I finally spent a great deal of time hunting in hell, which, now currently as of this writing has a 2.5% tax rate! This is unprecedented! It has got to be the lowest rate anywhere in Entropia for mining and hunting.
I chatted with Neverdie and he said he wants to raise the taxes back to 5% at some point. I don't know when or if it will happen, but if you want to see taxes remain low in Hell, now is the chance to show him that having a low tax rate works!
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Showing posts with label Mining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mining. Show all posts
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Friday, March 21, 2014
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.
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.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Mining Finders and Returns: What you can do to improve them!
Unfortunately the modifications done to the mining system have destroyed tried and true mining methods. I suspect anyone doing gridline mining will lose their bottom dollar in a hurry. You can no longer just run and drop, turn around and dig up your finds... Simply because mining in such a way won't give you much to dig!!!
This is only one small problem compared to how many new finders there are available.. All of them are L, too. I hope better UL finders are on their way some day. In any event the old tried and true finders are not working as well as they once did in the areas they were great in. Here's how I started fixing this problem:
If you have a bit of a bankroll and want to become a REAL prospector in Entropia (The difference between a prospector and a miner is, a prospector looks for a place good enough to mine and a miner stays in a place that is good enough to mine once it's been found through prospecting) You need to pick a few finders, do a few runs on each in a few of your favorite places.
The result of my doing this has confirmed that indeed some finders work better than others in certain regions. If you regularly suffer heavy losses with one finder, switch to another. Is it better or worse? And keep working your way through finders until you can't find one that gets you any better results.
At present, I am very happy using the F-213 on calypso. It is doing better than my old 105 was after the alterations to the mining profession. I just got tired of bad mining returns and had to do something about it, but the last thing you want to do is buy new finders because you don't know how much ped will be wasted along the way, but I realized I was losing a lot more by not doing what needed done.
You also need to watch the ground. If the ground has the appearance of a certain ore, that ore is probably found there, as I mentioned before. Places that don't look like they would have something probably don't. You can't just keep dropping bombs and expect the system to compensate you.
I suspect results will vary from person to person as to which finder works best due to your play style and skill level... There quite probably is no "one finder fits all" approach. The F-105 USED to be the considered "one finder fits all" but not any more. As soon as someone figures out how to make ends meet, MA moves the ends. It never fails.
I hope this gives you a good starting point in rebooting your successful mining, as it has for me.
This is only one small problem compared to how many new finders there are available.. All of them are L, too. I hope better UL finders are on their way some day. In any event the old tried and true finders are not working as well as they once did in the areas they were great in. Here's how I started fixing this problem:
If you have a bit of a bankroll and want to become a REAL prospector in Entropia (The difference between a prospector and a miner is, a prospector looks for a place good enough to mine and a miner stays in a place that is good enough to mine once it's been found through prospecting) You need to pick a few finders, do a few runs on each in a few of your favorite places.
The result of my doing this has confirmed that indeed some finders work better than others in certain regions. If you regularly suffer heavy losses with one finder, switch to another. Is it better or worse? And keep working your way through finders until you can't find one that gets you any better results.
At present, I am very happy using the F-213 on calypso. It is doing better than my old 105 was after the alterations to the mining profession. I just got tired of bad mining returns and had to do something about it, but the last thing you want to do is buy new finders because you don't know how much ped will be wasted along the way, but I realized I was losing a lot more by not doing what needed done.
You also need to watch the ground. If the ground has the appearance of a certain ore, that ore is probably found there, as I mentioned before. Places that don't look like they would have something probably don't. You can't just keep dropping bombs and expect the system to compensate you.
I suspect results will vary from person to person as to which finder works best due to your play style and skill level... There quite probably is no "one finder fits all" approach. The F-105 USED to be the considered "one finder fits all" but not any more. As soon as someone figures out how to make ends meet, MA moves the ends. It never fails.
I hope this gives you a good starting point in rebooting your successful mining, as it has for me.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
New Mining Advice for 2014
MA revised the mining system as you all know or should know. As a result, I am better able to determine where I should and shouldn't drop my probes. However, before there was no indication by looking at the ground as to what was there.
Now, I find that when I hit a claim particularly on calypso, I can look immediately near the claim marker and see ground textures that have either the same texturing as the ore I found, or at least the same coloring. It is weird, but I didn't notice this until after I looked down at the ground in high graphics quality, hmmm, a caldorite claim, and the ground had the same texture as the caldorite ore. Of course the ground that looks more like copper and belkar has copper and belkar. Wolverine Hope is one example of that. TI is a good example of finding gazzurdite near rock outcrops that look, like gazzurdite. And if you look closely at the textures on TI, you will notice blue looking rocks. Of course cobalt is mostly blue, and it is found all over TI.
By applying what you know about what ores look like, and look for those features in the various places you mine, you can get a bit more accurate in dropping your probes. It may not yet be an exact science, but MA has done a better job at letting it be a little closer to reality.
I can't say for certain this trait exists for ALL ores, or if just for ores, or for ores and enmatters alike... But I was strolling through my usual area that I hit Langotz in, and I notice a very limited amount of langotz looking rock in the terrain. Right about where I usually hit it too. SO.. Just wanted to give you guys some more of that great quality content you've come to expect from me. Keep your eyes peeled, and if you decide to scoff at this, I am telling you, you will be surprised. Just make sure you are using the right finder to hit the stuff you think you are looking for.
After a long break from posting here, it's good to be back actively posting... So... Until next time, Never fear, the goldbaron is here!
Now, I find that when I hit a claim particularly on calypso, I can look immediately near the claim marker and see ground textures that have either the same texturing as the ore I found, or at least the same coloring. It is weird, but I didn't notice this until after I looked down at the ground in high graphics quality, hmmm, a caldorite claim, and the ground had the same texture as the caldorite ore. Of course the ground that looks more like copper and belkar has copper and belkar. Wolverine Hope is one example of that. TI is a good example of finding gazzurdite near rock outcrops that look, like gazzurdite. And if you look closely at the textures on TI, you will notice blue looking rocks. Of course cobalt is mostly blue, and it is found all over TI.
By applying what you know about what ores look like, and look for those features in the various places you mine, you can get a bit more accurate in dropping your probes. It may not yet be an exact science, but MA has done a better job at letting it be a little closer to reality.
I can't say for certain this trait exists for ALL ores, or if just for ores, or for ores and enmatters alike... But I was strolling through my usual area that I hit Langotz in, and I notice a very limited amount of langotz looking rock in the terrain. Right about where I usually hit it too. SO.. Just wanted to give you guys some more of that great quality content you've come to expect from me. Keep your eyes peeled, and if you decide to scoff at this, I am telling you, you will be surprised. Just make sure you are using the right finder to hit the stuff you think you are looking for.
After a long break from posting here, it's good to be back actively posting... So... Until next time, Never fear, the goldbaron is here!
Friday, July 26, 2013
Mining Advice 7-26-13
A lot of you have told me that none of my tips and advice are really helping mining results. Well,, I think the mining algorithms may be busted or bugged and MA isn't fixing them. Mining is NOT anywhere near stable or reliable. Looking at Entropia Life, will tell you that something is clearly wrong. Look at the numbers for crafting and hunting. Then look at mining. If that doesn't indicate something is broken I don't know what does. The numbers for mining have never been lower, and I know a LOT of people spending more peds than ever before mining including myself. I've burned hundreds of amps and have never hoffed while amped. All my big mining hofs were unamped. Even the little ones. I don't know what is up.
Now... I got tired of dropping 50 bombs and not hitting any ore claims. So, I decided the hell with it, I will drop combo probes and look for both ores and enmats. The minute I started doing this, I started hitting tons of claims. My returns are around 90% if I combo drop. I am on RT currently, but my advice is you will want to hit Ark for denser claims, or Caly just because it's easier to get markup on your mined materials. MARKUP should NEVER be underestimated in your total returns. Without markup, you are doomed.
If you don't normally solo drop, try solo dropping. If you don't normally try combo dropping, try combo dropping. If you are doing badly at something you normally do good on, try the opposite. The system apparently is so dynamic that anything different than usual can produce good results.
