Mining Guide

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Discovery 4.85 Mining guide

by Jdftheman

Introduction

Hi, welcome to my guide on mining in Discovery 4.85. This guide was written with information coming from the Discovery UK server, if you aren't playing on this server some information might not be 100% correct, so don't shoot me for something like that. Also, this guide reflects some of my personal opinions, whether you agree with me or not is entirely up to you, this guide is mainly to help out those that are new to the fascinating world of Discovery Role Playing.

Ok, now on to the more interesting stuff, mining. Some people love it, others hate it. Me, I love it, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this guide. Mining is without a doubt one of the most profitable things to get money from, if you do it correctly. The main reason for this is that mining is supposed to be a team effort, with several people working together, although you can still make quite allot money mining on your own, it isn't nearly as fun as doing it in group, nor is it as save. Always keep this in mind.

I would like to conclude this introduction by saying that you are best to read through server rules before going ingame, so that you know what can or can't be done on the server.

Mining for rookies

This section of the guide is meant to help those that are first time players on the server. If you already have some experience, feel free to skip this, though it might be interesting to read.

Ok, so you made your first character and now you find yourself on the surface of planet Erie with a brand new starflier at your disposal. First thing I would recommend is reading the info cards of the special cargo you have on board your ship, there should be three items there, and reading them shouldn't take more than a few minutes, but they can make your stay on the server so much easier.

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1. Press here to open your cargo hold
2. These are the items I was talking about, make sure you have read them. After that, you can sell them on any base for roughly 100 credits.

Now, I suggest you take off and start flying around a bit, see if you can find some people in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is the new starting system introduced in version 4.85 of this mod, and it has al lot to offer new players. Also, both Pennsylvania and the New York system are commonly the most populated systems on many servers, so it shouldn't be too hard finding someone there if the server isn't empty. Now you could wonder why you need to find some people. Simple, to talk to. Why you need to talk to them? Again simple, to make friends of course. Why do you need friends? I already gave the answer to this one, how should mining be done? In groups. Now chances are that you will find some other new players, or maybe even experienced players, if you talk to them I am convinced that you will find someone who is willing to help you.

If, in Real Life (RL) you have some friends who are also interested in freelancer (or not, in which case convince them to join) , you can ask them to help you out ingame, and you wouldn't have to find people on the server.

One final note, only try to find friends, don't go doing missions or even fighting NPC's, otherwise you might not be able to follow this guide. I'll explain why later.

Now, let's start with the assumption that your newly made friend is, such as yourself, a new player. In this case, the two of you will have to decide. Are you both willing to trust each other and work together to climb up the ladder of RP? If so, the next thing you'll want to decide is who of you will become the Miner, and who the Hauler.

Wait wait, what's a hauler?
A hauler is the best friend of the miner. Haulers usually have ships with large cargo holds, which the miner can than fill up with mined products. miners need haulers because later on, miners are limited to ships who's largest cargo hold is only 2750 units, while haulers can get ships with cargo holds up to 5000 units, which basically comes down to the fact that haulers will be able to carry twice as much per run (= trade run, this basically means the entire trip you'll take to get from the mining spot to the place that sells them and back) then a miner could carry.

If you have several friends, its best to follow the following order: miner, hauler, miner, hauler,…
With this I mean that if you are with 2, its best to have 1 miner and 1 hauler, if you are with 3, its best to have 2 miners and 1 hauler, for 4, its best to have 2 miners and 2 haulers, and so on.

Now that that's decided, it's time to use something very special. It's called, flhook. Now don't worry, you don't need to worry, this program comes with the server, so you don't need to download anything. Most servers running the discovery mod will have this program, as well as the necessary plug-ins that this guide (and mining) relies on. If the following doesn't work, even after several attempts, than I fear that this guide won't be of much use to you.

Now, open up the chat bar (default: press enter). Now make sure you are in a base. Miners should now type the following command: “/restart miner”; and the haulers should type: “/restart liberty” (ps. don't type the “ ”). If you did this, you will be kicked off the server, but don't worry, this is normal. Now log back in, and you will see that both the miner and hauler are back on planet Erie, only you now have new ships. Miners will have a light fighter called the Basalt, whilst Haulers will get a ship called CSV.

Next up, the hauler needs to go to the ship dealer on Planet Erie, and buy a Rhino freighter. When buying a new ship, always make sure that you transfer your ID along with you, ID's are a necessary part of your ship, as they are your tractor beam, and they tell you what you can or can't do. Note that ID's are MANDATORY on almost any Role Playing server.

Now that the hauler has bought the Rhino, both the hauler and miner should undock and meet up in space. Here, the Hauler should give all the credits he has left to the miner, so that the miner can also buy himself a Rhino. Like the Hauler, the miner should make sure he transfers his ID, but also one specific weapon, the mining laser. Whatever you do, don't sell that one, you'll need it later.

