have two strip miner hardpoints and the visuals have been re-worked. You can tell the new ships apart by the number of circular things in the center - 3 for Hulk, 2 for Mackinaw and 1 for Skiff, along with the numbering scheme - Hulk is 09, Mack is 07 and Skiff is 05.

One thing that is great that I hope comes with the September barge/exhumer revamp is new SKINS.

Feast your eyes on these:

Hulk: Morphite Shine SKIN

Hulk: Digmaster Blazon SKIN

Hulk with ORE Development SKIN

Hulk with Paydirt Prospector SKIN

Upcoming Hulk with no SKIN

Mackinaw with Morphite Shine SKIN

Skiff with Morphite Shine SKIN

Eve Online Mining: Upcoming Rorqual Changes

Lot of banter about how long it's taken CCP to make changes to the Rorqual and here and there some opinions about what those changes should be. Since this year's Fanfest CCP's been dropping hints as to the changes they have in mind and the timetable (November, 2016).





One thing is clear, whoever is coming up with the hinted at changes to the Rorqual has not spent quality time mining in nullsec. Probably, hasn't spent quality time mining.

Why so?

Because the hinted at Rorqual changes are idiotic and do not reflect the reality of nullsec mining.

Seems the cool kids these days are all for on-grid boosting. Think taking warfare links out of the POS did nothing for the defense of null systems by small corps/alliances, but that's for another day.

Most nullsec Rorqual boosters are run by multi-boxing miners. I'm tempted to say all, but okay, that would be hyperbole. The Rorq could use attention - the fleet hangar is ridiculously small, smaller than that of the Orca, and its ability to compress is a need of the past, for the most part. The Heavy Water requirement is a pain in the neck, but if it seems necessary that the machine requires upkeep, so be it. We multi-boxers can figure out a way to get our miners to an ice belt when needed.

What we neither need nor want is to have the Rorqual on-grid at the anom or belt. That's where the idiocy floods in and nothing CCP has suggested by way of other changes makes it less idiotic, maybe only more so.

Rorqual mining drones - not needed. We're able to harvest just fine with our boosted Hulks and Skiffs.

Rorqual tank - gee, yeah, let's sit there and suffer a bit longer.

Rorqual offensive capability - let's see, I'm here to harvest but maybe I can risk the Rorqual to get some roaming interceptors on my killboard. Or maybe I'll get really lucky and kill enough of their tackle to warp out - which is wishful thinking. None of which is why I've dedicated so much time and ISK to develop mining toons.

Rorqual - the bait ship. The Rorqual will be able to cast a limited invulnerability spell on itself and the ships in its fleet and on grid for a limited amount of time (5 minutes have been mentioned). Invulnerability comes with immobility and inability to target or damage the enemy, so you get to sit and watch your opponents position themselves as they want while waiting down the timer.

Sure, fit a cyno and wait. But this brings up what's at the root of the problem with having the Rorqual on grid: We may or may not have PvP support ready willing and able to come to our aid at some unknowable point. This means, our mining ops are now dependent on the availability of sufficient PvP pilots that will be on call in case they're needed. You know, go rat or something until we need you. And even if you are on call, will you really be able to respond in time if a wormhole spawns in our mining system and spews pilots with bad intentions?

Most miners are individualistic, independent souls. We multi-box miners welcome corpmates and blues into our mining fleets, but we don't want to have to rely on the availability of other players to mine in nullsec with Rorqual boosts, or Rorqual-level boosts.

And forget the small group or solo miner - who in the world is going to put their Rorq on grid for a single Skiff? Leaving the Rorqual in a POS AFK boosting with a fleet up allows any number of casual solo miners to spend some time alone in an anom and receive the same boosting benefits afforded to mining op fleets.

CCP, before you make more ridiculous moves in this direction, give this some real thought. Not imagination, but what real miners in the field want and need.

Eve Online Mining: Nullsec Mining, Part Two

A few more general points before we dig in...

