Questions about mining

[Chicken biscuit]

SO, I was wondering what ships and equipment are usually used with mining.
I already have a couple mining lasers, a portable refinery, and another ship in my fleet set to mine with me.
The problem I'm having is I'm not sure what I need to upgrade on my ship to really improve my mining. should I just buy a new ship soon? also, I have no idea what makes a better mining ship.

Should I take of some equipment I wont need?

any help or guidance would be appreciated

[lalelunatic]

generally every ship with +mining speed, +mining laser dmg (or gunners), a lot of cargo and probably a built in collector beam (you can also use the built-in enhanced version until you get a pmc collector).

getting good relations with proxima offers a bunch of good equipment for that, their faction collector beam, faction mining lasers, some low lvl reactors that are better than the stock stuff and of course a couple mining ships that all are decent for starters.

later on i tend to ignore the mining laser stuff, as you get enough dakka to just use your normal weapons (i prefer beams). other ships that come to mind are the ogre, kurma and a bunch of others. just look out for the above mentioned boni. rest is the same as for combat ships, with the main focus on gear space (for refineries etc.).

if you split the workload between ships, refineries on another ship you leave at the station, you can use that space for mining drones as well, also with the heavy drone module that offers faster drone mining. if you wanna use that, also look out for ships with free drone hangars and crew with drone boni.

at last, see what ships that you can get have the most and biggest turrets with overlapping fire arcs to minimize time per asteroid per gun installed (focus fire ability).

for "endgame mining", if that exists =P, its literally the same as for combat ships, so you can stand in an asteroid storm with some weight on the brake key and the fire button, then go get a coffee and awe at your full cargo =P.

[Praxis-W]

Here's a list of the ships currently in the game, sorted by size.
https://star-valor.fandom.com/wiki/Ships

Looking over that, you may notice two things. Almost all the ships have bonuses or quirks that make them unique. Also, many ships are associated with the various factions in the game. (Pirate, Venghi, etc.) There are many ships associated with the mining faction in the game who have mining bonuses, as well as Independent ships who also are good for mining. If you don't own one of these ships, getting one for mining may be a goal to shoot for, as they often have lots of cargo space, and bonuses that help with the collection of ore and metals.

In terms of gear for starting out, it sounds like you have the right idea. A solid mining laser or two, plus some mobile refineries will make collecting ore and metals easier. For me, the main difference between regular ships and my mining ships is the miners sacrifice combat readiness for mining gear. You still want your miners to be fast, mobile, and able to travel quickly. They just don't need the focus on energy generation, shields, and weapons that a more combat-oriented vessel does. You may find it to be worth it to have your ship, and your personal fleet focused on mining and refining, while hiring a few mercs to protect you from random ambushes and pirates.

Something to keep in mind is mining drones. I love these guys, especially on npc ships in your fleet. The drones will have a longer range, and move faster through an asteroid field than any individual ship. Plus, the npc ship can handle the micromanagement of the drone targeting that often makes using drones a pain. A fleet set-up I enjoy in mid to late game is to have a cruiser equipped with 4-6 refineries, and multiple collection beams, and a few frigates with good mining beams, and 4-5 sets of mining drones. You can let the NPCs do the work of harvesting, while your ship does the bulk of collecting and ore processing.

Lastly, keep your crew in mind as well. Between escape pods from distress signals, and the hiring section at most space stations, you can often find crew that give your ship additional bonuses to various aspects of mining. Crew that add to mining speed and finding metals can really improve your mining.

Feel free to experiment. Part of the fun of this game is the flexibility of how you can approach the game. Trying new things, and finding what works best for you can be very satisfying.