Is The TYPE-8 Good For Mining?

[@mechagenide4612]

I went a little over the top with mine, 6 1a modified (torval) mining lasers, 11 collector limpets (8 from the 7a multi limpet controller and a class 5) , 192 storage. I engineered the distro to keep the lasers going and clearing the asteroid in 1 go (I went to grade 4), and I fully engineered the FSD for a 30LY jump (24ly fully laden). It's not vastly better than my Python miner, but the SCO for getting to the mining location is a bonus.

[@lootandgrind]

That sounds awesome

[@ShinigamiGrin]

​@@lootandgrindyou mean the built in maneuverability with SCO FSD right? Cause you can put SCO FSD on any ship, and when you get used to it it's not that terrible tbqh..

[@looking_glass2022]

Over the top is right. Did you fully engineer your suit with thermal spread so you don't melt to your seat? >_< Those lances are too hot imho.

[@tenryuta]

@@ShinigamiGrin vanilla ships are just terrible with sco, the gas is gone like that, couldnt steer my vette much, and doing explo to secondary/thirdnary stars at 70k+ with sco is dangerous gas wise, and we're cooked in under 10 sec in vanillas since theyre not optimized.

[@ShinigamiGrin]

@@tenryuta under 10 sec? What the hell are you talking about? I have sco on every ship, new and old. Yes, on the old ships is not optimised, at all, but you just have to use it properly. If you want to use it like it's a new gen ship, it's your fault. They are still fine and perfectly usable; if you want to use them like the new ships, that's just dumb tbqh

[@the3rddimensionperception699]

Love love LOVE my Type 8 Traspo

[@madprophetus]

Krait Mk2 is the GOAT mining ship for people who don't have time for long enough sessions to justify the cutter.

[@Strider1526]

IDK about that. I'd say Type-8 > Krait Mk2 for core mining and Python > Krait mk2 for Laser mining.

[@madprophetus]

​@@Strider1526 I vastly prefer the krait 2 for laser mining due to maneuverability and overall fun to fly. I remember when they nerfed the Python's agility way back before Horizons, so I'm always looking for that agility back.

[@steamspirit7665]

I like the T8 for tritium mining. That’s on my exploration account only 2 Torval mining lasers and the rest subsurfaces lets me clean house effectively. I like the maneuverability and capacity. Will leave my Python for the deep core 👍🏽🫡

[@fixitman2174]

After extensive testing, I've returned to my Cutter for mining. The best I could get out of the T8 was roughly half of what I can get with the Cutter (mining Tritium). The only advantage I saw for mining with the T8 was SCO optimization. That small amount of time saved is lost once I arrive on-site. The T8 seems more geared towards trading, and I have no interest in that. I just need an efficient fuel harvester for my carrier. I'll be returning to Colonia soon, then it's off into the black for good after that.

[@lootandgrind]

Yeah it's best used for fun and chill sessions

[@fixitman2174]

@@lootandgrind I'll still keep it on my carrier. I might find myself out in the black, low on tritium, with the closest hotspot hundreds of thousands of Ls away. It will definitely be useful then.

[@guhak]

@@fixitman2174 I’d recommend getting the pre-engineered mining lasers, but that’s all the way in the bubble so idk if you’d want to travel that far. It lets you make the most efficient speed wise Type-8 laser miner and still have room for an abrasion blaster / a subsurface launcher with 1 medium + 4 pre-engi smalls + abrasion/subsurface, or 1 + 3 + both. It still won’t compare to a cutter though. No medium ship can really, with the Python / krait mk2 at least being able to get sort of close on the speed department.

[@guhak]