If all went well, both of you should now have a rhino freighter, each capable of carrying 225 units of cargo. Finally we can do what we wanted, mining. Our first mining site can be found behind planet Erie, inside a nebula. Go into the nebula until you see large asteroids. Now, to start mining, you need to shoot, not the big asteroids, but the smaller ones that move around. For now, both the miner and hauler can shoot the rocks. Do this till both of you have your cargo bays full with Helium (this is what should come out of the rocks you shoot). Now there are two places to sell your freshly mined helium, either sell it for 400 credits on planet Erie, or take the trade lane and sell it for 550 credits on Philadelphia station. The choice is yours.

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This picture shows the area where you should be mining for helium looks like. The ship you can see is a basalt.

1. This is what the helium looks like after you shot some rocks
   
2. These smaller rocks are the ones you need to shoot, you can't miss them, as they are the only ones that move.

You should be doing this till the both of you together have at least 2.250.000 credits (or 2.25 mill). Reaching this amount will mark the end of your helium mining career, and will mark the beginning of your career as true miner/hauler. But what to do with all that money? Now, it is time to go to Bethlehem station. To get there, go to Philadelphia station, there you will find a tradelane that leads to Bethlehem. Once you get there, make sure that the hauler has 2.2 mill, and the miner the remaining cash. Now, both of you should dock with Bethlehem. The miner should now buy a basalt again, which should cost somewhere around 75.000 credits (75K). Yes you will now buy the exact same ship you sold earlier, if you hadn't done that, it would have taken you allot longer to get the 2.2 mill you needed for the hauler. Talking about the hauler, he should now buy the Dromedary freighter, a nice little ship capable of hauling a whooping 650 units of cargo. Don't forget your ID's and miners, don't forget your mining laser.

So, what now? Now you read on with the guide. Later on, I will tell you about the real mining sites and what you can mine there and stuff like that. Use this to decide where you will be mining. Also, the miner will be a miner/escort. I'll explain later what that means and how you can do this.

Now, if you couldn't find anyone to help you out, or you just didn't feel much for searching one, you have 3 options if you want to become a miner.

1. Use the /restart miner command, this will give you a basalt to mine with. Now you should fly around and offer people your services as a miner/escort. This however largely depends on how much a miner/escort is needed, so success isn't guaranteed.
2. Use the /restart liberty command. Like the hauler, you should sell it and buy a rhino freighter. Use this to mine helium. Do this till you have enough to buy a dromedary, then use the dromedary to mine helium. Now you will be better of selling it at Philadelphia, since it offers a better price than Erie. Keep doing this until you have roughly 6.5 mill credits. Go to the Kepler system, and dock with Ames Research station to buy yourself a new ID, the independent trader ID. After this, go to planet New Tokyo in New Tokyo, and buy a bumblebee there, this little baby has a cargo hold of 1800 units, and should help you reach your next goal. Start trading with this one until you have around 25 mill. You can then use this ship to buy yourself a mining ship, and become a miner/hauler. Again I will explain later on what this means.
3. This is the option I suggest the most, go to the forums, and look for a mining faction to join. The members of this faction will no doubt be happy to help you become a respectable miner, as well as a respectable member of the community.

Facts/tips about mining

I'll use this section to tell you a bit over mining in general, as well as give some tips. Like stated in the intro, these are based on my own opinion and what I think of it, others might not share my opinion.

Mining bonuses

Mining bonuses are a special feature that is allowed by flhook. What this means is that you will get an increase in mining droppings depending on what ship/equipment/ID and IFF you are using. Later on I'll explain more about which ships/IDs/IFFs can be used for this, but I'll explain the basic principle right now.

First off, equipment, there are two types of turrets that give you a mining bonus. The fighter mining turret, and the transport mining turret. The difference between the two is only the size and there class, fighter classed ship can only mount a fighter mining turret, which is a class 2 turret, whilst transports use the transport mining turret, which is a class 7 turret. Only when you are shooting rocks using these turrets can you get the bonus. Your ship can have other weapons onboard, but you won't get a mining bonus if you use these to shoot rocks.

IDs and IFFs are also very important factors for getting a bonus. The miner ID, the one you get when using the /restart miner command, gives a mining bonus for every type of ore or diamond you'll be mining, however the size of the bonus is significantly less than what you would get from specialized IDs. Also, it works with any IFF, both lawful and unlawful. However do remember that this is a role playing server, and the IFF you take will show the other players where your allegiance lies.

I would personally suggest that you use the miner ID to look for a mining spot that sooths your taste, and then do missions to get the proper ID/IFF of a specialized faction. Remember, you will need both an IFF and a proper ID to get the bonus. Later on in the guide, I will explain which factions get bonuses for which ores.

Finally, ships, all I'll say for now is that the basalt is one of the ships that gives you a mining bonus, however later on in the guide, I will list all the ships that give a bonus.

Best way to mine

The best way to mine, and this method is generally considered to be the best way to mine, not only by me but by a lot of people.

For small ships, all you need to do, is go into cockpit view (The default way to do this is by pressing ctrl+V), then put mouse view (default: press space). Now all you need to do is go from one moving rock to the other, and that should do the trick.

