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How many people here use Mining drones?
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Thomas Gallant
Quafe Company Courier Shipping
#1 - 2012-10-17 00:21:04 UTC
I was wondering how many people use drones when mining, seems like I rarely see them, and from what I can tell, result in a very small increase yield compared to other means of increasing mining output. Maybe a medium or heavy mining drone might be useful at some point, Any thoughts?
Alyssa SaintCroix
Leihkasse Stammheim
#2 - 2012-10-17 01:21:07 UTC
Solo mining perhaps, but once you start multiboxing, it seems like too much of a hassle to keep track of what the drones are doing.
Tau Cabalander
Retirement Retreat
Working Stiffs
#3 - 2012-10-17 01:30:22 UTC
I use them when mining in a fleet. It is the Orca's job to take care of NPC rats.

[ Probably why the Rorqual has a drone damage bonus, but then using a Rorqual in a belt is very risky so rarely done. ]
Threshner
#4 - 2012-10-17 01:39:00 UTC
My alt does use them but he is in a mackinaw while i do homework. He uses T2 which was not worth the training time but i believe each minute cycle brought in 40kish worth of veldspar. So its not horrible just faster mining.
Reticle
Sight Picture
#5 - 2012-10-17 02:31:51 UTC
All the time. Any increase in m3 is good for miners who fit tanks. I just put mine on the closest, largest rock and mine around that rock. I might have to put them on a second rock before I'm done for the day. Rocks with higher density (e.g. plagio) get mined more slowly.
Zyella Stormborn
Green Seekers
#6 - 2012-10-17 04:23:08 UTC
I pick a separate asteroid just for my mining drones, and leave them picking on it while I mine other rocks. I use them with my Hulk and Mack, but do not bother with my Skiff (I probably should though).

~Z

There is a special Hell for people like that, Right next to child molestors, and people that talk in the theater. ~Firefly
Eric Raeder
No Fee Too High
#7 - 2012-10-17 04:57:35 UTC
I mine in highsec, typically in a 0.5 system with blood raider rats. I usually launch 2 T2 acolytes and 3 T2 mining drones. The acolytes get set on aggressive and usually kill rats before they can take down my mining drones, even when I am not paying attention. Acolytes work better for this than hobgoblins, which are slower and often fail to engage before the rats beat up the mining drones.
Ireland VonVicious
Vicious Trading Company
#8 - 2012-10-17 04:57:39 UTC
Always use them if the situation permits.

Use them on an astroid that is very close to improve flight time to get best yield from them.
Evolution1979
Hull Down Inc.
#9 - 2012-10-17 09:29:04 UTC
Thomas Gallant wrote:
I was wondering how many people use drones when mining, seems like I rarely see them, and from what I can tell, result in a very small increase yield compared to other means of increasing mining output. Maybe a medium or heavy mining drone might be useful at some point, Any thoughts?


The awnser you seek is: 119
AP John
Stain Forever
Stain Neurodiverse Democracy
#10 - 2012-10-17 10:54:05 UTC
Hi all,

Mining drones T2 are over powered as far as mining goes. 5x T2 drones without any boost to them are the equivalent of another T2 strip miner with T2 crystal on a Hulk which gives the Hulk a total of 4 Strip Miners.

Most do not use them because they are AFK and use the Retriever which has a really bad drone bay and prefer to use the combat drones for protection thus don't have room for another set of mining drones.

Take into account that the drones operate a cycle every 60 sec, not 180 sec as a strip miner. Multiply the drone cycle times 3 and you shall find it's similar to the strip miner, it doesn't come without any issues... They are very reliant on distance from the rock they are mining.

A useful strategy is to park next to a rock that you plan to mine, use lasers to mine something else at max range and put drones on the closest rock, this way the drones are very efficient.

Also it's best to use them on large rocks, found in Null, LS, WH.. HS mining is for the noobs (last words might come to bite me later).

Cheerios.
Celgar Thurn
Department 10
#11 - 2012-10-17 15:07:30 UTC
AP John wrote:
Hi all,

Mining drones T2 are over powered as far as mining goes. 5x T2 drones without any boost to them are the equivalent of another T2 strip miner with T2 crystal on a Hulk which gives the Hulk a total of 4 Strip Miners.

Most do not use them because they are AFK and use the Retriever which has a really bad drone bay and prefer to use the combat drones for protection thus don't have room for another set of mining drones.

Take into account that the drones operate a cycle every 60 sec, not 180 sec as a strip miner. Multiply the drone cycle times 3 and you shall find it's similar to the strip miner, it doesn't come without any issues... They are very reliant on distance from the rock they are mining.

A useful strategy is to park next to a rock that you plan to mine, use lasers to mine something else at max range and put drones on the closest rock, this way the drones are very efficient.