I highly recommend anyone actually interested in the effectiveness of the type-8 for mining check the eliteminers subreddit or the post “Analysis: Type-8 for mining” which goes over the actual numbers. I assume this video must be a tongue in cheek meme or something, considering it’s foregoing basically every mining good practice and basically just “yea it can fit a mining laser on it so that’s mining right”. Basically this build is so hilariously undertuned as to make any “it’s better than the Python” comparison just a hilariously off base statement for any objective efficiency metric. The Type-8 can be competitive with the Python, but not with this build. Some immediate notes already applicable to this video by 1:48 include: the size 1 laser is 3 times worse than a size 2 laser, you need the pre-engineered size 1 laser for the type-8, running 1 size 2 and 4 size 1 pre-engineered ideally (with a G5 Weapon focused super conduit power distributor) If you’re doing laser mining, which this build is, you should use an A rated prospector. A rated prospectors generate 3.5 times the number of fragments of having no prospector would, a D rated prospector generates 2x, making the A rated prospector 1.75x as strong as the D rated used here. This build generates on average 20 fragments per asteroid instead of the 35 we would see with an A rated build, which is just about the only reason it doesn’t take longer than a minute to finish a single rock with the inefficient laser setup. 9 collectors is way overkill for such a build then considering it’ll take 28 seconds on average to finish 20 fragments, if this build even had the distributor for that (which it doesn’t) and 9 collectors would get about 10 seconds per fragment then which is way overkill. The T8 can run either 4 or 7 collectors fairly comfortably depending on your mining technique.

[@lootandgrind]

Very good analysis. Again I'm not an expert in any of the activities in Elite and I never claim to be. And this is not a build guide. As I mentioned, this is not the best ship for mining, imo. If your goal is efficiency, there are far better ships in the game

[@guhak]

@@lootandgrind I’m at least of the opinion that a title like “is the type 8 good for mining?” Followed by a setup showing a build and saying “better than the Python” in it, sounds pretty close to making an efficiency claim or leading viewers to think you’re trying to make an efficiency claim. Is that build better than your specific Python build (which I don’t know since it wasn’t shown in the video), maybe! That would be an interesting video, comparing two specific builds. Add a disclaimer at the beginning that this is truly just looking at specific builds and to not take it as an informed general opinion and great. Right now though I can definitely see people seeing this video and thinking it’s actually definitive, or at least researched a little. Thus wanting to give a warning in the comments for any such future person to please check the existing community resources and information before copying really any part of the build process here. Though to be fair, perhaps that’s just my personal bias / frustration showing. I’ve seen people explicitly say things like “X ship is not suited for combat, you can make it work if you do it hard enough but it’s not suited for it” a lot more easily than “X ship is not well suited for mining, you can make it work by doing these steps but here are the caveats”, instead for mining it’s just “slap on the tools and that’s all mining is right” followed inevitably by people trying it and complaining that mining is super slow and never touching it again without looking at if the build can go faster. But I’ll admit, I guess it’s way more likely those that would like mining at all would go and find that information themselves, and those that would likely never like mining won’t really care if it’s super fast or not. And people in the middle just wanting a chill time doing anything won’t really care if their chill time could net them more stuff than it does right now as it’s a different motivation. So it’s totally on me there to just manage my expectations of what “good for mining” means as a phrase, as people approach mining in very different ways / desires.

[@rp-mj2nu]

Another great video, I've always really enjoyed your style of ED videos. I've built a core miner type 8 and it has replaced my old core mining ships - I prefer it to the Python and the Clipper for that. I have only laser mined a few rocks with it (mine has 3 class 1 mining lasers) so not got much experience with it there, but I completely agree I love seeing the lasers on the forward pylons working. Overall really enjoying using the type 8.

[@lootandgrind]

Thanks. Happy to hear you're enjoying the ship o7

[@williamvorkosigan5151]

Good video, as always. The 3C Mining Multi Limpet Controller allows for 4 collectors (of course you don't use the Prospector option). On my Python I use a 2 5As for longer life expectancy. I used to use a 5B for the stuff that got away with the increased range but the 3C has infinite lifetime (until destroyed) and a range of 5KM.

[@guhak]

@@williamvorkosigan5151 the multi controller stats don’t work that way, just treat it like it’s a 3C collector limpet controller for stats. The stat page unfortunately lies… or rather is *very* misleading. The infinite time and range have to do with the prospector limpet attached to the mining controller, which as you note, you shouldn’t use unless you’re only doing core mining. Which by the way the type-8’s a pretty nice core-only miner. Personally I’d recommend the 3C operations controller, so you can’t even accidentally use a prospector from it, or the 3B operations for a longer limpet distance / lifetime in exchange for higher mass. Note however that the conventional wisdom is you actually don’t really want higher travel distances as it causes your overall mining efficiency to drop from limpets traveling far away to pick up some random straggler leaving the rocks spewing out from right in front of you to drift further and further away. But that falls more to preferences and mining technique / style.