Things to keep in mind when looking for a sov nullsec mining home were discussed in Part One. Another thing to consider when shopping for a home is the availability of ice anomalies, at least if you plan to bring, build or buy your own Rorqual and train your own booster pilot as the Rorq eats up Heavy Water when running the Industrial Core, which you'll want to do as it needs to be running to activate max mining boosts. With Industrial Reconfiguration trained to 5, you'll use this amount of Heavy Water:

Units per minute: 112.6
Units per 5 minutes: 563
Units per hour: 6,756
Units per day: 162,144

Multiply those numbers by the market price per unit of Heavy Water and you'll see that securing a steady supply of Heavy Water is important. It could turn out that the corp you join or the alliance already has an around-the-clock perfect Rorq booster sitting in a POS at your disposal. However, it's also a good possibility that if you have a perfect Rorq booster you'll end up being the player with a character boosting in that POS. While it seems there are quite a few Rorq pilots out there, not that many are "perfect" boosters. By "perfect" you could mean all the related mining leadership skills, Rorq ship skills and Mining Foreman Mindlink, but having all the leadership skills to 5 brings further benefits (+10%) with respect to agility, targeting range, targeting speed, shield amount and armor amount - all nice bonuses.

When you work a nullsec ice anomaly, focus on Glare Crust as it will yield the highest amount of Heavy Water. Ice anomalies have no connection to sov or sov upgrades - like highsec, a system either offers an ice anom or two, or it doesn't. Nullsec ice anoms spawn with the same frequency as those in highsec.

Go HERE for a quick snapshot of what's happening with ice variations and ice products.

The bonuses you will receive from a perfect Rorq plus the value of upgraded sov ore and the yield of a Hulk work together to make nullsec mining much, much more profitable than highsec.

Almost Time to get your fleet on grid

The discussion is about multi-box mining only. Not a fan of solo mining anywhere, but that's especially true in null. If you must remain solo, give some thought to developing a ratting pilot. Mining makes great ISK if you use multiple miners as it scales well - easy to add more miners without much added effort. Solo mining will prove to be a pain in the neck to you and probably those around you.

The roles: miner, hauler, booster and one more not previously mentioned anywhere on this blog - prober. As having a probing toon isn't discussed often when it comes to mining, let's look at why.

Why you want probing skills and gear

My setup includes 4-6 Hulks (or Skiffs depending) on grid at the anom for extended periods of time. That's a lot of ISK and fairly slow aligning ships. Intel is key. Local isn't the main point, I want to know way in advance if non-blues are in the neighborhood. If I haven't started warping before they enter local, it might be too late. Intel is usually provided by alliance or coalition channels, maybe corp channels. The quality of such intel varies greatly from group to group and even moment to moment, depending on how many people are online, where they are located, and how much attention they're paying to their own local. Prime is to have the system in which you're actively mining "boxed," which means you have eyes, or at least eyes you can really count on, in every adjoining system so no one can get into your active system without being seen by scouts first.

Boxing a system is great. Intel is great. But there's one thing that can ruin all of this - wormholes (WHs). Cosmic Signatures that you have to probe down to identify and locate. They might be data, relic, or combat sites - or they could be WHs. WHs are a very popular way for PvP groups to quickly roam about with very little advance warning - and almost no warning if a wormhole they can jump through spawns in your system.

Thus, your probing alt. Whenever a previously unidentified Cosmic Signature appears in your active system, you want to know if it's a WH or a non-threatening PVE site and, if it's a WH, to where it leads, size, and likely lifespan. When there is a WH in your active system your fleet is at risk to a sudden hostile group jumping in without prior warning.

If you keep good track of the WH sigs in your active system, you might make the logistics folks in your corp happy as often a WH chain will lead to a good high or low sec system not far from a market hub. Your PvP folks might appreciate the heads-up also as they can use them for a roam.

What to do when a WH sig appears? Responses by miners vary, maybe due to risk management, complacency, greed, or some mix. Some do nothing different. Some completely stand down. Personally, I usually switch to Skiffs for a faster alignment time.

Also note, WHs make intel channels questionable because WHs can pop up anywhere. You might have a lot of systems covered in your intel channels, but what if a WH pops up next door or close by and there are no reliable eyes between you and that system? Box your active system if at all possible - I'll often sacrifice a miner to do scout duty, or rotate scout duty among corpmates who are also mining, etc. It's easy to get complacent and lazy. It's also expensive.

Finally on grid...

This is anti-climatic: What I have on grid at all times during the mining session are 4-6 Hulks. The booster is in a Rorqual sitting in a POS. The hauler warps in, scoops what's available and warps to the POS where he either dumps it in a compression array or in the fleet hangar of the Rorq, which can also compress ore. I prefer a compression array as it can hold 20 million m3 or ore, but either way works.

