Ships & Modules

Hello, I need some help on a loadout for a friend managing a mining corp. This is not a multi boxing setup, a lot of miners will be involved.

This Orca will be used in HS as a support ship for a squad of Macks. Im not concerned about cargo capacity, but mainly about helping the flotilla be more efficient and resilient against surprise ganking.

[Orca, Orca HSfcs]

Damage Control II
Reinforced Bulkheads II

Survey Scanner II
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Thermic Dissipation Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Small Tractor Beam II
Mining Foreman Link - Laser Optimization I
Siege Warfare Link - Shield Harmonizing I

Large Core Defense Field Extender I
Large Core Defense Field Extender I
Large Core Defense Field Extender I

Hornet EC-300 x5
Hammerhead II x5

This is designed to boost mining efficiency, carry in cans, assign targets and boost shield resistances.
EHP is 298k against AM and 296k against void.

[Mackinaw, HSfsim]

Ice Harvester Upgrade II
Damage Control II
Co-Processor II

Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Thermic Dissipation Field II
Medium Azeotropic Ward Salubrity I

Ice Harvester II
Ice Harvester II

Medium Ancillary Current Router I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Warrior II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5

Yield with one IHU and the link 13.10/s
EHP is 58.5k against AM and 57.5k against void.

How does it look? Is there a way to boost efficiency without compromising tanking for the fleet? I understand that ganking is a-priori insensitive to overall tanking stats (if someone really wants to, he will), but my thought is that the more you have, the more juicy targets that dont belong to you will be around for a ganker to choose instead of you. Any feedback would be vastly appreciated, cheers...C:

The fleet will be operating in HS fields (and later, anomalies) very close to the corp HQ and a trade hub. There is no need to store an excess of ice in this Orca, moving it via other means would give a very fast turnaround.

There is no POS. Also, there are some reasons to keep the Orca in the grid, both for organizational and logistic purposes (moving around the ore, holding and dividing it for haulers, helping kill the gurista rat spawns before they jam (60km effective range), having eyes on the grid as flotilla FC etc) .

Thanks for the feedback...C:

I was wondering whether the Skiff would be a good substitute for the Macks. Here is a variant:

[Skiff, HSfsim]

Damage Control II
Ice Harvester Upgrade II

Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Thermic Dissipation Field II
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Medium Shield Extender II

Ice Harvester II

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

Hobgoblin II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5

Same yield, with one IHU and the link 13.10/s
EHP is 144k against AM and 141k against void.

Since the Orca FC would manage cans and all the miners would be atk (this is a joint fleet social activity for corp members), having Skiffs out would maybe be a good substitute. Would the bad cargo bay tramp efficiency? I have heard almost everywhere that the Mack is by far the most suitable ice mining ship.

We dont really expect to be attacked, unless of course we are wardecced. In that case, this fleet with minor module alterations may act as a nice bait for a couple of friends in sniper boats.

The Skiff has the same yield as the Mack, I was wondering whether the reduced cargohold would make logistics very inefficient.

I was thinking of sth like this. It can stay hidden when not needed and also be used for scouting for attacks and probing for signatures along the way. We can also use an Orca hauler for the job, my friend has 3 players in the corp that can fly one.

[Iteron Mark V, HSpMC]

Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II

Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Thermic Dissipation Field II
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II

Improved Cloaking Device II
Expanded Probe Launcher II, Core Scanner Probe I

Medium Cargohold Optimization I
Medium Cargohold Optimization I
Medium Cargohold Optimization I

38 cubes, good buffer against ganking.

I've been cruising some of the ice belts around the place *for my own amusement* and noticed on more than one occasion a freighter in several blobs of macks/skiffs.

I didn't think you could use a freighter in such a way, but why else would they be there? IIRC there was some freighter changes a while back maybe that has something to do with it. I CBF looking them up frankly.

Might be something to consider.

The survey scanner doesn't really do anything useful for you if you're ice mining. Drop it for another hardener, probably EM so you don't leave a giant hole in your resists. Most of your EHP is honestly coming from hull regardless, so it doesn't make much of a difference.

I'm not sure how all the flagging system works now adays, but a large shield transporter could also work instead of the tractor. I would double check to ensure they don't have something funky going on with suspect on ganks when using shield transporters. I'm not an expert on how the new system works.



As a general rule, once you remove a yield low from a mack all they have going for them is cargo.