Also, I tend to do better on Level 3 amps than I do with say a level 7 or 8. I can actually global on a level 3 but I have barely been getting globals on 7s or 8s.. It seems screwed up but if you are losing your shirt on big amps, try some smaller ones :-)
Now... I got tired of dropping 50 bombs and not hitting any ore claims. So, I decided the hell with it, I will drop combo probes and look for both ores and enmats. The minute I started doing this, I started hitting tons of claims. My returns are around 90% if I combo drop. I am on RT currently, but my advice is you will want to hit Ark for denser claims, or Caly just because it's easier to get markup on your mined materials. MARKUP should NEVER be underestimated in your total returns. Without markup, you are doomed.
If you don't normally solo drop, try solo dropping. If you don't normally try combo dropping, try combo dropping. If you are doing badly at something you normally do good on, try the opposite. The system apparently is so dynamic that anything different than usual can produce good results.
Also, I tend to do better on Level 3 amps than I do with say a level 7 or 8. I can actually global on a level 3 but I have barely been getting globals on 7s or 8s.. It seems screwed up but if you are losing your shirt on big amps, try some smaller ones :-)
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
MINERS HAVEN UPDATE: Miner Friendly Again?
It would appear my flaming boycott had an impact on Land area owners. Atrox Valley I believe it was had a mining tax BELOW 1%!!!! Kudos to the LA Owner! I will be mining every opportunity I get there!
Z apparently has thinned out the Armax spawns on the old Miners Haven LA. Or is it Heaven? Well it may have been Miners Heaven, but it's still not quite back to that yet... But, it is mostly wide open and miner friendly!!! Although... I haven't had many good claims there the last couple times I was through, but to be honest, Calypso has been almost as bad as the Asteroid for any mining... And THAT is bad!
I want to leave a reminder to all LA Owners: Even the Land Grab winners...
MAKE SURE that you denote the ores and enmatters that are findable in that area in the info. If I walk into a land area that has no list in the info box of ores and enmatters, and all I see are tax rates, I am not likely to drop many bombs!!! Unless I know from past experience what is there.
Z apparently has thinned out the Armax spawns on the old Miners Haven LA. Or is it Heaven? Well it may have been Miners Heaven, but it's still not quite back to that yet... But, it is mostly wide open and miner friendly!!! Although... I haven't had many good claims there the last couple times I was through, but to be honest, Calypso has been almost as bad as the Asteroid for any mining... And THAT is bad!
I want to leave a reminder to all LA Owners: Even the Land Grab winners...
MAKE SURE that you denote the ores and enmatters that are findable in that area in the info. If I walk into a land area that has no list in the info box of ores and enmatters, and all I see are tax rates, I am not likely to drop many bombs!!! Unless I know from past experience what is there.
January 2013 New Years Advice, Comments, Etc.
I am sorry I was unable to get here to wish you all happy holidays and a merry new year... But here we are, another year gone where I don't know, but let's hope time slows down a bit so we can enjoy life. I swear, the clock starts spinning any faster might as well hook a generator to it... That's just about how bad time seems to fly any more.
There are a few issues I want to touch on.
A. Yes, the Android app is working from what I am told. I hear people might be having issues with it but it is working. As of now, you do not need to have your blueprints in books to be able to use them at the crafting terminal. This may change, who knows. And from what I see, it doesn't seem to matter what planet my prints are on, I seem perfectly able to use them, which makes sense. An app like this needs global access to all your items if it is to work. But who knows where things will end up after a while with the way MA tinkers with stuff.
B. Mining is inexplicably volatile and high risk. EVEN ON CALYPSO, you can go 50 bombs without a claim. This is ridiculous. And the software doesn't exactly do anything to balance it out either. If I didn't know any better I would say MA fubared the mining grid and won't come forward and admit to it. On the other hand, I visited FOMA. Please, don't be foolish enough to go there. Do so at your own risk. I paid 150 peds for a V oil before I realized why I vowed never to go back to FOMA, but I decided it couldn't have stayed that bad forever... Ummm yeah right. FOMA is definitely having issues. If you do go, you are going to want at least 10,000 drops for it to average out. I have done 1,000 drop amped runs without so much as a global, so it is forseable that 10K drops MIGHT give you a shot at something. But if you ask me, it's not worth the stress. There are a few things I can tell you... 1. You cannot buy a hof. 2. You cannot buy a global. They seem to happen on their own accord. So don't plan on being able to hit anything just because you are running big amps.
C. ROCKTROPIA: Loot is infinitely better balanced for me on RT. That said, it may not be for you or the next guy. Instead of 25% returns like is normal for me on Caly no matter what I do these days, RT actually keeps me around the 80% and up range on a run, doesn't matter if I craft, mine, or hunt. So I want to applaud the RT team for keeping a fair and balanced planet.
Mining advice: The F103 seems to be golden in Hell, and it is definitely doing better than the 105 on the surface for me. In general the ores on RT are shallower than elsewhere... Not saying you won't hit well with a deep finder of course... But I've tried most finders on RT, and the F103 is the one I keep going back to when I am there. If you are not doing well on RT, try either the Demonic or the F103, I think you will notice a big difference. And I still have not hit a SOOTO on RT.
Crafting: The RT armor prints, and tool prints available at the technician are quite cheap per click to craft, and I notice I gain more skill on RT than elsewhere. If you want to cheaply skill, clicking these prints on RT might be the answer. It certainly seems to be for me, and even on full condition crafting I can usually break even or profit even on a short run.
If there is ANY resources you need, and you are on RT... Please do us a favor and place orders for it... I mean, when we don't see anything listed on the AH, and we don't see orders, we don't tend to know someone needs it unless we advertise in Lagoon and someone speaks up. If we know something is in demand we are less likely to TT it or "give" it to a trader for peanuts.
Hunting: I can definitely say that my loot is best with ARK weaponry... Who knows why, but I see a huge difference in loot between various guns... And Arkadia guns always give me the best % return so far of anything.
D. ARKADIA: Treasure hunting was good to me last year, I know it's been a while already since I been there doing that, but, the only SOOTO's I've had in about two years came from ARK, and were vases.
The keys, I did try last winter. I am happy with how it works... But I had just ran through all the mobs to get to the end and fight the boss... Apparently... All those little mobs on the way, loot from the goes into one of the treasure chests. The other treasure chest just has the boss item and what not... So as it turns out I didn't end up having much of a haul on my attempts. Now, I guess they changed things so you can't really just bypass the mobs on the way... At least is what I heard, and I am not uber enough to bother doing another key... Well I just don't have good enough gear for hunting. I am a miner, crafter... Hunting is a joke... Anyone want a good laugh, look me up on entropialife... Hunting is the biggest damn joke I ever did see.
E. HELL: I am impressed with my hit rates in hell. They are reminiscent of the hit rates I had on the asteroid before Foma ended up with it... i.e. I can hit at least once in 10 to 20 drops, instead of 50/50 chance of hitting one claim with 200 drops on FOMA :P Seriously, that is literally how bad FOMA is for me. Beginning to think the only way to hof there would be to have someone at MA tell you where to bomb.
One thing I have noticed... If you can't hit a claim fairly close to the TP, you probably won't in the rest of the dome, at least for many drops. If you are doing badly, just drop a few bombs around each TP and see what happens. You have nothing to lose if you are losing already!
MISC:
They are practically giving Marber Bravos away now... +90 peds mu! Seriously! At least thats the most recent one I seen... I heard of them selling even cheaper. Used to be +200 for one. It makes me wonder what other opportunities are out there.
---
I am not sure if there is a way out of the Prison on RT now or not... The TP was there, then it wasn't, and I don't honestly know if it is back yet... But before you go to prison on RT.. Just make sure you have some Mind Essence and a TP chip so that you can TP out even if someone hid the TP!