Note: I prefer to work out of a POS as opposed to being tethered to a Citadel. Don't want the Rorq bumped off the Citadel and don't want to have to dock to offload the ore (storage space on the Rorq, which is maxed out for cargo, is for Heavy Water and the ore hold is just too small). A small POS can give me a compression array and corporate hangar where I keep mining gear. Make sure it's stronted, and just take it down if attacked.

The questions are, if I'm using Hulks with their small ore holds and keep nothing on grid with them, like an Orca, to put their ore in, how does that work?

Enter the star of our show, the Enormous Freight Container.

That's right, I'm jet can mining in nullsec. But this a very fine jet can - each Enormous Freight Container (EFC) can hold 250,000 m3 of ore! They're a weird thing. Packaged, they're only 2,500 m3 so you can deploy them with a T1 Industrial, but when launched, they blossom to the 250K m3 capacity.

When I'm about to start a mining session, I send my lead miner to an ore anom with the Rorq running boosts in the POS and the rest of my miners waiting there, do a survey, and pick a good spot that will put me in laser range of the Bistot, Arkonor and Mercoxit, at least the bulk of it, then warp the hauler in, launch the EFC, bookmark it and warp back to the POS. Until I've depleted the sweet ore within range of the launched EFC, I'll warp the hauler in to clear it out as need be.

Note: Your miners and hauler will want to set their HUD safety to red so they can all access the EFC.

Note: I make a bookmark off-grid to the ore anom (which is now a pain due to the grid size) and warp my mining crew there from the POS before going directly to the EFC bookmark at the anom. The reason is, it's often many AU between POS and EFC bookmark and it's a horrible feeling to see local fill up while you're in a 30 AU warp with a fleet of Hulks.

What ship I use to haul with varies, but usually either an Orca maxed for cargo or a Miasmos. The Orca is the easiest as it can hold 190K m3 of ore among its three holds if maxed out for cargo, but it's also slower to align. The Miasmos is cheap and aligns quickly, but holds less than 60K m3 of ore. If intel's been a little dicey I'll probably use the Miasmos, but prefer the Orca. Some folks will use a freighter. I don't.

Note: If you want to pick up your EFC at the end of a session, you will have to use a freighter because it's now 250K m3 in size and will remain that size even if empty until it's repackaged. I don't bother. I leave them at the anom, rename them to something like "Feel free to use" and not worry about it. They disappear after downtime but are very cheap and easy to build (suggest you have a BPO, they're also relatively cheap).

Final thoughts

If you're a serious multi-boxer, and by serious I simply mean really enjoy it and are willing to make a bit of effort to situate yourself, you should be in sov nullsec. Yes, sov null right now due to fozziesov is a bit unstable, but while no one can guarantee eternal stability if you do your homework it's possible to find a home in null that will take your game to a much higher level of enjoyment (and ISK generation).

Eve Online Mining: Nullsec Mining, Part One

It is now the summer of 2016. Spent most of the last 12 months mining in nullsec, the topic of today's post.

But first: one monitor to rule them all

Am currently back mining in highsec. Have expanded the operation to eight characters working together at the belt - six miners, a hauler and a booster. This setup is used only in low-traffic .9 or 1.0 systems. Still using only one monitor but it works fine (22" widescreen). The hauler (Charon) and booster (Orca) windows are minimized until needed.

This setup is designed to focus on the +10% variants of the three main ores offered in that system with two miners assigned to each type. Each miner sorts the survey scan results by quantity - one from large to small, the other, from small to large and targets their assigned 'roids accordingly. If they finish their assigned 'roid type before another pair, they switch to the type with the most 'roids remaining.

Used a similar setup and the same technique in null, though without the hauler and booster on grid with the miners, as will be discussed in Part 2 of this series.

Nullsec Mining Part One: Preparation is key

1. General

Life in null is much different from highsec. Concord isn't around and there's a major difference in mechanics - warp disruption bubbles. Bubbles look a bit like POSes. When inside of a bubble you can't warp unless you're flying a ship immune to this effect. This makes navigating challenging as putting bubbles around gates and stations is a popular pastime in null (the bubble mechanic doesn't work in high or low security space). Also, ships known as interdictors can quickly place bubbles so your multi-box fleet is at much greater risk than it would be in highsec.

