Mining probes

FlakAtak · Post by **FlakAtak** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:42 am

Just tried out deploying a mining probe tonight and I've managed to get it to work on asteroids by moving up to 900m or so and making sure the roid is fully within the green probe area.

How do you deploy probes on planets and moons though?

Another question: I've found that whereas my mining beam might only pull metal, diamonds and platinum out of an asteroid, a probe can extract other stuff, like gold, silver, hydrogen and... textiles. How does a probe manage to mine textiles from an asteroid?

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 2:48 am

Hello FlakAtak, and welcome aboard!

Yep, gotta be in range of the target for the probe to deploy (IIRC - less than 1000 mtrs. for asteroids. On planet surface, IIRC, it's point and shoot (click). That is, after having achieved a landing/stasis posture (usually around 3500 meter AGL).

Well, there are other 'flavored' mining beams, aside from the standard mine/tractor beam (gold, platinum, metal, & diamond). All function equally well in tractor mode, for things like mining the hydrogen and OhTwo, and slurping up the aitchtwoooh, or the occasional errant crate.

Never heard of a mining probe sucking up textiles from an asteroid deployment. But, anything's possible in the land of Oz........

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 2:54 am

I think Busch had the answer to the textiles and maybe didn't realize it. If they had been in a crate, that could be how the mining beam got hold of 'em.

FlakAtak · Post by **FlakAtak** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 2:00 pm

Thanks all. Stray crates in an asteroid field would seem likely, on reflection. I'm going to throw a few probes out randomly to see if they can find my wife's missing earrings!

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 2:24 pm

Check the vacuum cleaner.

Nigel_Strange · Post by **Nigel_Strange** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:54 pm

I use a plat mining beam, since platinum is almost always the highest valued mineral that you can mine. Works pretty well, too. I highly recommend it. Oh, but now there will be a glut on plat, so the price will go down. Nevermind what I just said! Mine diamonds or iron...

I am wondering if it is possible to make money by using fleet mining. I have tried it, but it always seemed that the wages of the ships outpaced the money they bring in as miners. I wonder if this is something that works only if you have enough of them, or if the scale of the mining operation is perfectly linear, meaning the net loss/gain ratio is constant. I suspect that to be the case.

FlakAtak · Post by **FlakAtak** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:30 pm

I was wondering the same thing myself. I set one to mine and I estimated that he wouldn't pay his way, rather than just help to partially cover the cost of having him handy. Does anyone have clear info on this?

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:43 pm

Supposedly, you should make a profit. If you could post a time sheet, listing gross and net (gross minus the wages paid out) credits accrued, that might help.

PaulB · Post by **PaulB** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 11:18 pm

From post: 173743, Topic: tid=11674, author=FlakAtak wrote:I was wondering the same thing myself. I set one to mine and I estimated that he wouldn't pay his way, rather than just help to partially cover the cost of having him handy. Does anyone have clear info on this?

it's a loser, especially when you have more money and the fleet cost a lot more to hire.
I would love to have a fleet - but paying them is a black hole.
Even hirng them to help you in combat you won't break even on contracts unless maybe you only hire one.
I've used them and they helped me in some tight spots but I lost money - but it was rank and rating I was working to get.
IMO the Fleet in EM should only get money when you are doing contracts or something that's making you money and NOT when just flying around. I think I could go for that scenario. I work I get paid - they work, they get paid and more than just break-even work.

Post by **Marvin** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:08 am

From post: 173745, Topic: tid=11674, author=PaulB wrote:I've used them and they helped me in some tight spots but I lost money - but it was rank and rating I was working to get.

That's usually when I use them. Either that or to help complete a quest contract. Other than that, me and the fleet just go "road trip" to Emerald and antagonize the locals.

FlakAtak · Post by **FlakAtak** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 2:14 pm

I only took a rough guesstimate on whether it looked profitable or not [fleet mining], so wasn't being very scientific about it. You're right Marvin, would need to compare income to costs properly. How long is a ship hire contract cycle?

Like both of you, I only use hired guns for the objective of raising my rep or rank in places where I want to improve it. Currently doing that in Vega where my Navy/Energy rep is down at 35% but the combat missions that come up are too much for me to handle on my own (just can't seem to operate my keyboard properly with these boxing gloves on...). So far the posse have been quite handy, but not nearly as handy as the Excaliburs

Does completed mission rep increase at the same rate irrespective of whether or not the mission itself is easy or hard?

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 3:11 pm

1 point accrued for the completed contract/mission, without regard of the level of 'difficulty'. All you've got to do is finish the mission. 1 point per 10 kills. 1 point per 100k C-Bills earned, per cycle. 1 point per completed way-point, in multiple way-point contracts/missions. And, there are other considerations including the ship you're currently flying, and the (game) wealth you possess. Building rep is a grinder based solely upon contract/mission completions. Gitter done!

Post by **Marvin** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 5:46 pm

What Busch said. Which is why it's just as fast getting to the rank of Fleet Admiral in Talison Conflict as it is in the Sierra War Zone.

FlakAtak · Post by **FlakAtak** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 9:19 pm

Thanks fellas, good info to know...