---
I know officially there are no personal loot pools... But I don't see how. It is obvious something is personal with us and MA... My loots seemingly are "capped". In 6 years time... Of running big amps, small amps, no amps, full condition crafting, quantity crafting... Hunting big mobs, little mobs... I have ONLY broken through the 1,000 ped level ONCE. I have only gone past 500 peds, three or four times. What is keeping me capped? I have plenty of skill... I've deposited plenty... The fact I have an invisible glass ceiling above my loot must in and of itself indicate my loots are tied to my avatar. Whether they want to call it a personal loot pool or not, it has the same effect.
---
I dunno, I thought I had more stuff to report, but too many things on my mind to sort out. I have one more post to do for today, and then after couple days I will get back to quality posts on specific issues and advice. I know a few recent posts have been quite general and nothing really special... It is time we get back to business and help you all prosper a bit more easily. Which,, interestingly enough has a lot to do with my next post!
There are a few issues I want to touch on.
A. Yes, the Android app is working from what I am told. I hear people might be having issues with it but it is working. As of now, you do not need to have your blueprints in books to be able to use them at the crafting terminal. This may change, who knows. And from what I see, it doesn't seem to matter what planet my prints are on, I seem perfectly able to use them, which makes sense. An app like this needs global access to all your items if it is to work. But who knows where things will end up after a while with the way MA tinkers with stuff.
B. Mining is inexplicably volatile and high risk. EVEN ON CALYPSO, you can go 50 bombs without a claim. This is ridiculous. And the software doesn't exactly do anything to balance it out either. If I didn't know any better I would say MA fubared the mining grid and won't come forward and admit to it. On the other hand, I visited FOMA. Please, don't be foolish enough to go there. Do so at your own risk. I paid 150 peds for a V oil before I realized why I vowed never to go back to FOMA, but I decided it couldn't have stayed that bad forever... Ummm yeah right. FOMA is definitely having issues. If you do go, you are going to want at least 10,000 drops for it to average out. I have done 1,000 drop amped runs without so much as a global, so it is forseable that 10K drops MIGHT give you a shot at something. But if you ask me, it's not worth the stress. There are a few things I can tell you... 1. You cannot buy a hof. 2. You cannot buy a global. They seem to happen on their own accord. So don't plan on being able to hit anything just because you are running big amps.
C. ROCKTROPIA: Loot is infinitely better balanced for me on RT. That said, it may not be for you or the next guy. Instead of 25% returns like is normal for me on Caly no matter what I do these days, RT actually keeps me around the 80% and up range on a run, doesn't matter if I craft, mine, or hunt. So I want to applaud the RT team for keeping a fair and balanced planet.
Mining advice: The F103 seems to be golden in Hell, and it is definitely doing better than the 105 on the surface for me. In general the ores on RT are shallower than elsewhere... Not saying you won't hit well with a deep finder of course... But I've tried most finders on RT, and the F103 is the one I keep going back to when I am there. If you are not doing well on RT, try either the Demonic or the F103, I think you will notice a big difference. And I still have not hit a SOOTO on RT.
Crafting: The RT armor prints, and tool prints available at the technician are quite cheap per click to craft, and I notice I gain more skill on RT than elsewhere. If you want to cheaply skill, clicking these prints on RT might be the answer. It certainly seems to be for me, and even on full condition crafting I can usually break even or profit even on a short run.
If there is ANY resources you need, and you are on RT... Please do us a favor and place orders for it... I mean, when we don't see anything listed on the AH, and we don't see orders, we don't tend to know someone needs it unless we advertise in Lagoon and someone speaks up. If we know something is in demand we are less likely to TT it or "give" it to a trader for peanuts.
Hunting: I can definitely say that my loot is best with ARK weaponry... Who knows why, but I see a huge difference in loot between various guns... And Arkadia guns always give me the best % return so far of anything.
D. ARKADIA: Treasure hunting was good to me last year, I know it's been a while already since I been there doing that, but, the only SOOTO's I've had in about two years came from ARK, and were vases.
The keys, I did try last winter. I am happy with how it works... But I had just ran through all the mobs to get to the end and fight the boss... Apparently... All those little mobs on the way, loot from the goes into one of the treasure chests. The other treasure chest just has the boss item and what not... So as it turns out I didn't end up having much of a haul on my attempts. Now, I guess they changed things so you can't really just bypass the mobs on the way... At least is what I heard, and I am not uber enough to bother doing another key... Well I just don't have good enough gear for hunting. I am a miner, crafter... Hunting is a joke... Anyone want a good laugh, look me up on entropialife... Hunting is the biggest damn joke I ever did see.
E. HELL: I am impressed with my hit rates in hell. They are reminiscent of the hit rates I had on the asteroid before Foma ended up with it... i.e. I can hit at least once in 10 to 20 drops, instead of 50/50 chance of hitting one claim with 200 drops on FOMA :P Seriously, that is literally how bad FOMA is for me. Beginning to think the only way to hof there would be to have someone at MA tell you where to bomb.
One thing I have noticed... If you can't hit a claim fairly close to the TP, you probably won't in the rest of the dome, at least for many drops. If you are doing badly, just drop a few bombs around each TP and see what happens. You have nothing to lose if you are losing already!
MISC:
They are practically giving Marber Bravos away now... +90 peds mu! Seriously! At least thats the most recent one I seen... I heard of them selling even cheaper. Used to be +200 for one. It makes me wonder what other opportunities are out there.
---
I am not sure if there is a way out of the Prison on RT now or not... The TP was there, then it wasn't, and I don't honestly know if it is back yet... But before you go to prison on RT.. Just make sure you have some Mind Essence and a TP chip so that you can TP out even if someone hid the TP!
---
I know officially there are no personal loot pools... But I don't see how. It is obvious something is personal with us and MA... My loots seemingly are "capped". In 6 years time... Of running big amps, small amps, no amps, full condition crafting, quantity crafting... Hunting big mobs, little mobs... I have ONLY broken through the 1,000 ped level ONCE. I have only gone past 500 peds, three or four times. What is keeping me capped? I have plenty of skill... I've deposited plenty... The fact I have an invisible glass ceiling above my loot must in and of itself indicate my loots are tied to my avatar. Whether they want to call it a personal loot pool or not, it has the same effect.
---
I dunno, I thought I had more stuff to report, but too many things on my mind to sort out. I have one more post to do for today, and then after couple days I will get back to quality posts on specific issues and advice. I know a few recent posts have been quite general and nothing really special... It is time we get back to business and help you all prosper a bit more easily. Which,, interestingly enough has a lot to do with my next post!
Friday, August 10, 2012
Extractors! Updated Findings!
Well... I've used the TT extractor for a long time, and sure, I saved a fortune in repairs, but I quit hitting claims over V with just the occasional VIII. We are talking two or three months of mining without anything huge using the TT extractor. Of course Decay and spent peds fuels the loot pool. Once I started using my Extractor 104, Immediately I started hitting IX's and bigger again.
So... If you want to minimize your costs, there seems to be a direct correlation that ends up minimizing your loots as well. The whole theme seems to be the more you are spending the more loot you are likely to hit.
So in mining, I recommend using the highest level extractor you can use and afford to use. If you havn't upgraded past your low level extractors and havn't hit big claims much... Give it a try on a bigger extractor and see what happens. I think you will find it will help a lot!
So... If you want to minimize your costs, there seems to be a direct correlation that ends up minimizing your loots as well. The whole theme seems to be the more you are spending the more loot you are likely to hit.
So in mining, I recommend using the highest level extractor you can use and afford to use. If you havn't upgraded past your low level extractors and havn't hit big claims much... Give it a try on a bigger extractor and see what happens. I think you will find it will help a lot!
Monday, August 6, 2012
One region versus Moving All Over
Something for you to think about... In my own experience, and everyone may have some different results too... But just in my own play style I can tell you that focusing on one area and doing 90% of my hunting mining and crafting has done better return wise over the long run than moving from TP to TP to TP and hoping I am in the right place at the right time.
See, it's like this. If I spend all of my time on Treasure Island, then it is safe to say that all of my hofs, globals, and ATH's will be on Treasure Island. If I move around a lot, I won't know where to focus on, and I will waste my resources trying to figure it out.
