KingsGambit
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Posted - 2005.02.28 07:54:00 -
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Edited by: KingsGambit on 28/02/2005 09:04:34
Assuming all mining skills equal (Mining 5, Astro 5, Mining Barge 5) the order from worst to best (not including drones) is approx:
- Probe
- Procurer
- Thorax
- Osprey/Scythe (@ Cal/Min Cruiser 4)
- Retreiver
- Tempest/Dominix
- Megathron/Armageddon
- Apocalypse
- Coveter
Stip Miner Is are better than Moduldated Strip Miner IIs unless used with an appropriate (consumable) crystal. At the top end you can calculate as follows:
Apoc - 8 Miner IIs
60 x 1.25 x 1.25 = 93.75 x 8 = 750 m^3 ore/minute
Coveter - 3 SMIs
540 x 1.25 x 1.25 x 1.15 = 970.3 m^3 ore/minute (Approx 30% over Apoc)
Coveter - 3 MSMIIs + Standard Crystals
360 x 1.25 x 1.25 x 1.15 x 1.62 = 1047.9 m^3 ore/minute (Approx 40% over Apoc)
Coveter - 3 MSMIIs + T2 Crystals
360 x 1.25 x 1.25 x 1.15 x 1.75 = 1132 m^3 ore/minute (Approx 50% over Apoc)
The last is the absolute most that could possibly be mined (excepting drones). However, unless you're a very dedicated miner, the Apoc is a much better choice for the following reasons IMO:
- Coveter requires ludicrous training times
- BPO is more than two Apoc BPOs
- Cost of MSMIIs + skill training times for using crystals is also nuts (Ore Processing skills @ 3 or higher, Reqs. Refinery Efficiency (Rank 3))
- Barges are (very, extremely, utterly) slow and undefensible
- Asteroids have a fixed amount of ore in them which regenerates over time, taking longer if the asteroid was utterly consumed (popped). When an asteroid pops, your mining laser(s) on it continue to mine till the end of their cycle, but yield no extra ore. They simply return whatever was left before the asteroid stopped yielding, but it persists until the end of the cycle. Thus with 3 minute cycles, you could:
a) potentially be wasting 2 minutes and 59 seconds mining an asteroid that's no longer there
b) Even with using survey scanners, on smaller asteroids in particular, it is difficult to judge when to stop mining an asteroid to prevent it popping (and taking longer to regenerate). Thus smaller asteroids are much more prone to being popped due to the massive yield/slow cycle of the strip miner lasers.
With a Miner IIs smaller,more frequent yields, you have a much greater degree of control.
- Apoc can be used for NPC hunting/Missions/PvP. Barges can only be used as targets (probably by pilots in Apocs).
Ultimately though, if you want to be the best possible miner, the Barges are the way to go. They are cheaper if you don't lose them, and could be left at favourite mining spots, docked for whenever you need them. I've gone as far as retreiver, but still prefer Apoc, which is still ultimately better for low sec mining of smaller, rarer ores. Another thing with the barges is that the fittings are the same from Proc -> Cov, but because of the extra hi slot which uses some of those fittings, there better more expensive barges are actually harder to fit the mid/lo slots. They do have bigger cargo/drone bays though which is nice (10 Med Scouts in Coveter  ) If Mining Barge skill itself was rank 2 or 3, or if Coveter only needed L4, it might have been worth spending SPs on, but there are a lot of other, better skills to invest time in...that is unless you plan to do a lot of mining.
One major benefit (or drawback depending on your point of view), is the increased cycle time of the strip miners, and fewer cycles, means you can browse the web, send an Email, etc and flick back every couple of mins. With ice mining, which only barges are capable of, you can go away for over 7-9 minutes (skills dependant) at a time, which is great with the boredom of mining, providing you're either defended, or can't/won't be attacked.
For Ninja Miners, I think the Vexor and Exqueror are probably still numero uno, escpecially with the exq's massive cargo hold.
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