However, for bigger miners, this method isn't as effective because of their decreased turning rate. For them I suggest you do the following. First, you need to enter cockpit view. Next what you need to do is move backwards, while turning upwards. The best way of doing this selecting two keys on your keyboard that are close together, and put them as secondary commands. You will need on for reverse trusting, and on for pitch up. See the image below if you don't really understand what I mean. The encircled keys were added by me especially for mining.

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This method is so good because it allows you to see more minable rocks in a shorter period of time (for some reason unknown to me). However some people don't like this because chances are you'll crash into stationary asteroids, or they just got nauseous from the spinning.

As a final note, I would like to point out that some ships only have rear facing turrets, as a result the mining turrets on those ships can only fire backwards. Should you be mining using one of those ships, the best way to use them is using turret view (default: press H). While some people might say that turret view is the best way to mine, I find it one of the worst, as your ship is usually blocking a large portion of your view, so you can't see if there are rocks behind it.

Haulers and escorts

Haulers are the people transporting the mined ores to the places that sell them. They usually fly the larger types of cargo ship, the type of ships miners can't use because of the bonus system (the big ships don't get a mining bonus).

Some haulers will also make a miner char to help fill his/her ship. Because they are mining with two, they can fill up a transport twice as fast. When they think they are almost done, the hauler will go get transport which is usually docked on the closest base. He will then pick up all the ores dropped by both him and his partner, and if his ship still isn't full, his partner can do the final mining to fill up the entire ship.

If you plan on becoming a hauler, than there are two ships I recommend for you, the akegata and the shire. These two ships are almost identical, apart from there looks. Both costing a little over 100 mill, they have a cargo hold of 4200, which isn't the largest available, but they have one very nice extra feature that well outweighs its lack of cargo space, and that are there 12 turret mounts. These allow them to fend off many possible attackers, and combined with one or two escorts, only pirates in gunboats stand much chance against them.

Which brings me to the next part, escorts, something every ore hauler should get himself. Unfortunately there are very few escorts available at best, and most people would rather risk losing their cargo than pay for an escort.

The best way to escort an ore miner is not by flying beside it, but by flying ahead of it. What this means is that the escort will take the trade lane/ jump gate first, and the hauler will wait until the escort gives the all clear. This way, the hauler will not be exposed to possible danger from pirates. If there are pirates, the escort can make arrangements with the pirate(s) to insure that when the hauler passes, the pirates won't destroy it and the ores you worked so hard for will remain in your hands. If the pirates however are unreasonable or for some reason untrustworthy, the transport can still make a large detour around them and make it safely past them. Though this will slow you down considerably, you're cargo, and hard earned credits, will be safe.

Miner/escorts

Alright, time to explain what I mean by miner/escorts. Miner/escorts are, like it suggests, miners who after the mining also serve as escorts for the haulers they just filled up. This is in my eyes how things should be. Not only will this improve the chance of your cargo reaching its destination, it's also a lot more fun to stop shooting those rocks and just do some flying every now and then. Unfortunately there are very few miner/escorts, because this requires teamwork, and for some dark, obscure reason, people prefer making money on their own instead of making it in groups.

Miner/haulers

These are people who do there mining and hauling in the same ship, usually the mining ship. This way they can do everything all on their own without the need for anyone. These guys often only care about the profits, and they don't care about the fact that they could be making more money if they were working together, because they hate the idea of sharing. However there are also some who just couldn't find a trustworthy hauler, but are still searching for one while they do their hauling on their own. So don't judge them too fast.

Miners for hire and miner/sellers

Miners for hire are often people who offer their services to anyone willing to pay them for it. Deals are made before the actual mining begins. Miners for hire don't care who hires them, nor do they care about how and where the ores are going to be sold, as long as they get paid.

Miner/sellers aren't much different from miners for hire. The big difference between the two is that a miner/seller mines before he searches for someone to sell his ores to. These miners often use mining ships, because of their large hold.

The big disadvantage of being one of these types is that this won't provide a steady source of income, as it is very dependent on having other players being willing to hire you/buy your ores.

Stationary miners

These miners always work together with a hauler. While the hauler is on his way delivering the ores, these miners will stay in the mining zone and continue mining, so that when the hauler return, the next batch of ores will be waiting for him. This is the fastest way to make money, since the hauler rarely has to wait for his ores, so he can keep moving back and forth without long intermissions. The only disadvantage of this is that it will require a third person to provide the escorting (unless they move it without escorts).

Mining Areas

This section will handle all the systems where you can mine whilst getting bonuses, I won't add the systems where you can mine uninteresting stuff like water. (Note, I will add scrap mining but only in New London and New Berlin, as these are the only places where you will get a bonus for mining scrap metal). I will also add the best places to sell your ores, with their sell prices, remember that these can vary from server to server! To conclude, I will also add which mining factions get bonuses there and for what, so if you don't know what specialized ID/IFF you need, it's the one of the factions I post here.

