The Complete Miner's Guide by Halada
19Version 2.2
3. The Math System
Previous sections weren't plagued with mathematical equations. This was my attempt
to start softly, but now it's time to be serious. The only way to compare ships is to
compare their actual yield and what they are capable of, and this can only be done with
math, lots of math (although nothing complicated!). If you can understand the system,
then you will be able to apply it to every ship in the game, so there won't be any need to
eve-mail me and ask me what yield you would get with the skills you now have! If you
do I'll spank you, m'okay?
3.1 Skill System
The skill levels in EVE, whatever which skill it is, stack. Concretely, it means the following: using the skill Mining as an example, which gives a 5% bonus to the yield of your mining laser per level, if you trained Mining to level 4, it means you get :
5%*4=20% bonus from the skill Mining at level 4.
The effect of the different skills you trained though have to be multiplied together. Say
you have Astrogeology at level 4 (which also gives a 5% bonus per level to your yield)
and Mining at level 4, then your net yield would be:
Base laser yield * 1.20 * 1.20 = XXX
Using T2 Miners, which has a 60 m3/cycle base yield, you would get:
60 * 1.20 * 1.20 = 86.4 m3/cycle (note that the yield is not truncated nor rounded)
Simple enough? Let's keep going !
3.2 Cycles
Cycles determine how many seconds your laser need to complete a full, well, "mining
cycle". The ore you mined will appear in your cargo at the end of that cycle. Named,T1
and T2 mining lasers have a cycle of 60 seconds (1 minute) and strip mining lasers (T1
and T2) as well as the Modulated Deep Core Mining Lasers II (MDCM2) have a cycle of
180 seconds (3 minutes). Ice harvesters will be covered in another section, as the whole
ice mining system is quite different from the asteroid mining system.
Before we go any further, you should know that strips can only be fitted on Mining
Barges or Exhumers. People are often confused with the cycle time and wonder what is
the actual benefit of having a longer cycle. The biggest advantage is actually much more
practical than it is beneficial... simply put, most of the time, the cargo of your ship will be filled after every cycle, which means if you're using the jetcan mining technique
(which you should), you'll be emptying your cargo every minute... which means you'll
be doing it 60 times per hour instead of 20 if you're using strip miners. It might not look
like a lot now, but it DOES make a difference at the end, believe me.