Difference between revisions of "Ice harvesting"

From EVE University Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
(Add mining links infobox)
(Beginning rework)
Line 1: Line 1:
Ice Mining is the process of mining Ice Fields, commonly refered to as "Ice Belts". The Odyssey patch changed the ice belts from permanent system features into anomalies that can be detected with the ship's scanner sensor overlay.
+
{{WIP}}
These Ice Belt anomalies spawn in systems that used to have the permanent ice belts. One ice belt spawns after down time, and then once the ice asteroids have all been mined, a new ice belt will spawn exactly 4 hours after the belt was exhausted.
+
'''Ice Mining''' is the process of mining ice field (commonly called "ice belts"). This mined ice can then be [[Refining|refined]] into fuel for [[Player Owned Structures]] (POS) and [[Jump Drives and Cynosural Fields|Capital Ship Jump Drives]]. Ice mining can only be done with specialized modules (ice miners) which can only be fit to [[ORE Basic Ship and Skill Guide|Mining Barges and Exhumers]]. Unlike [[Mining|ore mining]], ice miners mine one block of ice (with a volume of 1000&nbsp;m<sup>3</sup>) per cycle; as it's not possible to increase this yield, the only way to mine ice more efficiently is to decrease the ice miners' cycle times.  
A typical belt spawn is 10-20 ice asteroids each with 50-200 units of ice.
 
  
The cubes can then be sold or refined into fuel for [[Player Owned Structures]] and [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Jump_drive Capital Ship Jump Drives].
+
Note: the [[Eve_Online_Expansions#Odyssey|Odyssey expansion]] (June 2013) changed ice mining considerably. Before the expansion, ice belts were permanent features in a system, with thousands of ice asteroids spread over hundreds of kilometers. This was changed to much smaller (10-20 ice asteroids each with 50-200 units of ice) dynamic belts which disappear once mined out, and then respawn four hours later.  
  
Special modules are required for ice mining. Each cycle produces a single ice cube some 1,000m3 in size.
+
=== Advantages of Ice Mining ===
As it is not possible to increase this yield, upgrading for more efficiency is achieved by reducing cycle times.
+
* Reduced attention required by the miner when compared with ore mining.
 +
* Ability to be self-sufficient for POS fuel.
 +
* Easier to mine without a dedicated hauler (longer cycle times mean fewer trips to the station).
 +
* Fun factor of 4-hourly 'Ice Rush' when a belt spawns, as dozens of miners rush in to clear the belt.
  
'''Advantages of Ice Mining'''
+
=== Disadvantages of Ice Mining ===
* Reduced attention required by the miner - this has changed with the Odyssey patch - cycle times have halved.
+
* Reduced ISK yield compared to ore mining. While ice commands similar prices to ore, it's not possible to mine ice continuously due to the 4 hour respawn timer on ice belts.
* Self-sufficiency in terms of POS fuels.
 
* Lower penalty for working without a hauler - longer cycle times mean fewer trips to the station.
 
* Fun factor of 4-hourly 'Ice Rush' when a belt spawns, as dozens of miners rush in to clear the belt.  
 