There are a number of techniques that can increase your odds of survival, but here's a really vital tip: If you're new to nullsec put an alt in Open University of Celestial Hardship and learn nullsec navigation from pros. It's truly open, no API checks, they teach you everything you need to know about nullsec through well run in-game classes and it's free. More information about 0UCH can be had from this CCP Community Spotlight.

2. Skills

Null will present two significant challenges: upgraded sov ore and upgraded NPC rats. With respect to ore, you will want to train for a Hulk/Skiff and the use of T2 mining laser crystals for Arkonor, Bistot, Crokite, Dark Ochre, Gneiss, Spodumain and Mercoxit. (Note: Mining Mercoxit requires training Deep Core Mining to at least L2 and Mercoxit Processing to L4, which will then allow you to use the Modulated Deep Core Strip Miner II with T2 Mercoxit crystals.)

Dealing with null anom/belt rats requires good shield tanking skills, a decent shield tank and excellent drone skills. You need to tank those rats long enough for your drones to clear them. This makes solo mining in null difficult without being that miner who whines for rat help (sure, your nice corp/alliance mates will come to your rescue, but that gets old for everyone). This is another reason mining scales well - the more drones you have to throw at the rats, the faster you can clear the anom of them. Use T2 mediums and consider assigning them to guard the pilot that's being primaried by the rats. The mediums main damage type should be matched with the rats' main resist weakness.

With excellent skills in both tanking and drones and a pricey fit, it is possible for a solo Skiff or Hulk (yes, a Hulk) to solo mine unless Faction battleships spawn, in which case you'll probably need to either warp out or call for help - but this won't happen often and ratting pilots are usually happy to come kill Faction battleships on the chance they get a good loot drop.

3. Finding a nullsec corp

This is the most important thing you'll do in preparation for becoming a nullsec miner. You want to mine prime nullsec ores in fully ore-upgraded sov systems with a security rating low enough that the spawned anoms will produce the +10% variations of those prime ores. Nullsec systems owned by player alliances can be upgraded to produce ore anomalies that contain prime ores. There are five levels of potential upgrades, 1-5, and each level results in a larger spawn - from small to colossal. Read this dev blog for more information about sov null ore anoms. (Note: Even with the ore upgrades installed, a certain amount of ore must be mined each day to maintain the spawn levels, and, the ore upgrades do not determine the variants of prime ore (+5% or +10%) that spawn - that is determined by the system's security rating.)

The above describes a prime scenario, but this is simply one factor to consider. Prime is nice, but in general nullsec ores will produce more money from your mining efforts than highsec, by about a factor of 2. If you want an idea of the difference, install Eve Isk per Hour and compare various scenarios. Other factors will weigh heavily in choosing where you want to set up your null mining operation.

There are resources available that will help your search for a nullsec corp/alliance:

Doltan Maps: Link will take you to the Universe page from which you can click to look at Regions and get detailed information, including Sovereignty, Security Status, Belts/Ice, etc. Find out who owns the various Regions of nullsec and which Regions might appeal to you.

Alliance/Corp Recruitment - Eve-O Forums: Use the forum to find corps that might interest you, read their ads, then do your due diligence (check their killboard, Google them, join their in-game recruitment chat channel, talk to recruiters, talk to current/former members identified by Eve Who).

zkillboard: Check the corporate and alliance killboard to see where they're active, how they're doing, what they fly, how often they lose mining vessels, etc.

You'll be looking for several things from a nullsec corp:

Buyback Program: Most corps that will fit your needs will offer an ore/ice/loot buyback program. You mine and they buy what you mine usually via contract with the raw ore in the station where you mined it. Very easy way to convert ore to ISK. However, you have to look at their program carefully as most buyback programs price your ore somewhere below Jita market so that buying your ore isn't a money-losing proposition for the corp or alliance. You must decide if the discount they offer is worth it to you. One easy way to do this is to compare their buyback price with the estimated value for that ore as indicated by Evepraisal.com. Be neither too greedy nor too generous. Be what you consider fair.

Bear in mind: Folks went through a lot of time, effort and ISK to establish and maintain the piece of nullsec sov they're willing to make available to you and it's only right they expect you to bring something to the table. Yes, thanks to fozziesov it's nice having miners around to help with the Activity Defense Multiplier Industry Index, but maintaining an alliance can be an expensive proposition, especially if they have an excellent ship replacement program (SRP).

