Mobile Driling System Factory (X3AP)

[Ailour]

Hello everyone!

Recently i resumed playing my *old* AP save (the one that i intend to reach top trading rank while staying at 0% harmless combat rating and 0 kills) and run into some... trouble. I totally forgot to take care of the NPC MDS Factories and now i discovered that they are removed from every sector. I wanted to add a few ore/silicon miners, but apparently i thought about it a bit too late

Anyway, i'd like to know if anyone had the chance to force a MDSF spawn in some sector either through missions or tricking GOD to spawn one. There's always the choice of building my own, however i'd do that only if it's absoutely necessary.

Any thoughts on the matter?

[Alan Phipps]

X3TC patch 2.0 introduced 'protection' for certain stations in the form of eventual respawning somewhere if they were (all?) destroyed. I'm pretty sure that included MDS facs. Does this not carry over as a core gamplay facility into X3AP?

BTW, you don't actually need an MDS for mining large rocks for minerals in vanilla, and you can break full-size asteroids with high-yield missiles if you need to do that before mining.

[DrSuperEvil]

Just buy a factory from the Teladi since they are cheap enough and you will always have a supply. Use the stock exchanges to see if any are still in any of the equipment docks.


With mobile miners it takes 3 per small factory for ore and 2 per medium factory for silicon.

[Simpelton]

MDS's aren't technically necessary for mining. There's plenty of smaller rocks and rubble that can be mined simply by having an IRE or PAC and an Ore Collector.

In the whole game you only actually need a single MDS, which you can mount on a fast M6 (I use a Split Dragon) to go around blowing up selected asteroids in the sectors you're mining in if the rubble has all dried up.

I have had to do this maybe three times in hundreds of hours of mobile mining. And one of those times was when I was specifically blowing up Nividium rocks for the Hub quest.

And I could have easily blown up those rocks with missiles if I'd had to.

MDS simply aren't that necessary. As long as you have one MDS, somewhere in your fleet, transfer that to an M6 or something and blow the rocks up yourself, then send in your fleet of freighters armed with light conventional weapons to clean up after you.

[jlehtone]

MDS simply aren't that necessary.

Indeed. There are alternatives to the use of MDS.


Tractor Beam has none, but again one unit is sufficient (unless you have the habit of getting your warehouses blown up). Tractor Beam was introduced in X3R, and GoD was harsh on the Forges. Eventually, X3R Bonuspack did add "keep one TB Forge alive", and X3R 2.0's Bala Gi missions did some (self-serving) TB charity as well.

X3TC's GoD had a new target: Terrans. On top of vanishing NPC sources, player could not build some Forges. Win-win?


On that background the MDS is mere cosmetic issue (and yes, I do know that for some the looks can be a matter of life and death).

[DrSuperEvil]

Even in X3:AP you can have all tractor beam and mobile drilling system factories disappear. Buy one early or build your own factory (a must if you do a lot of mobile mining).

In TC you can obtain a lot of factories that are not for purchase via piracy.

[Simpelton]

I put my tractor and MDS on the same M6 which I call my tugboat. Dragons are decent in combat but brilliant as a general purpose utility ship with their very high straight-line speeds. Between my Dragon and my Zephyrus, I can run a lot of missions to help with the early grind and set up everything I need for sector mining most of the time.

[DrSuperEvil]

Yeah the dragon is a good all rounder for the price, at least until you get a Springblossom.

[Simpelton]

I avoid the Aldrin ships on purpose personally, I kind of feel like they're a violation of the balance of the game. So yeah, Split Dragon for me.

[Ailour]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

What i want to do it setup a few mobile miners around some sectors with many factories that don't get any supplies of ore. I found out that NPC's avoid trading ore and will leave a lot of weapon / missile / shield factories dry. I thought of setting up factories (either Ore Mines or Trading stations) for that purpose, but i decided it'd be worth a try to use the miners first. Apparently, GOD did not agree with that plan

So, since noone knows of a way to force a respawn of the MDSF, i guess i'm left with buying my own. At least i can always sell the surplus

[Timsup2nothin]

NPCs don't really "avoid trading ore," they are just really dumb about it. Mineral haulers make a sale, then look for a good place to buy. When they make a buy they look for a good place to sell. This leads to a parade of mineral haulers headed for the same station.

When the first one gets there and ruins the opportunity the rest of the train will land, one by one, and reassess...leading to the entire train, less what had been the lead ship, trundling off to the next opportunity. As the game goes on the train gets longer.

The problem for the player is that eventually your neglected district that you decided to trade in will attract the train, and when the train pulls in they will empty the supplies and fill the consumers, producing a very saturated market that might take hours (or longer) to recover.

