Mining
Mining is probably the easiest way to make money in Vendetta Online. Simply equip your ship with a mining laser, find a good asteroid, and start raking in the credits.
To help get you started, there is a mining tutorial available at mining stations. It will give you the basic equipment, tell you how to equip the equipment, scan, mine and gives you a level 1 mining license. The level 1 license gives you access to a large port (L-port) mining beam, making it possible to mine in a Revenant with a scanner equipped. To find a mining station, look next to the name of the station. There you should find a description of the type of station. Or check the stations chart for a station close to your location.
Mining involves grabbing a ship and a mining beam and extracting valuable ores from asteroids.
You generally use a scanner to identify which ores are in asteroids (and what % of the asteroid they make up), get less than 100m away from the asteroid, and then fire a beam to start mining. When you mine the lower-level ores, you get 'premium' versions of that ore, as opposed to the regular version of the ore that is sold at stations.
The more you mine an asteroid, the hotter it gets. The hotter an asteroid gets, the slower it mines. All asteroids start at 10 degrees Kelvin. Efficiency drops off significantly after 20 or 30 Kelvin. Some miners can go to 200 or 400 Kelvin (which is a bad idea as it can take days for the asteroid to cool down) in certain circumstances and still feel that it was worth it for the profit. After you stop mining, the asteroid cools. Small asteroids heat and cool more quickly than large ones. Also, the ice roids will heat and cool much more quickly than the rocky roids.
As you gain mining licenses, you will have access to better mining beams. Some beams will extract ores with a higher probability, lower heat, and better extraction rates which translates into higher efficiency and money.
As you gain experience, you will learn which ores are valuable, where to find them, and where to sell them. You might even get involved with group mining, involving miners, escorts, scouts, and transports.
Equipment
Mining Scanners
The Mineral Scanner has a range of 500m, and will activate whenever you 'target' an asteroid. There is no need to 'fire' it, flash the green light, etc. If you are going very fast, it will 'lag', as it only updates itself once every 5 seconds or so. The Improved Mineral Scanner is available after completing several newbie manufacturing missions. The Advanced Mineral Scanner has an improved range of 750m, and is available only after completing 120 prospecting missions. The Prototype Mineral Scanner is for large ports.
| Name | Faction | Faction Level |
Port | Range | Grid | Scan Interval | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral Scanner | - | - | Small | 500m | 4 | 5s | -/-/-/-/- | Standard mining scanner. |
| Improved Mineral Scanner | - | - | Small | 600m | 2 | 5s | mission | |
| Advanced Mineral Scanner | - | - | Small | 750m | 1 | 5s | 
|
Reward for completing all Prospecting Missions. |
| Prototype Mineral Scanner | Valent | 602 | Large | 700m | 2 | 5s | -/-/-/-/3 |
Mining Beams
When you start out, you only have the small port mining beam available to you. As your levels increase, larger and more unique forms of the mining beam will become available.
