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Which mining ship to use when?
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Xombette
Zombies Ate My Clone
#1 - 2012-08-09 22:32:51 UTC
No one seems to agree on this with the new update, so I thought I'd see what everyone here has to say. Basically with all the new mining barge udpates, when is it best to use which ship?
The retriever, the covetor, the hulk and the mackinaw all have changed so in what situation is which ship best? At this point it almost seems beneficial to own on eof each if you're focused heavily on mining.
Joshua Lonestar
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#2 - 2012-08-09 22:48:20 UTC
As I understand it it has become very situational. Since I am a solo miner with a hauler alt I'll continue to mine with my mostly tanked Hulk. I may get a bit better overall yield to run 2 Macks these days but my Hulk is paid for and my alt isnt nearly trained for a exhumer.
Nagamor
Imperial Academy
Amarr Empire
#3 - 2012-08-09 23:06:35 UTC
I dislike Jet-Can mining when i'm solo so I use my retriever. Cheap to replace if i get ganked, pulls in a quality haul all on it's own.
Shereza
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#4 - 2012-08-09 23:23:10 UTC
It's pretty simple really.

Procurer = Low SP mining to reduce danger. Extra defenses and fitting mean easier on new players.

Procurer/Skiff = Mining in missions (while the mission is going on), mining in low/null-sec without gang support, and mining during heavy periods of anti-miner suicide gankings.

Retriever/Mackinaw = Solo ore mining without a hauler alt, hauling for mining ops without orca support or a dedicated industrial pilot (who can't also fly a mining barge or exhumer), or long-term semi-AFK ice mining where being able to go 30-40 minutes without interacting with the UI because you're playing other games is useful.

Covetor/Hulk = Gang mining or high-yield jet can mining where you're your own hauler and you'd rather take the risk, and extra money, of jetting out your money before coming back with an industrial (or a retriever/mackinaw) to retrieve(r) it as opposed to just flying a retriever/mackinaw in the first place.

With the current cargo bay sizes and related aspects of EVE I expect that mackinaws and retrievers will also be superior ships to the covetor and hulk for making use of modulated strip miners. I say that because their cargo bays are signficantly larger than those of the other barges/exhumers and the extra low slots both ships have can further augment that. Plus with only two strip miners to feed crystals into they'll go through crystals more slowly than hulks/covetors will. Just something to ponder when pinching those pennies.
James Cadelan
University of Caille
Gallente Federation
#5 - 2012-08-10 06:01:59 UTC
My (used to be) crappy ship is now a flying jetcan. :D
Shereza
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#6 - 2012-08-10 07:23:41 UTC
I know the feeling. I've moved two of my mining alts' retrievers to where I run my missions so that they can do some mining while my other alts do missions. More to the point with their higher HP and their AFK-oriented ore holds I intend to use them to mine the missions I'm doing. I can get a fairly respectable 22.1k EHP out of them as long as I don't mind not getting maximum yield, which I don't given that I probably won't have a lot of time or attention to micro-manage/babysit them.
Skeln Thargensen
Doomheim
#7 - 2012-08-10 13:00:10 UTC
Nagamor wrote:
I dislike Jet-Can mining when i'm solo so I use my retriever. Cheap to replace if i get ganked, pulls in a quality haul all on it's own.


yes, it's great. you can tank it to around ~20K EHP also. the destroyers just bounce off. I might consider training up for a Mackinaw but the extra ore bay isn't that amazing and the tank is better but gankers will be more willing to waste a battlecruiser on an exhumer.

forums.  serious business.
Rayge PVV
Native Freshfood
Minmatar Republic
#8 - 2012-08-10 13:52:33 UTC
the procurer/skiff seem like great picks. Your mining rate is only a few % lower and you can have the tank of a BS. 17k hold is respectable, and you only have to use one mining crystal at a time.

‎"Don't give yourselves to the unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men!" -Charlie Chaplin
ashley Eoner
#9 - 2012-08-10 14:19:39 UTC
Rayge PVV wrote:
the procurer/skiff seem like great picks. Your mining rate is only a few % lower and you can have the tank of a BS. 17k hold is respectable, and you only have to use one mining crystal at a time.