[@SirGeneTX]

@@guhak Ya the problem with this whole build is it maximizes longer distance smaller chunk mining. the size 2 mining lasers don't have the reach of the pre-engineered size 1 ones, but they work much faster by taking all the available material out of a rock with fewer large chunks so there is less for limpets to pick up - and since the lasers only work at 500m your limpets only need to go that far for pickup, allowing you to run just 2xsize5 controllers and not need to wait. The only build I think the type 8 with pre-engineered miners on it makes sense is an AFK mining build... where you literally mine EVERY rock no matter what is in it. Then you can reach rocks further away to mine and while moving closer get into limpet range. But that's way less efficient a way to mine... just can be done while watching TV and barely paying attention. Python still best mid-size for efficiency for now.

[@guhak]

@@SirGeneTX with regards to the “less for limpets to take” part, that’s not how it works. Size 2’s just generate fragments at a faster rate than size 1’s, 3 times faster. The total number of fragments is the same between the two. Starting to mine from further away with the size 1’s could actually give a marginal efficiency increase, not decrease, because once you have your fill limpets up they have a wait time until they actually are all at capacity. So if you start mining while boosting to the rock you may get one to two fragments out of the rock by the time you’re actually in collector range and medium range. Don’t actually mine at 4km only though, since yea that will be too slow for limpets. The type-8 with 1m+4s (pre-engineered) is within about 30% of the 3 medium laser Python build for minim times. In exchange it can run 15-50% more cargo than the Python (depending on your setup / preferences on number of limpets) while still using a shield. It’s conditionally more efficient than the Python for cases where you want to prioritise the per trip cargo load (time to mining location is a long portion of the total mining trip for example) or cases where the total mining time is short enough (mapped mining especially where you may be doing 60% rocks back to back so fewer asteroids to mine total) for example. And outside those cases yea it’ll be 30% range slower at most, but I’d definitely put that within tolerance range of just wanting to use a ship, it has a better yaw rate than the Python and some like the cockpit view better for example. For concrete numbers you’re looking at only around 4 seconds slower to finish a rock on the type 8 build over the Python build. You’re not going to win speed runs with the type-8 vs the Python, but could see solo endurance runs with sale stations significantly far away or something tilt towards it.

[@Danko05]

Nice video... I see you went for laser mining, I'm planning on use all hardpoints and mine in all possible ways, laser, surface, sub-surface and core... 😁

[@TenmasSchoolOfThought]

I think type 8 would be a great combat miner

[@pville_piper5125]

I have mine very well engineered. I tried using 4 small beams, but they drain the capacitor too fast and the stream of bits went over the cockpit. Next I tried 2 on the arms and one on the upper mount above the cockpit, the distro handles this well, but it still streams over the cockpit. Moved the 2 down next to the cockpit and they still have a tendency to stream towards the cockpit, but a 15 degree pitch down puts them at the cargo bay. I tried to use multi limpet controller, but ended up with a bunch of collectors and no prospectors, not good. The cargo capacity of 180 to very low 200's works well for a relaxing 1 to 1.5 hour mining session which is about all I want to do. I tried adding in deep core mining into the mix, but it takes much longer and, while profitable, it just seems like trying to both waters it down.

[@lootandgrind]

Yeah my build isn't perfect either. I'll be doing more testing and experimenting to figure out the best balance

[@guhak]

Use the pre-engineered size 1 mining lasers. They’re the only way to make the T8 run more than 1 size 2 laser and two size 1’s (which is way too slow compared to a ship that can run 2 or 3 size 2 lasers). A size 2 is “mandatory” if you’re after speed. They’re 3x as fast as a single size 1. Also the size 3 operations controller is good for 4 collector limpets, run a separate size A prospector controller (must be size A). Using the size 7 universal ends up not worth it as you lose too much cargo space, and you still need a separate prospector controller.

[@andreyshpansky5275]

I'm using 4 1D Modified (got those especially for Type 8 during August 3-4), those can run from A-rated PD practically indefinitely with all pips on weapons. Probably, still my lack of skills, but in my case 8 collectors are slower then 4x 1D Modified lasers. Also that X-like beams from pillars and side of cockpit is an excellent match for ship visually :-)

[@guhak]

@@andreyshpansky5275 make sure your ship is as close to the rock as possible, with the cargo hatch titled towards the stream of rocks from your lasers. You want to minimize travel distance. I haven’t had time to check the type-8’s stream coherence so if your setup is causing the rocks to fly out in multiple directions, that unfortunately means it will be hard for the limpets to keep up. Still, closer is better usually.

