Ships & Modules

Hello everyone,

I'm a long time high-sec and null sec solo miner, and I'm wondering how I could optimise my actual mackinaw fitting :

[Mackinaw, hs]

Mining Laser Upgrade II
Mining Laser Upgrade II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I

Dread Guristas Thermic Dissipation Field
Dread Guristas Kinetic Deflection Field
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I

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

Medium Higgs Anchor I
Medium Processor Overclocking Unit I


Hornet EC-300 x5
Hobgoblin II x1
Mining Drone I x4

Before people start to go hipsh** about the shiny shield modules, these are respectively 6.3M and 8.27M, not a big deal for a 200M hull.

My question is, since I'm always mining aligned at instawarp speed, should I be better removing both the micro auxiliary power core I and the shield buffer, and put a third mining laser upgrade instead ? and what should I put into the free medium slot (like 4 passive/active shield resistance) ?

Thanks for reading already :)

The higgs anchor rig helps out with that. I suppose you might be able to set it up in such a manner that by the time you're out of range you'll already have a full ore bay.

To address the OP: I probably wouldn't put faction hardeners on this. From a ganker's perspective they add more value to the killmail, and a negligible increase in EHP. For the price of just one of those hardeners you could fiit an additional gank catalyst.

[Mackinaw, Mackinaw fit]

Damage Control II
Mining Laser Upgrade II
Mining Laser Upgrade II

Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Upgraded Thermic Dissipation Amplifier I
Upgraded Kinetic Deflection Amplifier I
Scoped Survey Scanner

Modulated Strip Miner II
Modulated Strip Miner II

Medium Higgs Anchor I
Medium Processor Overclocking Unit I

(Damn, I never realized how restrictive the CPU can be on a mackinaw)

Something like this gives more effective HP due to the damage control. You get less HP out of the shields, but more out of the structure, while keeping the cost of the fitting lower.

In any case, your most effective "tank" will be to be vigilant with local and d-scan. You should aim to be able to tank a single catalyst, but if 2 or 3 show up and they manage to scram you, you're pretty much toast regardless of the fitting.

ECM is a gamble. It can work or have no effect at all. I generally wouldn't recommend using ECM on ships that aren't specifically built for it. But then I'm not much of a gambler in the first place ;p

I'm using a Skiff too in a calm nullsec place for mercoxit mining, but I don't really know how I can mine the same way because I mine only in anomaly, so I don't know how to have bookmarks in different directions each time.

For the tank, I was mostly wondering about shield or DCU II as suggested since I don't really rely on my tank, and if I would be better the full yield way.

And for why I use a mackinaw in high-sec, that's because of the speed of the ship with a anchor rig, a skiff is more than twice as fast (62.5) as the mackinaw (28.1), so more movement-managing needed, plus the smaller ore hold requiring even more movements in the same time. For the hulk I don't use it anymore since the mining barge rebalance because I mine solo for now.

Edit : I haven't thought about mining drones, with the Skiff having a 100 m3 drone bay, while my mackinaw can only have 4 mining drones, but I don't think they will change anything really, or is the mining drone rig worth it in this case ?

Re-edit : the mining drone rig don't seem to do sh** (or 3.09 m3/s for 5 tech I is already good ?) and decrease the cpu of the ship, I'll see if i can put a rig for faster warp speed to compensate the travels added by the smaller ore bay

[Mackinaw, Buffer-fit]

Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Mining Laser Upgrade II
Damage Control II

Survey Scanner I
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

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

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Hobgoblin II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5

NOTES:
- here is an interesting trick...
------ overload the shield hardeners but DO NOT turn them on.
------ if a potential ganker warps in on you... THEN turn them on.
------ using this method you can get the full benefits of overloading on-demand.
------ the caveat with this method is that you MUST be paying attention at all times.

- use the hobgoblins to take out NPC rats when they appear.
- keep the ECM drones deployed and set to "aggressive" the rest of the time.

- with MAX skills applied you have...
------ ~36,000 effective hitpoints (~40,000+ ehp overloaded AND/OR with warfare links)
------ align time of ~11 seconds (from a "cold start")
------ mining yield of ~1100 cubic meters of ore per minute
------ deals ~90 damage per second

- the CPU is VERY, VERY tight. Consider using high meta versions of the Damage Control and one of the Adaptive Invuls.

- DO NOT use faction gear. That just makes you a "prettier" target.

Consider this Skiff fit if you are feeling a little ballsy.

[Skiff, PvP-capable Ice Miner]

Damage Control II
Ice Harvester Upgrade II
Drone Damage Amplifier II

Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Warp Scrambler II
Stasis Webifier II

Ice Harvester II

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I

Hornet EC-300 x5
Hammerhead II x5
Acolyte II x5


You can actually kill most frigates, destroyers, and even hold your own against the odd cruiser (by virtue of the Skiff's abnormally high tank... some ~75,000 effective hitpoints).

Those ships you can't pin down (like kiters) can be dealt with using the ECM drones and Acolytes (which are now insanely fast and eat lightly tanked shield frigates for breakfast).

If you part of a mining team consisting of other Skiffs with on-field Logi / Rorqual support then you have the making for a "death ball" that small roaming gangs might hesitate against.

I use a version of that fit with a Procurer in low-sec... mostly as bait and/or "funsies."

The trick with it is... as with any PvP engagement... pick your battles.

If I see frigates on scan, I would get excited because that is what the ship excels against. If I see a whole gang of cruises and I know I do not have support nearby... I would run.