FAQ: Mining Amps

I have took it upon myself to post common questions and the best answer I have for them regarding mining amps.

1. Is it worth amping?
- Generally, yes. What one has to realize though is, you might be able to afford 300 unamped bombs, but if you amp with say a level 4, you might only afford 100 drops. What happens is you are spending more ped in a shorter amount of time, so your finds will be larger, but you have 1/3rd less chances to hit your claims. However, not only do Amps amplify your claim sizes... They will multiply your losses as well, so if you can only afford one or two amps, consider it high risk, and if you should only get 50% of your investment back, try another unamped run with your remaining Ped, it's not uncommon for me to global unamped after a bad amped run.

2. Is there a strategy to mining with amps?
- In my experience, if you are going to amp, you need to amp every bomb, otherwise it's like playing a progressive slot machine at the casino. Does it make sense to only play max bet once in a while when the jackpot could hit on a lesser bet and you miss the big payoff?

-Also... Don't be afraid of giving some distance between drops. If you spread them out a bit, I find my returns are much better as opposed to dropping as fast as I can.

3. How much decay is there if amping on enmatters?
- Since all of the changes to the amplifiers and mining went into effect, your amp will now decay at the same rate for ores or enmatters. So if the decay is 1 ped per drop, if you mine for both, the decay becomes 2 peds per drop.

4. Are amps required for big hofs?
-No. They may improve the odds and frequency of big hofs, but they will still happen unamped. In fact, one friend has hit many towers without amps, but it took a lot of prospecting to get them. Another friend hits his four digit hofs unamped too. As for me, my biggest hof of 908 peds was hit with an OA 102 (near as I can tell is equivalent now to a level 4). I don't think I have ever had a three digit that was unamped to be honest with you.

5. Is there any other advice I might be able to use?
-Yes... Always look for the lowest markup you can get on amps. If you can get a level 3 for 110% and a level 4 for 120%, it is better to go with the level 3. The closer you get things to TT, the less losses you will have in the long run.

- If you get numerous NRFs in a row, switch to another area. I was so far in the hole, and decided with my last few drops on my level 3, that I would try shinook. First bomb just away from TP hit a 66 ped alferix global. I continued mining, and only ended up down about 25 peds which wasnt a big deal on a 250 ped run. I've made that loss back crafting.

-Don't worry about getting big hofs. Even the globals will happen when you least expect them. Funny how that works too.

6. What level should I be for what amp?
-My best results have always been by following the rule of thumb, that says 5 levels of prospecting for every level of amp. So a level 4 amp would be good idea to use at level 20 prospect or survey. I find if I take out bigger amps, my returns sink lower, and lower on average. This is my opinion, but it is also based on my experience. I think you will agree its a good formula. But you are free to disagree as well.

I will expand this as time goes on... Thanks for reading!