Ship Replacement Program: Diplomacy is a wonderful thing, until it isn't. Groups have to be ready, willing and able to seize and defend space in nullsec. Ships are lost. All nullsec alliances worth a grain of salt offer their pilots a SRP to ease the burden of losing ships in combat. You may not think of yourself as a combat pilot, but you might want to re-think that and have at least one in-corp alt with combat skills so that you can participate in home defense fleets, mandatory deployments, or other CTAs (call to arms). Many nullsec corps will require that you have at least one combat toon that participates in ops. While you may love to mine hour after hour, day after day, there's a very good chance you'll come to welcome the diversion of a well (or even poorly) run combat fleet.

What is replaced and how quickly it is replaced varies widely, so you'll need to ask for details. Their attitude toward SRP can tell you something about how well they treat or think of their line members.

Logistics: You won't want to fly 10 Hulks directly to your nullsec home and you will need other supplies during your stay. Most nullsec corps/alliances are very keen on logistics and will be able to help you with Jump Freighter services. But this has to come with a caveat - it's an old scam to accept a pilot into a corp, tell him you'll JF all his gear to the nullsec HQ, then steal it all after he contracts it over. Really do your homework on the corp/alliance, make sure you contract only to vouched for alt toons or corps, etc. Ideally, if you commit to living in nullsec as a serious multi-boxer you will want to develop your own JF alts and have your own jump freighters. Having the help of others is great, but it's always good to know you can get mobile on your own if need be.

Intel: You want to find yourself in a nullsec situation where around the clock intel chat channels are buzzing with sightings of non-blue pilots. The importance of reliable intel cannot be overstated. You are a squishy target and if a non-blue slips into local odds are he's in warp to you.

In Part Two (link) about mining in nullsec will take a look at how to do it efficiently. Meanwhile, the fits below provide some idea what to expect regarding skills and cost.

Hulk Fits:

Group Fit (3 or more Hulks together):

[Hulk, Gurista Null Tank]
Mining Laser Upgrade II
Mining Laser Upgrade II

Survey Scanner II
Gistii A-Type Small Shield Booster
Gist C-Type Kinetic Deflection Field
Gist C-Type Thermal Dissipation Field

Modulated Strip Miner II
Modulated Strip Miner II
Modulated Strip Miner II

Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Ice Harvester Accelerator I or Medium Mercoxit Mining Crystal Optimization I  (depending on the pilot's skills or have one Hulk for Mercoxit and one for ice)

Vespa II x5

Variety of T2 mining crystals in cargo hold.

Solo Fit:

[Hulk, Gurista Solo]
Mining Laser Upgrade II
Mining Laser Upgrade II

Gistii A-Type Small Shield Booster
Caldari Navy Small Shield Extender
Gist X-Type Kinetic Deflection Field
Survey Scanner II

Modulated Strip Miner II
Modulated Strip Miner II
Modulated Strip Miner II

Medium Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer II
Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II


Vespa II x5

Eve Online Mining: Drifter battleships in the belt

My usual six-man fleet was mining in a .9 system when Apollo and Artemis Tyrannos paid us a visit in their Drifter battleships. Was interesting to watch them scan both asteroids and my ships.

Cooperate or compete?

I've been asked how I deal with the issue of mining etiquette, which means how do I react to other miners at a belt or anom. Some argue that "proper" mining etiquette dictates that whoever's there first should be allowed to mine undisturbed and the late comer should move along.

I disagree. We compete for resources so the question is simply, what's more efficient resource harvesting, competing or cooperating, and I'll do what seems more efficient. For example, I land at a belt with my six pilots and find a lone Mackinaw or Retriever. I'll scan the belt and if the belt is still rich enough, I'll mine it. The single miner that was already there can compete or move, his call. He'll have very little impact on my Hulks. If I want to send him a message, I can view his ship, see what roids he's working, and mine them from under him, but I rarely do that unless I'm trying to encourage that pilot to find a new system.

On the other hand, if a mining fleet similar to mine is at a belt, I move on because butting heads with that group simply wouldn't be efficient - unless I want to discourage them from working that particular system. In general, it's best not to feel too possessive about roids, belts or systems, but sometimes you do need to fight for what you consider valuable resources or situations.

Eve Online Mining: What's a miner to do?