So, I may have covered this, but when I got my four digit hof of 1322 cobalt... I spent one month solid on Treasure Island. Did ALL of my crafting, hunting, and mining on TI. All of my ped turnover was on TI. What I noticed was, over time, my average loot increased a little, average global sizes increased, frequency increased, not just mining, but crafting too. I hit the hof, and kept doing alright. As soon as I started moving around and TP jumping frequently, returns went BAD. Now, I am starting to focus on one area again, and on the average, it is working better for me.
So,,, If you can't get good returns... I suggest you pick one area, focus on it for maybe a week or two, and just see if something big doesn't happen for you too :-)
Afterall.. You probably won't lose any more than you already have lost!
But if you pick an area, Please note what resources are there, and use a finder appropriate to finding that stuff for best results!
See, it's like this. If I spend all of my time on Treasure Island, then it is safe to say that all of my hofs, globals, and ATH's will be on Treasure Island. If I move around a lot, I won't know where to focus on, and I will waste my resources trying to figure it out.
So, I may have covered this, but when I got my four digit hof of 1322 cobalt... I spent one month solid on Treasure Island. Did ALL of my crafting, hunting, and mining on TI. All of my ped turnover was on TI. What I noticed was, over time, my average loot increased a little, average global sizes increased, frequency increased, not just mining, but crafting too. I hit the hof, and kept doing alright. As soon as I started moving around and TP jumping frequently, returns went BAD. Now, I am starting to focus on one area again, and on the average, it is working better for me.
So,,, If you can't get good returns... I suggest you pick one area, focus on it for maybe a week or two, and just see if something big doesn't happen for you too :-)
Afterall.. You probably won't lose any more than you already have lost!
But if you pick an area, Please note what resources are there, and use a finder appropriate to finding that stuff for best results!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
MINERS HEAVEN Land Area RUINED for mining!
Well... There is a Land Area that I always forget the number but numbers aren't important. We all know it as Miners Heaven, and it is north of Z's little farm. This has been a favorite globalling ground of mine for half a year. No longer is this the case.
I thought I'd go and try a run there, and wow, I tp jumped and landed on Armax Bulls. Then I read the message window for entering the land area, and it says something along of the lines "Low agro mob coming soon." Maybe for some of you they don't agro. For me they do. Not only that, I could not find a spot in the whole LA where there was one blast radius clear of mobs that I could safely mine. If I have to defensively mine, it lowers my overall return because my hunting loot is always much worse than my mining loot. And right now even that is about 10% of total spend if I am lucky. Mining is just a bad activity for whatever reason right now. Not saying some of you won't get lucky. If most people are running with amps now, I would suspect that most of the loot pool has shifted to paying off those amped miners.
It is with great sorrow that I make this announcement. I would like to petition the land owner to at least consider thinning out the mob density. I am now forced to mine in other more friendly land areas. Even the land area south west of Akmuul TP is more miner friendly, because there is a large gap usually between the trox and I can mine safely there most of the time.
Perhaps they will see that their hunting taxes have not offset the losses in mining revenue and make the necessary adjustments.
I thought I'd go and try a run there, and wow, I tp jumped and landed on Armax Bulls. Then I read the message window for entering the land area, and it says something along of the lines "Low agro mob coming soon." Maybe for some of you they don't agro. For me they do. Not only that, I could not find a spot in the whole LA where there was one blast radius clear of mobs that I could safely mine. If I have to defensively mine, it lowers my overall return because my hunting loot is always much worse than my mining loot. And right now even that is about 10% of total spend if I am lucky. Mining is just a bad activity for whatever reason right now. Not saying some of you won't get lucky. If most people are running with amps now, I would suspect that most of the loot pool has shifted to paying off those amped miners.
It is with great sorrow that I make this announcement. I would like to petition the land owner to at least consider thinning out the mob density. I am now forced to mine in other more friendly land areas. Even the land area south west of Akmuul TP is more miner friendly, because there is a large gap usually between the trox and I can mine safely there most of the time.
Perhaps they will see that their hunting taxes have not offset the losses in mining revenue and make the necessary adjustments.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
MINING: Extractor Efficiency
The economics of extraction is not something most of us think about. We know that bigger extractors pull a little more ore and faster clicks, so we assume bigger is better. I was shocked to read that someone said that the TT extractors are the most economic. So, I made time to do the research, and astonishingly, the TT extractor is ALMOST the most efficient extractor in the game. This is in terms of amount of decay to pull a given amount of ore out of the ground. Yes, it might take a long time to pull a claim using TT extractor... But in many cases it has at least two to three times the efficiency per pec than the other extractors.
The only extractor shown to be more efficient than the Caly TT extractor is the Rockripper 1.
This research is based on the database at Entropedia... But I must admit, yes, it is there for all to see. Check it out for yourself, go to entropedia.info, and click mining, then excavators, and look at the efficiency per pec.. How many of you considered this aspect of mining? I certainly hadn't given it a second thought. But I DID notice that when mining globals, it would cost more decay on my 104 than the TT extractor. This I did notice. It seems that there is a consistent tradeoff between efficiency and time. In all things. Faster shooting guns cost more in decay. Faster extractors cost more in decay. And, since L blueprints even have the highest success ratings of any print, it can be said that they TOO cost more in decay for faster success.
I encourage you all to have a look at the data yourself. I know some of you worry about SIB. In this case, don't. Mining does not have any real impact on your prospecting, at least not until you are super high level. Also, I want to point out: Using a smaller extractor means it takes a LOT more clicks to get a claim out. This results in MORE skill gains. So you will actually be skilling faster using the TT extractor, it's just a matter of can you bear the slow pace. Though, the excavator speed enhancers might be a great idea for the TT extractor.
I have also stumbled onto a few more ideas too that I want to bring to your attention, but I will give them some more thought before I start posting them. Good luck and thanks for reading!
The only extractor shown to be more efficient than the Caly TT extractor is the Rockripper 1.
This research is based on the database at Entropedia... But I must admit, yes, it is there for all to see. Check it out for yourself, go to entropedia.info, and click mining, then excavators, and look at the efficiency per pec.. How many of you considered this aspect of mining? I certainly hadn't given it a second thought. But I DID notice that when mining globals, it would cost more decay on my 104 than the TT extractor. This I did notice. It seems that there is a consistent tradeoff between efficiency and time. In all things. Faster shooting guns cost more in decay. Faster extractors cost more in decay. And, since L blueprints even have the highest success ratings of any print, it can be said that they TOO cost more in decay for faster success.
I encourage you all to have a look at the data yourself. I know some of you worry about SIB. In this case, don't. Mining does not have any real impact on your prospecting, at least not until you are super high level. Also, I want to point out: Using a smaller extractor means it takes a LOT more clicks to get a claim out. This results in MORE skill gains. So you will actually be skilling faster using the TT extractor, it's just a matter of can you bear the slow pace. Though, the excavator speed enhancers might be a great idea for the TT extractor.
I have also stumbled onto a few more ideas too that I want to bring to your attention, but I will give them some more thought before I start posting them. Good luck and thanks for reading!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
ROCKTROPIA: Mining Advice
First... I am going to reconfirm what I already posted about the arctic:
All I can hit there is Oil and Lysterium, but there is such a high density of it all over the place that I'd say if you need lyst or oil, is safe to go there and drop a few probes! And there is a crafting terminal on the great big building next to the one with the hole in the floor that you drop down to hunt Things. I only say this because Lyst and Oil makes Standard Dampers and Basic Filters, and I have had great results crafting in the Arctic.
Second...
I average 1 hit for every 10 drops in Hell. And the smallest claim I get for Ore is a IX, and smallest for EnMatter is VII. I am working on bringing you a comprehensive list of ores in each Hell Mine, as well as the mobs in each one and what their levels are. The hofs and globals seem to be very deep here, with my 105 I was able to hit a blausariam global at about 1100M depth, and my depth enhancers only took me down to 600m. So I got lucky I think.
And Last:
Rocktropia ores and enmatters are incredibly shallow. All my big claims on the surface are between 200 and 600m. So while the Demonic Dector is a Hell blueprint, it doesn't work for crap in Hell, I surmise it might work good on enmatters there, but certainly not so great on ores. On the surface however, yes. You are going to do well with it, and it is pretty easy to craft requiring only Lysterium and Alternative.
