Guide to Mining
Mining can be dangerous, tedious, and boring. However no reward is without it's risks. This guide provides the information you need to work as quickly and effectively as possible.
Ore
Ore is your main objective. You can send any ore to the quartermaster to sell, and certain ores will also be useful to the roboticist and to yourself to upgrade your equipment. Each ore carries a basic toughness that corresponds to the tool needed to mine it. Certain ores are dangerous and require special care.
| Name | Image | Classification | Toughness | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mauxite |  |
Sturdy Metal | Space steel! The roboticist makes his friends out of this stuff, so he'll go through a lot. Makes up one quarter of a mining charge. | |
| Molitz |  |
Crystal | Space glass! Another useful material for the roboticist. Makes up the second quarter of a mining charge. | |
| Pharosium |  |
Metal, Conductor | Space copper! Very useful for roboticists and makes up the remaining half of a mining charge. If you like bombing rocks, this will be the first mineral to run out. | |
| Char |  |
Not construction-grade material | Space coal! Prime furnace fuel, secondary trade good for the quartermaster and the closest thing to gunpowder on the station if you are into that kind of thing. | |
| Cobryl |  |
Metal | Space silver! Decent money maker, but no real practical use. If you're a straggler stuck with nothing but a pick and barren fabricators, this is your breadwinner. | |
| Bohrum |  |
Dense Metal, Dense Matter | Space adamantium! The backbone of higher tier mining equipment, you'll want a lot of this in your recycler to make anything worthwhile. | |
| Claretine |  |
High Energy Conductor | Space MgB²! Required in bulk for all high-performance digging gear and industrial armor, the two most desirable things on a miner's wish list. | |
| Dense Mauxite |  |
Sturdy Metal | Difficult to mine, but contains many times the yield of ordinary mauxite veins. | |
| Dense Pharosium |  |
Metal, Conductor | Difficult to mine, but contains many times the yield of ordinary pharosium veins. | |
| Plasmastone |  |
Crystal, Power Source | Space fuel! Explodes violently if shocked by mining charge, so stick to drills. A few top-shelf mining goodies want this, but it's most useful refined into extra fuel in the Engineering ore distiller or stuffed inside pipebombs. | |
| Cerenkite |  |
Metal, Power Source | Space asbestos! Horribly radioactive, digging in without a heavy hazard suit is a slow suicide. Occupies the same fabricator niche as plasmastone, but specializes in very desirable cyborg power cells instead of high-yield bombs. | |
| Syreline |  |
Metal | Space platinum! Very difficult to mine without explosives and practically useless, but worth a king's ransom to the quartermaster. | |
| Rock |  |
Not construction-grade material | Space dirt! Completely worthless unless you're a rock worm. However, rock worms are known to frequent the trading circles, so the QM probably won't mind if a few lumps end up in your latest cobryl dispatch. |
Gems
Gems are rare and valuable. A mined rock may contain only 1 gem at a time. Use your geological scanner to find gems quickly.
| Name | Image | Classification | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cytine |  |
Crystal | Space jewels. Fancy array of colors, but only good for money. Slip them inside cash ore shipments. |
| Telecrystal |  |
Crystal, High Energy Power Source | Shiny cones that let you break the laws of physics. Can be used in some machinery, for cyborg upgrades and be sold off for a good sum. No, you can't use them to get more Syndicate gear. |
| Fibrilith |  |
Not construction-grade material | Space silk. When put into a fabricator, it turns into a certain amount of fabric. Raw lumps of the stuff fetch a good price on the open market, though. |
| Erebite |  |
Power Source | The Devil's plasmastone. As dangerous as it is rare, it makes a menacing pipebomb or an extremely fast-charging cyborg cell. Look in plasmastone veins for small bits of these. |
| Uqill | High Density Matter | Crystallized scifi magic. Required for high-end mining gear, certain upgrades at robotics, always sells well at the cargo bay, and can be used to make replacement ammo for the RCD. | |
| Miracle Matter |  |
Anomalous | Mineral wild cards. When put into a recycling unit, it will turn into a random amount of a random ore or gem, including the ones unheard of in the course of ordinary mining operations. |
| Starstone |  |
Crystal | Extremely valuable, but it's unlikely you'll find one until after a meteor shower has hit the station. Sell them to certain merchants to become an instant millionaire! |
Special Rocks
Certain rocks may have special conditions on them. Using your geological scanner will give specific information and spit out symbols denoting these conditions.
| Type | Symbol | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Weak |  |
Rock has -1 toughness. |
| Dense |  |
Rock has +1 toughness. |
| Hazardous |  |
Rock contains either radioactive or volatile ore. Radioactive rock will glow blueish once exposed. Volatile ore will glow red when struck, giving you only a few moments to escape. |
| Foreign Object |  |
Contains a smuggler stash, an artifact or a sleeping rock worm. Poke it with the scanner to find out what. |
| Gem |  |
Rock contains a gem. No reason not to crack it open. |
| Super-dense |  |
Rock contains a very high quantity of extremely dense ore. This occurs in very small asteroids. Ore cannot be harvested using tools, you must use an extractor rig on these rocks. |
Equipment
All equipment and tools can be manufactured at the mining fabricator. This includes your basic beginning gear if you lose it or show up late and all of it is gone.