The big downside being you'll see a lot of cycles wasted on 83 units of ore unless you carefully watch the one roid you're zapping.

Personally I like the new macks. The two strip miners use up noticeable fewer crystals then a covetor/hulk while having an ore hold that allows for me to make mistakes (the covetors I ran couldn't even hold one full cycle). Pretty easy to get a +27k tank with high resists while using 2x MLU II
Alara IonStorm
#10 - 2012-08-10 14:30:55 UTC
I'm Ice Mining in a Procurer. 60k EHP Tank.

Set a nice big half hour clock by the thing. 20min when I get Ice Harvesting V in 5 Days.

I'm new to training up Mining.
Herping yourDerp
Tribal Liberation Force
Minmatar Republic
#11 - 2012-08-10 19:38:20 UTC
retriever for ice or or mining solo
covetor for mining in group

hulk if you are nullsec mining in a gang and know you wont be ganked.

mack isn't bad if you are willing to risk the isk to suicide ganks

the new tanky ships are good for hulkageddon or mining in areas with tougher rats/mining missions ect.
Corina Jarr
en Welle Shipping Inc.
#12 - 2012-08-10 21:59:16 UTC
In general:

Hulk/Cov - fleet ops. Or gank targets. Or both.

Mack/Ret - solo general purpose.

Skiff/Proc - wanna mine but don't wanna die. Or gank bait. Or cyno. Or barge PvP.
Zhu Khan
Khanid Arbitrage Incorporated
#13 - 2012-08-10 22:13:59 UTC
Alara IonStorm wrote:
I'm Ice Mining in a Procurer. 60k EHP Tank.

Set a nice big half hour clock by the thing. 20min when I get Ice Harvesting V in 5 Days.

I'm new to training up Mining.


How'd you get your Procurer to 60K? I've gotten mine up to about 35K. Granted I have **** skills and access to only Tier 1 Defenseive mods, but was wondering what to shoot for. The tank on this thing is hilarious. Shocking how different it is to the pre-patch garbage bucket it used to be.
Shereza
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#14 - 2012-08-11 03:45:23 UTC  |  Edited by: Shereza
Zhu Khan wrote:
Alara IonStorm wrote:
I'm Ice Mining in a Procurer. 60k EHP Tank.

Set a nice big half hour clock by the thing. 20min when I get Ice Harvesting V in 5 Days.

I'm new to training up Mining.


How'd you get your Procurer to 60K? I've gotten mine up to about 35K. Granted I have **** skills and access to only Tier 1 Defenseive mods, but was wondering what to shoot for. The tank on this thing is hilarious. Shocking how different it is to the pre-patch garbage bucket it used to be.


[Procurer, EHP]

Damage Control II
Power Diagnostic System II

Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Strip Miner I

Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

That nets you 75.5k EHP at maximum skills. If you have a power grid implant you can swap out the Regoliths for MSE2s and get 77.3k EHP. An orca with a T2 shield harmonizing gang link but not the mindlink would bump the procurer up to 87.6k EHP which is almost as much as a naked orca has.
Alara IonStorm
#15 - 2012-08-11 03:49:10 UTC  |  Edited by: Alara IonStorm
Zhu Khan wrote:

How'd you get your Procurer to 60K? I've gotten mine up to about 35K. Granted I have **** skills and access to only Tier 1 Defenseive mods, but was wondering what to shoot for. The tank on this thing is hilarious. Shocking how different it is to the pre-patch garbage bucket it used to be.

[Procurer, Procurer fit]

Ice Harvester Upgrade II
Damage Control II

Medium Shield Extender II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Survey Scanner II

Ice Harvester II

Medium Ice Harvester Accelerator I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I


Hobgoblin II x5


60k lowest resist, if you replace the DCU for another Harvest Upgrade 45k lowest. I had the Scanner on for Mining, I don't really need it for Ice so I will probably replace it with more tank. This fit of course works with Mining Lasers and Upgrades instead of Ice.
Paikis
Vapour Holdings
#16 - 2012-08-11 04:53:51 UTC
3 macks and an orca makes a very nice semi-AFK setup... headphones on to listen for roids popping while I study. win-win.