Mine ships

Last modified by Ketraar on 2023/08/15 17:16

Introduction

See the page about mining for details be in summary, ships designated as "Mine" either carry Bulk or Liquid wares, and this defines what they may harvest:

  • Bulk: Crystals, Ice, Nividium, Ore and Silicon (with Surface Miner URVs and an on-board Mining Laser*).
  • Liquid: Hydrogen, Ions and Plasma (with Scoop Collector URVs).

As noted on the mining page,the Player Ship (Skunk) can mount a mining Laser so in practice, any "Trade" ship with an appropriate cargobay and drones may work as a Mining Ship. As is also noted, when Bulk Mining Ships are in "low attention" (essentially OOS), Mining Lasers are not even needed by the CPU-friendly code. That said, this page focuses on the ships that the game notionally intends to be used as Mining Ships.

The descriptions of some Mine Ships imply they have a specialisation with specific harvestable wares. This doesn't seem to have been confirmed in-game but it, and their names, are described on the mining page

There are currently 7 Medium and 6 Large ships that are designated as "Mine", and 3 other ships designated as "Trade" that are aimed at mining. The Large ones being the Vulture (Bulk), which has a Mining Laser, and the Vulture (Liquid). The Extra Large one being the Scaldis, which has 3 Mining Lases and can harvest any resource.

Statistics for all of them can be found in the table below (based on ship data linked from here ).

Mine ship stats (click on heading to re-order)

Name

Storage
 type

Class

Cost1
 (M Cr)

Cargo2
 (m3)

Cargo
 (m3/ k Cr)

Speed
 (m/s)

Drone
Bay

Hull
 (M)

Shield
 (M)

Total
 M HP

Total
 HP/k Cr

Shield /
 Total HP

k DPS
 (total)

Rev.
 (m/s)

Acc.
 (m/s2)

Pitch
 (m/s)

Dwalin

Bulk

M

0.83

18,000

21.7

198

3

0.08

0.06

0.15

175

42%

n/a

-43

53

28

Hymir

Bulk

M

0.89

18,000

20.3

198

3

0.09

0.06

0.15

167

41%

n/a

-43

53

28

Manorina (Mineral)

Bulk

M

0.91

18,000

19.8

189

3

0.11

0.08

0.19

211

43%

n/a

-52

38

27

Xenon S

Bulk

M

4.80

18000

3.7

199

3

0.10

0.03

0.13

28

25%

n/a

-30

20

40

Fedhelm

Bulk

L

8.01

280,000

34.9

75

150

1.20

0.30

1.50

187

20%

5.6

-24

9

7

Sequana

Bulk

L

8.11

280,000

34.5

82

300

1.10

0.30

1.40

173

21%

8.4

-24

10

7

Onil (Mineral)

Bulk

L

6.62

170,000

25.7

90

150

0.60

0.30

0.90

136

33%

5.6

-25

9

8

Vulture (Bulk)

Bulk

L

6.97

280,000

40.2

80

150

0.80

0.30

1.10

158

27%

15.4

-20

10

10

Betaver

Liquid

M

0.90

32,000

35.4

218

3

0.06

0.05

0.11

122

45%

0.0

-44

54

28

Nudung

Liquid

M

0.92

32,000

34.8

218

3

0.07

0.06

0.12

134

45%

0.0

-44

54

28

Manorina (Gas)

Liquid

M

0.92

32,000

34.9

189

3

0.11

0.08

0.19

209

43%

0.0

-52

38

27

Boann

Liquid

L

9.31

80,000

8.6

70

150

1.60

0.30

1.90

204

16%

8.4

-20

8

5

Midir

Liquid

L

8.89

80,000

9.0

66

150

1.40

0.30

1.70

191

18%

8.4

-20

8

8

Onil (Gas)

Liquid

L

7.16

80,000

11.2

90

150

0.60

0.30

0.90

126

33%

8.4

-25

9

8

Vulture (Liquid)

Liquid

L

6.29

80,000

12.7

80

150

0.80

0.30

1.10

175

27%

4.2

-20

10

10

Scaldis3

Both

XL

18.90

110,000

5.8

64

150

2.10

1.80

3.90

206

46%

5.6

-20

8

4

1. Full price estimated to be hull+SEs+crew+drones:

  • Hull: Encyclopaedia base price (approximately equal to 2 x sum cost of all components at their base price).
  • SE (Surface Elements): Sold by shipyards at approximately 2 x base costs (1 Capital Field Generator = 3 FFPs).
  • Crew: 240 k Cr assumed for L/XL ships (65k Captain; 35k Engineer; 140k DO), or 30k for a Pilot.
  • Drones: 3.0 M Cr assumed for L/XL ships (5 constructors, 20 Miner Mk I, 10 Cargo, and 5 Intie. Mk I), or 0.2M Cr for Medium ships.

2. In the case of Large and Extra Large ships, the listed cargo volume is the volume available for trading (10,000 m3 extra available for fuel).
3. The Scaldis has a split cargobay that holds 40 k m3 Bulk and 70 k m3 Liquid. Stats are based on 20 of each mining drone being used at once.

Table changelog

Date

Change

Notes

20.02.2016

Improved hull cost estimates

Switched hull cost to encyclopaedia base price from 'cost of wares'

Corrected SE cost estimates

Shipyards sell SEs at 2x their base cost and now this table does too

18.04.2016

Added drone capacity

Added drone bay statistics to all ships. Should be useful.

Ship-specific notes

The Scaldis is notable for being the only "true" XL-class mining ship (equipped with mining lasers), though this distinction is only meaningful when used in-zone. (OOZ mining does not take mining lasers into account, and any ship with universal cargo bay can technically mine both ore and gas when equipped with the appropriate drones). The Scaldis' segregated storage is particularly useful in this role, since it won't fill up the entire cargo bay on just one ware type, ensuring that if it (and the station it works for) is full on one resource type, it can continue gathering the other type.

The Sequana stands out from the rest of the bulk-type miners with an exceptionally-high drone capacity. Since mining speed is determined by the number of mining drones, the Sequana is arguably the best ore miner, able to perform mining operations faster than any other ship.

The Hermod deserves a mention here as well. Even though technically of "Trade" specialization, the Hermod is actually the best gas miner available (keep in mind trade and mining ships can be used interchangeably, and a station manager will utilize a ship based on what type of drones are equipped). Like the Sequana, the Hermod has an exceptional 300-drone capacity, allowing it to gather resources much more quickly than any of the standard miners. Additionally, the Hermod has a whopping 240K storage capacity (and it is a true hybrid storage, so the entirety can be used for liquid wares) - this handily beats any other gas miner, all of whom are limited to 80K of storage. The combination of high drone capacity and hybrid storage (Bulk/Liquid) actually allows the Hermod to be a highly-effective universal miner when used OOZ, outperforming the Scaldis in this role due to the higher drone count.

The Onil is also note-worthy. It is among some of the fastest capital ships in the game, and handily the fastest in the "Mining" category. Like all Canteran ships, it is very compact and agile, allowing for fast docking and ware transfer.