With Omega status, mining asteroid belts has become much more profitable! Specifically, with the unlocking of a new line of drilling ships (Retriever, Procurer, Covetor) compared to the Ventrure, your earnings at least double. Furthermore, drilling fleet flagships (Porpoise, Orca) become available, turning ore mining into AFK farming (semi-automated). Generally, with Omega status, everything you do generates more ISK. But today, we'll focus exclusively on asteroid belt mining.
Ore mining on Omega:
Costs: 30kk-1kkk per ship
Benefit: Omega status 7-14 days.
Which ships should you mine with, and what's the difference between them?
The choice of resource mining ship depends on your playstyle. For example, the Retriver has the largest cargo hold of all the first-generation T1 mining ships and is suitable for independent mining. The Procurer has the highest protection and is suitable for mining rock in dangerous areas with numerous creepers, both as part of a fleet and independently. The Covetor digs faster than all three T1 mining ships and is practically unprotected. Therefore, it is ideal for mining ore with the Porpoise or Orca bonus (the Orca is preferable, as the Covetor can be hidden in the Orca in case of danger).
Resource extraction speed depends on a number of factors: the level of the installed drills, the drilling ship skill level, the ship type, the ship's equipment, and whether mining in a fleet or solo. The easiest way to obtain ore on an Omega is to take a Retriever or Procurator, fill the ore hold, and store the loot in a compression system, having previously selected the appropriate system. From there, transport the compressed ore for sale, using something fast and capacious.
The most profitable and risky type of mining is achieved on the Covetor with the fleet bonus, which reduces the laser cycle time, increases their range, and improves the durability of drill crystals. Resources can be unloaded into the bonus tank via the fleet hangar or container, then the drilling fleet flagship takes the ore to the compression unit, where it is split 50/50 or as agreed upon. You can see how much each miner has mined in the fleet history - resource collection. The bonus tank provides a 20 to 40% reduction in the drilling laser cycle time, depending on the owner's skill level and implants.
Is it better to mine with a Mini-Orca or an Orca?
I can't say which is better, just different. Bonus ships mine ore with drones, but not as much as drill ships. They have different purposes and advantages: AFK mining, fleet assistance by speeding up resource extraction, and transporting the resulting minerals to the station. For example, once you board a Porpoise, you'll be able to mine around 600 cubic meters per minute with your drones, which is one and a half times more than a Venture upgraded in Alpha and half as much as a Retriever with minimal skills. However, you can assign each drone to a separate asteroid, selecting a larger chunk with the ore appraiser, and access the computer every 20-30 minutes to move the drones to a new asteroid with the "Ore Depleted" command. With a 60,000m³ resource bay, you can haul loot roughly once an hour for compression and subsequent sale.
Furthermore, if you upgrade your skills: Drilling Fleet Flagship to 5, Drilling Drones to T2, and Drone Weapons to maximum, you can reach 800-900m³ per minute. But that's not all! If you hop into the Orca bonus ship, your ore production per minute will increase to 1000-1300m³, depending on your skills and drones. And your ore bay will increase to 250,000m³. So, roughly speaking, every 3-4 hours you'll have a full Orca, or 50,000,000 ISK in uncompressed ore. And that's AFK farming with drones, something drill ships can't do! But compared to the latter, the production volume is 2-3 times less. On the plus side, you won't have to fly to the station every five minutes, unload ore, or mine it into a container, and then take it all to Miasmos. Or negotiate to mine for a bonus for a percentage, and then trade your lifespan for the compression. The best way to mine depends on how you want to play: AFK (barely present) or actively in the game.
How can you earn more from mining?
You can mine ore anomalies with expensive ore like Kernite or Jaspet. Omber, although more expensive, weighs twice as much as, say, Plagioclase. Therefore, Omber isn't entirely profitable to mine. You can find ore anomalies by opening Agency - Resource Collection - Ore Anomalies. Next, check which systems nearby have anomalies. They typically contain larger ore, and other players often come to mine.