[@DjVortex-w]

The awesome yaw rate also makes it superior to the Python.

[@DvdV1337]

Got my hands on the cutter. Upgraded from type 9. Its faster and more enjoyable.

[@wstavis3135]

I have and somewhat underwhelmed. I dont have as many limpets (6) as i went for cargo space. I do have a shielded build with an enhanced low power lo-draw prismatic, enhanced distro and power plant, 4 Torval mining lasers. It's just ok to me. Oh, i have a fuel scoop also. The best thing about it truly is the SCO.

[@smoothcannibal5371]

I would change out the D rated prospector for an A rated. The yield is better with an A rated for laser mining. And cut back on the collectors. I'm hoping the type 8 will replace my python miner I have set up do all mining types. But I'm not getting it until it comes out for credits.

[@lootandgrind]

Thanks for the tips. I'm still experimenting with the build

[@knowlesy3915]

This ship looks decent but I have had a nasty habit of shortcutting from small ships to big ones, then when dropping down to med I always feel theyre always one or two slots short.

[@pville_piper5125]

@@knowlesy3915 slot envy is real!

[@xotx4291]

That thing is not meant for laser mining. Its job is a core miner. Void Opal, LTDs, no question.

[@gerwyn8340]

I think I'll stick with my type 10 defender for mining More Cargo space you only really need 5 collectors and 2 prospectors to grind, and I like being able too take out any random pirate.

[@tommyleisy863]

I only play on console, so I can't speak from experience with the Type-8. That said, based on little or no engineering, I built an example Python that would likely work better and can do all forms of mining. Obviously, with engineering, it could be great!

[@marks7502]

mining

[@lanceobe6801]

I built mine for mining and yes having all those limpets makes for short work

[@Dushess]

WHAT? It shooting trough the cargoscoop?

[@lootandgrind]

Magic lol

[@cmdrHeliaxx]

why would you ever keep any E rated modules??

[@lootandgrind]

Because I'm cheap lol

[@cmdrHeliaxx]

@@lootandgrind 💀💀💀

[@heikobarnholdt7313]

You need to A-rate the prospector for more yield per rock. Then your collectors would have more work too. Also the modified mining lasers from LTT 198 (permit locked and purchaseable) have reduced distro draw which would help this ship.

[@fixitman2174]

@@lootandgrind That could save you credits later too. The cost to replace the stock modules upon going boom will be zero for the early access models. Mining without a shield does increase the chance of going boom just a tad.

[@lolishocks8097]

Skill issue. You can follow the rotation of the asteroids to minimize the travel distance for the limpets as you deplete the rock. That way you can minimize the number of active collectors you need. At least, that's what you can do with the Python. I don't know, if you can pull off that maneuver with the Type 8.

[@lootandgrind]

That's a good strategy. I'll try it out next time

[@the4thj]

Tried mining w/ T-8 Dabber...Not yet.

[@christophercox4437]

FD put VR in the on foot mode or no more money for anything, ever!

[@Powerhauz]

Alright, bud, for the algorithm. TL;DR The T8 won't beat out the Python, and you said why yourself. Efficiency. As others have pointed out, the T8 comes alive with Torval mining lasers. The distro just can't handle anything else. If there's one thing no one should do, it's being pledged to friggin Zemina Torval. What a waste of time. Secondly, if there's one thing you should be, it's efficient. The T8 is neither. It's under distro'd, powered, armed, and shielded. The Python has none of those problems. It takes longer to fill the bloated hull of a T8 vs. the Python. The mumbers alone spell that out. To sum up, the Python is still the best ship in the game for most everything. To include the junior python aka krait mk2. The T8 is the best medium hauler. That is all. Cheers.

[@Powerhauz]

Someone just like this comment popping a noti so I'm back to say.. Well if PP2 didn't turn my torval pledge on its head. crazy. Do I own a T8 yes. 400t shieldless hauler. The only way to fly. Is my python collecting dust? yes. How many ships did it take to replace it? 4. Wild.

[@rvke3763]

gay