Before I get started on listing the systems, I would like to add that the size of the bonus you get depends on how great the risk of mining there is. For example, High risk zones will get bigger bonuses then low risk zones.

Also note that though some locations may pay much more for the ores than others, you must also take into account the distance you need to fly in order for you to deliver your ores. It can sometime be better to sell at the close selling points instead of the far away points in order for you to make the most profit.

Liberty

Pennsylvania system

Pennsylvania, a system that every player knows. This system is a real treat for both beginning miners and experienced miners, with several options to mine. Do note however, that this system, along with New York, is the most active system in terms of number of players, as a result, pirate activity can get very high here, and most pirates know where to find the miners, so you aren't really safe from player pirates.

On the other hand, because this is the starter system, NPC's are very weak, so you won't have much to fear from them.

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Okay, as you can see, there are 4 places where you can mine in Pennsylvania.

1. This is the Ralston ice field. It lies in the Hallam nebula. It is here that you can mine helium, the mining commodity for the newly started miner. The hallam nebula will severly restrict your vision, but also that of NPC's, it isn't unheard of that hostile NPC's fly right past you without noticing you. Helium can be sold at the following places:

• Osaka storage facility in Honshu system will buy your helium for 1.450 credits a piece
• The Ring in New Berlin will buy helium at 1.250 credits a piece (note, Rheinland and liberty are at war with each other, moving goods between them is prohibited, so if you are transporting stuff between these two houses, players RPing house militaries or police officers can stop you, you have been warned)
• Canterbury station in New London buys helium for 1.150 credits a piece
• Philadelphia station in Pennsylvania buys helium for 550 credits a piece
• Planet Erie in Pennsylvania buys helium for 400 credits a piece

You don't need a specialist ID or IFF to mine here, everyone will get the same drop rate as others.

To conclude I would like to add that once you get to a certain point (cargo ships with 1000+ cargo hold) you'll be better of either trading or mining more valuable ores in order to make the most profit.

1. The Wilkes-Barre asteroid field. This field will provide you with silver ore. This also is the most popular of all the fields in Pennsylvania. You can sell your silver ore at:
   • Narita Outpost in New Tokyo for 10.454 credits a piece.
   DSE is the specialist faction when it comes down to mining silver in Pennsylvania. Kruger (Rheinland faction) will also receive a mining bonus here, however due to the war between Rheinland and Liberty, it is very out of Role Play for a Kruger ship to be inside liberty.

1. This field is very unknown amongst most people, mainly because it doesn't show as minable on your nav map. The reason for this is that the field isn't located in an asteroid field like all the others, but it is located within the ring surrounding planet Tremont. If you mine here, you'll receive platinum ore, which sells at:
   • Narita outpost in New Tokyo for 13.001 credits

• • Kensington Shipping Platform in New London for 11.451 credits
  • Pueblo Station in Colorado for 6.000 credits
  DSE is the specialist faction when it comes down to mining platinum in Pennsylvania.

1. This is a small field located within the Appalachian asteroid field. If you take the trade lane from Philadelphia station to the New York jump gate, you'll see a Zoner mining ship in it (it's to your left). This field drops Hydrocarbons.

Much like helium, you can mine this with any ID or IFF you wish, however the drop rate is far lower than that of helium, and it won't sell for nearly as much as helium does. I only added this field as an informative thing, I highly recommend you don't mine here, as it is extremely slow and unrewarding.

Colorado system

The Colorado system, is the only system, apart from Pennsylvania, where you can mine in Liberty space. This system is filled with Xenos NPC's, however they are all flying starfliers or startrekkers, so they don't pose much of a treat to any player who knows a little about shooting guns. However they usually come in swarms, and can be highly annoying if you have 10 of those buggers on you.

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1: The silverton asteroid field, like its name suggests, you can mine silver here. However I have noticed that the drop rate here is lower than in Pennsylvania, but then again, it's closer to the selling place, which is:

• Narita Outpost in New Tokyo for 10.454 credits a piece.

DSE is the specialist faction when it comes down to mining silver in Pennsylvania. Kruger (Rheinland faction) will also receive a mining bonus here, however due to the war between Rheinland and Liberty, it is very out of Role Play for a Kruger ship to be inside liberty. 2: The copperton asteroid field, again like it's name suggests, its where you can find copper ore. Copper ore can be sold at:

• Planet Houston in the Texas System for 8300 credits

If you are new to freelancer, and don't know your way around the universe yet, this would be a very good place for you to start, as both the mining site as well as the selling place are within the Liberty House. It is also a very good ore for miner/haulers, since they won't have to travel very far in order to sell their ores.

DSE is the specialist faction when it comes down to mining silver in Pennsylvania. Kruger and Daumann to a lesser extend (Rheinland factions) will also receive a mining bonus here, however due to the war between Rheinland and Liberty, it is very out of Role Play for a Kruger or Daumann ship to be inside liberty.