| Beam | Port | Range | Rate | Heat | Rate/Heat | Mass | Level | Va | Xi | La | De | Py | Ap | Pe | He |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining Beam | Small | 100m | 1 | 1.5 | 0.67 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/- | ||||||||
| Improved Mining Beam | Small | 100m | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.08 | 500kg | 
|
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| High-Efficiency Mining Beam | Small | 25m | 0.5 | 0.1 | 5.0 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/10 | ||||||||
| Light Xithricite Mining Beam | Large | 100m | 1.5 | 1 | 1.5 | 500kg | Mission | 200% | |||||||
| Mining Beam | Large | 100m | 1 | 1 | 1 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/1 | ||||||||
| Advanced Mining Beam | Large | 100m | 1.8 | 0.9 | 2 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/2 | ||||||||
| Mining Beam MkII | Large | 100m | 2.4 | 0.8 | 3 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/2 | ||||||||
| Xithricite Mining Beam | Large | 100m | 2 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/3 | 200% | |||||||
| Apicene Mining Beam | Large | 100m | 2 | 0.9 | 2.22 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/3 | 240% | |||||||
| MagnetoTwin Mining Beam | Large | 100m | 1.8 | 0.6 | 3 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/4 | 180% | 180% | ||||||
| High-Density Mining Beam | Large | 75m | 2.8 | 0.75 | 3.73 | 500kg |
|
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| Heliocene Mining Beam | Large | 100m | 2 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/5 | 200% | |||||||
| Pentric Mining Beam | Large | 100m | 2.4 | 0.9 | 2.67 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/6 | 200% | |||||||
| IoPhase Mining Beam | Large | 75m | 2.2 | 0.95 | 2.3 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/7 | 300% | 300% | ||||||
| DeniPhase Mining Beam | Large | 75m | 2.4 | 0.95 | 2.5 | 500kg | -/-/-/-/8 | 240% | 250% | 240% | |||||
| Hive Queen Mining Beam | Large | 150m | 8.4 | 0.75 | 11.2 | 10000kg | Hive Drop |
Mining Ships
Nearly any ship can be used for mining. However, ships with large ports for the efficient mining beams and a small port for the scanner and some storage are more useful. Thus, the Centaur is a typically used mining vessel, suitable for most basic mining operations, prospecting and missions. For fast extraction, the Ragnarok can be equipped with five mining beams, however it has only limited storage capacities. When sacrificing the mineral scanner, the vanilla Behemoth is ideal for extracting large quantities of ore.
Additionally, there are three special mining ships available for special purposes:
- The Warthog Mineral Extractor has average capacity but is very fast, thus making it the ideal mining ship for bot infested sectors.
- The Tunguska Mineral Marauder has some decent capacity and even fully loaded it stays maneuverable with good responsiveness. It needs a very high faction standing with Tunguska but otherwise it is the perfect prospecting ship.
- The Behemoth Heavy Miner is a miners dream come true. The Behemoth with additional storage and 1S port allows unlimited mining and prospecting and is available at any mining station. However, it requires the Basic Miner II badge which can be quite some grind to achieve.
Resources
List of Ores
(Note: Information on this list will change as sectors are explored more thoroughly)
| Image | Ore Name | Mining XP | Trade XP | Mass (kg) | Low Price | High Price | Asteroid Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Aquean, Premium | 4 | 3 | 70 | Low | 72 | 1, 2 | Dirty ice, mostly H2O with trace chemicals. |
|
Silicate, Premium | 5 | 3 | 150 | 20 | 96 | 1,2,4,7 | Unrefined silicate material. |
|
Carbonic, Premium | 5 | 3 | 150 | 30 | 154 | 3,4,5,6,7,8 | Ore which is heavy in carbon compounds. |
|
Ferric, Premium | 6 | 3 | 200 | 70 | 385 | 1,4,5,6,7,8 | Ore composed mostly of iron. |
|
Ishik, Premium | 7 | 3 | 150 | 100 | 674 | 1,2 | A common asteroid composition containing lighter elements and chemical compounds. |
|
VanAzek, Premium | 7 | 3 | 250 | 100 | 578 | 4,5,6,8 | A common asteroid composition containing heavy and radioactive metals. |
|
Xithricite, Premium | 8 | 3 | 300 | 200 | 963 | 8 | Ore containing the precious mineral Xithricite |
|
Lanthanic | 10 | 3 | 200 | 700 | 1060 | 1,5 | Ore containing heavy and radioactive metals. |
|
Denic | 15 | 3 | 150 | 300 | 1831 | 2 | Rare ore found often in young solar systems |
|
Pyronic | 12 | 3 | 250 | 200 | 1253 | 2,4 | Rare ore formed in the residue of a star's collapse |
|
Apicene | 14 | 3 | 200 | 500 | 1590 | 5 | A rare asteroid composition formed only at very high temperatures |
|
Pentric | 18 | 3 | 150 | 400 | 2024 | 7 | A rare asteroid composition of complex chemical material |
|
Heliocene | 20 | 3 | 100 | 400 | 2410 | 3,4 | Rare ore formed under intense heat and tidal forces. Often found in association with Ferro-carbonic ores. |
|
Sammic | 25 | 3 | 1000 | 400 | 2887 | Rare, dense ore, occasionally found around particular star types. Adds special properties to certain alloys. |
Notes:
- Here are more concise definitions of the different valuse in the "Rarity" field:
- Common: Found in almost every sector.
