TD's Guide to the World of Mobile Mining! -Updated-

[Al]

Might be time to start trying this mining. Bounty hunter missions are pretty thin on the ground and having just purchased my first TL I feel its time to try. Will make a change from capturing

Al

[Rex]

Thanks for the Mobile Mining Guide.

[Jha'dur]

Hey, the mobile driller are quite good for fighting. If you can hit anything, that is. I just killed a Khaak M3; once I got past his shields it was two hits on the hull and splat.

[Jha'dur]

Why are the ship you're sitting in much (about 3-5 times) more efficient at picking up ore than ships that you remotely set to pick it up. I'm in the same sector, and the Demeter I'm sitting in picks up ore and silicon much faster than my two Vultures. The Vultures actually fly a bit faster, so that's not the reason, and all three ships work on pieces of separate roids some lenght apart, so no-one is getting in eachothers way. And this happens every time. All three ships are on autopilot, why would it make a difference that I'm sitting in one of them?

[-TD-13-]

Several times TD mentions using Mantas - at one point, simply to expand the storage capacity of a mine (and he even recommends no shields or gadgets). It's probably wiser to use TS class ships for storage expansion.

Hehe. Wonder why.

Don't worry, I will be upgrading the guide as soon as the 1.4 patch hits, to make accommodations for anything that has been changed in the game.

We all know that something is going to happen to the manas and possibly the TL class, but as of now, nothing is clearly know and is subject to change. I will update the guide when the patch is released.

Thanks for the support guys!
(And a big thanks to Brianetta for put'n me up on the Argonopedia! Thanks! )

[freakshow]

Just an idea here....

But we've got this (fantastic) guide to mobile mining... but there's one thing we still need to know... places to sell your hard earned Silicon/Ore.

It'd be great if we could gather together a list of all the systems that have at least 2 (more is better!) factories that require silicon/ore/nvidium.

I pulled these off another thread. All the systems below buy silicon & included with them is the number of factories that buy silicon.

Red Light - 4
Rolk's Drift - 3
Cloudbase Southwest - 2
CEO's Buckzoid - 2
Antigone Memorial - 2
Ore Belt - 2
Greater Profit - 2

Obviously this is helpful, but imagine having a list of all the biggest silicon consuming systems ready to hand when you've just loaded up your last unit of silicon into your jump capable TL with 5 or 6 dolphins on board ready to sell a couple of hundred units each. Suddenly you'll find yourself jumping in and out of ore belt every 5 minutes.

[LongOne]

THX for the guide - it's one of the best
But I've got one question: what is the ultimate time of asteroid respawn? I've played X2 for a couple of hours and none of asteriods were respawned...

[KarlHemmings]

Excuse me TD
"We all know that something is going to happen to the manas and possibly the TL class, but as of now, nothing is clearly know and is subject to change. I will update the guide when the patch is released"

Or let me be a little more specific.

"Possibly the TL class" - I have neither seen nor heard of this anywhere else.
My nice new Orca - do I need to worry?
Okay "nothing is clearly know and is subject to change"
Plus I guess non disclosure.

[Xenon_Slayer]

I cant imagine the TL's going down to Large cargo.

[Brianetta]

THX for the guide - it's one of the best :)
But I've got one question: what is the ultimate time of asteroid respawn? I've played X2 for a couple of hours and none of asteriods were respawned...

Several hours, followed by a random period of several hours (so they don't all come back together). Not just a couple of hours - it's calle dmobile mining for a reason.

Remember, the Argonopedia has this guide (and others) mirrored, in case it ever becomes hard to locate or the forums go down.

[PowerPC603]

I've found out that there's an easy way to approach an asteroid and to end up in range of the Mobile Drilling System's firing range.

I've only tested this with the Teladi Vulture, but it could work for other ships as well.

Just target the asteroid you want to mine.
Turn on autopilot (press "U") and SETA (press "J") and wait until you're within about 3km of the asteroid.