Change is a fact of life in New Eden. Serious miners do much more than warp to a belt or anom, target, and F1 rocks or ice. We are keenly aware of the state of politics in all security space and how those politics and changes to the mechanics of New Eden affect the market place for ores, minerals, ice or ice products. How we react to change varies, but most of us position ourselves so that we are able to enjoy the benefits and avoid the pitfalls that changes bring.

That's not to say we run around chasing daily market fluctuations, though some might. What we do is try to insure that we're not so deeply committed to a single place or method that we find ourselves left behind.

Since the summer of 2014, the industrial way of life has become much more potentially nomadic, mostly the result of POS and array changes. We're now free to throw a small POS and the arrays we need into the Orca or freighter and hit the road. For our more extensive industrial/BPO activities, the changes to station services and the freeing up of their facilities has made it easy to establish as many industrial outposts as needed wherever needed in highsec, lowsec or NPC null.

Teams and Jump Clones

I operate six industry oriented accounts. That's a total of 18 characters. Eve is a long game. I've been playing for years, and every one of my 18 characters has been trained to a useful degree with useful skills. But, more to the point of this post, what I've done is divide my characters into three teams of six. Each team is a well trained, independent mining unit - four maxed miners (Hulks and Skiffs), a maxed Orca pilot and a freighter pilot. Each team also has four or more characters trained to manipulate blueprints, that can manufacture, that can light cynos, and two pilots that have excellent trading skills.

The three teams were based in different areas of highsec, but I will soon move one team to nullsec. However, a team can cover a large number of different systems using jump clones. You can have up to 10 jump clones per character, though I max them out at nine. So, not only are you fairly mobile in general (four exhumers, an Orca and a freighter), you can establish a base in up to nine systems for each team. That's a lot of coverage.

The main focus of where I establish a base is what ores or ice is available, whether a system offers Level 4 mining agents and where the stations with which I have jump clone standings are located.

However, even though you could have up to nine bases per team using jump clones, that doesn't mean you would want to fully maintain that many, especially if that meant having all the necessary ships and fittings at each base. Also, I tend to implant my characters with helpful aids - some of which are a necessity to me, such as the Mining Foreman Mindlink for the Orca pilot,  the Yeti ice or ore implant for yield, and the Beancounter implant for each team's reprocessor.

I have one team that focuses on Caldari space and one for Amarr. Those two teams further focus their jump clone bases on ore and ice - different systems offer different asteroid compositions or ice security level and competition, etc. For ore, I tend not to mine ore in highsec unless I can do it with Hulks, which in turn means .9 or 1.0 sec status systems, so I usually have to find systems with that sec status, a good number of belts, and a decent amount of Scordite and Pyroxeres in those belts. Sometimes the market tips toward Kernite, but I'm usually still better off mining Scord and Pyro in Hulks as opposed to Kernite in Skiffs. Ice is done exclusively in Skiffs.

I have lived in nullsec before, but not as an industrialist, so I'm looking forward to that. Actually, I have other accounts with characters already living in null, but as PvPers and not industrialists. CCP has gone out of its way to make null more attractive to industry, so it seems that with the recent ore shakeup the time has come to find a nullsec industry home. That is proving easier said than done though. Finding a nullsec sov group (looking for upgraded systems) isn't hard, but finding one with stability and likely sustainability takes some homework. Odds are I'll end up using a team that has a strong mix of PvP/Industry capable pilots as most null groups expect you to bring some warfare goodies to the table. I'd prefer to bring resource harvesting and buyback usage or even possibly renting, and have the PvP purely optional, but we'll see.

Give some thought to adding as much flexibility to your New Eden life as possible.

Eve Online Mining: Mosaic Update Deployed

Change is in the wind. Highsec miners have started to feel the affect of the revamped nullsec ore compositions. Between the IPH of nullsec ores due to that revamp and the strength of Rorqual boosts, it's time to put a team in null. On the other hand, the idea of mining in null isn't a revelation and quite likely those ores will be over-mined in the coming months. Also, who can say where the most efficient place(s) to mine will be after the June, 2015, changes to nullsec sov? Nevertheless, I have a team ready to deploy if and when I find an acceptable situation. Until then, my teams will stay focused on high-yield Scordite and Pyroxeres via Hulk mining (though compressing the ore for sale is no longer the way to go - I now compress in system, transport the compressed ore to a trade hub and refine at the trade hub station).

