Hi,
I have set myself a mission to grab some Mercoxit in null sec. I filamented my miner in his Endurance to null sec. I noticed a couple of things:
drone region in null sec does not have asteroid fields? Correct?
I found a couple of mining anomalies with mercoxit but there was always a big group of drones waiting. does mercoxit only spawn in anomalies or also in belts?
if I have to mine anomalies my plan will not work unless I take an alt in a fighting ship I guess.
Indeed but I can load 3 Hammerhead II and field one at a time. Maybe I chickened out to fast. there where like 3 battleships and and a shitload of frigates, maybe a cruiser or two. in total maybe 8-10 enemies. I didn’t feel confident to trash them one at a time with a single medium drone all while speed tanking.
But this will be my next try for sure to see what happens. A asteroid belt however would feel so much easier it seems.
i never really looked at the updated stats of the endurance but geez… only 30m3 and 15 bandwidth.
I’d probably switch out for light drones… and you should have a cloak on there i would hope.
and thats probably really not the best choice ship for mining mercoxit…
Yes its not a lot of muscle. Yes got an improved cloak on. If I don’t remember wrongly I used to be able to fit a covert cloak II, not being able to warp cloaked sucks in null space ninja mining… could switch to prospect for warping cloaked but then I don’t get drones.
Maybe it would also be possible to ignore them completely and just speed tank them while filling up the endurance.
You shouldn’t be able to mine mercoxit with an endurance or prospect… neither of them can fit the deep core strip miners needed specifically for merc.
[Endurance, Dr. Who]
Mining Laser Upgrade II
Mining Laser Upgrade II
Mining Laser Upgrade II
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
Survey Scanner II
1MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Modulated Deep Core Miner II
Prototype Cloaking Device I
Core Probe Launcher I
Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Hammerhead II x3
Mercoxit Asteroid Mining Crystal Type A I x2
Core Scanner Probe I x8
Mercoxit Asteroid Mining Crystal Type C I x2
Mercoxit Asteroid Mining Crystal Type B I x3
unless you are fully skilled to mine it, i still think, from everything i’ve read, though some may be a lil outdated, a barge or exhumer would be a better option, especially since there are rigs for increasing yield, and better chance of carrying more drones to actually keep you safe while mining…
The skills are pretty high and I could fly exhumers with the char. However I recently returned and I am not at all looking for 100% efficiency or maxing ISK/h. It is the thrill of the mission I set myself. My aim is to setup a T2 production line and source everything myself.
The PI factory is set. (does it yield the max possible PI ISK/h no, but it’s fun to know I have sourced it myself.
Mercoxit I aim to ninja mine in Null. Ongoing.
Regular mining I keep to a minimum in high and low sec. easy in my backwater region while everybody seems to hang around in high-activity systems and cry when getting ganked.
The moon stuff I don’t know yet. Stealing might be an option, some diplomacy agreement with the moon owner or I don’t know yet. We’ll see.
Anyway this is fun for me at the moment. If I would go back to the ISK/h race again I would probably quit EVE after one week again.
In terms of drones and tank I might have to switch to something bigger if it doesn’t work out. It just feels nuts to hang around in a big clunky mining vessel in hostile hull sec.
I see no one’s tackled on all the questions head-on, so I’ll give it an attempt:
“Drone Region” is really multiple regions: Cobalt Edge, Etherium Reach, Kalevala Expanse, Malpais, Oasa, Outer Passage, Perrigen Falls, The Spire.
If I remember my brief stint living there correctly, yes some systems do have belts.
It can spawn in anomalies and in belts.
Sov Null:
Anomalies depend on the iHub upgrade, which depends on the ADM level for Industry. On your map, right click on a sov null system and go to “sovereignty” and you should see a list of “Military” and “Industry” Level. Note that the higher the level, its likely you’re going to run into locals.
Belts depend on the truesec of a system. Go to DOTLAN and check out the “Security Status”. You’re looking for systems with belts and a security close to -1.0
NPC Null:
As far as I am aware, Mercox only spawns in belts, which depend on the truesec of a system.
Though, there are hints by CCP around “dynamic resources” in the future that presumably will include mercox in anomalies for NPC null. But that’s not now so it doesn’t really matter.
The behavior of NPCs are also different:
Anomalies: not all have NPCs that spawn in with the anomaly. Those NPCs that do, stay put.
Belts: the rats warp between belts and gates. Sometimes they’re in the belt, sometimes not.
Depends on the anomaly and the kind of rats. If they are only cruiser+ sized drone ships, you might be able to speed+sig tank them. Just be sure to orbit the Mercox rock far enough away to not take gas cloud damage. However, if the NPCs include “Strain Alvi” (or similar) then those are fast scramming frigates and need to die. You might be able to accomplish both: kill the small dudes and sig+speed tank the rest.
The cool thing about an Endurance is that it can get up to warp speed while cloaked even with a regular prototype cloak. Align while cloaked, off the cloak, and hit warp and you’re outa there.
300% yield to mining PLUS the 5% X Mining Frig level. That’s some good stuff.
My question is, do these rats scram/disrupt you? If not, then the Endurance can put on some good shield tank until you’re feeling uncomfortable.
Set up camp on the border regions between your alliance and a neutral/hostile alliance (bots won’t mine here, and newbro PvE restrictions usually don’t apply to these regions either, and if they do apply, there’s a 99% chance no one will care), preferably near an active anathor (at least within 4 jumps) for compression. Go as near to the edge of galaxy map as you can as well for your setup.
Use a max yield merc hulk fit with higgs rig to stay aligned and jetcan.
Have an alt (same or different account) to clear battleship rats.
PIck up with cloak+mwd miasmos.
Watch yuor intel channels before using iasmos to ship merc to anathor (even if it’s only 1-4 jumps)
Once compressed, use a cloaky t2 covert ops to move the compressed ore to the main station of your alliance. Use alliance hauling services to send to Jita.
Enjoy easy 200-300 mil an hour.
Also train for exploration with the t2 cloaky covert ops. Clearing out relic and data sites in your truesec system will make cloaky explorers leave your system pretty quick. Also if someone is trying to get your hulk, you can do cloaky exploring in neighboring systems until he’s gone. This ensures you’re also making ISK while not mining.