Bretonia New London

New London is the capital of the Bretonian Empire, and it holds the first of the many mining sites that can be found in Bretonia.

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The only thing that can be mined here is scrap metal in the Southampton debris field.

There are 2 factions that get a bonus for mining scrap metal, and these are the Junkers, and ALG waste disposal. The Junkers also have a base within the Southampton debris field, so they aren't far from home in this case. Both factions have different places where they should sell their scrap.

ALG should sell their scrap metal at:

• Fuchu Prison in Shikoku for 3.200 credits
  
• BPA Newgate in Manchester for 2.200 credits
  
• Vierlande Prison in Hamburg for 800 credits

Whilst the Junkers can sell their ores at:

• Tripoli Shipyard in Omicron Gamma for 3.200 credits
  
• Invergordon Space Port in Inverness for 3.200 credits
  
• Valetta Shipyard in Omicron Alpha for 3.120 credits
  
• Bornholm Depot in Omega 15 for 2.200 credits

The reason for this separation is hard to explain, so I'll only explain it very rudimentary. Junkers are semi-lawful, which means they are excepted by house governments, but the police and military aren't really font of them. As such they wouldn't be allowed, nor would they want to dock with prison stations. ALG however is a lawful Rheinland company that specializes in waste disposal and is famous for it throughout the houses, it would only be the most obvious choice for governments to hire these guys to provide there stations with the scrap metal they need.

Dublin

Dublin is often referred to as the golden system, guess why.

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If you guessed it is because you can mine gold there, you are correct. Gold can be mined here in EVERY field you see, they will all drop that sweet shiny metal, though not all fields drop at the same rate. A warning is on order however, the mollies are fighting for an independent Dublin, and in one of the fields they have their base. In this field, they will also patrol with gunboats, which are really tough bastards to fight, so be cautious. The gold you mine here can be sold in

• Ingolstadt Station in Munich for 16.200 credits
  
• Detroit Munitions in New York for 13.800 credits.

BMM, Kishiro and Samura all get a mining bonus for mining Gold in Dublin, however Kishiro and Samura are both Kusari companies, and since Kusari is at war with Bretonia, you shouldn't expect a warm welcome. If the armed forces find you, you'll be in a heap of trouble.

The IMG also gets a mining bonus, but it isn't as high as the bonus that the other factions receive.

Leeds

Leeds is the industrial system of bretonia, as such it is a heavily polluted system. It is also the frontline in the battle between the Kusari Navy and the Bretonian armed forces.

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1: these are the west and east Leeds smog clouds, the result of years of heavy pollution. If you mine in these fields you will get toxic waste, which sells on many bases, however the best one would be Dortmund Station in New Berlin, which pays 313 credits for it. Only ALG will get a mining bonus for this one.

This commodity was mainly added to give players who want to RP an ALG employee something extra to do. Don't expect to make a lot of money if you decide on mining here.

2: The Stokes asteroid field is much more interesting than the smog clouds, mainly because of what it drops, Niobium. This can be sold at

• Planet New Berlin for 12.654 credits
  
• Holman Outpost in tau 31 for 5.311 credits
  
• Kensington Shipping Platform for 5.311 credits

Like in Dublin, BMM, Kishiro and Samura get mining bonuses here. The only difference now is that none of them is really safe here, as both Kusari naval Forces and Bretonian Armed Forces are patrolling this system.

The IMG also gets a bonus for mining Niobium, however they have much better places to do this, so I would seriously advise against mining here as an IMG miner.

Cambridge

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Field 1 is the Cardiff Asteroid field, however for some reason, field 2 doesn't have a name, or at least not one that I could find. Both fields will drop beryllium, which can be sold at

• The Ring in New Berlin for 10.458 credits
  
• Narita Outpost for 7.745 credits

BMM gets the best bonus for mining beryllium, although the IMG also gets a smaller bonus. If you want to mine Beryllium as a BMM player, I suggest you stick to the nameless field, as the Cardiff Asteroid Field belongs to the IMG according to the infocards, and seeing as the IMG and BMM aren't the closest of friends, I doubt they will be willing to work together.

Rheinland

This is the third and final house where we can find mining areas worth mentioning. Also, unlike in Liberty and Bretonia, NPC's are starting to become a problem here. I have seen swarms of Red Hessian patrols taking down even the strongest of transport shields, so be sure to fill up on bots and bats if you mine here.

New Berlin

New Berlin is in terms of mining exactly the same as New London. All you can mine is scrap, and all of it can be found in one field, the Ruhrfeld.
However, only a small part of the Ruhrfeld will be minable, so be sure you are in the correct location

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There are 2 factions that get a bonus for mining scrap metal, and these are the Junkers, and ALG waste disposal. The Junkers also have a base within the Ruhrfeld, so they aren't far from home in this case, but Neither is the ALG, as they have a base not so far from the Ruhrfeld. Both factions have different places where they should sell their scrap.