Starting Equipment
| Item | Image | Description | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Space Suit Set |  |
Provides protection from the vacuum of space. The helmet has a built-in flashlight. | 3 Fabric, 3 Metal, 2 Crystal |
| Jetpack |  |
Provides air and allows you to move freely in space when worn on your back. Can be topped off using the large O2 canister in the outpost. Requires a breath mask to work. | 2 Dense Metal, 10 Conductive Material |
| Mining Belt |  |
Holds most of the gear and equipment you will need to mine. | N/A |
| Geological Scanner |  |
Use the scanner in your active hand to scan all rocks in view. The scanner will spit out a report and put symbols on rocks with something out of the ordinary in them. Using it on a piece of asteroid will tell you specifically what ore is present, its toughness, any danger conditions, and the presence of any foreign items. | 1 Metal, 1 Conductive Material, 1 Crystal |
| Ore Satchel |  |
Holds up to 30 units of ore. To quickly pick up ore, click and drag one piece onto the satchel and you will automatically begin grabbing all ore of that type in every space surrounding you. Clicking the satchel in your active hand will dump its contents onto the ground. Use it on a mining fabricator to empty it into that device. | 5 Fabric |
| Optical Meson Scanners |  |
Allows you to see the composition of asteroids. | 3 Crystal, 2 Conductive Material |
| Cargo Transporter |  |
Used to transport crates, lockers or alien artifacts to valid pads, the most important of which are located in QM and the mining outpost. Use it in your active hand to pick a destination, then on the item to teleport it. Has 10 uses before it must be recharged. | N/A |
| Flashlight |  |
Provides additional light if you opt to go exploring derelicts and other foreboding parts of space, but useless for mining. | 1 Metal, 1 Conductive Material, 1 Crystal |
| Breath Mask |  |
Required for full spacesuit gear. | 1 Fabric |
Advanced Equipment
| Item | Image | Description | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Space Armor Set |  |
Formerly known as a "RIG Suit." Replaces the standard spacesuit and helmet. It provides protection against radiation and explosions. | 15 Dense Metal, 7 High Energy Conductor, 3 High Density Matter |
| Mechanized Boots |  |
Gives the wearer a permanent speed boost, both in space and indoors. Moving around quickly will also deplete the contents of your jetpack faster, so be careful. | 15 Sturdy Metal, 7 High Energy Conductor, 3 Plasmastone |
| Large Ore Satchel | |
Like a regular satchel, but holds 75 ore instead of 30. | 25 Fabric, 3 Dense Metal |
Tools
Certain tools carry a "toughness" rating. To mine a piece of rock, your tool must have equal or greater toughness than that rock. In addition, "Hot" mining tools will set off volatile ores and should be handled with care.
| Item | Image | Toughness | Notes | Safety | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickaxe |  |
You get this when your powered pickaxe runs out of juice. Utterly useless. | Hot | 1 Sturdy Metal | |
| Powered Pickaxe |  |
Starting equipment. Has 30 uses before it must be recharged. | Safe | 2 Sturdy Metal, 5 Conductive Material | |
| Power Hammer |  |
Weakens rocks, lowering their toughness by one. Available in Mining Crates that the quartermaster can order. | Hot | 1 High Density Matter, 8 Conductive Material | |
| Laser Drill |  |
Has infinite charge. | Safe | 15 Sturdy Metal, 7 Dense Metal, 10 High Energy Conductor | |
| Concussive Gauntlets |  |
Worn on your hands and allows you to simply punch rocks with an empty hand. Infinite charges. Also increase your basic punching damage a bit. | Safe | 15 Dense Metal, 15 High Energy Conductor, 2 Power Source | |
| Low-Yield Mining Explosives | Plant on an asteroid to produce a small concussive blast. Will break nearby rocks and weaken rocks at the edge of its blast. Has a 5 second countdown. Starting equipment and can be made in the fabricator in sets of 5. | Hot | 3 Metal, 3 Crystal, 7 Conductive Material | ||
| Mining Explosive | A stronger variant of the mining explosive, also in packs of 5. Whether regular or low-yield, miners should never set bombs next to veins of volatile ore. This will cause a massive explosion that both destroys the ore, possibly kills you or another miner, and lags the server to hell. | Hot | 7 Metal, 7 Crystal, 15 Conductive Material |
Machinery
Large mining machines cannot be picked up but can be pulled or dragged. Moving them in space requires a good deal of patience as they will often slip out of your hands and you will have to double back. Nevertheless, they can be used to harvest great deals of ore.