- Semi-common: Usually found in certain sectors of most systems.
- Rare: Usually only found in certain sectors of a few systems.
- Extremely Rare: Usually only found in a few asteroids of a sector in a few systems.
Asteroid Field Features
Vendetta asteroids fields have certain patterns to them. They are sometimes in long 'strings'. Sometimes there are large 'clusters' of a certain type of rock or ice. A few asteroids rotate. There will be 'groups' of types of asteroids, with a sort of 'border' between the groups. Occasionally you can also find 'Scattered Fields', though these are more common in sectors that aren't listed to hold an asteroid field in the first place. On a system wide level, the asteroids are often arranged into belts around stars, with each sector of the belt having asteroids of similar mineral composition.
Pay attention to these features, as they can be helpful when used as landmarks. Once you find a rare asteroid, you can use them to find it again. The features may also act as 'guide posts', with rare ore being concentrated around certain features or types of rock.
Types of Asteroids
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Asteroids themselves, as you can see, vary in model. You can actually get a rough guess at the basic elements an asteroid holds based on its shape, as the table below will show.
Asteroid Classification Chart
| Classification Chart | |
|---|---|
| File:Carbonic.jpg | Carbonaceous Asteroids |
| These asteroids are usually rounded or smooth, though the surface can be bumpy or even pockmarked. | |
| File:Ferric.jpg | Ferronic Asteroids |
| These asteroids are rather jagged or blocky, like something was shattered. | |
| File:Xithricite.jpg | Xithricite Asteroids |
| These asteroids look like they have glowing green veins, and are typically rare. | |
| File:Ice Crystal.jpg | Ice Crystals |
| These are Ice Crystals, which can contain Aquean and Silicate ores, as well as trace rare ores. Look for them on outer asteroid rings, or in wormhole sectors. | |
Mineral Maps
Most guilds and or players have their own maps and protect this information to keep their roids from being overheated. If you would like to share your own personal information with the rest of the server feel free to place your info in the proper section of one of the system charts found here.
Missions
Prospecting Missions
These are missions in which you find 30 asteroids of a certain ore. There are average 4 missions per system (sometimes less, sometimes more), and with 30 systems in the game that makes 120 possible missions total. After you finish 120 you get access to an improved mineral scanner and an improved mining beam which are sold at certain stations.
The missions generally ask you to search for Carbonic, Ferric, or Silicate. Sometimes they will ask you to search for Ishik or VanAzek. VanAzek is generally agreed to be the biggest pain because it is generally spread out over a wide area. There are a handful of missions to find Xithricite.
These missions are generally thought to be very boring, so don't expect excitement or glory. But the rewards, the advanced mineral scanner and the high-density mining beam, can significantly speed up searching for rare ores.
Trade Guild Mineral Missions
The Trade Guild offers, among many other mission types, "mineral" missions. Mineral Missions are most abundent at mining stations. They are offered elsewhere but not at the same volume you can get at a mining specific station. Most of the time these missions are oriented around getting the station that you've accepted the mission from the ores that is most needed. A majority of the time the station will ask for either aqueous or silicate ore to be collected. If you spend a while doing these missions you will get other types ranging from Ferric, Carbonic, VanAzek, and Ishik. On very rare occasions though, they may ask for you to bring them back some Pentric, Xithricite, or Pyronic ore. I have yet to take a mission that has asked for the more extremely rare ores, though it's certainly possible.