  
 +
== Ice Belts ==
 +
 +
[[File:Dotlan.jpg|200px|thumb|right|A map of the Metropolis region from [http://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Metropolis/ dotlan]. The Eygfe system has an ice belt, as shown by the thin blue ring around its box.]]
 +
<!-- Add in-game picture of an ice belt -->
 +
Ice belts can be found in every region of New Eden, but only in certain systems (a good place to see which systems is [http://evemaps.dotlan.net/ dotlan]). Each of these systems contains one ice belt, which spawns after downtime, disappears once mined out, and then respawns four hours later. Unlike [[Asteroids and Ore#Asteroid belts|asteroid belts]], ice belts are a type of [[Cosmic Anomalies|Cosmic Anomaly]], meaning they will appear in a different location in the star system every time they respawn, and can be found using your ship's onboard scanner (but do not require scan probes to find).
 +
<!-- Add a scanner screenshot with an ice belt on it -->
 +
 +
=== Ice Asteroids ===
 +
 +
There are twelve different types of ice asteroids, split into three categories: faction asteroids, enriched faction asteroids, and standard asteroids.
 +
* Faction asteroids ({{co|slateblue|Clear Icicle}}, {{co|slateblue|Glacial Mass}}, {{co|slateblue|Blue Ice}}, and {{co|slateblue|White Glaze}}) refine to small quantities of Heavy Water, Liquid Ozone and Strontium Clathrates, but large amounts of their respective faction's isotope (Helium Isotopes, Hydrogen Isotopes, Oxygen Isotopes, and Nitrogen Isotopes). Each of these asteroid types is only found in the regions of space controlled by their respective faction (so, for instance, Blue Ice only spawns in Gallente space, and contains Oxygen Isotopes, which are used to fuel the [[jump drive]]s on Gallente ships to manufacture fuel for Gallente [[POS]]es).
 +
* Enriched faction asteroids ({{co|slateblue|Enriched Clear Icicle}}, {{co|slateblue|Smooth Glacial Mass}}, {{co|slateblue|Thick Blue Ice}}, and {{co|slateblue|Pristine White Glaze}}) work the same way as regular faction asteroids, but contain more of the same materials. These asteroids are only found in [[nullsec]].
 +
* Standard asteroids ({{co|slateblue|Glare Crust}}, {{co|slateblue|Dark Glitter}}, {{co|slateblue|Gelidus}}, and {{co|slateblue|Krystallos}}) contain large quantities of Heavy Water, Liquid Ozone and Strontium Clathrates, but no faction isotopes.
  
'''Disadvantages of Ice Mining'''
 
* Reduced ISK yield compared to normal mining - this has changed with the Odyssey patch - ice income per are now comparable to other ores, but the number of hours a day you can mine ice is less than rock ores due to the 4 hour respawn time.
 
* Smaller demand for ice products - this is also changing post-Odyssey, as CCP have stated that supply will be reduced to 80% of demand, so prices should rise.
 
* Increased chances of suicide ganks - this is changing now Odyssey patch has made scripted bot ice mining more difficult with the ice anomalies random location. Also the competition in clearing ice belt has reduced the number of AFK miners.
 
  
  
==Ice Asteroids==
 
  
In Empire space, there are a few systems in each region that have an Ice Field. The nearest to Aldrat is Eygfe. More can be found on external map sources such as [http://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Metropolis dotlan]. However, Dotlan's maps do not reflect the clear icicle fields in Amarr space that were removed with Odyssey 1.0.
 
  
Prior to the Odyssey expansion, ice belts were huge with thousands of ice asteroids spread over hundreds of kilometres, the new ice belt anomalies are much smaller, typically 10-20 ice asteroids spread over 50km.
 
 
   
 
   
===Ice Ore===
+
 
 +
 
 +
 +
refine to
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
 +
! style="background:#222222;" | Refined minerals /<br>Type of ice
 +
! style="background:#222222; font-size:85%;" | [[image:mineral_heavy_water.png|32px|Heavy Water]]<br>Heavy Water
 +
! style="background:#222222; font-size:85%;" | [[image:mineral_helium_isotopes.png|32px|Helium Isotopes]]<br>Helium Isotopes
 +
! style="background:#222222; font-size:85%;" | [[image:mineral_hydrogen_isotopes.png|32px|Hydrogen Isotopes]]<br>Hydrogen Isotopes
 +
! style="background:#222222; font-size:85%;" | [[image:mineral_liquid_ozone.png|32px|Liquid Ozone]]<br>Liquid Ozone
 +
! style="background:#222222; font-size:85%;" | [[image:mineral_nitrogen_isotopes.png|32px|Nitrogen Isotopes]]<br>Nitrogen Isotopes
 +
! style="background:#222222; font-size:85%;" | [[image:mineral_oxygen_isotopes.png|32px|Oxygen Isotopes]]<br>Oxygen Isotopes
 +
! style="background:#222222; font-size:85%;" | [[image:mineral_strontium_clathrates.png|32px|Strontium Clathrates]]<br>Strontium Clathrates
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_blue_ice.png|24px|Blue Ice]] {{co|slateblue|Blue Ice}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_clear_icicle.png|24px|Clear Icicle]] {{co|slateblue|Clear Icicle}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_glacial_mass.png|24px|Glacial Mass]] {{co|slateblue|Glacial Mass}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_white_glaze.png|24px|White Glaze]] {{co|slateblue|White Glaze}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_blue_ice.png|24px|Thick Blue Ice]] {{co|slateblue|Thick Blue Ice}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_clear_icicle.png|24px|Enriched Clear Icicle]] {{co|slateblue|Enriched Clear Icicle}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_glacial_mass.png|24px|Smooth Glacial Mass]] {{co|slateblue|Smooth Glacial Mass}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_white_glaze.png|24px|Pristine White Glaze]] {{co|slateblue|Pristine White Glaze}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_dark_glitter.png|24px|Dark Glitter]] {{co|slateblue|Dark Glitter}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_gelidus.png|24px|Gelidus]] {{co|slateblue|Gelidus}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_glare_crust.png|24px|Glare Crust]] {{co|slateblue|Glare Crust}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|-
 +
| align="left" | [[image:ice_krystallos.png|24px|Krystallos]] {{co|slateblue|Krystallos}}
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
|
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|
 +
 +
| {{icon|check|24}}
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
  
