FOMA: What you can expect in 2014

I remember the days when you could hit X's and XII's unamped on FOMA which was then CND. Now, you are lucky to hit IX's unamped, sometimes VIII's, and that's on ore!

If you run a level 7 amp, virtually every hit is a global, though I've had the odd XII and X running the 7.

When you drop below a level 6, you no longer can expect a global with every claim.

If you can't hit in 20 to 40 drops, my experience is its not a good time to mine up there. Give it an hour or two break. If you see other foma globals cycling through, then chances are you will get some claims too.

I have yet to actually totally nrf a level 7 amped run. Most of them break even or profit. If you should nrf a level 7 on foma, then, maybe its best to leave foma alone.

Based on my experience, if you see someone globalling a lot, or hof spamming three digit foma hofs, they are amped for certain. On a level 11 amp I was getting 180 to 280 ped hofs.

Further note: If you only plan running what you have for peds and going back to caly, it is best to just save your ores and ingots and take the TP down to caly. 7 peds is cheap security versus the odds of actually getting looted on the flight back to caly.

If you get shot down a few times carrying just a nova fragment or two, seems the pirates get the idea you are a no loot mob.

Either foma will hit or it will be cold, if it is cold, do not try to force it unless you have deep enough pockets to bomb every inch of every dome.

MINING: Enmatters Finders VS Average Depths On Calypso

Here is the second part to my average depths and finders post, covering enmatters on Calypso. Please see the first post regarding ores and finders here! http://entropiauniverseguide.blogspot.com/2011/09/mining-ore-finders-vs-average-search.html

The reason I think it best to focus on the AVERAGE depths is logical since you have a large number of claims that have been recorded by various players with various equipment as provided by www.mininglog.com... This means that most claims for these resources are found at these depths the most. The minimum or maximum depths don't really mean a lot, because regardless of what finders you use, you will find something. But if you want to target specific resources, you should aim for those depths they are found at on average. In my own experience, it indeed increases the likelihood of hitting what you are after. I found my first deposit of Redulite following my own advice!

So... Enmatters are for the most part in the 500's and 600's... Only a couple are in the 800's. This means either an un enhanced F-105 or unenhanced eMine finder for most of these, and depth enhancers to about three tiers to hit the deeper stuff.

So... Here we go!

Untiered eMine or F-105 With 0 or 1 tiers of depth
---------------------------------
Acid Root ~657m
Alicenies Gel ~559
Angelic Grit ~599
Ares Head ~506
Azur Pearls ~616
Blood Moss ~441
Cave Sap ~621
Crude Oil ~556
Devils Tail ~693
Dianthus Liquid ~718
Dunkel Particle ~594
Fire Root ~670
Force Nexus ~607
Garcen Grease ~572
Growth Molecules ~607
Henren Stems ~696
Lumis Leach ~623
Lytairian Dust ~616
Magerian Mist ~648
Melchi Water ~535
Solis Beans ~570
Sweetstuff ~561
Typonolic Steam ~606
Vegetation Spores ~697
eMine Finder + 3 tiers of depth, or F-105 with about 4 tiers of depth:
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Binary Fluid ~879
Ferrum Nuts ~886
Energized Crystal ~817

Asteroid Survival Guide: What You Need To Know

The asteroid formerly known as Club Never Die, has set numerous world records since it was bought by the avatar known as "Neverdie". It was sold to a knew owner and has since changed names to F.O.M.A.

While it is under new management, many of the important details remain the same. I would like to take this opportunity to share what I know so that if you have never been up there, you will be more appropriately prepared for what awaits!

First you should be aware any serious expedition to the asteroid requires serious investment since a low budget trip is almost certainly doomed to fail. The fee charged by Mindark to teleport one way to the rock is 25 PEDs. So just out of the chute you are talking 50 PEDs before even mining or hunting.

Next you should be aware that the bombing radius for mining and surveying is halved to around 25m or so. This means it will take more bombs to search the same amount of ground. Though the alluring aspect of this is that finds are harder to get... But the sizes of ore deposits are much larger on average than you see on Calypso. So when running with amps you will find globals and hofs much easier to get. But beware it is not uncommon to drop a hundred amped bombs and find nothing!

Another important detail to be aware of is that every dome has it's own resources that can be found, as well as different mobs or in some cases no mobs present. Some finders are better at finding certain ores so it is important to choose your finder wisely for the domes you intend to mine.

One major lesson: the auction house doesn't work well up there for selling ores or crafted components. If you don't have enough peds to mine a bunch and return to planet yourself to sell your stuff you will either have to TT your finds or wait on a trader to show up if there isn't one already.

If you intend to craft up there, bring some of the materials you need because obtaining a supply up there is not always easy. Also you need to beware of unscrupulous traders since they do exist. It is normal for prices offered to be a little lower than on planet because of the teleport cost as well as the fact it takes time for these people to make available convenient trading.

Up until the release of VU 10, apartments on CND were a valuable tool as they were required if you wanted storage. But since they added storage terminals the values of apartments tanked badly. They may be a good investment now but only if they introduce new uses for them.

There are shops but it can be time consuming to find what you need. As a rule of thumb make sure all your equipment needs are filled before going up.

If you opt to use the storage remember: the asteroid storage is not connected to planetary storage and many times I've left without grabbing stuff I needed!

It is my hope this simple guide will help you in your new adventures. I do not know when or if spacecraft have been reinstated, but I am sure we will all benefit from lower transport costs from competition.

I wish you all good luck and an ATH!