| Item | Image | Description | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining Bot |  |
You can unlock the mining bot with your ID to change its settings. It can be set to mine certain toughness of ores and to avoid or attempt to mine potential trouble spots. A few start right outside the mining outpost. They operate very slowly and are more of a "set it and forget it" deal. Can be made at robotics and is available at the cargo bay if you really need more. | N/A |
| Ore Extraction Rig |  |
Used to harvest ore from dense asteroids. Move the extractor next to the asteroid, then bring up the "Select Target" menu to have it recognize the asteroid. Turn it on to have it begin harvesting. It can also be set to send a status message to your PDA when it has finished. It works very slowly and is very limited in its basic form, but upgrades can be purchased. A few start right outside the mining outpost. Without upgrades, it can only harvest Level 1 toughness ores. | 20 Sturdy Metal, 20 Conductive Material |
| Extractor Capacity Upgrade |  |
Increases the available space in the Extractor's hopper. | 10 Dense Metal, 1 High Density Matter |
| Extractor Teleporter Upgrade | |
Allows the rig to teleport ore as it is harvested to any valid teleport pad. Essential for any productive use of the rigs. | 8 Power Source, 4 Plasmastone, 2 Telecrystal |
| Extractor Bohrum Drill Upgrade | |
Allows the rig to mine Level 2 toughness ore. | 7 Bohrum |
| Extractor Uqill Drill Upgrade | |
Allows the rig to mine Level 3 toughness ore. | 3 Uqill |
| Extractor Plasma Drill Upgrade | |
Allows the rig to mine Level 4 toughness ore. | 15 Plasmastone |
| Mineral Accumulator |  |
Allows you to pick up large piles of ore at once and teleport them to any valid teleport pad. To use, first set a destination, then drag to its desired location, and turn it on. Any loose ore in an 8-tile radius will be pulled into it and teleported. The machine must be turned off to move it again. Best used in combination with bombs. | 25 Sturdy Metal, 15 High Energy Conductor, 2 Telecrystal |
| Power Cell |  |
Used in APCs and machinery. | 4 Metal, 4 Conductive Material, 4 Any Material |
| Erebite Power Cell |  |
A higher capacity but very volatile power cell. | 4 Metal, 4 Any Material, 2 Erebite |
| Cerenkite Power Cell |  |
A very high capacity power cell that any cyborg would be glad to have. | 4 Metal, 4 Any Material, 2 Cerenkite |
Interesting Finds
In addition to ore and gems, you may unearth a variety of interesting objects and critters.
Rock Worms
Harmless creatures that will move around, eating up rocks, ore, and gems. If you can manage to kill one, you might get a surprise.
Abandoned Crates
Crates with a coded lock. Attempting to open will prompt you to enter a number between 1 and 10. You are allowed 3 guesses, and failing the third guess will cause the crate to explode, destroying its contents and hurting you if you are not wearing a RIG suit. To improve your odds of success, you can use a multitool on the crate, and it will tell you whether the last code entered was too high or too low. Alternatively, if you have procured an electromagnetic card, you can simply hit the crate with it to unlock it instantly. Abandoned crates contain a large variety of goodies not otherwise available on the station. If you don't feel like opening the crate yourself, check to see if any departments back on the station will be willing to receive it.
Crap People Have Found in Abandoned Crates
Lots of alcohol, lots of white, black, rainbow, or omega weed, Little Danny's Snack Cakes, some mining gear including about twenty pieces of a random ore, a laser drill and some concussive charges, one to four cats for some reason, plasma spores, ten-thousand to one-hundred-thousand credits, a phaser that always come with two attachments, a voltron, a hypospray with three reserve tanks filled with anti-toxin, silver sulfide, and styptic powder, an advanced laser gun, a (Seemingly) friendly space-bear, two gold bars, an old hunting rifle, cyborg upgrades consisting of teleport, heat-shield, and efficiency, a syndicate mailman suit, three plasma spores, and a teleport gun.
Feel free to add anything you find to this list, or the list on the forums: http://forum.ss13.co/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2457
Alien Artifacts
Large items of unknown origin and purpose. Can be sent to the Research Wing for artifact research or to the cargo bay for sale.
Fermids
The miner's greatest foe. Fermids can chase you throughout space. If they catch up to you, they will bite you and inject a paralyzing neurotox before slowly gnashing you to death. Nothing short of a laser gun is enough to stop a fermid, so if you encounter them, your best bet is to run away and not lure them towards your outpost. A fermid hive can be found on the mining z-level, for the adventurous miner. They are annoying but ultimately harmless to a cyborg, so if one gets too close to the outpost, scream for a cyborg over the radio. The borg needs only to beat one over the head repeatedly with a wrench to kill the shit out of it.
Other
Easter eggs, stockings, smuggler's creches... go around and explore!