Optimal mining builds for each size class

[Kamiyama]

I want to do mining next and I've been doing research on how to put together a good mining ship. For one, you want to be able to fire your mining lasers for a long time (over a minute) and two, you want enough collector limpets to gather your ore quickly or you will be waiting around doing nothing as your limpets grab ore.

So a good mining ship boils down to two things - what class PD you can fit, and how much internal space is available.

I've found that if you find the ship's "mining power" (which is what you get if you add up the class of all your mining lasers) then you can add +1 to get your PD. You can of course fit more mining laser to get more mining power, but this breaks the ratio and prevents you from getting a 60 second burn on your mining lasers. Even with this ratio some of the bigger ships in the lineup need a weapon focused PD to reach 60 seconds.

Class 2 mining laser = Class 3 PD (mining power of 2)
Class 2 mining laser + Class 1 mining laser = Class 4 PD (mining power of 3)

Your mining power should equal the number of active collector limpets you can use.

These are not combat ships. A shield is useful, but no weapons are necessary. As for utilities a chaff launcher and point defense make it harder for hostiles to hit you.

So here are my builds for each class:

Class 1 PD - Hauler? (save for something better)
Class 2 PD - Adder https://s.orbis.zone/a5j
Class 3 PD - Cobra Mk. III https://s.orbis.zone/a5k
(The Cobra Mk. IV can fit more cargo and a shield, but FD only loves some of it's customers and hates the rest of us)
Class 4 PD - AspX https://s.orbis.zone/a5m
Class 5 PD - Orca https://s.orbis.zone/a5o
Class 6 PD - Imp Clipper https://s.orbis.zone/a5p
Class 7 PD - Python https://s.orbis.zone/a5r
Class 8 PD - Anaconda https://s.orbis.zone/a5t

It should be noted that the Orca build costs more than the Imperial Clipper build and is worse at mining.

The Imperial Clipper occupies what I think is a sweet spot in the lineup. It has an ample cargo capacity (same capacity as the Python build) and is also by far the fastest and most agile in the lineup.

[DownSouth05]

I think you are overthinking it :) Most rocks don't have enough ore to last for 20 seconds of laser fire much less one minute. The builds with no shields are suicide becase the rocks move and enough hits will wipe your hull. Best mining position is behind it so you chase it or to the sides and you straife it. Head on can be done just use the Z key ( default reverse thrust ) to stay ahead of the rock. You're going to be flipping levers like crazy filling up those slots in your refinery espcially if you are useing prospector limpets to find the good stuff. Limpets smash into the roids, run out of power etc.

Anyway, good luck out there :)