[jlehtone]

i want to do it setup a few mobile miners
...
Apparently, GOD did not agree with that plan

Thou shalt not blame GoD for actions of man.

The mobile miners do not need MDS.
They can fragment Rocks down to collectible size with weak guns, like IRE.
They will not break Asteroids, no matter what equipment they have.


X3TC has some "plot" that requires some minerals. I had nothing but mobile miners and CAG to fulfill those easy errands and they did not have a single MDS. I don't recall breaking any Asteroids for them either; there were enough sectors with "native Rocks".

X3AP, something (probably a heavy missile in Assassination mission) had broken an Asteroid in Barren Shores (unless native BS really has rocks too). I had a fleet of mobile miners to clean that up. Thousands of Wafers.

In both games I have apparently been lazy and purchased "Caiman Miner"-type ships in "L" outfit. That yields built-in Ore Collector and Mineral Scanner, decent cargospace, full (75 MJ) shielding, and four FBL guns. The only bought equipment on them is Duplex Scanner. That measly firepower is already more than necessary.


Any ship that can run the mining commands is sufficient for mobile mining. See FAQ
Practically any gun (except perhaps IonD) should be enough.

[Simpelton]

Fully a third or more of the sectors in the game have enough loose rubble for hundreds of hours of mobile mining without ever needing an MDS. I've broken asteroids with the MDS 3 times in my entire current playthrough, and one time was because I was breaking up the nividium roids at Perpetual Sin for the Xenon Hub quest.

And I'd like to point out that if I'd had to, I could have scrounged some Hornet Missiles to break up those rocks.

Since I'm obsessed with the Yaki Chokaro, and consider it the perfect universal trader due to its balance of speed, shelding and cargo space, I set up my mining operation in Savage Spur to supply the growing Yaki economy I was building them with mission building quest. I'm using mostly Mercury Haulers for my mining team, since they're very cost effective, and they're outfitted with IREs, not MDS's

I've only ever been back in that sector a couple times since, and once was to claim the abandoned ship there (which I had forgotten about). I've never had to use an MDS at all.

Although if they're all gone, and you can't source an MDS anywhere in the universe, that does represent a money making opportunity that shouldn't be passed up. Can't say no to a captive market after all

[Ailour]

To be honest, i didn't even consider the possibility of using IRE's or something equivalent for mobile miners. I thought that they needed the MDS to be able to start mining. And i thought i was a veteran

Anyway, i believe the question about mobile mining was answered in more ways i could imagine! Apparently, spawning an MDS factory isn't an option. I'll give miners with weapons a try.

Thank you all for the insights!

[DrSuperEvil]

In AP the mobile miners will kill asteroids using a MDS if they have one although you only really need one per fleet.

I have calculated you need 3 mobile miners per small ore consuming factory and 5 per 4 medium silicon consuming factories.

[Ailour]

I got lucky enough to get a mission for building one MDSF.. in Thyn's Excavation of all places! At least i got one of my questions answered

Now, all i have to do is park a small freighter and check on it occasionally. This time i'll be more careful

[DrSuperEvil]

Set it to use CLS then you do not need to check as often.

[Snafu_X3]

MDS cannot be used to automatically mine targetable 'roids (ie 'placed' 'roids: the ones viewable on the sector map); to break them up: this must be done manually (using MDS or with missiles if you use this method). NPC miners will not destroy 'placed' 'roids no matter what weps they're equipped with; they'll simply pick up rocks or similar within their designated area. If they're equipped with any sort of gun they'll use that to break down larger chunks into sizes they can collect for ore

However, as others above have said, /if you pilot a ship with wep pwr capable of utilising the MDS/ then go ahead & use it by all means if you wish. Note that not all ships capable of /fitting/ the MDS have the wep power to /use/ it!

Personally I ignore it unless it's plot-specified: missiles are far easier to use for all sorts of reasons

[Imgran]

Best place to put a MDS is on a fast moving M6 that you yourself fly. I never bother with it on a freighter, there's no point, standard fighter weapons are all a mobile miner needs. But cracking rocks is a useful occupation for you to spend some time doing once in a blue moon, and it's slightly more efficient to have at least one MDS handy rather than spending expensive consumables like missiles to do the same job.

But you never need more than 1.

BTW someone mentioned equipping one on a Springblossom. That... is actually impossible. The Springblossom has no compatibility with Utility Slot weapons. Meaning the best m6 to use is probably the Split Dragon, with other useful options including the Heavy Dragon, Hyperion, Heavy Centaur Prototype and OTAS Skiron