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Strategy operating a 3 account mining operation
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Hestan Kado
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#1 - 2012-05-05 22:25:05 UTC
I was interested in the tactics of operating a 3 account (2 hulk, 1 orca combo). I would be using this in high sec, which I know isn't the most profitable. Main questions would be if a suspected gank came into play, assuming everything is aligned are you better off focusing on getting the hulks docked or the orca (I am assuming the hulks since they are less tanky). One person and three windows can only be operated so fast.

The next question, I guess people would ask me. Is it even possible to efficiently run that type of a mining team in Highsec and finance your 3-man PLEX, assuming you would actually be hauling to best prices instead of selling to the quickest buy order.
Joshua Vaughn Lampen
Archer Investments Initiative
#2 - 2012-05-05 23:03:29 UTC  |  Edited by: Joshua Vaughn Lampen
Hestan Kado wrote:
I was interested in the tactics of operating a 3 account (2 hulk, 1 orca combo). I would be using this in high sec, which I know isn't the most profitable. Main questions would be if a suspected gank came into play, assuming everything is aligned are you better off focusing on getting the hulks docked or the orca (I am assuming the hulks since they are less tanky). One person and three windows can only be operated so fast.

The next question, I guess people would ask me. Is it even possible to efficiently run that type of a mining team in Highsec and finance your 3-man PLEX, assuming you would actually be hauling to best prices instead of selling to the quickest buy order.


Yes it's perfectly profitable. I run a two man operation (one less hulk) occasionally in highsec when I've got idle time. Ideally you wanna find a nice quiet system with a good security rating that'll minimize ganking potential but has a high number of belts. Also you have to have access to a station which will allow for perfect refining and relatively close to major shipping routes. Don't bother hauling it yourself to a major trade hub. Just ship via RFF or another corporation since it's much more cost effective than doing it yourself.

Also if you wanna diversify and add some cushion to your operation set up PI networks on each character. I've got 6 characters running PI to finance my accounts and I yield roughly 1.8b a month from that alone. This is all done in Null of course so you won't make nearly that much in highsec but passive income is always good.
Tau Cabalander
Retirement Retreat
Working Stiffs
#3 - 2012-05-05 23:27:40 UTC
The biggest problem with mining ore is that Hulks produce a huge volume of ore quite quickly. I've resorted to an additional account to just haul ore, so the Orca can stay on grid. This also allowed me to fit and rig the Orca for EHP.

I tried using GSC in the Orca, which helped, but it was a huge hassle.

I've been using a Bustard to haul, but I think I may switch to a second Orca fit and rigged for hauling.

Ice is a different story. The cycle times are so long that I just use another Mackinaw instead of the Orca (it doesn't take much to pilot a Hulk when you are already an Orca pilot). The loss from docking isn't significant, unlike with ore.
Hestan Kado
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#4 - 2012-05-05 23:40:29 UTC
I have been eyeing PI, but I don't really have any decent grasp on how it is done. I am mainly literate with basic trading, mining and up to lvl4 pve combat missions. Regarding keeping the orca on field, I just feel like at this stage with my experience I wont notice the hit during the small window when the orca is unloading at the station. I currently have 2 active accounts that can field hulks and one that is inactive that was on its way to becoming the orca pilot. I tried to get this operational some time ago but had to take a break and put the accounts on hold. So for the mean time it will really be a mammoth/Hulk/Hulk combo.
Jack Mayhem
Kaer Industries
#5 - 2012-05-07 07:55:52 UTC  |  Edited by: Jack Mayhem
With current mineral prices, mining is pretty profitable and definitely can finance your PLEXes, especially with your setup.

Mine Pyroxeres or Veldspar in quiet system where you have station with perfect refine. It's definitely not worth hauling ore yourself. Two Hulks fill the Orca in ~30mins and can make ~60-80mil per hour. Warp Orca to the station to dump ore (make sure links are running when Hulks start their cycle) and warp back, with practice you will not lose any yield whatsoever.

Once you have full freighter of minerals, ship them to Jita/Amarr and sell them.

Regarding hulkageddon: I wouldn't mine if I were you. You can run missions to increase standings for better refining in the meantime.

EDIT: T2 mining mindlinks and mining implant make HUGE difference. Train for these as soon as possible.
D3F4ULT
#6 - 2012-05-07 10:12:31 UTC
Not to be a debby downer, but I've been mining since 2008. While mineral prices are high, missioning is so much easier to deal with in HS. I ran level 4s with a Domi drone boat, sat in the middle and switched between ammo and drones depending on distance/resistance of NPCs.

While I was doing it a few jumps outside of jita it could have never been easier to make cash, easily could walk away with 100-200m per day with minimal effort. Have a salvager alt just running behind you. A lot easier to deal with and minimal skills required to fly something like I did.

"Bow down before the one you serve, you're going to get what you deserve"
Hayaishi
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#7 - 2012-05-08 18:46:29 UTC
protip, fleet warp to station. fit a web onto one of your hulks and web your orca into warp.
Vincent Athena
Photosynth
#8 - 2012-05-09 21:22:28 UTC
Ive been wondering if you could fit 2 webs on all the ships and have all of them double webbed all the time. Then align the fleet to station, and get to speed. With the double web your speed is low enough you stay in range of the roids for a long time. As you are all at speed, a fleet warp instantly warps everyone.

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Unit757
North Point
#9 - 2012-05-10 13:15:52 UTC  |  Edited by: Unit757
Back when I owned hulks and mined regularly, I found that I could form sort of a conga line with them, and run the length of the belt at half speed, and just turning around at the end seemed to be pretty effective, and slightly less boring that sitting there. As for dealing with ganks, kept two blackbirds inside the orca, and just docked the hulks and took the blackbirds out if anybody came in. Wouldn't stop anyone who brought the firepower to take the orca (which had about 280k EHP), but it protected the hulks from any destroyers.