But I Surmise that the Z5 and Z10 finders will work great, as will the 103's and 104's. I would love to try an F-211 or a eMine... With what I've seen so far, an F-211 might produce some awesome results! But this is mere speculation.
If you want some great areas with what seems to be high density of Alternative, I will reveal a couple of my choice locations: East of City of Dreams... The stadium construction site... And East and South of Mulholland Way TP.
I have hit Frigulite, Garcen, and Blues at the Construction site... I have hit Melchi and Lytarian along with the Alternative and Lysterium and Blues over by Mulholland. I have even hit Dianthus east of CoD.
FURTHER NOTES:
If you can't hit within the first 3 bombs, go to another area if you aren't seeing skill gains. If seeing skill gains, try a few more and then move if nothing.
If you are getting double and triple skill gains with a single drop, it means you are at the right depth for hitting what is there. 90% of the time I will usually global if I get double and triple gains, on the same finder that I got those gains.
Beware that the game is dynamic, which means everything is a variable and the system changes to fit those variables. I.E. It can't know where we will be mining or what we will be spending, but it can know where to put loot and what to put there for loot. I am beginning to understand more about how the claims spawn. There are certain mobs for instance, that won't respawn unless you kill all of them. Once the last one is killed, then they respawn. Since programmers like to recycle code to save production costs and time, I like to think of Mobs as claims but we don't know if they have loot or not. It is forseeable that before an area will spawn new ore deposits, all existing ones must be hit, or else it will automatically respawn and redistribute them every night during whats known as Lagoclock, since unless you are in a dome, it is unlikely every claim in a given area will be hit.
And if you are having bad luck mining still.. One more place I recommend trying is near London Blockade.
Also, Some days I hit better with combo drops, others, just doing ore or just doing enmatter. If you are doing something and it isn't working, change, and you will get different results, not necessarily better or worse, but different.
Hope this bit of information helps and will tide you over until I can provide something a bit more substantial..
There is quite a bit of info that I have not shared with you and will not until I feel the time is appropriate. A lot of what I have I am still verifying and doing more research.
If any of you wish to contact me or add me to your friends list, feel free to use the Player Register I posted about earlier inside the Entropia Universe and search for Goldbaron Goldbaron357 Maximus. I will be glad to chat with my readers when I am online. I'd like to hear what you think and it would be great if you tell me anything you want to see me to add to this blog. It can be tough writing, because some days you just don't have any ideas, and others, like today, you are clacking away at full speed on a keyboard trying to write everything before you go insane and forget it all!
All I can hit there is Oil and Lysterium, but there is such a high density of it all over the place that I'd say if you need lyst or oil, is safe to go there and drop a few probes! And there is a crafting terminal on the great big building next to the one with the hole in the floor that you drop down to hunt Things. I only say this because Lyst and Oil makes Standard Dampers and Basic Filters, and I have had great results crafting in the Arctic.
Second...
I average 1 hit for every 10 drops in Hell. And the smallest claim I get for Ore is a IX, and smallest for EnMatter is VII. I am working on bringing you a comprehensive list of ores in each Hell Mine, as well as the mobs in each one and what their levels are. The hofs and globals seem to be very deep here, with my 105 I was able to hit a blausariam global at about 1100M depth, and my depth enhancers only took me down to 600m. So I got lucky I think.
And Last:
Rocktropia ores and enmatters are incredibly shallow. All my big claims on the surface are between 200 and 600m. So while the Demonic Dector is a Hell blueprint, it doesn't work for crap in Hell, I surmise it might work good on enmatters there, but certainly not so great on ores. On the surface however, yes. You are going to do well with it, and it is pretty easy to craft requiring only Lysterium and Alternative.
But I Surmise that the Z5 and Z10 finders will work great, as will the 103's and 104's. I would love to try an F-211 or a eMine... With what I've seen so far, an F-211 might produce some awesome results! But this is mere speculation.
If you want some great areas with what seems to be high density of Alternative, I will reveal a couple of my choice locations: East of City of Dreams... The stadium construction site... And East and South of Mulholland Way TP.
I have hit Frigulite, Garcen, and Blues at the Construction site... I have hit Melchi and Lytarian along with the Alternative and Lysterium and Blues over by Mulholland. I have even hit Dianthus east of CoD.
FURTHER NOTES:
If you can't hit within the first 3 bombs, go to another area if you aren't seeing skill gains. If seeing skill gains, try a few more and then move if nothing.
If you are getting double and triple skill gains with a single drop, it means you are at the right depth for hitting what is there. 90% of the time I will usually global if I get double and triple gains, on the same finder that I got those gains.
Beware that the game is dynamic, which means everything is a variable and the system changes to fit those variables. I.E. It can't know where we will be mining or what we will be spending, but it can know where to put loot and what to put there for loot. I am beginning to understand more about how the claims spawn. There are certain mobs for instance, that won't respawn unless you kill all of them. Once the last one is killed, then they respawn. Since programmers like to recycle code to save production costs and time, I like to think of Mobs as claims but we don't know if they have loot or not. It is forseeable that before an area will spawn new ore deposits, all existing ones must be hit, or else it will automatically respawn and redistribute them every night during whats known as Lagoclock, since unless you are in a dome, it is unlikely every claim in a given area will be hit.
And if you are having bad luck mining still.. One more place I recommend trying is near London Blockade.
Also, Some days I hit better with combo drops, others, just doing ore or just doing enmatter. If you are doing something and it isn't working, change, and you will get different results, not necessarily better or worse, but different.
Hope this bit of information helps and will tide you over until I can provide something a bit more substantial..
There is quite a bit of info that I have not shared with you and will not until I feel the time is appropriate. A lot of what I have I am still verifying and doing more research.
If any of you wish to contact me or add me to your friends list, feel free to use the Player Register I posted about earlier inside the Entropia Universe and search for Goldbaron Goldbaron357 Maximus. I will be glad to chat with my readers when I am online. I'd like to hear what you think and it would be great if you tell me anything you want to see me to add to this blog. It can be tough writing, because some days you just don't have any ideas, and others, like today, you are clacking away at full speed on a keyboard trying to write everything before you go insane and forget it all!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
ARCTIC Part 2: The Thing Conclusion... Tips
Well... After many hours I finally made it through The Thing quest, and got my arctic helicopter.
I am still not an expert with this quest despite how long it took me. Here are the following issues I ran into:
1. I cannot find any storage terminals in the Arctic. So, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR VEHICLES SPAWNED WHEN YOU LOG OF. They get returned to storage, and NOT to Rocktropia storage either! So I had lost my Arctic Truck to storage. Without it, you are going to have a hard time getting through all of the things gathered along the path to the exit point. It quite possibly may take a trouble ticket with MA to get your truck back if you lose it.
2. When you enter the refueling base, you basically keep to the right, and there is a large building, and a smaller building kind of close to the satellite receiver. Don't worry about fixing this satellite, theres no terminal on it. Instead, you have supply and repair terminals on the side of the buildings there. Inside the smaller building is a hole in the floor that you are to drop down and you will find underground tunnel with Things all over.
3. It does appear that your Armor works from Calypso. My shogun was doing an admirable job, but that could just be from my defensive skills who knows. Supposedly only the arctic armor should work, but who knows really. In any case, the Things are very tough despite being level 7. These aren't the 1 shot 1 kill level 7s of Rocktropia. It took about 20 shots with my breer M3A to kill one. The shotgun you get from the supply terminal is powerful, but it was a 50/50 if I died or not while killing one. And if you get more than one attacking you you are better off to run for it unless you are uber. So if you plan to do the thing, BRING SOME POWERFUL WEAPONS AND THE APPROPRIATE AMMO!
4. You must reach the escape point from underground. There is no way to complete the mission above ground, believe me, I tried. Upon escaping you are at the surface next to a base. You will receive further instructions by Radio, and then it just gives you your Helicopter and says thank you for playing, and more episodes coming in the future. So it does appear that they will be expanding the Arctic.