If they're not hauling ice back to station you should probably fly something else. A retriever is one choice, with 3 ice harvester upgrades in the lows for max yield, and you isk tank it. Another option is to go up to a skiff. Here's a fit that I have used:

Highs
Ice harvester II

Mids
2x medium shield extender II
1x invurn field II
2x resistance amp II (I use em + therm, but fit your own taste)

lows
2x ice harvester upgrade II

rigs
1x shield extender rig
1x ice harvester ric -or- 1x more shield extender rig

Basically, if ore hold isn't a factor, once you dedicate one low to tank a mack a yield retriever will out mine it while being super cheap, or the skiff will get the same yield with a much better tank. But play around with the fittings and see what you can come up with

Thanks for the feedback guys, I had no idea that a freighter could be used in that role. Will have to inquire on whether there are some freighter pilots available in the corp and willing to assist mining ops.

I see no use to EM resistance mods for tanking a mining ship in HS since suicide gankers predominantly use hybrid weapons in belts, and the Orca will not have expensive cargo on it (that may attract some miniluv alpha goodness). Of course, if we are wardecced then changing a resist mod to plug the hole is trivial.

I will remove the survey scanner from the FC Orca, and place a LSEII there, together with a third link. Here is the current variant:

[Orca, HSimFC]

Damage Control II
Reinforced Bulkheads II

Large Shield Extender II
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Thermic Dissipation Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Mining Foreman Link - Mining Laser Field Enhancement I
Mining Foreman Link - Laser Optimization I
Siege Warfare Link - Shield Harmonizing I

Large Core Defense Field Extender I
Large Core Defense Field Extender I
Large Core Defense Field Extender I

Hornet EC-300 x5
Hammerhead II x5

323k vs AM, 320k vs Void. 241k vs pure EM.

The comment about the Mack yield convinced me to utilize the Skiff. I will use an IHA though instead of the 2nd extender, to buff the yield a little more...

[Skiff, HSTim]

Damage Control II
Ice Harvester Upgrade II

Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Thermic Dissipation Field II
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Medium Shield Extender II

Ice Harvester II

Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Ice Harvester Accelerator I

Hobgoblin II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5

Yield is 14.9, EHP is 129k vs AM and 127k vs Void. 74.4k vs pure EM.


We really want the hauler to spend the least amount of time exposed in the field, and we also do not need much more capacity than the FC Orca holds. So I was thinking of sth like this:

[Orca, Orca HSH]

Damage Control II
Inertia Stabilizers II

Kinetic Deflection Field II
Thermic Dissipation Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Prototype 100MN Microwarpdrive I

Small Tractor Beam II
Small Tractor Beam II
Small Tractor Beam II

Large Cargohold Optimization I
Large Cargohold Optimization I
Large Ancillary Current Router I


Hornet EC-300 x5
Hammerhead II x5

10s warp out and a little more cargo for cubes.

Lastly, I thought of adding a dedicated ratter in the group, that might help with keeping the skiffs mining in gurista space. It can also back up as an anti-spotter...spotter...XD

[Corax, HSmR-S]

Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

Sensor Booster II, Targeting Range Script
Passive Targeter II
Cargo Scanner II
Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I

Prototype 'Arbalest' Light Missile Launcher, Scourge Light Missile
Prototype 'Arbalest' Light Missile Launcher, Scourge Light Missile
Prototype 'Arbalest' Light Missile Launcher, Scourge Light Missile
Prototype 'Arbalest' Light Missile Launcher, Scourge Light Missile
Prototype 'Arbalest' Light Missile Launcher, Scourge Light Missile
Prototype 'Arbalest' Light Missile Launcher, Scourge Light Missile
Prototype 'Arbalest' Light Missile Launcher, Scourge Light Missile

Small Bay Loading Accelerator I
Small Rocket Fuel Cache Partition I
Small Hydraulic Bay Thrusters I

170DPS @ 83.7km with T1 scourge
Fast enough to move around the field and catch things
Passive targeting of spotters @ 70km

How does the above fleet setup look? Any feedback would be vastly appreciated, cheers...

Thanks for the feedback. Utilizing the fleet as a bait target in case of war deccing will certainly mean utilizing the Orca hangar for some surprise goodness. But due to the way suicide ganking works, you do not really have the time to do much against it.

Between warping on grid and finishing, you have about 15-20s max to try and remove some DPS from the gang. Also, the element of surprise lies completely with the jihad squad.

So keeping an eye for spotters via the Corax and having enough EHP to make yourself unprofitable (or to be exact, other targets more profitable) is the best course of action I think.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against suicide ganking. Its very fun, adds content to the game and makes mining that much interesting (both for the gankers and the miners). That doesnt mean though that we dont have to prepare for it, and teach our players how to mine properly. The upcoming changes to ice mining in Odyssey is the best thing that happened to mining in a long time, thwarting botting (to an extent) and promoting socialization and atk gameplay.