What I have been having fun with is the new ship SKIN system, and the current bug that allows you to skin any ship with any skin you own and have activated. CCP knows about it and it's probably short lived, but my Skiffs and Orca never looked better.

Sarum Skiff - side view (click image for larger version)

Sarum Skiff - top view

Tash-Murkon Skiff

Sukuuvestaa Skiff

Tash-Murkon Orca

Eve Online Mining: Fanfest 2015 mining portents

Drifters weren't the only portents for miners to come out of the recent 2015 Fanfest. Two things are on the horizon on which we should keep an eye: nullsec anomaly ore revamp and the general structure revamp.

According to CCP Fozzie, nullsec ore anomalies are going to be reconfigured in April, 2015, in such a way as to afford enough of the low end ore/minerals to make nullsec self-sufficient from a manufacturing standpoint. This could affect the price of highsec ore/minerals (can't see how it could be good for the compressed ore market since it should reduce the need to import low ends) and affect the viability of conducting mining and industry in nullsec (as in, making it more profitable). This change is right around the corner, so we'll see soon enough.

Last May (2014), I wrote about how the Kronos and Crius releases would usher in the age of nomad mining due to the POS anchoring changes (link). This was a big boost to my mining operation. Now though CCP has announced a revamp of structures, including POSes, which I'm worried could make the POS too large to comfortably fit in the Orca or similar transport vessel, and no word yet on how long it would take to anchor the new structure.

Overall, the new structure concept is exciting, but I hope it doesn't spell the end of the easy mining and light industry nomadic lifestyle.

Edit (March 27, 2015): My concern about the size and deploy-ability ease/speed of the new structures might have been premature. The new structures, at the moment, will come in four sizes: small, medium, large and extra large. While the starbase (current POS) will be large, it could be that the smaller deployables will allow for quick and easy ore compression and at least limited docking/mooring/shield safety, leaving the new POS structure for a more permanent base of operations.

Eve Online Mining: Ominous portents for New Eden

Space travel in New Eden is highly risky business. So risky, most humans avoid it. Instead, it's normally conducted by humanoid clones, both as capsuleer pilot and crew.

Certain events over the last several months indicate that a new threat may be on the horizon in New Eden - Drifters. How this will play out is still a mystery, and frankly, since it seems the Jove were the ones who perfected pod piloting and consciousness transfer, it's hard to imagine why this offshoot of the Jovian race would need to harvest corpses instead of simply growing new specimens, but time will tell.

Eve Online Mining: Capsuleers and Operators

I've received several mails asking for clarification on the recent posts about New Eden Operators and their relationship to pod pilot clones.

"And all the science,  I don't understand. It's just my job five days a week." - Rocket Man

Space travel in New Eden has become very popular. However, no fully functional and sane human being would submit to the rigors and almost certain death sentence it entails (especially since the development of pod piloting, the human-machine interface technique of operating spacecraft). The development of pod piloting and the horrific, albeit efficient, life that results, led to the development of cloning techniques for the use of clones as pod pilots.

Clones were hyped as a way for space pilots to achieve immortality, but that propaganda failed once it became clear that the original subject died at the moment consciousness was transferred to a clone. It also didn't work out to use fully functional (mentally speaking) clones as they were prone to reject the idea of a life sentence of living in a pod. The brevity of life as a pod pilot was also unappealing.

Then, the corporate scientists that developed the cloning techniques, consciousness transfer, and clone-ship interface took things a step further. They realized that two things could be done with the clones that solve the normal human problems - the clones could receive whatever mental level and content the corporation desired and the neural-machine interface could be used to control the clone remotely. Clones could be created and controlled to serve as humanoid-cybernetic servants. They could be completely controlled via a relatively simple computer interface. In other words, they could and did become the space pawns of computer Operators like myself. No muss, no fuss.

The clones that today serve as pod pilots have no independent life. They are completely under our control apart from a wide variety of automated functions and do nothing important without our having commanded them via our computer interface. When we log off of the interface the clones go dormant until we log on again (dormant except for the ongoing process of acquiring new skills through a neural upload).

It seems harsh to treat clones as so easily disposable, but space is harsh and not for the risk averse. If Operators were not somewhat cavalier about the clones in their ship pods, it's likely very few would undock.

A final note for this post regarding faster than light communications for Operators.