5. MINING IN THE ARCTIC: You cannot buy bombs there. BUT you can drop them! Though all I found so far is Lyst and Oil but I did use the crafting terminal in the refueling base, and ran a small profit on standard dampers with the mined Lyst and Oil. Just bring everything you think you need and maybe even some things you don't think you need.
If you are not wanting to spoil the spirit of The Thing, and juse use all Arctic gear, that's fine, and I can respect the ambition of that, but you might want to go with friends since it will be helpful to have a team in dealing with all the Things.
Please see Arctic Part 1 in case you missed it for tips on getting through the first half or so of the mission.
I am still not an expert with this quest despite how long it took me. Here are the following issues I ran into:
1. I cannot find any storage terminals in the Arctic. So, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR VEHICLES SPAWNED WHEN YOU LOG OF. They get returned to storage, and NOT to Rocktropia storage either! So I had lost my Arctic Truck to storage. Without it, you are going to have a hard time getting through all of the things gathered along the path to the exit point. It quite possibly may take a trouble ticket with MA to get your truck back if you lose it.
2. When you enter the refueling base, you basically keep to the right, and there is a large building, and a smaller building kind of close to the satellite receiver. Don't worry about fixing this satellite, theres no terminal on it. Instead, you have supply and repair terminals on the side of the buildings there. Inside the smaller building is a hole in the floor that you are to drop down and you will find underground tunnel with Things all over.
3. It does appear that your Armor works from Calypso. My shogun was doing an admirable job, but that could just be from my defensive skills who knows. Supposedly only the arctic armor should work, but who knows really. In any case, the Things are very tough despite being level 7. These aren't the 1 shot 1 kill level 7s of Rocktropia. It took about 20 shots with my breer M3A to kill one. The shotgun you get from the supply terminal is powerful, but it was a 50/50 if I died or not while killing one. And if you get more than one attacking you you are better off to run for it unless you are uber. So if you plan to do the thing, BRING SOME POWERFUL WEAPONS AND THE APPROPRIATE AMMO!
4. You must reach the escape point from underground. There is no way to complete the mission above ground, believe me, I tried. Upon escaping you are at the surface next to a base. You will receive further instructions by Radio, and then it just gives you your Helicopter and says thank you for playing, and more episodes coming in the future. So it does appear that they will be expanding the Arctic.
5. MINING IN THE ARCTIC: You cannot buy bombs there. BUT you can drop them! Though all I found so far is Lyst and Oil but I did use the crafting terminal in the refueling base, and ran a small profit on standard dampers with the mined Lyst and Oil. Just bring everything you think you need and maybe even some things you don't think you need.
If you are not wanting to spoil the spirit of The Thing, and juse use all Arctic gear, that's fine, and I can respect the ambition of that, but you might want to go with friends since it will be helpful to have a team in dealing with all the Things.
Please see Arctic Part 1 in case you missed it for tips on getting through the first half or so of the mission.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Basic Mining Guide Part 3: Understanding The Nature of Ore Spawns
Every ore, and enmatter is found in only certain areas. No one really knows where the boundaries of these spawns exactly are located. However, there are some things we do know for sure.
You will only find a certain mix of deposits in a given area. And this mix changes from area to area. For instance, you can mine all you want on Treasure Island and you will not hit any Lanorium or Alferix. But you can go to Shinook and never hit any Cobalt. You also will not find any Lysterium on Treasure Island for that matter.
But let's look at the rarer stuff. Take land areas for example... Let's use Miners Heaven for my example, even though I am not affiliated with the owners, it is a wonderful place to mine and I don't mind putting in a good word for it, since I have globalled unamped lots of times, and have even hit a fair share of Kanerium and Redulite there.
I have only found Redulite on the very west end of the land area. Gazzurdite and Durulium are somewhat abundant too. I have not hit Redulite on the East end of the land area. As you head towards the middle and then the east, you start hitting mostly iron with some gazzurdite and durulium. But I never hit iron on the west end of the land area. And on the very east end, I tend to hit more durulium than anything else.
To put this into perspective, A large portion of the area may yield most of those ores. But there is one very small zone in all of that land maybe several hundred meters accross only, that is capable of producing Kanerium and Redulite.
I believe the scarcity of ores is controlled by how large the spawn areas are to some extent, because the smaller the spawn area is, the less likely you are to be directly over it when you are mining, and the less of it that will be produced.
So you will want to write down your coordinates of any rare finds. I think you will find that as you get more and more of these deposits, you will notice in a big search area, they will be mostly congregated in a somewhat small area.
You may have heard theory about veins, and from my experience, they do exist, but most people don't tend to follow them. See... I took the care to chart out where my hits on TI were one day. I mine north to south and south to north. Each pass I move over a hundred or two meters and go back. What I had noticed is, 80% of my claims lined up almost perfectly on a northwest south east axis. What was really interesting, was my globals lined up on these axis almost perfectly. I do plan to do some runs and I will print out a map of where I mine, and mark down the approximate claim locations with pen, and then put this map of my run up on the blog so you can kind of see what I am talking about.
So I want to stress... LOCATION is VERY important... If your finder matches the average depth for Niksarium, you should be mining where Niksarium is found. If it matches for gazzurdite or durulium, you should go where those are found. There are areas where you are mostly going to hit rare ores if you hit anything at all, but these areas are not practical for most of us to go for.
So the lesson I wish to convey here is this:
1. Not every ore can be found in every location.
2. Pay attention to the specific areas you are finding something you want to find.
3. Watch for patterns and veins.
4. You might do well to track your claims... Make an Excel spreadsheet. If you don't have microsoft office, go to openoffice.org and install a free office suite. As my programming skills improve I hope to make a utility that you can load your spreadsheets and it will translate all the coordinates into spots on a map of the Entropia Universe. But tracking the areas where you are finding what will give you an idea of specific areas and relative concentrations of the ores so that way when you take up crafting for instance, or when prices skyrocket on one ore or another, you know where to go and can take full advantage of this.
5. Take rumors with a grain of salt. If testing theories, take notes, and don't risk peds you can't afford to lose.
6. Keep checking my blog for new information :-) And I am thinking about announcing a contest for my blog. I have some blueprints that aren't selling so I am going to find a unique way of giving them away. I will make this announcement once I've devised a way to do this. I have a 100QR BSM print and a 60 some QR MannMPH dlxe print. I will start planning something...
Good luck,,,
And in the words of Mr. Spock (sort of), "Live Long and Prospect" :-)
You will only find a certain mix of deposits in a given area. And this mix changes from area to area. For instance, you can mine all you want on Treasure Island and you will not hit any Lanorium or Alferix. But you can go to Shinook and never hit any Cobalt. You also will not find any Lysterium on Treasure Island for that matter.
But let's look at the rarer stuff. Take land areas for example... Let's use Miners Heaven for my example, even though I am not affiliated with the owners, it is a wonderful place to mine and I don't mind putting in a good word for it, since I have globalled unamped lots of times, and have even hit a fair share of Kanerium and Redulite there.
I have only found Redulite on the very west end of the land area. Gazzurdite and Durulium are somewhat abundant too. I have not hit Redulite on the East end of the land area. As you head towards the middle and then the east, you start hitting mostly iron with some gazzurdite and durulium. But I never hit iron on the west end of the land area. And on the very east end, I tend to hit more durulium than anything else.
To put this into perspective, A large portion of the area may yield most of those ores. But there is one very small zone in all of that land maybe several hundred meters accross only, that is capable of producing Kanerium and Redulite.
I believe the scarcity of ores is controlled by how large the spawn areas are to some extent, because the smaller the spawn area is, the less likely you are to be directly over it when you are mining, and the less of it that will be produced.
So you will want to write down your coordinates of any rare finds. I think you will find that as you get more and more of these deposits, you will notice in a big search area, they will be mostly congregated in a somewhat small area.