ALG should sell their scrap metal at:

• Fuchu Prison in Shikoku for 3.200 credits
  
• BPA Newgate in Manchester for 2.200 credits
  
• Vierlande Prison in Hamburg for 800 credits

Whilst the Junkers can sell their ores at:

• Tripoli Shipyard in Omicron Gamma for 3.200 credits
  
• Invergordon Space Port in Inverness for 3.200 credits
  
• Valetta Shipyard in Omicron Alpha for 3.120 credits
  
• Bornholm Depot in Omega 15 for 2.200 credits

The reason for this separation is hard to explain, so I'll only explain it very rudimentary. Junkers are semi-lawful, which means they are excepted by house governments, but the police and military aren't really font of them. As such they wouldn't be allowed, nor would they want to dock with prison stations. ALG however is a lawful Rheinland company that specializes in waste disposal and is famous for it throughout the houses, it would only be the most obvious choice for governments to hire these guys to provide there stations with the scrap metal they need.

Dresden

Dresden is the system that has the longest mining history, as it has hold mining operations for centuries. As a result, it's almost mined out, so there aren't many minable spots to be found here.

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1: Daumann Lavafeld is the first field, and it holds both Copper and Cobalt. If you check your nav map, you'll see that there are in fact a few small mining locations in this field, something that is very common in Rheinland mining fields. Like the name suggests, Daumann owns this field's mining rights. The copper mined here can be sold at:

• Planet Houston in the Texas System for 8300 credits

Whilst the Cobalt can be sold at:

• Ingolstadt Station in the Munich system for 10.790 credits.

Kruger gets the highest mining bonus for Cobalt and Copper, while Daumann also gets a smaller bonus for them. 2: This is the Schwefelnebel, and it's the only source of uncut diamonds within the Dresden system. Kruger holds the exclusive mining rights of this field. Diamonds can be sold at:

• Narita outpost in New Tokyo for 9.960 credits
  
• The Ring in New Berlin for 5.229 credits

Daumann is the only faction that gets a bonus for mining diamonds.

Now, the observant readers should have noticed a few odd things about Dresden. First off, the mining factions both have claims to fields they don't have high drops of. Odd isn't it. The reasons for this are that they both invested their time and knowledge in other systems, and as such there area of expertise has shifted over the years. If you want to mine in Dresden, with the maximum mining bonus for the commodities, then remember you are committing corporate theft, as you will be mining in areas that are owned by a rival company.

Do note that Copper only sells in Texas, but Rheinland and Liberty are at war, as a result, there is a trade embargo between the two. If you are mining copper, smugglers will have to take it to liberty, as Rheinland companies aren't allowed in Liberty, and the Rheinland government won't accept its companies moving recourses to the enemy.

Omega 11

This system is technically speaking not part of Rheinland, but since a Rheinland company is mining there, I added this under Rheinland.

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Now, the drawing I made may seem strange, but let me explain. Mining here is done in a small ring of planetary debris around the sun, the Von Rohe Belt. Here, you'll find a large supply of diamonds, ready to be mined. Daumann has a base close by, and if you are mining here, you'll need it. Diamonds can be sold at:

• Narita outpost in New Tokyo for 9.960 credits
  
• The Ring in New Berlin for 5.229 credits

Daumann is the only faction that gets a bonus for mining diamonds.

Now, why would I say you would need that daumann base? Simple, the mining field is filled with radiation, which will eat away your ship's hull at a fairly rapid rate. ALWAYS have nanobots with you when mining here!!! Having a descent armor upgrade can help a lot. Also, I marked a second line, where the Von Rohe Belt ends, because it's very dangerous to proceed in there. If you are, then start praying cause chances are you won't make it, due to the extreme amount of radiation there.

Omega 7

This system is completely covered by the walker cloud, which gives it its orange glow and limits sensors and visual range.Like Omega 11 it's an independent system, but again with Rheinland companies mining in them. Also, some places have volatile gas pockets, so be cautious flying through Omega 7.

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1 is the Ebersfelde Cloud, a field that is being mined by Kruger. You will find Cobalt, Copper and Silver here.

2 is the Furstenfelde Cloud, which is mainly being mined by Daumann. You will find Cobalt and Copper here.

The copper mined here can be sold at:

• Planet Houston in the Texas System for 8300 credits

Whilst the Cobalt can be sold at:

• Ingolstadt Station in the Munich system for 10.790 credits

And Silver can be sold at:

• Narita Outpost in New Tokyo for 10.454 credits a piece.

Kruger will give you the best bonus for Cobalt, Copper and Silver. The IMG could technically also mine in omega 7, but they won't get a bonus as high as the one of Kruger. Daumann also gets a mining bonus for Cobalt and Copper, but it's not as high as the Kruger bonus.

Do note that Copper only sells in Texas, but Rheinland and Liberty are at war, as a result, there is a trade embargo between the two. If you are mining copper, smugglers will have to take it to liberty, as Rheinland companies aren't allowed in Liberty, and the Rheinland government won't accept its companies moving recourses to the enemy.