If you saw the interface Operators use to command pod pilot clones, you'd be surprised to know that it's not real-time video. What we see is reconstructed information transmitted by camera drones. Live video is apparently too bulky to transmit, so the information is boiled down to essentials and reconstructed at our terminals. Yes, it looks a bit game-like, but generally does the job. Some find it strange that we don't have a through-the-window POV of the ship we are controlling through our pod clone, but you get used to it quickly.

Eve Online Mining: You have to die if you want to live forever

What a gimmick. Let's clear the air (so to speak) about the nature of pod pilots (capsuleers) in New Eden: they are nothing more than clone-based bio-mechanical tools. They are not you. They are not me. They are the "things" that we command to do our bidding with New Eden space ships.

We are not pod pilots, we are Operators.We sit at computer terminals and command the industrial bred clones that interface with space ships. We operate one or a number of different clones at any one time, but we do so from the comfort and safety of land.

Face it, living in space sucks, big time. Zero gravity does bad things to your body, as do all the god-knows-how-many-and what-type of subatomic particles that constantly pass through matter. A pod pilot is stuck in a pod. No pizza delivery. No beer and pretzels. No Friday nights out on the port. And, the main rub, since the use and control of space is competitive and for all real intents and purposes lawless, your life expectancy in space is laughable, but not funny.

Though New Eden cracked the space travel nut, it wasn't long before the lines for space pilot enlistment dried up as the true nature of the horrific and short-lived lifestyle became apparent.

Enter the human-like clone. Certain corporations offered immortality - let us clone you and your consciousness could live forever. Unfortunately, the reality was that the cloned original would die at the moment consciousness was transferred. In other words, what "lived" forever wasn't you, it was a copy of you. When people figured out that offering yourself up for cloning was a death sentence (it would do you no good that another creature was prancing around with your memories if you're food for worms), the Get Cloned Here lines also dried up.

To make New Eden space travel the thriving enterprise it is today, cloning without the death of a donor had to be perfected. And perfected it was. Corporations are now able to build complete humanoid creatures from basic materials without the need to harvest a living donor.

But, what exactly are these clones? That's a sticky question. It became clear that if they were fully functional human beings we'd be left with the same problem - no thanks, I don't think space is for me. No one in their right mind is going to volunteer to become either a pod pilot or a spaceship crew member. So, what was needed were human-like creatures that could be completely controlled by Operators like me and able to successfully interface with the complex equipment of spaceship systems.

Much of this is kept a secret, to the extent possible. The clones themselves don't have the capacity to strike or revolt, but chances are some segments of the human population would find the way they're used and sacrificed a bit barbaric.

Eve Online Mining: From Kronos to Tiamat

Won't list all the short-cycle updates we've had to Eve since Kronos. Latest was Tiamat. Scylla will hit later this month (March, 2015).

Continuing the 2014 nomad mining theme, I've moved quite a bit over the last 6-8 months, constantly searching for better ore and ice opportunities.

At the moment my week is split like this: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday I mine ore. On Mondays and Fridays I mine ice. The reason is ore spawns contain small asteroids on Mondays and Fridays, so I prefer to mine ice on those days.

For ore, I'm in .9 Amarr space using Hulks and pursuing the +10% high yield Scordite and Pyroxeres ores, which I compress and take to the trade hub in the Amarr system for sale. I am not mining Amarr ice at the moment as that market has tanked. I jump clone my six mining toons to Caldari space on Mondays and Fridays. Caldari ice has fallen, but not nearly as far as the other Faction ice. I reprocess the Caldari ice and sell the ice products in Jita.

A few months ago I did something really stupid and trashed one of my monitors, so I'm now running all six toons on one 22 incher. Here's a screenshot of the four mining toons (in Skiffs working Caldari ice) - the Orca and freighter pilots clients are minimized until needed.

Was an unhappy moment going to one monitor, but the working technique has grown on me.

As usual, a fair amount of grumbling on the forums requesting that CCP make changes to mining. The problem, as I see it, is that mining right now is great for those of us who multibox (no, there is no ISBoxer involved) a crew like mine - 4 miners, an Orca and a freighter - as ice is competitive and Hulk mining forces you to stay engaged when you're harvesting highsec 'roids. However, it's not nearly as engaging for a player running a single toon. That's the rub. My hope is that it can somehow become more engaging for the solo miner without ruining it for us multiboxers.

Eve Online Mining: Kronos Update

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.