 
There are 4 basic types of ice asteroid. These match the faction that controls local space. With perfect ice refine capability, 1 unit of each type will always produce:
 
There are 4 basic types of ice asteroid. These match the faction that controls local space. With perfect ice refine capability, 1 unit of each type will always produce:
Line 42: Line 173:
 
|}
 
|}
  
 
The complete list of high security systems that contain Clear Icicle anomalies is: Afivad, Agal, Avada, Bashakru, Chanoun, Dantan, Dihra, Erkinen, Esteban, Gamis, Gelhan, Gosalav, Jarzalad, Jerma, Kothe, Manatirid, Miah, Moutid, Ordion, Raravoss, Riavayed, Seil, Talidal, Warouh.<ref>[http://community.eveonline.com/news/patch-notes/patch-notes-for Patch Notes For EVE Online: Odyssey 1.0 - Released on Tuesday, June 4th, 2013]</ref> This list differs from what is displayed on dotlan.
 
  
 
==Basic Ice Mining Requirements==
 
==Basic Ice Mining Requirements==

Revision as of 12:03, 23 April 2014

This page is a work in progress.

This article or section is in the process of an expansion or major restructuring. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well.
If this article or section has not been edited in several days, please remove this template.

Ice Mining is the process of mining ice field (commonly called "ice belts"). This mined ice can then be refined into fuel for Player Owned Structures (POS) and Capital Ship Jump Drives. Ice mining can only be done with specialized modules (ice miners) which can only be fit to Mining Barges and Exhumers. Unlike ore mining, ice miners mine one block of ice (with a volume of 1000 m3) per cycle; as it's not possible to increase this yield, the only way to mine ice more efficiently is to decrease the ice miners' cycle times.

Note: the Odyssey expansion (June 2013) changed ice mining considerably. Before the expansion, ice belts were permanent features in a system, with thousands of ice asteroids spread over hundreds of kilometers. This was changed to much smaller (10-20 ice asteroids each with 50-200 units of ice) dynamic belts which disappear once mined out, and then respawn four hours later.

Advantages of Ice Mining

  • Reduced attention required by the miner when compared with ore mining.
  • Ability to be self-sufficient for POS fuel.
  • Easier to mine without a dedicated hauler (longer cycle times mean fewer trips to the station).
  • Fun factor of 4-hourly 'Ice Rush' when a belt spawns, as dozens of miners rush in to clear the belt.

Disadvantages of Ice Mining

  • Reduced ISK yield compared to ore mining. While ice commands similar prices to ore, it's not possible to mine ice continuously due to the 4 hour respawn timer on ice belts.

Ice Belts

A map of the Metropolis region from dotlan. The Eygfe system has an ice belt, as shown by the thin blue ring around its box.

