Ships & Modules

hello gents...

I'm wondering which path to go on the new mack I'll be able to fly in few days.. was going to fool around with the exhumers and see which one I like most etc...

in the past I flied this fit of the ret and survived all gank attempts on me which were from catalys\coercer\thrasher dessy ships:



Now I was wondering if I managed to survive in that ship I might be doing something right and lets take it step forward and test the mack. [Note: I'm still on mining barrage IV as I train rank 5 so we are missing 4% resists bonus and ofc exhumer skill yield bonus, also iirc shield compensation skills will affect some of this modules and I still got those on rank 1]

Option 1: Tanky \ 2 MLU


Option 2 - Max yield \ 3 MLU



As we can see the two option are much more tanky and stats could be even more tanky once I'll train extra needed skills which train quick so our question is if I survived number of time in that retriever fit which one of the two mack fits I posted you find more attractive for HS mining solo.. I don't do afk mining btw.

Third option for the fun and such... Skiff! [note: remember i miss some skills so stats are actually should be higher]


so which one? :P

hmm point there with the skiff....

I tested on EFT with my lacking skills which i still need to train before I can fly one but...



wow dat skiff got such a uber tank it's ridiculous!


EDIT:
seems I lack skills to fit an AB but not so bad considering skiff got 200+ m\s as base speed in first place.
and why orbiting a rock and not stay aligned so when i need to warp out I won't get stuck in a rock or something?

and there is a point in havin 1 salvage drone as extra cash from rats while mining?

btw the mobile tractor unit... worth having for belt wrecks?

Well, orbiting something gives you speed, and makes tracking more difficult. Most gankers fly destroyers, blaster catalysts are very common.
A moving target is always more difficult to hit due to tracking and optimal. Especially blaster catalysts need to be very close to a target to do maximum damage, and by simply orbiting a can or a rock at full speed, you negate some, if not even most of that. All of that can give you some more seconds to live, before concord shows up. But most single high sec gankers will leave you alone as retrievers and badly tanked mackinaws are easier targets than a procurer or a skiff.

Regarding salvage drones and the mobile tractor unit: it adds up, but don't expect much. You may have a few faction spawns show up, those may be worth looting and salvaging, but the usual high sec belt rats are worth only a few thousand isk in bounty, and the loot is barely worth anything. But again, it adds up, you can still sell that stuff for some extra isk. I don't really bother with those when I mine, I field a full flight of light combat drones and a second with 4 mining drone and a single combat drone, enough to get rid of those annoying belt rats.

1. - 3. Yes, but they get suspect, no and no. But you can always scoop it into cargo bay if you are close enough, its cargo will be dropped as a can if you do so, allowing everyone to steal it unless you emtpy the MTU's cargo hold first.

4. Depends on the system and constellation, I would say. I'm usually mining with my industry character, as she can't fly any good combat ships. And to do something useful while exploring or doing missions with this one, in case I don't have to haul my products and have time to spare. Better than just sitting around in a station doing nothing. And the minerals add up, reducing my hauling runs by a tiny bit. Solo mining is not very profitable, but every bit helps.
If you want to increase safety while mining, add known ganker corps and individuals to your contact list, and give them a -5 or -10 standing, that way you can easily spot them in local. Ask your fellow miners in the belts, and always fly something you can afford to lose. Be at the keyboard, chat, browse or whatever you like, so you can keep an eye on local and dock if necessary.
As a POS owner I stick to 0.7 systems cause of free moons, and I usually mine there too due to the short transportation ways, and the last system I was based at as well as the current one have been very quiet for months.

The first retriever fit you posted is pretty much completely untanked. The fact that you survived any gank attempts with it should not be taken as an endorsement for the fit. If you didn't die to a single destroyer in that fit, then it was a terrible fail gank. That fit would die to anything that looked at it.

For the mack, I think your 2MLU fit could stand to get a bit more tanky. It is possible to fit a MSE on a mack. There are also considerations for CPU usage and capacitor, but I would encourage using active hardeners over resistance amps and having to mess around with compensation skills. DG hardeners are probably best, as they're cheap (except the EM one), and are easy on the CPU and capacitor, and are far better for your EHP than resistance amps. Also consider leaving the EM resistance hole and instead hardening against kinetic, just because catalysts are the ship of choice for suiciders, but thats up to both personal preference and the area of space you're in. Of course, if someone just doesn't like you, they can easily just bring more catalysts to kill you.

Not much of a miner myself, but something like this..

[Mackinaw, New Setup 1]
Mining Laser Upgrade II
Damage Control II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I

Survey Scanner II (can drop for more tank)
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
Dread Guristas Thermic Dissipation Field
Medium Shield Extender II

Modulated Strip Miner II, Veldspar Mining Crystal I
Modulated Strip Miner II, Veldspar Mining Crystal I

Medium Core Defense Field Extender T1/T2
Medium Core Defense Field Extender T1/T2 or EM rig T2

MAPC doesn't do anything if you're not using it to fit a MSE. a meta2 or meta3 mse is fine if you don't have shield upgrades 4. t1 rigs are also totally fine.