Monday 4 January 2016

Ernest Shackleton would be proud

I've previously covered my use of the T2 Prospect mining frigate to run Level 4 gas mining missions in null sec. It's an excellent ship, fit as I have it its difficult to probe down and admirably does the job its designed to in the minimum amount of time.

In the December 2015 release, Frostline, a new T2 variant mining frigate called the Endurance was released.

Endurance




The Endurance is the latest variant of the Venture mining frigate from ORE. It has the same basic hull as the Venture and Prospect but a great blue-ish grey three tone colouring. Fitting wise the ship is designed to use the new Mining Lasers that were also released in Frostline and are designed to allow "ninja mining in WH or contested Null Sec space".

It's a great looking ship and I've taken a few images with a maximum resolution client so you can bask in the beauty.








A beauty of a ship I think you'll agree.

I've used every mining vessel in the game, including an Armageddon battleship when I was but a noobie, and they all have different uses but living in Null Sec I've found that the Hulk and Mackinaw are kings for mineral and ice mining in fleets but the slow align time and GTFO location that my ice belts are appearing in are making me look at the Endurance.

Fitting


My needs are reasonably basic:
  • tank enough to survive the initial barrage of any belt rats 
  • a fast align time; to allow me to escape at the first sign of trouble.
  • one (or more if possible) mining lasers; to allow me to collect what minerals/ice I'm after
  • low cost; so I can keep several on hand for when I do need a replacement and it won't hurt the wallet when I do

I'd like to say I came up with the following fit but I didn't, I appropriated it from ZGG friend Bex removing the probe launcher as I did not need that as I'll be in systems where I'll have dedicated scanner support.

[Endurance, Meth Addict]

Ice Harvester Upgrade II
Ice Harvester Upgrade II
Ice Harvester Upgrade II

Medium Shield Extender II
1MN Afterburner II
Survey Scanner II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Ice Mining Laser II
Improved Cloaking Device II
[Empty High slot]

Small Processor Overclocking Unit I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

All up the hull and fittings cost just over 30m ISK and combined with a dedicated mining fleet booster the cycle time per laser is between 30 seconds (with Expedition Frigates V) and 40 seconds.

PROFIT?


The ice will then be used to produce fuel for towers and sold, at discount, to friends and allies for their own use.

So far I've only had two at any one time running, this is the fault of my training queue and this is being rectified as you read this. By the end of the second week of 2016 I shall have four pilots mining ice for me.

This is a great ship, it's meeting a set of requirements I had and means that the slower and bulkier Mackinaw and Hulks I'd normally use aren't being put in unnecessary danger. Sure I'd like the frigates to have more than 1 turret hard point but what I have works and using Fleet mechanics I can squad warp in, mine until rats or a visitor appears then squad warp out leaving my tactical support to deal with rats or unwelcome visitors.

For 30m ISK I cannot recommend this ship and fit for ice mining in all regions of space be they high sec, low sec, null sec or even wormhole space (remember the probe launcher if you go there).


2 comments:

  1. The rig isn't an overclocking rig, you have plenty of CPU to spare, it was a gravity capacitor upgrade to assist the scanning which you've needlessly removed. *rolls eyes*

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  2. Nice insights on this new frigate, which for the record, I adore. I usually use her solo instead of in a mining fleet and fly a slightly different fit.

    [Endurance, Just the Blue]

    Reactor Control Unit II
    Damage Control II
    Ice Harvester Upgrade I

    Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
    5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
    Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
    Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

    Ice Mining Laser I
    Improved Cloaking Device II
    Core Probe Launcher I, Sisters Core Scanner Probe

    Small Ancillary Current Router II
    Small Core Defense Field Extender I

    Hornet EC-300 x3
    Hobgoblin II x3

    ----

    13K EHP w/my skills, slightly less yield 30m3, but she's fast, flexible, and survivable :) Thanks again for the article -- see you out there.

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