You may have heard theory about veins, and from my experience, they do exist, but most people don't tend to follow them. See... I took the care to chart out where my hits on TI were one day. I mine north to south and south to north. Each pass I move over a hundred or two meters and go back. What I had noticed is, 80% of my claims lined up almost perfectly on a northwest south east axis. What was really interesting, was my globals lined up on these axis almost perfectly. I do plan to do some runs and I will print out a map of where I mine, and mark down the approximate claim locations with pen, and then put this map of my run up on the blog so you can kind of see what I am talking about.
So I want to stress... LOCATION is VERY important... If your finder matches the average depth for Niksarium, you should be mining where Niksarium is found. If it matches for gazzurdite or durulium, you should go where those are found. There are areas where you are mostly going to hit rare ores if you hit anything at all, but these areas are not practical for most of us to go for.
So the lesson I wish to convey here is this:
1. Not every ore can be found in every location.
2. Pay attention to the specific areas you are finding something you want to find.
3. Watch for patterns and veins.
4. You might do well to track your claims... Make an Excel spreadsheet. If you don't have microsoft office, go to openoffice.org and install a free office suite. As my programming skills improve I hope to make a utility that you can load your spreadsheets and it will translate all the coordinates into spots on a map of the Entropia Universe. But tracking the areas where you are finding what will give you an idea of specific areas and relative concentrations of the ores so that way when you take up crafting for instance, or when prices skyrocket on one ore or another, you know where to go and can take full advantage of this.
5. Take rumors with a grain of salt. If testing theories, take notes, and don't risk peds you can't afford to lose.
6. Keep checking my blog for new information :-) And I am thinking about announcing a contest for my blog. I have some blueprints that aren't selling so I am going to find a unique way of giving them away. I will make this announcement once I've devised a way to do this. I have a 100QR BSM print and a 60 some QR MannMPH dlxe print. I will start planning something...
Good luck,,,
And in the words of Mr. Spock (sort of), "Live Long and Prospect" :-)
Mining Basics Part 2: Controlling Your Costs
Seems appropriate to make this the next topic of discussion. This is a continuation of the following post: http://entropiauniverseguide.blogspot.com/2011/12/mining-basics-part-1-pointers-for-noobs.html#comments
If you don't like the standard costs for prospecting (1 ped / 20 probes) or surveying (0.50 Ped / 10 probes), there is another option.
You may obtain a rookie finder and use rookie bombs. I believe it is 10 pecs per drop each for ore or enmatter, and 20 pecs if dropping both. So you are spending 2 probes for ore and 2 probes for enmatter.
Your claims are going to be much smaller too, but people still global and even hof on a rookie finder. I have hit VIII's with my first few rookie bombs. This is useful for skilling, or testing a new area you aren't sure if you want to risk a more costly run on. And if you come by your peds the hard way and don't want to lose them fast, this might be a safer option for you.
If unamped mining is too low of a stake for you, you may join the "high rollers" and purchase amps.
The amplifiers will increase your cost per drop, thereby increasing your claim sizes. I believe every claim has a base size, and that your decay puts into effect a multiplier value that is unknown to all but the system. In this way, everyone is proportionately rewarded according to their spend.
However, it is curious that you might not hof or global with an amp but soon as you take it off, your hofs and globals start happening. Don't be discouraged. I recommend you follow the rule of thumb of 5 levels of skill per level of amp. And I don't recommend going past a level 2 or 3 until you are well above level 20.
By the time you reach the biggest of the amps, you are spending up to 10 peds to drop for ore. And if what I hear about amps costing the same decay no matter what you do, then it reasons that enmatters will cost about 9.50 peds per drop, or almost 20 peds when combined, and this doesn't take into account the markup of the amp. As you can see, it is quite possible to wager a significant amount if you so choose, or you may play for almost literally, peanuts.
If you don't like the standard costs for prospecting (1 ped / 20 probes) or surveying (0.50 Ped / 10 probes), there is another option.
You may obtain a rookie finder and use rookie bombs. I believe it is 10 pecs per drop each for ore or enmatter, and 20 pecs if dropping both. So you are spending 2 probes for ore and 2 probes for enmatter.
Your claims are going to be much smaller too, but people still global and even hof on a rookie finder. I have hit VIII's with my first few rookie bombs. This is useful for skilling, or testing a new area you aren't sure if you want to risk a more costly run on. And if you come by your peds the hard way and don't want to lose them fast, this might be a safer option for you.
If unamped mining is too low of a stake for you, you may join the "high rollers" and purchase amps.
The amplifiers will increase your cost per drop, thereby increasing your claim sizes. I believe every claim has a base size, and that your decay puts into effect a multiplier value that is unknown to all but the system. In this way, everyone is proportionately rewarded according to their spend.
However, it is curious that you might not hof or global with an amp but soon as you take it off, your hofs and globals start happening. Don't be discouraged. I recommend you follow the rule of thumb of 5 levels of skill per level of amp. And I don't recommend going past a level 2 or 3 until you are well above level 20.
By the time you reach the biggest of the amps, you are spending up to 10 peds to drop for ore. And if what I hear about amps costing the same decay no matter what you do, then it reasons that enmatters will cost about 9.50 peds per drop, or almost 20 peds when combined, and this doesn't take into account the markup of the amp. As you can see, it is quite possible to wager a significant amount if you so choose, or you may play for almost literally, peanuts.
Mining Basics Part 1: Pointers for Noobs to Get Started :-)
I wanted to thank Luizeba for the kind comment I just received... In response, I've decided to go ahead and spend a few posts focusing on the beginning miner.
To start with... You will have the ability to use only the basic mining equipment. The TT finder which is the Ziplex Z1 I believe. As you max this out, it is common to move on to the F101, F102, etc. However, I STRONGLY urge you pay no mind to the skill increase bonus. I have always gained skills faster and had better returns with equipment I've already maxed out. Skills are not so important as it is to be economic and efficient. When you follow the SIB, you become less efficient and less economical. I only advise moving on to the next finder when it is maxed out for you. And I have noticed no difference in the rate of skill gain between SIB and non SIB. If it didn't benefit Mindark to have SIB, they wouldn't have gone through the trouble to add it.
I believe you will do well to move on to the Z5 as your second finder. It has served me very well. In fact, I hold the Z finders in high regard... However, the F105 is considered the "gold standard" for the average prospector. I will save this for one of the next parts to this series of posts.
What I am getting at is, you have low skill, low level finder, so you should target areas where there are high concentrations of common low level ores and enmatters. It will do you little good to go into an area that is mostly deep and high markup ores with shallow finder and little skill.
Here's a few rules for you to follow to get off to a good start:
1. If you go to any location, and hit 5 NRF's in a row, go back to the TP, and go to a different area. Many areas have different servers, and if one is on a very cold cycle, another one is probably doing better. If searching for Ores, if you don't hit in the first 3 bombs, it's usually going to be a bad run in my experience. I have had 20 or 30 NRF's in a row expecting it to turn around and it didn't, so it makes a difference to move.
2. If you get a claim in a seemingly unmineable spot, get as close as you can, and right click your deed and click "summon claim". It will put it right next to you so you can mine it.
3. Don't get in a hurry to bomb all over the place. Take your time. Put about 8 to 12 seconds between bomb drops if you are running. If NRF's keep persisting, increase the distance to 15 to 20 seconds. I know it is hard to bomb so slowly, but it does help most of the time.
4. If you are not getting claims OR skills, the area is likely very cold, and is best to go somewhere else.
Treasure Island is good for starting out on... Sweetstuff, Force Nexus, Typonolic, Lytarian... As a rule, most enmatters are quite easy to hit. But if looking for ore you can expect a lot of blausariam and some cobalt and little durulium and gazzurdite.
The islands directly south of Port Atlantis ONLY yield Oil and Lyst... It might be worth a try if you are just using the TT finder.
My own personal recommendations of areas to hit as a noob, and test are, in no particular order:
Nymphtown (Ignisium and Dianthus), Fort Troy, Fort Ithaca, Ashi (I've globalled on oil a few times here), Shinook River (Lumis Leach), New Switzerland, The area surrounding Twin Peaks (quite a bit of mineable area with low level mobs or no mobs if you are careful. Lots of Belkar, Oil, and some Melchi and Blaus).