Also it's best to use them on large rocks, found in Null, LS, WH.. HS mining is for the noobs (last words might come to bite me later).

Cheerios.


I presume you are trolling? At any rate you don't know what you are talking about. T2 mining drones are not overpowered and do not mine as much as a T2 strip miner. Although I do use them and every bit of ore counts. Smile

High sec is where mining is at for most miners. Of course some are mining Megacyte, Morphite, & Zydrine related ores in nul sec but percentage wise most mining is in high sec and will continue to be so.
Denal Umbra
Coffee Hub
#12 - 2012-10-17 15:35:05 UTC
He is not trolling for sure.

5 t2 mining drones can pull in about 18750 m3 of ore in an hour. A hulk strip miner brings in ~23-25k ore with a t2 crystal. So basically, you do get nearly another t2 strip miner by using the drones.

If you are using a mack then a good way to use them is to park next to a big roid, set them on it and unlock the roid so that you free up the targeting slot. They will still keep mining it and if the roid pops, they come back to orbit you.

I use them when i am actively mining since the boost to yield is quite big but when i am "afk" mining, then i just leave out a flight of combat drones.
Idris Helion
Doomheim
#13 - 2012-10-17 16:15:28 UTC
I use mining drones all the time, even in .5 systems when rats spawn more often. Yes, it's more micro-management -- but it's also a significant boost to your ore m3/hr rate, which translates directly into more ISK/hr. I don't AFK when I mine, though, so maybe that's it. I do get distracted while I'm watching TV or something and sometimes rats will take out some of my mining drones before I can collect them, but...eh. Mining drones are cheap. I have hundreds of them. I pull in my mining drones and throw out a flight of Hobs or Acolytes when rats come calling. My drones are working about 85% of the time I'm sitting in a belt, and it bumps my yield by 10-15%.

If you're not using mining drones, you're leaving a lot of yield on the table.
Katrez
Hydra Enterprises
#14 - 2012-10-17 17:13:59 UTC
In the aspect that every bit of ore counts they are very worth using. With that said about the only time I use them is when I'm on an op with others. On my own when im multi boxiI'm usually to busy to want to deal with them.
CataCourier
Gordon Industries
#15 - 2012-10-17 19:36:26 UTC
I stick mine on rocks that I really don't want to "waste" lasers on (Spod, Gneiss). I use lasers to clear out everything else and use all of the drones on the one spod rock... that way by the time I get to clear the spod, there is only a small portion left :)

Much easier on micromanagement- you need to clear the ore regardless- sicking the drones on those pesky ores reduces micromanagement and provides a relief when it pops :)
Fluffy Sheep
Contra Operative Knights
#16 - 2012-10-17 21:03:37 UTC  |  Edited by: Fluffy Sheep
I never bother with them for reasons others have mentioned here & I always advise new players not to bother with them either.

Their sp & time is much better spent in other area's of training first.
CataCourier
Gordon Industries
#17 - 2012-10-17 22:41:09 UTC
Fluffy Sheep wrote:
I never bother with them for reasons others have mentioned here & I always advise new players not to bother with them either.

Their sp & time is much better spent in other area's of training first.


They're actually a really cheap way of increasing output. Most characters will have Drones 5 regardless, so if you spend a day to get Mining Drones to level 4, they can increase your output by a noticeable amount. It's arguable whether the time into MD5 and Drone Interfacing is worth it, but if you mine a lot, then I would say so :)
Moon Dogg
Thirtyplus
Goonswarm Federation
#18 - 2012-10-18 01:58:47 UTC
Back before Hulkageddons I would run my exhumers with the mining drone rigs as well.
Mining drones and ore is as natural as peeing in the woods :-)
Flurk Hellbron
Science and Trade Institute
Caldari State
#19 - 2012-10-18 07:43:49 UTC
How many people here use Mining drones?

3
Thomas Gallant
Quafe Company Courier Shipping
#20 - 2012-10-18 08:30:58 UTC  |  Edited by: Thomas Gallant
Well I currently get 162 m3 every time my group of drones returns, so that's 486 m/3 per 3 mins, not counting travel time. my mack's t2 turrets with t2 crystals gets 2,007 m3 a 3 min cycle, meaning I'm getting 4,014 m3 out of two turrets so that's about a 12% increase, 10% if you factor in the travel time.

I am currently working on getting tech 2 drones to see what they do, and maxing my drone mining yield.

anyway it seems that my drones are about 1/4 as good as one strip miner atm, I will work on beefing them up however.

Edit: seems like with t2 drones and rigs, etc. I could get about 1,000 m3 a 3 min cycle, so at best they are half a strip miner, granted that's comparing it to one with farily good skills.
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