The Tau's

The tau systems are independent systems. Both Bretonia and Kusari are claiming some of these systems as their own. This is one of the reasons for the war between these two houses. Outcasts are very active in these regions of space, so be warned.

Tau 23

Tau 23 is a very large asteroid field, completely covering the entire system. Only a few mining locations can be found however, so don't try to mine other than in these parts of the system.

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At 1, you'll find the Niobium mining area. It's divided in 3 smaller regions, with each of them having a buoy in the middle of it. I have noticed something funny about this field, namely that if you are alone or with 1 or 2 others there, chances are you'll never see a NPC patrol, however, should you exceed this amount of people, patrols will start to pop up.

Field 2 is a beryllium field. You can easily find it when you come through the tau 31 jump gate, as there are unfinished trade lanes going to it. The nearby located base is owned by BMM.

Niobium can be sold at:

• Planet New Berlin for 12.654 credits
  
• Holman Outpost in tau 31 for 5.311 credits
  
• Kensington Shipping Platform for 5.311 credits

Beryllium can be sold at

• The Ring in New Berlin for 10.458 credits
  
• Narita Outpost for 7.745 credits

The IMG is the best faction to mine Niobium here, as BMM or other companies like Kishiro or Samura would never venture so deep into a system infested with pirates.

The beryllium field on the other hand is perfectly suited for BMM miners, as BMM has some stationary miners in the field. However the problem here is that you'll need independent traders to move your ores to Narita outpost. Why Narita? Well, mainly because it's the safest and most cost efficient solution. Remember, all systems leading into tau 23 are controlled by enemies of BMM, so it might be challenging to get a miner in or out of that system.

Tau 37

This system is right at the doorstep of the Outcasts home world, so you shouldn't be surprised finding a lot of them here.

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The Malvinas Cloud is where all the mining activity takes place. You will notice that your drops of niobium are noticeably larger here than in tau 23, however that increase comes at a big price. Outcast NPC patrols, as well as outcast players are very frequent within this system, and mining here is near to impossible if you don't have someone to deal with both problems.

Niobium can be sold at:

• Planet New Berlin for 12.654 credits
  
• Holman Outpost in tau 31 for 5.311 credits
  
• Kensington Shipping Platform for 5.311 credits

Like in tau 23, only the IMG should mine here, for the same reasons. No company would be so stupid as to actually go there when the danger is so high.

Ships

The final part of this guide is dedicated to mining ships, and my personal opinion of them. I will also provide links to their respective wiki pages, where you can get more info about them concerning stats and stuff like that.

General mining ships

These ships can be used by any mining faction, except ALG and Junkers, who each have special ships to do their job with. If ALG or Junker pilots use general ships, they won't get there bonus for mining scrap or toxic waste. Also, Junkers using ALG equipment or ALG using Junker equipment won't get any bonus neither. The independent miner ID only works on General mining ships.

Basalt

Wiki link: Basalt

This is the ship that you get when using the /restart miner command. It's the smallest and by far the cheapest mining ship around.

Classed as a Light Fighter, it's one of the few LF that is capable of mounting fighter torpedos. This can provide it with some much needed firepower when encountering bigger enemy ships when serving as an escort. However I wouldn't suggest you use this ship any longer than you need to, as it isn't a good ship to mine in. The reason for this is that its only turret mount is rear facing, which forces you to go into turret mode in order for you to mine with any efficiency.

Dacite

Wiki link: Dacite

Next in line is the Dacite, a major improvement over the Basalt, this Very Heavy Fighter is more than capable of defending itself. But the most important improvement over the basalt is definitely its forward facing turret, which allows you to mine in cockpit view.

It's also very good to escort with, seeing as it can hold 6 guns whilst its profile is rather small. However, you'll never see me flying in one of these for 1 reason. IT IS UGLY, no seriously I can't stand the look of this thing, I forced myself to fly it around a bit to test it out, and while it performed better than I thought, the looks just make me resent it.

Mafic

Wiki link: Mafic

The major improvement that the Mafic has over the Dacite is most definitely its ability to mount freighter shields and it improved power core, which allows this thing to mount even bomber torpedoes. I personally have a SNAC (Super Nova Antimatter Cannon) on it and it works wonders for me. It is however rather slow and doesn't

Even though this isn't a bomber, you'll be able to take on most pirates flying transport, and 2 of these can make short work of gunboats. In short this is a miner who packs quite a significant amount of firepower and is more than capable to defend his hauler against possible attacks. However much like the Dacite, its looks aren't very nice, still much better than the dacite, but they don't have the feeling of being Freelancer ships around them.

Spatial

Wiki link: Spatial

The spatial is much like the Mafic, only this one has even more firepower in terms of regular guns. This allows it to fight fighters a bit easier than the Mafic. Not to mention that is has 2 mine droppers, which make these ships extremely lethal in the hands of a skilled mine dropper. All this comes at a cost however, as the Spatial is significantly larger than the Mafic. Personally, I prefer this one over the Mafic, simply because of its superior firepower and much better looks.

