Oï !
I’m currently training the skills for an Orca on one of my character. I would like to know : should I keep training for that ship to benefits of the Mining Bursts and use the Mining Drones to add a bit of yield, or should I train for a Covetor ?
I’m mining in 0.0, currently using a Covetor and a Miasmos. I should soon be able to mine with a Covetor and a Hulk. Should I go for a third Covetor or should I go for the Orca and mine with the giant bay ?
Thanks 
Are you running all the accounts at once? If so, then go for the Orca. The orca will be able to boost your miner buddies (including your alts) which will greatly improve yield and reduce time spent in field.
Yes, I’m running them all at once
Thanks
If you have 2+ pilots then absolutely use an Orca for boosts and then use Covetors until you can get into Hulks. It will turn yield from a trickle to a rapid flow of ore and it will be exponetial since will be unloading less often as well.
Orca drone mining is more of an added bonus, not really meant to ever out-yield barges/exhumers.
Thanks you aswell
Here you have some Pros/Cons for each of the Mining Barge/Exhumer ships:
Covetor/Hulk
Pros:
- High Yield
- Great in Large Fleets
Cons:
- Small Ore Hold
- Weak Defense Capabilities
- Weak Offense (Drones)
- Easy Gank target
Retriever/Mackinaw
Pros:
- Large Ore Hold
Cons:
- Weak Defense Capabilities
- Weak Offense (Drones)
- Easy Gank target
Procurer/Skiff
Pros:
- Bonus to Drone DMG
- High Tank Capability (EHP and Resist)
- Less likely to be Gank target
Cons:
- Lower Yield
Porpoise/Orca
Pros:
- Good Drone Mining
- Give Boost Barges/Exhumers in Fleet
- Huge Ore Hold: 60k/180k (Porpoise/Orca)
- Great align speed (Porpoise ONLY)
- Less likely to be Gank target
Cons:
- Unable to mine and defend at same time
- Extreme align time (Orca ONLY)
As for how you can best optimize your Fleet setup all depends on which part of space you’re in and how safe it is. For example, for a HS Fleet of 3 pilots, I would suggest:
Hope this helps you decide which ship composition to go with 
Thanks you !
I’m mining in NullSec, in territories controlled by the corporation I’m in, and it’s never more than one system away from the main Keepstar, so the rats are the main problem currently.
I tried to deal with them with an Hurricane going with a Covetor and a Miasmos, I could take the cruisers and battle cruisers while the drones attacked the frigates, but it’s damn impossible to take out a BS.
Currently I have two weeks of training before I can use the Orca and equip one of my account with the Exhumers. I think I’ll go for that composition :
This is why Procurer/Skiff are better in most cases when you are running a “Solo” Fleet, Procurer can get around 140 DPS which is enough to break the tank of most BSs, it may take a while (more than 10 min), so as you are running with upto 3 characters it will be easier with 2 Procurer making your total DPS around 280.
the only Spawns you will have problems with would be Officers ( -0.8 and below in null ).
Blood Raiders are the most dangerous of all Rats, they have a habit of using Energy Neutralizers, so familiarize yourself with the names of the ships that use Neuts.
Thanks again =)
Energy neut might still disturb the Strip Miners, but it wont be a problem for the lock or the drones. Still, I might have a question about the NPC pirates.
For exemple, if I have an Orca an two Mining Barges/Exhumers on the field and a bunch of pirates warp in, who will they target first ?
It can vary a bit, I think the one closest to their warpin-point, with such a setup use the Combat drones from the Barges/Exhumers to kill the rats and leave the Orca mining. You can always use the Fitting services of the Orca to change out Drones (Light/Mining to 5x Medium) to get some more Drone DPS. Or have one of your Corp/Alliance mates be ready to come to your aid if required
You wont be alive long enough to swap anything out.
If I was in dull I would keep training for an orca BUT, use a porpoise / procurer combo, why, the procurer’s 50% bonus to drone HP, and the porpoise built in bonuses, 10% to drone HP and 400% to remote shield booster range, command bursts, if set up correctly you could be very effective in even dealing with BS (NPC).
I myself am not worried about yields as I would be about PVP/PVE if it’s a gang you’re gonna die, if it’s a small group you have a chance to fight back or get one of you ships out of harms way, killing rat BS in dull can be profitable as you know, so it definitely is worth fitting for fight then flight every time one pops in, in dull I’d use ecm drones in the porpoise myself and combat drones in the procurer, one things for sure is there is good opportunities in dull but even better for great drops.
[Orca, Orca fit]
Reinforced Bulkheads II
Damage Control II
Survey Scanner II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Mining Foreman Burst II, Mining Laser Field Enhancement Charge
Mining Foreman Burst II, Mining Laser Optimization Charge
Medium S95a Scoped Remote Shield Booster
Medium S95a Scoped Remote Shield Booster
Cynosural Field Generator I
Small Tractor Beam II
Large Drone Mining Augmentor II
Large Drone Mining Augmentor II
Large Higgs Anchor I
‘Augmented’ Mining Drone x5
Hornet EC-300 x5
Warrior II x5
Infiltrator II x5
Salvage Drone I x5
It sound like it cost a lot, won’t it be a gold piñata for every ganker, even near the HQ of the alliance or corporation ?
I’m currently planning to use this one, I would like to get your opinions on it :
[Orca, Queen Orca]
Damage Control II
AE-K Compact Drone Damage Amplifier
500MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field
Limited ‘Anointed’ EM Ward Field
Limited Thermal Dissipation Field
Small Tractor Beam I
Medium S95a Scoped Remote Shield Booster
Mining Foreman Burst II, Mining Laser Field Enhancement Charge
Mining Foreman Burst II, Mining Laser Optimization Charge
Salvager I
Salvager I
Large Drone Mining Augmentor I
Large Drone Mining Augmentor I
Large Higgs Anchor I
Mining Drone I x10
Acolyte I x10
Infiltrator I x10
In fairness, a 500mn MWD on an orca, and your ship aligns and warps in like 4-5 seconds.
You can’t align faster than the duration of your MWD which is around 10s duration. Sure the MWD can help you align much faster than without one. It’s just not possible to get an Orca to align that fast without outside help.
I would suggest a Shield Burst for increased resists for yourself and fleet. (although that is dependent on your access to the ice types for self production of burst munitions) The orca has a sufficient drone bay space to have a flight of salvage drones. Meaning you can add another remote rep.
Fair enough, never timed it.
Skill your drone a bit too. A swarm of 10 light drones can kill any regular spawn in 0.0 belts. It’s just takes some time which you can bridge with remote repping your Barges (just fit an Invul on your covetor).
Purpoise works well until you get an Orca, it can have local and remote reps in addition to command links. It can also be fitted for drone damage if you really need/want that.
So, get your basic boosts trained, then get a purpoise instead of the Miasmos while you skill the orca.
Welp, thanks everyone !
Orca train is finished, I’m currently skilling for the T2 lights and mediums drones on the Orca account and then I’ll start the 80 days long training for Rorqual.
Thanks again for your answers =)