Orca Guide: Difference between revisions

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The obvious use for the ship is to support mining ops, but how?

The Orca has some disadvantages in a mining op. First, it's a pilot that could be mining, assuming they have the skills. For example, if the Orca pilot has the skills they would need to fly a Hulk, they would need to be boosting 4 miners to be worthwhile in terms of yield over mining themselves. This is because an Orca with full bonuses (Industrial Command Ship 5, Mining Director 5, Warfare Link Specialist 5, Mindlink Implant) would have roughly a 25% bonus to each activated mining link.

{{expansion past| The Orca has some disadvantages in a mining op. First, it's a pilot that could be mining, assuming they have the skills. For example, if the Orca pilot has the skills they would need to fly a Hulk, they would need to be boosting 4 miners to be worthwhile in terms of yield over mining themselves. This is because an Orca with full bonuses (Industrial Command Ship 5, Mining Director 5, Warfare Link Specialist 5, Mindlink Implant) would have roughly a 25% bonus to each activated mining link.|width=90%}}

Secondly, the cargo space isn’t enough to support 4 or more hulks mining a belt. Even if you fit it for max storage, it holds about 180,000 m3 of ore (remember, the ship bay only holds ships) between the cargohold, orehold, and fleet hangar. That’s about 6 and a half full cans worth of ore. Not bad, but a large mining op will fill up 6 cans quickly. And if the Orca has to warp back to a station to keep dumping ore, that negates the link bonuses, as they deactivate in warp. Losing a range bonus halfway through a strip miner cycle can waste a lot of ore if the asteroid drops out of range. Not to mention that the inertia and warp speed modifiers, while faster than a freighter, will still make your hulk feel like a frigate in comparison, so constantly moving the ship isn’t a real option. A dedicated hauler is still required.

However, the Orca has many bonuses on top of mining yield. The range ~~link~~ is invaluable, as it cuts down on how often you have to move your mining ships to new targets, considering the speed of most mining vessels. Someone who is out of range is mining zero ore.

However, the Orca has many bonuses on top of mining yield. The range burst is invaluable, as it cuts down on how often you have to move your mining ships to new targets, considering the speed of most mining vessels. Someone who is out of range is mining zero ore.

Second, the range of the tractor beam on the Orca makes it great for pulling in cans to a central location, rather than having haulers slowboating around belts to scoop them up with pitiful range tractor beams. Or even worse, requiring mining ships to haul their own ore back to station. The orca can also tractor the rat wrecks to a central point as well. Many mining ops have more than one hauler. If one of them is in an orca, not only do miners get the bonuses, but the haulers can be reduced in number since they have a single warp-in point to keep offloading ore. The orca pilot can also use drones to destroy and salvage belt rats allowing miners to equip only mining drones and removing the need for someone to have a salvage module in a high slot. Another advantage of the huge range on the beam is that the orca can pull in cans when a can flipper is in the system. Don't forget that if the Hulks / miners remain within 2500m of the Orca then miners can drop the ore directly into the fleet hangar completely removing the risk of theft.

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 The obvious use for the ship is to support mining ops, but how?
-The Orca has some disadvantages in a mining op. First, it's a pilot that could be mining, assuming they have the skills. For example, if the Orca pilot has the skills they would need to fly a Hulk, they would need to be boosting 4 miners to be worthwhile in terms of yield over mining themselves. This is because an Orca with full bonuses (Industrial Command Ship 5, Mining Director 5, Warfare Link Specialist 5, Mindlink Implant) would have roughly a 25% bonus to each activated mining link.
+{{expansion past| The Orca has some disadvantages in a mining op. First, it's a pilot that could be mining, assuming they have the skills. For example, if the Orca pilot has the skills they would need to fly a Hulk, they would need to be boosting 4 miners to be worthwhile in terms of yield over mining themselves. This is because an Orca with full bonuses (Industrial Command Ship 5, Mining Director 5, Warfare Link Specialist 5, Mindlink Implant) would have roughly a 25% bonus to each activated mining link.|width=90%}}
 Secondly, the cargo space isn’t enough to support 4 or more hulks mining a belt.  Even if you fit it for max storage, it holds about 180,000 m3 of ore (remember, the ship bay only holds ships) between the cargohold, orehold, and fleet hangar.  That’s about 6 and a half full cans worth of ore.  Not bad, but a large mining op will fill up 6 cans quickly.  And if the Orca has to warp back to a station to keep dumping ore, that negates the link bonuses, as they deactivate in warp. Losing a range bonus halfway through a strip miner cycle can waste a lot of ore if the asteroid drops out of range.  Not to mention that the inertia and warp speed modifiers, while faster than a freighter, will still make your hulk feel like a frigate in comparison, so constantly moving the ship isn’t a real option. A dedicated hauler is still required.
-However, the Orca has many bonuses on top of mining yield. The range link is invaluable, as it cuts down on how often you have to move your mining ships to new targets, considering the speed of most mining vessels.  Someone who is out of range is mining zero ore.
+However, the Orca has many bonuses on top of mining yield. The range burst is invaluable, as it cuts down on how often you have to move your mining ships to new targets, considering the speed of most mining vessels.  Someone who is out of range is mining zero ore.
 Second, the range of the tractor beam on the Orca makes it great for pulling in cans to a central location, rather than having haulers slowboating around belts to scoop them up with pitiful range tractor beams.  Or even worse, requiring mining ships to haul their own ore back to station.  The orca can also tractor the rat wrecks to a central point as well.  Many mining ops have more than one hauler.  If one of them is in an orca, not only do miners get the bonuses, but the haulers can be reduced in number since they have a single warp-in point to keep offloading ore. The orca pilot can also use drones to destroy and salvage belt rats allowing miners to equip only mining drones and removing the need for someone to have a salvage module in a high slot.  Another advantage of the huge range on the beam is that the orca can pull in cans when a can flipper is in the system. Don't forget that if the Hulks / miners remain within 2500m of the Orca then miners can drop the ore directly into the fleet hangar completely removing the risk of theft.