Science & Industry

Hulk + Orca. A Hulk produces a lot of m3 of ore in a short amount of time. It really needs a hauler of some sort.

Started with a Hulk and a Bestower pilot (largest low skill industrial, and it takes about 12 hours or less to train) while training for the Orca (takes about 45 days to be able to sit in Orca). He'd also salvage missions for me in a Coercer (later a Noctis).

Afterwards Orca pilot trained for a Hulk, as they use a lot of the same skills. Hulk + Hulk (or whatever 2 harvesting ships) is my preferred for ice (2 Mackinaw) and gas harvesting (2 Ferox). Gas and ice tend to be lower m3 / time.

Understood, thank you both.

Orca fits link modules that boost the Hulk and Orca pilots also have skills that boost the Hulk yield.

For a single player a Hulk and a Orca will be enough.

But for what used to be a pretty good mining corp you need 6 Hulks, 2 Orcas. One Orca is just a hauler.

Sanity is key.

But 2 hulks will get you more yield, even with hauling.

Play around with EVE IPH and the mining tab. I don't have it set up to do multiple ships, but you can see the numbers for different setups. For hauling, I have a spot there for you to set how long it will take you to run back and forth to station and I use that to calculate how much ore you lose by doing that instead of mining.

How about

2 Hulks AND an Orca ?

Actually, the answer is 2 hulks with maxed cargo expanders and cargo rigs.
Just mine to cargo (17,199m cubed), dock to unload, warp back, continue mining. No jetcanning at all.
Think about it, it will beat 1 hulk 1 orca or 1 hulk 1 hauler in output, and actually be easier to manage.
Your increased number of trips for docking for the hulks is more than covered by the vast increase in output from having 2 hulks not only 1.

Orca is good for 4-5 hulks, no use with only 1 hulk.

You sticking plate in those lows?.....

Just send the hulks to mine in different systems, minimize your chance of 1 gank getting both.

The point is if you are only using 1 hulk, you are making very poor returns for your 2 characters.

The amount of gankers running around has steadily increased to the point it's only a question of time. Some of them are regulars easy to spot and set negative etc. Others are just drive by weekend griefers. Either way 200+mil is alot of ship to lose for the solo miner with only a couple toons. Paranoid and most risk averse can use covetors and greatly reduce their profits while minimizing their eventual losses.

Setup that is a good compromise but decent yield for the added resiliency is orca and 2 hulks. orca is fit with mining boosts and one shield resistance link. hulks are fit with strips, medium shield extender, 2 invulns, dc and powergrid upgrade mod in low. rigged with core defence field extenders.

still get 2 hulks mining with pretty good yield and the solo ganker or poorly organized small destroyer gank crew is SOL. you wont last against the larger groups (there was a 50+ destroyer gank crew around last weekend)

if losing isk is not a big deal you can go max yield and roll the dice but alot of us are mining because of work committments etc so there is not always a chance to warp immediately or religously scan local and d-scan.

just my 2 cents.

Cargo Rigs yes. Mining Upgrade Mods go in the Lows though.

I run 3 hulks/Macks plus an Orca and it works great.
I started out with 1 hulk and an hauler who later got into an ORCA and I have no regrets.
1 hulk and 1 ORCA is a great combo. Especially if you keep the orca in belt, if your hulk pilot is also a good combat pilot you can keep a T3 in the ship maintenance bay to counter gankers. nothing scares a ganker like seeing a hulk disappear only to be replaced by a T3 with a pilot they have already agroed. It is very easy to tank an ORCA to survive even a large gank squad long enough for CONCORD to show up.