Approximate profit from mining ore in isk at 800 m3 per minute (medium-leveled Porpoise):
Ore type, Volume of 1 pc, Quantity per minute, Price compressed for sale, Earnings in isk
1. Spodumain - 16 m3 - 50 pcs at 7100 - 355k
2. Gneiss - 5 m3 - 160 pcs at 1900 - 304k
3. Crokite - 16 m3 - 50 pcs at 4800 - 240k
4. Dark Ochre - 8 m3 - 100 pcs at 2200 - 220k
5. Kernite 1.2 m3 - 665 pcs at 325 - 216k
6. Bistot - 16 m3 - 50 pcs at 4200 - 210k
7. Arkonor - 16m3 - 50 pcs at 3,800 - 190k
8. Hedbergite - 3m3 - 160 pcs at 520 - 83k
9. Hemorphite - 3m3 - 160pcs at 580 - 93k
10. Zeolites - 10m3 - 80pcs at 1380 - 110k
Profit from mining 700 m3 per minute:
1. Jaspet - 350 = 3.5 - 44000 - 154k
2. Plagioclase - 2000 = 20 - 7600 - 152k
3. Veldspar - 7000 = 70 - 2000 - 140k
4. Scordite - 4666 = 46.66 - 2800 - 130k
5. Omber - 1166 = 11.66 - 9500 - 110k
Prices may differ from those indicated in the example above. Zeolite is an ore from planetary satellites.
And they say ice is more profitable?
Ice is indeed more valuable than regular ore, but its volume is also significantly greater. Ice is mined in 1,000 m³ chunks and compressed into 100 m³ blocks. In other words, profitability here depends on reducing the cycle time of ice mining lasers and ice drones. The shorter the cycle time, the more ice can be mined. Typically, for such purposes, skills are exclusively developed for ice mining, and ships are equipped with appropriate rigs and modules. So why is ice profitable to mine if it weighs so much?
CCP makes money when your ship gets blown up, or when you blow up your opponent's ship. Afterward, you'll be in the game every day to recoup your losses or pay CCP money. That's why wars, conflicts, and creepers on warpgates are necessary. You can beat the game if you don't lose your ISK.
The thing is, it's best mined with a bonuser and a shovel. For example, digging ice with a corp (Orc and Covetor) allowed me to complete the bonus in 80 minutes (Orc with maxed bonuses and drone + medal, Covetor with minimum ice skills). Dividing the yield evenly, we each got about 20,000,000 ISK per hour. Furthermore, miracles will start to happen if you mine ice using the Orc + two, three, or four shovels scheme and split the profits equally. This is exactly what happens on ice anomalies, except they use a freighter to collect the ice. Ice anomalies should be searched for using the same principle as ore anomalies: through the Agency - resource collection - ice anomalies. Be prepared for the fact that where there's ice, there's always activity from other players.
What about heavy mining ships?
They're practically the same. The Makshinav is an upgraded Retriever for solo mining, the Hulk is an upgraded, unarmored Covetor for accelerated resource extraction, and the Skiff is a Prosecutor with even more protection for traveling to dangerous areas with creepers. What to mine with, again, is up to you, depending on your playstyle.
What about mining in lowsec, nullsec, and WX? What about ISK, and in general?
In lowsec, people solo mine with a Prosecutor, for example. It's hard to say how much more profitable it is than mining in highsec. But fun is guaranteed, since lowsec is a PVP zone. As for nullsec, it's likely even safer than lowsec, and the ore there is incredibly tasty (Mercocite, for example). And if you come to an agreement with the nullsec owners, you can mine relatively safely. Providence is said to be a good sector for ore mining (thought it needs testing), as the owners there are decent (though again, that needs checking). As for mining in the wormhole, it's quite good: you can find ore from nullsec and large-volume rocks (100,000 m³+), but it's also a PVP zone no less dangerous than lowsec. Anyone can fly to you in cloaked space and kill you.
Mining in such places is justified if you're part of a corporation with 20-100 people that has its own station in lowsec, nullsec, or wormhole, where you can all dock in case of danger, unload resources, compress them, and then board combat ships. Building a station yourself or mining resources with a corporation without its own citation is risky and problematic. However, there are some desperate and adventurous guys who mine wormholes both in fleets (Porpoise + Prosecutors + Ventures) and solo.
What did we forget to mention?
If you noticed, in the alpha digging guideAnd here on Omega, nothing was said about gas mining in Lowsec and the Ventura WX. It's expensive, and you can quickly earn a lot of ISK this way by buying a book, gas suckers for Fullerite, etc. Furthermore, nothing was said here about specialized drilling frigates, which become available at Omega status after leveling up the relevant skills (Endurance - ice, Prospect - gas and ore). I suggest you test these exploration and drilling frigates yourself :) I'll just say that if you're solo mining gas in the WX, you'll have to carry a combat ship with you to shoot down NPCs that come to the gas signature after a while.
That's all for now. If you have any questions on this topic, please let me know in the comments. Crab to all 0/
Omega status speedrun series on an alpha account:
- Mining on Venture
- Scanning anomalies in the WH
- Level 3 agent missions
- Searching for expeditions in green areas
- Trading ore and goods
- Other activities
Omega status speedrun series on an omega account:
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