Ice belts can be found in every region of New Eden, but only in certain systems (a good place to see which systems is dotlan). Each of these systems contains one ice belt, which spawns after downtime, disappears once mined out, and then respawns four hours later. Unlike asteroid belts, ice belts are a type of Cosmic Anomaly, meaning they will appear in a different location in the star system every time they respawn, and can be found using your ship's onboard scanner (but do not require scan probes to find).

Ice Asteroids

There are twelve different types of ice asteroids, split into three categories: faction asteroids, enriched faction asteroids, and standard asteroids.

  • Faction asteroids (Clear Icicle, Glacial Mass, Blue Ice, and White Glaze) refine to small quantities of Heavy Water, Liquid Ozone and Strontium Clathrates, but large amounts of their respective faction's isotope (Helium Isotopes, Hydrogen Isotopes, Oxygen Isotopes, and Nitrogen Isotopes). Each of these asteroid types is only found in the regions of space controlled by their respective faction (so, for instance, Blue Ice only spawns in Gallente space, and contains Oxygen Isotopes, which are used to fuel the jump drives on Gallente ships to manufacture fuel for Gallente POSes).
  • Enriched faction asteroids (Enriched Clear Icicle, Smooth Glacial Mass, Thick Blue Ice, and Pristine White Glaze) work the same way as regular faction asteroids, but contain more of the same materials. These asteroids are only found in nullsec.
  • Standard asteroids (Glare Crust, Dark Glitter, Gelidus, and Krystallos) contain large quantities of Heavy Water, Liquid Ozone and Strontium Clathrates, but no faction isotopes.





refine to

Refined minerals /
Type of ice
Heavy Water
Heavy Water
Helium Isotopes
Helium Isotopes
Hydrogen Isotopes
Hydrogen Isotopes
Liquid Ozone
Liquid Ozone
Nitrogen Isotopes
Nitrogen Isotopes
Oxygen Isotopes
Oxygen Isotopes
Strontium Clathrates
Strontium Clathrates
Blue Ice Blue Ice Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
Clear Icicle Clear Icicle Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
Glacial Mass Glacial Mass Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
White Glaze White Glaze Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
Thick Blue Ice Thick Blue Ice Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
Enriched Clear Icicle Enriched Clear Icicle Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
Smooth Glacial Mass Smooth Glacial Mass Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
Pristine White Glaze Pristine White Glaze Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
Dark Glitter Dark Glitter Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
Gelidus Gelidus Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
Glare Crust Glare Crust Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png
Krystallos Krystallos Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png Icon large green check.png



There are 4 basic types of ice asteroid. These match the faction that controls local space. With perfect ice refine capability, 1 unit of each type will always produce:

  • 50 Heavy Water
  • 25 Liquid Ozone
  • 1 Strontium Clathrates
  • 300 of a faction-specific isotope, as follows:
Amarr - Clear Icicle Caldari - White Glaze Gallente - Blue Ice Minmatar - Glacial Mass
Isotope Helium Nitrogen Oxygen Hydrogen


Basic Ice Mining Requirements

Ice Harvesting modules can only fit on Mining Barges or Exhumers. As with normal ore mining, the Retriever is the recommended starting point:

Retriever

The following skills are the minimum skills required to pilot a Retriever.

Ice Harvester

in addition, to harvest ice, the following skill is required.

With these skills the miner can acquire 1 piece of ice, per Ice Harvester, every 300 seconds (5 minutes).

Improving Cycle Times

Skills

Further training in Ice Harvesting will decrease the cycle time by 5% per level to a maximum 25% reduction in cycle time. Minimum cycle is therefore 225 seconds.

Tech 2 Modules

With Ice Harvesting 5 it is possible to use the Ice Harvester II module. This has a base cycle time of 250 seconds reducing to 187.5 seconds with the skill bonus applied. Ship bonuses , depending on what barge/exhumer you are using, can also affect harvesting. (bonuses are noted further down)

Ice Harvesting Upgrades

(Using the Retriever as an example)

Cycle times can be reduced further using Ice Harvesting Upgrades. These work in the same way as Mining Laser Upgrades, but reduce the cycle time instead of increasing yield. A T1 upgrade provides a 5% bonus (10% CPU penalty) and a T2 upgrade provides a 9% bonus (12.5% penalty). To minimise cycle time the aim is to fill all low power slots with these modules for a combined cycle reduction of 27%. [Note: Training up Skills:Industry#Mining Upgrades|Mining Upgrades will reduce the penalties as well as allowing use of the T2 upgrade at a higher level.]