The other option is to go to www.mininglog.com, and look at the map. Look for the regions with the highest % of claims for common ores. Blausariam, Belkar, Lysterium, Oil, Nexus, Sweetstuff, Typonolic, Lytarian, etc.
Target the common stuff, the more valueable stuff will come with it now and then. If you target just the valuable stuff as miners tend to want to do, you are cutting your returns in the long run. Sure, the system eventually will balance it out, but keeping your returns as good as you can is the difference between depositing a little, or a lot before you see your first big hof.
Some areas are less hospitable to low level miners than others. If you follow my advice, you should see some improvements in your return... But I will expand this post as necessary. I will post again within the next 12 to 24 hours, and will be a bit more specifc and thorough on exact locations you should focus on exploring and testing.
To start with... You will have the ability to use only the basic mining equipment. The TT finder which is the Ziplex Z1 I believe. As you max this out, it is common to move on to the F101, F102, etc. However, I STRONGLY urge you pay no mind to the skill increase bonus. I have always gained skills faster and had better returns with equipment I've already maxed out. Skills are not so important as it is to be economic and efficient. When you follow the SIB, you become less efficient and less economical. I only advise moving on to the next finder when it is maxed out for you. And I have noticed no difference in the rate of skill gain between SIB and non SIB. If it didn't benefit Mindark to have SIB, they wouldn't have gone through the trouble to add it.
I believe you will do well to move on to the Z5 as your second finder. It has served me very well. In fact, I hold the Z finders in high regard... However, the F105 is considered the "gold standard" for the average prospector. I will save this for one of the next parts to this series of posts.
What I am getting at is, you have low skill, low level finder, so you should target areas where there are high concentrations of common low level ores and enmatters. It will do you little good to go into an area that is mostly deep and high markup ores with shallow finder and little skill.
Here's a few rules for you to follow to get off to a good start:
1. If you go to any location, and hit 5 NRF's in a row, go back to the TP, and go to a different area. Many areas have different servers, and if one is on a very cold cycle, another one is probably doing better. If searching for Ores, if you don't hit in the first 3 bombs, it's usually going to be a bad run in my experience. I have had 20 or 30 NRF's in a row expecting it to turn around and it didn't, so it makes a difference to move.
2. If you get a claim in a seemingly unmineable spot, get as close as you can, and right click your deed and click "summon claim". It will put it right next to you so you can mine it.
3. Don't get in a hurry to bomb all over the place. Take your time. Put about 8 to 12 seconds between bomb drops if you are running. If NRF's keep persisting, increase the distance to 15 to 20 seconds. I know it is hard to bomb so slowly, but it does help most of the time.
4. If you are not getting claims OR skills, the area is likely very cold, and is best to go somewhere else.
Treasure Island is good for starting out on... Sweetstuff, Force Nexus, Typonolic, Lytarian... As a rule, most enmatters are quite easy to hit. But if looking for ore you can expect a lot of blausariam and some cobalt and little durulium and gazzurdite.
The islands directly south of Port Atlantis ONLY yield Oil and Lyst... It might be worth a try if you are just using the TT finder.
My own personal recommendations of areas to hit as a noob, and test are, in no particular order:
Nymphtown (Ignisium and Dianthus), Fort Troy, Fort Ithaca, Ashi (I've globalled on oil a few times here), Shinook River (Lumis Leach), New Switzerland, The area surrounding Twin Peaks (quite a bit of mineable area with low level mobs or no mobs if you are careful. Lots of Belkar, Oil, and some Melchi and Blaus).
The other option is to go to www.mininglog.com, and look at the map. Look for the regions with the highest % of claims for common ores. Blausariam, Belkar, Lysterium, Oil, Nexus, Sweetstuff, Typonolic, Lytarian, etc.
Target the common stuff, the more valueable stuff will come with it now and then. If you target just the valuable stuff as miners tend to want to do, you are cutting your returns in the long run. Sure, the system eventually will balance it out, but keeping your returns as good as you can is the difference between depositing a little, or a lot before you see your first big hof.
Some areas are less hospitable to low level miners than others. If you follow my advice, you should see some improvements in your return... But I will expand this post as necessary. I will post again within the next 12 to 24 hours, and will be a bit more specifc and thorough on exact locations you should focus on exploring and testing.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
A Look at Level 2 Amplifier Lights
Every time I am doing very well, with great returns, and put a level 2 light on my finder, my returns go way down. It has never failed. But if I use a level 2 non light, I get good returns. There is no statistical difference between the two amps, but I don't know if anyone else noticed this streaky trait. I have no explanation, but it would be logical to advise you to run with non-light amplifiers if you can afford to.
There may be hidden characteristics between a 2 and a 2 light that do not show in item information. But I would also suspect that the amp you use the most, will return the most. I used to do very well on level 2's and 3's, but when I run anything bigger, my returns go as nearly zero as statistically possible. I literally had about 20 peds returned on a level 8 amped run. I am advising to stick to a ratio between 5 and 10 levels of skill per level of amplifier. It has been the golden ratio for me, and any time I stray above that, I suffer horrible returns. There are people out there no doubt that can prove me wrong, it is entirely possible you could buy a level 13, drop one bomb and hit a tower.. However, it could be simply a result of how many peds you lost hunting and crafting, and the system decided to balance itself out. Who really knows. But I tend to Mine and Craft equally. My crafting losses tend to be made up while mining, and mining losses tend to be made up crafting. But who knows if it is the crafting making up for the crafting losses from earlier, at a later time and likewise for the mining. There really is no way to know.
There may be hidden characteristics between a 2 and a 2 light that do not show in item information. But I would also suspect that the amp you use the most, will return the most. I used to do very well on level 2's and 3's, but when I run anything bigger, my returns go as nearly zero as statistically possible. I literally had about 20 peds returned on a level 8 amped run. I am advising to stick to a ratio between 5 and 10 levels of skill per level of amplifier. It has been the golden ratio for me, and any time I stray above that, I suffer horrible returns. There are people out there no doubt that can prove me wrong, it is entirely possible you could buy a level 13, drop one bomb and hit a tower.. However, it could be simply a result of how many peds you lost hunting and crafting, and the system decided to balance itself out. Who really knows. But I tend to Mine and Craft equally. My crafting losses tend to be made up while mining, and mining losses tend to be made up crafting. But who knows if it is the crafting making up for the crafting losses from earlier, at a later time and likewise for the mining. There really is no way to know.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
ANNOUNCEMENT: My First Four Digit HOF!
I have done it finally!!! I hit my first four digit hof! After four years! Just shy of level 25 prospector, I hit a XXI Cobalt, Unamped, 1322 Peds! Of course it kind of sucks because Cobalt is down to about 122% on orders, from it's usual 135% to 150%... But everything else is super cheap now too so it's a buyers market at least.
This is the only place on the web I will post the full screenshot with the coordinates not blotted out. Everywhere else that I post, is going to have the coords blacked out. This is done as a thank you to my loyal readers who have made the success of this blog possible.
My instinct tells me this is only the beginning!!!
My instinct tells me this is only the beginning!!!
Friday, November 18, 2011
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!
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!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
ADVICE: When Double-Bombing Is A Good Idea
This is just a matter of opinion based on my own experiences. Results may vary.
I seldom double bomb... But if I hit an unknown ore with an unknown size, I go back and mine it, then I head out to about where I dropped the bomb that found that claim then I drop again, and almost always , say 85% of the time, I will find a claim not far from where the first one was.
Double bombing is kind of a yes/no/maybe so thing. It's never guaranteed.
However.. I have known of people to double bomb after they hit a global, and they sometimes hit another global or even a hof. You just don't know.
But my best odds have been double bombing an unknown claim.
I seldom double bomb... But if I hit an unknown ore with an unknown size, I go back and mine it, then I head out to about where I dropped the bomb that found that claim then I drop again, and almost always , say 85% of the time, I will find a claim not far from where the first one was.
Double bombing is kind of a yes/no/maybe so thing. It's never guaranteed.
However.. I have known of people to double bomb after they hit a global, and they sometimes hit another global or even a hof. You just don't know.
But my best odds have been double bombing an unknown claim.
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