The pay for these missions varies but the majority are around 1000cr per mission and around 800-1400 trade experience per mission. The mining xp you get for mining the ores is negligable but considering the amount of mining that can be done with multiple beams concentrated on a roid/roids over a period of time, it is fairly easy to get the lower-level licenses. I've also found that the mining missions are a great way to build faction standing with a particular faction. Search out a specific faction and see if they also have a mining station.
Profitability
Ore prices range from single-digit credits to about 2400c/crate, depending on the ore, the station you sell it, and several other factors. Players can drive the price of ore down when they repeatedly sell the same ore at a certain station. This especially happens if there is rare ore right next to the station.
Rumors have it that the price of other items can be brought down too, since items manufacture depends on ore.
Mining Rate Explanation
From the desk of
Andy "a1k0n" Sloane
-- Extraction Rate (Taken from: Email)
The rate at which you mine decreases linearly as the temperature increases, and the combination of the two factors leads to an exponential decay in mining rate. The "time to crate" is precalculated and shown to you as a linear progress bar, although in reality you would mine faster at first and slower towards the end of the crate.
Larger asteroids have a higher thermal mass; the specific heat is technically constant for all asteroids, but it also assumes perfect thermal conductivity. So the heating is not local to the surface, but throughout the asteroid and affects everybody mining it.
The formula is complicated because it is more naturally expressed in terms of instantaneous extraction rate and heating rate; to get a time value you have to integrate. That has been done already, so here it is:
TimeToCrate(NumCrates, initialT, ThermalMass, GunHeatingRate, GunEfficiency):
let dQ = Ho*GunHeatingRate/ThermalMass - BlackBodyRadiation(ThermalMass)
if dQ == 0 then
NumCrates*initialT/Ke
else
initialT*(exp(NumCrates*dQ/(Ke*GunEfficiency)) - 1)/dQ
where initialT is the asteroid temperature when you start mining, ThermalMass is the heating rate constant of the asteroid (typical values range from 200 to 700), Ke and Ho are global constants calculated based on several parameters; Ke is currently 2.3010 and Ho is 36.945. GunHeatingRate and GunEfficiency are both 1 for the default gun. BlackBodyRadiation we can ignore as 0 for now, although here's the formula we use if you want to be more accurate:
BlackBodyRadiation(m) = Ho/(m^1.9)
(this is just a heuristic function based on the sizes of asteroids and the cooling rates we wanted). In fact this is wrong, because it should radiate more as the temperature increases, but our "physics" is less important than our "game mechanics" here.
So, assuming a standard mining gun, a temperature of 10 (the minimum), and a thermal mass of 300, it takes 4.463 seconds to mine one crate. With an extraction rate of 3 it only takes 1.461 seconds. With a heat of 0, extraction rate of 3 it reduces to 1.448 seconds (but this makes a much bigger difference at higher temperatures). For example, it would take 4.345 seconds to mine three crates with a heat of 0 and an efficiency of 3.
Also the black body radiation which cools the asteroids down after you heat them has been neglected, but that only makes these time estimates very slightly pessimistic.
This is further complicated by the presence of multiple people (or multiple mining beams from the same person); there is a small bonus to grouped mining but not even Andy understands how that works.
In order to update the temperature of an asteroid after mining, you can use the approximation newT = initialT+dQ*TimeToCrate where dQ is the same dQ from the TimeToCrate formula; heating increases temperature linearly.
Other Mining Notes
Mining with multiple similar beams on the same ship is more efficient (ore / heat) than mining with a single beam of that type. This does mean a Ragnorok with 2HD beams and 3 Small beams is more efficient (ore / heat) and faster than anything with just 2 HD beams (e.g. on a particular 'roid @ 10K, a Moth got 18 ore in 16 secs adding 1.1K while a Rag got 18 ore in 10 secs adding 1.0K).