Personal experience: I found that when fitting my ship with the Ice Harvester Upgrade IIs I ran out of CPU with 3 active and was unable to fit the two T2 Ice Harvesters. The issue was resolved by using a cpu upgrade rig (there were leftover calibration points) and training higher levels of Electronics.


Rigs

Medium Ice Harvester Accelerator I results in a 12% reduction to the duration of ice harvester cycles. Calibration cost: 250

Implants

Inherent Implants 'Yeti' Ice Harvesting IH-1001; Inherent Implants 'Yeti' Ice Harvesting IH-1003; Inherent Implants 'Yeti' Ice Harvesting IH-1005

Provides for 1%, 3%, or 5% reduction in cycle time, respectively.

Other Considerations

Ice Output
Due to the changes:

       Skiff 66% reduction in cycle time + 1% for every level of Exhumer
       Mackinaw  33% reduction in cycle time + 1% for every level of Exhumer
       Hulk 0% reduction in cycle time but + 4% for every level of Exhumer
      [NOTE: mining barges have the same ship bonuses minus the Exhumer bonus] 

Cargo Space

       The Mackinaw its the elite in cargo hold followed by the skiff leaving the
       Hulk trailing behind at last place. 

Survivability
While most ice mining is done in hisec, suicide gankers often see the AFK nature of ice miners as an advantage.

       The Skiff takes the far lead due to its bonuses in shield tank ability.

Price

       Most dedicated miners will own a Hulk for high-yield mining, so frequently the
       Mackinaw is bought as a second ship dedicated to solo mining due to the large
       Ore hold.
       The market for both change depending on the demand or availablity, due to this
       reason the price cant be set as a guide to what ship is the cheapest and most 
       cost effective.
       looking at you local market and comparing the price with your needs will
       have to be taken into account to see what is the best for you.

The big question – Is Ice mining actually for me?

Yet again another question without a correct answer.

There are many reasons for and against Ice Mining, but there are some important facts that need to be said. Ice has a limited use compared to asteroids. Minerals from asteroids are used throughout eve, basically everything out there is made out of minerals where as ice products are only used in Player Owned Structures (POS) and certain ships with jump drive capability.

The final big issue is well, that ice is big! Just one block takes up 1000m3 of space. So an unmodified Hulk can only fit a low amount, not much really. Many professional ice miners will have a second account to act as a hauler to move the ice and leave the miner in place, be in a fleet or use the ore hold god called the Mackinaw.

Perfect Ice Mining Requirements

Mackinaw skills:

Ice Harvester II module:

Ice Mining Upgrades

This skill set will result in a reduction of cycle time on your lasers. Modules, such as the Ice Harvester Upgrade can further decrease the cycle time. Implants, such as the 'Yeti' series can even further decrease this time. If possible, use a fleet booster such as an Orca, with boosts to decrease cycle time. Remember the yield boosters are useless, so the only boosts you can do in relation to Ice mining are time decreases.


== MAX Pilot & MAX Fleet == (need to update post Odyssey - base cycle times halved)

(This results in a cycle time of 101 seconds for 2 blocks.)

Best Pilot (This results in a cycle time of 150 seconds for 2 blocks.)

  • Ship: Mackinaw
    • Above Skills
    • Implant: Slot 10 - Yeti 5 (The Yeti 5 only improves cycle time by 5 seconds from the MAX of 101 to 106; so likely not worth the price.)
    • High Slot: 2 Ice Harvester II (The ORE does not help reduce cycle time, only CPU; so likely not worth the price.)
    • Low Slot: 3 Ice Harvester Upgrade II (The Ingenii does not help reduce cycle time, only CPU; so likely not worth the price.)
    • Rig Slot: 1 Medium Ice Harvester Accelerator I (There is no II at the moment.)

Best Booster (This results in a 32.3% reduction in Activation Time.)

References