Hegemon civilian miner

Wiki link: Hegemon

This is the absolute big shot of any other mining ship, this baby is the only transport classed general mining ship and it looks exactly like many of the stationary miners you can see around Sirius. The Wiki has a nice review of it, so I suggest you read it.

This is also the best ship for miner/haulers, since it has the largest possible cargo hold of all general mining ships. However it is big and you can get stuck when trying to dock with trade lanes or flying through asteroid fields. For weapons, I suggest you use the first 2 turret slots to place mining turrets, and all the other for defensive turrets, although some people prefer to put mining turrets on all 10 slots, this makes no significant difference in terms of mining bonus or speed of mining.

ALG Mining ships Rheinland Armored Transport

Wiki link: Ragnar

Though its name says it's a transport, this thing is only a freighter in reality, which means it can't carry transport shields. This is the cheapest mining ship available to Rheinland, but that doesn't take away the fact that this ship is a very descend mining ship. These ships can be used to fill up bigger ships, then fill themselves and fly as escorts along the bigger ships. Some people will say it's stupid to think that freighters are any good, but I find that they can sometimes surprise pirates, mainly due to the fact that they are highly underestimated. Fly one yourself and see how much fire power one seemingly insignificant freighter has.

Behemoth

Wiki link: Behemoth

This is the Rheinland middle sized transport. Personally I would only suggest these to those that don't have very much money and wish to Role Play an ALG miner/Transport. Mining with it can be surprisingly pleasant none the less, as it turns much faster than the hegemon and has a much smaller profile than the Hegemon. This makes this ship very capable of moving through asteroid fields.

ALG” Golem” heavy Mover

Wiki link: Golem

This is without any doubt the biggest ship in terms of cargo space that gets a mining bonus. However this comes at the cost of having the worst turning rate of any of the mining ships. In terms of size, it's smaller than the hegemon, apart from perhaps its length. This slow turning can make it very annoying to mine, and is one of the reasons some people put full mining laser equipment on this ship and mine in turret view. But in my personal experience, both ways are equally fast, even though you get the feeling it goes faster in turret view. Ultimately, you should decide for yourself how to mine with this one.

Junkers CSV

Wiki link: Combat Service Vehicle

The second smallest/cheapest mining ship of all, this ship is the one you get when using the /restart command (except for the miner restart). However it is highly unsuited as a mining ship for the same reason as the Basalt. Its only turret is rear facing, making it impossible to mine in cockpit view. The only reason anyone should use this ship is because they either like them, or they can't afford a better one yet. In my personal opinion, the description given on the wiki tends to make you believe it's better than it actually is.

Collector

Wiki link: Collector

A beefed up CSV, this ship has forward facing guns, which make it a suitable miner/escort. All I would add to this is that the wiki description is fairly accurate on this one, so make sure you read it.

Combat Service Freighter

Wiki link: Combat Service Freighter

The freighter version of the CSV, this basically is to the Junkers what the Rheinland armored transport is to ALG. The Wiki expresses my opinion on this ship, and I personally like it better than the RAT for some reason I can't really express.

Recycler

Wiki link: Recycler

The recycler can be compared very closely to both the Mafic and the Spatial, in that it is a Super Heavy fighter which can mount a freighter shield and bomber torpedoes. It can even mount 2 of them, which make it more a bomber than a fighter. However I would highly recommend you don't put a SNAC on it for a simple reason. Namely that it's power core is only 75% of what the Mafic and spatial have, which isn't very impressive. This means that a single shot of the SNAC will completely drain your entire energy supply. However the dual mount can be very useful when combining a Nova Torpedo Launcher or a mini Razor with an Inferno. With this setup I have one day seen 2 recyclers along with a collector take down a shire in less than a minute, which is very impressive considering these aren't fully fledged bombers.

In my eyes, Recyclers are the best Miner/escorts any Junker mining group could have, and with it, the group could easily switch from mining to pirating without the need of other ships (do remember that Junkers can only pirate OUTSIDE house territory).

Salvage Frigate

Wiki link: Salvager

This is the ship of choice for the Junkers who prefer solitude over group effort. The salvager is basically your every day transport, with the exception that it can carry gunboat weaponry, which drastically increases its killing potential.

However, for mining this ship can be rather annoying. It is extremely large when you look at it from above. The only reason it performs well in asteroid fields is because it is very thin. The best way to compare it is with a surf board. If you mine with this ship, I suggest you move sideways instead of up or downwards, otherwise you can be almost certain that you'll collide with the asteroids of the field you are mining in.

Questions and answers

If I get questions concerning mining, I'll add the question and my response here so that everyone can see them and possibly learn from them

Hints and tips from other people

Have some tips, send them up and I'll add them in the guide if I find them useful.

End

Well, I've told everything I wanted to say with this, any questions regarding mining, feel free to ask for it in the feedback threat. I'll try to answer it as good as possible. Of course regular feedback is always welcome.

Any feedback can be given here