Mining with multiple people is also more efficient, but you must be grouped to recieve the efficiency bonus! The bonus is approximately +150% with 4 people.
The High-Density Mining Beam available from the Prospecting Badge has the best rate-to-heat ratio, which makes it the best choice for mining for XP, indiscriminate mining for minerals, and mining for good minerals above 43.0-55.8% (based on the calculation of actual % * rate/heat). Without the Prospecting Badge, the Mining Beam MkII and MagnetoTwin Mining Beam are equally the next best beams; the Mining Beam MkII is faster but the MagnetoTwin Mining Beam has bonuses to mining VanAzek and Pyronic ore.
To mine indiscriminately for XP, it is best to use a Ragnorok and constantly eject everything. To mine for good minerals in a new area, it is strictly best to use a Centaur (or just prospect with whatever fast light ship you like, but remember where good 'roids are and how to find them!). To mine for minerals either indiscriminately or from asteroids you have previously noted as being good (and can find again without a scanner), it is almost always best to just use a Behemoth. The exception is if you are mining for minerals in a station sector within 2-3km of the station -- then it is best to mine with the Ragnorok and run back to the station for a Moth to collect the goodies.
Mining Beam Extraction Bonuses
For those players who are curious about how the extraction rate "bonuses" work on some mining beams, here's an explanation:
Imagine each asteroid as having a thousand crates of ore that can be mined. When mining, one of the crates in that list is picked at random and is placed into your hold; after that the crate is replaced within the list and there are another 1000 crates available for the next round of extraction. Here are two example roids.
- Roid A has 40.3% Denic and 59.7% Aquean ores. With a non-extraction bonus beam (such as the HD or MkII), there are 403 crates of Denic and 597 crates of Aquean in the list.
- Roid B has 80.0% Denic and 20.0% Aquean ores. With a non-extraction bonus beam (such as the HD or MkII), there are 800 crates of Denic and 200 crates of Aquean in the list.
If the player mines Roid A with a Mining Beam MkII, she will be picking (at random) one crate from the 1000 crates in the list, with a 40.3% chance that the ore extracted will be Denic. In the case of Roid B, a Mining Beam MkII will have an 80% chance of extracting a crate of Denic.
Now, if the player were to use an IoPhase Mining Beam, which has a 300% extraction bonus for Denic, Roid A's list of ores would be enlarged to contain 1209 crates of Denic and 597 crates of Aquean. Roid B's list would grow to contain 2400 crates of Denic and 200 crates of Aquean. In the case of Roid B, that's a ratio increase of 4:1 to 12:1! Roid A's increase is from about 4:6 to 2:1 -- still a large difference, but not as striking as in the case of Roid B.
A more in-depth examination of the mathematics of extraction rates and its application to beam selection is also available, if you enjoy that sort of thing.
Need Help ?
There is a 3rd-party asteroid mapping project which might help you find ores that you're having difficulty with. Please help the effort if you gain some benefit from it.
Still Need Help?
These players are available for in-game mentoring in this field:
Sources
Information was gathered from the following sources:
- http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard
- Authors' personal experience
- Classified website from a guild
- An email from developer Andy Sloane
| Mentor | Nation | Times | Other Chat Methods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black 2 | Serco | Whenever | |
| Cunjo | Serco | Late evenings/nights EST | N/A |
| Mark McDoogle | UIT | Mon-Thur 5:30-8pm PST, Sat-Sun Speratically all day |
|
| Miharu | Itani | Sat/Sun: daytime, evenings; Other days: evenings | email, AIM |
| Ming | Serco | 20:00 - 23:00 GMT | N/A |
| Solra Bizna | Serco | 3:30PM - 1:30AM CST | N/A |
| Darth Nihilus | Serco | email to set up a session | dev.darthnihilus@gmail.com |