Turn SETA off and when you're very close to the asteroid, your speed will drop, until it's only about 10m/s.
It can happen that your ship flies off (flying near the asteroid at full speed).
This is normal, because your ship will try to fly to the "front" of the asteroid.

Of course, there's no actual front for an asteroid (at least not a visual front), but that's what I've experienced.

Finally your ship will reach a speed which is flipping between 10 and 0, while facing the asteroid.
At this time, turn off autopilot and press "BACKSPACE" (to fully stop your ship).

Now you're in the firing range of the Mobile Drilling System.
All you have to do now, is turn around (for the Vulture anyway, because the Drilling System is mounted at the back-turret), hop into the turret and start shooting.

I've done this for all asteroids I've mined so far (big and small) and this technique still works for me.

Happy mining.

[pjknibbs]

You realise that will only work if you have Navigation software installed--what you're effectively doing is asking your ship to follow the asteroid, and it won't do that without Nav Mk1.

[PowerPC603]

Yeah, you need the "Navigation Command Software MK1" for this one.
But if you can afford the Mobile Drilling System (which costs 134760 credits), you can easily afford this kit (only 2947 credits).

[-TD-13-]

This guide has now been updated for the 1.4 Patch! Enjoy!

-No more Mantas, they can no longer hold XL cargo
-Slight price changes
-TS Cargo and Speed changes

Also updated with a new section thanks to thecwby- it lists every silicon consuming factory in the Universe, by sector! Scroll down and check it out, it's not something to be missed.

(a section on Ore he says is coming soon)

[-TD-13-]

Updated again with thecwby's second section on Ore.... once again, excellent work.

However it seems the forum is having a little difficulty, and the first page of this topic seems to be down.

Stay tuned! Currently looking into it...

[thecwby]

Looks great, TD.

Hat's off to me for doing the silicon/ore selling location charts, hat's off to you for adding them to your guide!

[-TD-13-]

Looks great, TD.

Hat's off to me for doing the silicon/ore selling location charts, hat's off to you for adding them to your guide!

Thanks!
So far everything is back up and working again. Just running though it and fixing it up here and there. (The guide had to be split into two posts, as it got too long and created that error) Thanks goes to burnit for fixing that.

Good luck minning all ya'll, may the profitsss be with you.
I'll continue to update.

[-TD-13-]

And.... final update I think. For now.

This update includes thecwby's list of Nividium buying stations. Excellent.

Enjoy.

Yeah! Nividium too!
-By thecwby

So.. We found that rare mineral called Nvidium. Usually located in Unknown Sectors beyond the reaches of just a sole lonely TS or M3, even a TL - unless equipped with a jumpdrive and you have discovered these sectors already - as you will have to work to get this source of mineral. So now where in the heck to sell this rare resource? It being so rare, of course it's not going to be sold everywhere, so here's a list of where they are sold.

Note: Nvidium is bought as a secondary resource on all Paranid Space Jewellry stations. These will be listed by Station -> Sector, rather than Sector -> Station. (2) means there are 2 (two) stations.

Paranid Space Jewellry
Priests Pity, Empires Edge, Preachers Void, Pontifex' Realm(2), Emperor's Realm(2), Trinity Sanctum, Preacher's Refuge(2), Cardinal's Domain, Sacred Relic(2), Pontifex' Sanctum(2)

Teladi Trading Station
PTNI Headqaurters, Mines of Fortune

I do believe thats it. If you find one that I'm missing, please, let me know. I'll update the list.

[esd]

THE GREAT STOCK MINE FACTORY

...

The Dememter will sell the products (each station can only hold around 800 silicon- so large cargo bay is not needed- the extra speed is always a plus too)

No sir-ee, the silicon mine can only hold 208

[WPI2010]

actually a silicon mine can hold an infinate aount of silicon, it just depends on how many TS's u have docked there. when it runs out just transferr some cargo into the station.