Shipwright Archive
Thread: Space Mining: Two Level 3 Mining Lasers or 1 Laser & 1 Tractor Beam?
Rataard wrote:
Personally, I use my heavy X-Wing with only 1 mining laser, and I can get a full load of 1550 asteroids in anywhere from 10-20 minutes. I carry 2 of the nyms rewards guns (gotta get more lvl 10 components to get them RE'd) for when I go into kessel, and whenever I go after diamond, a guildy comes with me in his kimogila to provide some cover.
IMO, 1 gun in an agile ship is all you really need. I cruise at just under 400 speed and never have to adjust it.
Also, I have F9 set to /tar (asteroid I'm mining) and then on F8 it's set to /tar asteroid to target the chunks as they break off.
If your filling up 1550 in 10-20 minutes then I must be doing something wrong.
I think I am pretty fast at the 1 laser/1 cargo hold approach in my Aggressor. I found I don't have to target every chunk any longer...I can just shoot them, which is much faster, and I don't miss many. Last night I filled up to 1550......and my guild mate who was working the same series of asteroids with me only had 380 units. So I was thinking I was doing pretty well. But 10-20 min? It takes me longer than that...........I didn't time it and will do that next time, but it sure seems longer.
As for my Oppressor being too big and bulky......it's not like these asteroid chunks are moving that fast. Plus I have a early space looted engine with over 75's on YPR and 136 tops speed...combined with my booster my ship moves plenty fast and is nimble enough. Having the extra mass will let me load up some high level shields and armor....I just don't want to have to mess with bandits while mining...let them plug away at me.........more an annoyance than anything else. I have not loaded up the Oppressor yet so I might change my toon and think it's too slow once I get rolling....if it is I will unload my Firespray (which is my main combat ship) and set it up for mining. That is my last resort IMO but we will see what happens.
Thanks for the input. Nobody mentioned about the usefullness of a tractor beam?? Are these worthless?
yup 10-15 minutes for me as well.
I have a mark III ML and a Tractor beam. I /follow the asteroid chunk, wait til the crosshairs lineup, turn on the tractor beam THEN blast the largeasteroid chunk. I get most of the small chunks right then with no floaters (most of the time)
Waay faster then chasing every small chunk.
oh.... so put on the tractor beam BEFORE you shoot the medium sized chunk?
Question though, how can I key the tractor beam to stay on.. or how do I link it too a hotkey so I can press.....(button) to have it auto stay on until I turn it off. Is that possible?
furiogiunta wrote:
oh.... so put on the tractor beam BEFORE you shoot the medium sized chunk?
Question though, how can I key the tractor beam to stay on.. or how do I link it too a hotkey so I can press.....(button) to have it auto stay on until I turn it off. Is that possible?
Go to Ctrl + O (the Options menu) and then hit Keymap. Go to the Target tab and you should find an option that I believe says something like "Toggle Tractor Beam". I am guessing that is the one you want. Oh, you need to do this while in space.
Leata wrote:
yup 10-15 minutes for me as well.
I have a mark III ML and a Tractor beam. I /follow the asteroid chunk, wait til the crosshairs lineup, turn on the tractor beam THEN blast the largeasteroid chunk. I get most of the small chunks right then with no floaters (most of the time)
Waay faster then chasing every small chunk.
Ok, I have a tractor beam and will equip it today and try this approach. Will set a timer as well. Thanks for the input.
Oh yes! The laser/tractor beam combo is a very nice fit. It either really helped me out or I am getting much better......I would concur with about 20 min to fill up my cargo hold. So hopefully I can work that down even more as I get better.
As an Imp I don't have a fighter/ship available to me with 3 weapon slots........something the devs decided not to grace us with. Well after all, it's not like us Imps are suppose to be the most technologically advanced!!
I bet the Krayt with 2 mining lasers and1 tractor beam loaded is perfect.
Thanks for all the input/help. This is working well for me now.