So, I am just checking out EvE for the first time since 2011 and trying to get a handle on all the changes to industry, but there is one thing in particular that I am curious about… are people still mining in hi-sec?
I admit, I was a carebear who mostly did hi-sec stuff, and I used to have trouble finding good rocks to shoot. But now, the belts seem abandoned with tons of 5% and 10% ores in them, and not a hulk to be seen anywhere. I originally thought it was just my stomping grounds, but then I went around doing the Blood Stained epic arc and it seemed like the case most places I went.
Has something significant changed? Or I am just misremembering how baren and overmined the belts used to be?
I think you’ll find all the ‘good’ carebears are now out in null sec mining in Rorqs (using swanky new, since 2011, mining drones) with a super umbrella for protection.
Edit: Oh and NPC mining groups (and their defense fleets) tend to gum up the works in High Sec these days.
Yes. Ore belts. Ice belts. And moon ore belts (in 0.5 sec space only); which will be new to you.
That sounds like an opportunity. For you.
They could exist untouched for a number of reasons. If these belts were too close to a particular hub such as Jita or Hek (say 4 jumps away) they might be attracting too many gankers.?
Or, if they are too far from those same hubs, and/or there are no player-owned structures in-system where you can compress the ore, they might be difficult places to haul from? And player-owned Upwell structures such as athanors - refineries - where you can both compress and reprocess ore (for better yield) may also be new to you?
Or, if they are in an icebelt system, then post the recent wardec changes, Russian or German gangs may have splashed all other player-owned structures (other than their own); which discourages mining.
Or, if they are in 0.5 systems, then the ore you can get from the moon belts is always better, (does not matter what flavor of ore you are chasing) so why would you mine regular ore belts?
Another change is that the Agency will now tell you every system that has ore anomalies. It does not tell you what those anomalies are, but it means you can now take your miner on tour with a high(er) chance of getting an anom, and one with better ore than in your static belts.
And there are likely many other reasons. Point is, unless you are looking for friends, just go ahead and mine those belts. If that is something you want to do/ you can make isk from. And if no-one cares, put up your own structure eventually, and start reprocessing. Otherwise, go to an icebelt or 0.5 system and I guarantee you will find hisec miners.
The reason the belts might be abandoned is because there are now new ores available which provide a 15% yield. These are available in special ore fields created by player owned Athanors at moons in 0.5 systems. These special ore fields contain asteroids which yield “moongoo”, and also have a chance of spawning ore previously only available in LowSec and NullSec (the classic “ABC ores” as well as Hedbergite, Jaspet, Gneiss, etc). Why mine 10% Veldspar when you can mine 15% Spodumain, Arkonor, and Crokite? It’s a no brainer. So, update your Overview, and go check out some 0.5 systems to see if there’s an Athanor with an active ore field.
Also, you won’t see many Hulks in HiSec anymore. CODE. has pretty much purged HiSec of Hulks. Most HiSec miners are mining in either cheap Tech1 barges or, if they go for Tech2, they’re using a Skiff for the tank.
Well you know what they say about things that look too good to be true
And player-owned Upwell structures such as athanors - refineries - where you can both compress and reprocess ore (for better yield) may also be new to you?
Yeah, I am still trying to grok the changes to reprocessing, so at first I was wondering if it just was no longer profitable or something. Looking forward to playing with those structures though, might be worth jumping to Omega for that.
Or, if they are in an icebelt system, Or, if they are in 0.5 systems,
The system I tend to sit in is a 0.5 icebelt one. Looks like I just need to look around a bit more since the people must be somewhere.
Just make sure you’re ready for a) standings loss with the faction you attack & b) the response fleet, which will use both ewar & logi.
It’s certainly doable, but don’t be surprised at the aggressive response.
Most hi-sec miners these days have switched over to drone mining in Orcas. Yields with max skills are on par with that of exhumers without the need for T2 strip miner crystals, and with 187,500 ore hold capacity + fleet hanger they can stay out for hours. They also boast impressive tank with 300k+ EHP easily possible, and with a 500mn MWD 10 second align/warp times are possible. Also you can haul around a couple fully assembled barges/exhumers/whatever in the ship maintenance bay + 30k m3 worth of regular cargo.