Creating an Alt Miner

This article should be cleaned up or improved. The reason is: unspecified

This guide is no longer valid as the learning skills will be removed from the game at 14 Dec 2010, and learning skillbooks are already removed. 

Are you bored doing missions?
Are you stuck in station during a war?
Are you looking for new avenues of making ISK?

Creating an Alt Miner can help you get started mining and fly a Hulk within a month and a half.

Introduction

Take consideration into whether you want to start a new account or train an in-account alt, depending if you are interested in creating an industrial alt in the future. You cannot train skills simultaneously on the same account between two different characters. If you choose to create an in-account alt and decide you want to go into industry, you'll have to retrain a new account or pay an account transfer fee.

Training a new avatar to fly a Hulk from scratch using this guide will take about 48 days, or 42 days if you use implants. It can be done slightly faster if you're willing to spend two neural remaps.

The requirements are:

• Brand new avatar with no training
• 69,000,000 ISK
  • Approximately 40,000,000 (40m) ISK for four +3 implants (except for CHA)
  • Approximately 29,000,000 (29m) ISK for skill books
    • This is only about 1,000,000 (1m) ISK if you want to fly only a Covetor

Because this can be done within 48 days, you can create a new account via the Buddy Trial (21 days), and add a PLEX to the account (30 days). If the buddy trial was given from your main account, your main will be credited for 30 days of play time.

Preparation

Prepare your new character for training by having these items available:

• Implants (+3 Implants)
  • Ocular Filter - Basic
  • Cybernetic Subprocessor - Basic
  • Memory Augmentation - Basic
  • Neural Boost - Basic
• Skillbooks
  • Cybernetics
  • Industry
  • Astrogeology
  • Mining Barge
  • Exhumers

Remapping

If you wish to save a couple of days, remap your starting attributes to:

• INT: 23
• PER: 25
• Everything else minimum (17)

This eliminates 2-3 days off the training time and ensures the 48 days maximum training period. This is also a reasonable setup for learning many combat skills. It will leave you with another remapping to use, but if you're certain you will keep this alt for mining only, there's a different option that will further shave off some time (see below).

The Training Plan

1. Cybernetics I
   • After training this, plug in the +3 INT/MEM implants
2. Industry I
3. Industry II
4. Industry III
5. Industry IV
6. Industry V
   • This one will take about five days
7. Science IV
8. Mining III
9. Mining IV
10. Astrogeology I
11. Astrogeology II
12. Astrogeology III
13. Astrogeology IV
    • This is about 2.5 days of training
    • No later than this point, plug in your +3 PER/WIL implants
14. Mining Barge I
15. Mining Barge II
16. Mining Barge III
    • This is 12 days into the training regime
    • At this point you can fly a Retriever fitted with 2x Strip Miner I and a Survey Scanner II
      • You can safely train Hull Upgrades II (~60,000 ISK) to fit Expanded Cargohold II modules
17. Mining Barge IV
18. Mining Barge V
    • This is a long one and will take about 8 days
19. Astrogeology V
    • This is the longest haul, over 17 days.
    • At the completion of this skill, you can fly a Covetor, but you're only a day from a Hulk
20. Spaceship Command IV
21. Exhumers I
22. Exhumers II
23. Exhumers III

And you're ready to get into your Hulk (with Strip Miner I).

Alternative plan

• Note that if you're determined to produce a mining alt before switching to your main again forever, you can make use of the two neural remappings available to new characters in different ways. The most direct way is to use the first remapping to max out Intelligence and put the rest in Memory. The other three attributes are kept at the minimum 17. Then train the industrial and science skills:

1. Cybernetics I - plug in implants when this is done
2. Science IV
3. Industry V
4. Mining IV
5. Astrogeology V

Now remap again by maxing out Perception and putting the rest in Willpower. The other three are kept at the minimum 17. Now train the Spaceship Command skills:

1. Spaceship Command IV
2. Mining Barge V
3. Exhumers III

Please note this leaves you with an alt primed for flying skills. Of course you can use the first industrial remapping to train up more mining skills like Mining V and processing skills before you switch to the Spaceship Command skills.

Going Farther

To be the best miner you can be, the following skills are excellent choices to train.

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Mining skills:

• Exhumers V (For the best yield, lowest cycle time on ice)
• Mining V (For Modulated Strip Miner IIs)
• Astrogeology V (although you already have this)
• Mining Laser Upgrades IV (For Mining Laser Upgrade II)
• Ore Processing IV (for T2 crystals): All highsec ores, especially Veldspar, Plagioclase, Scordite
  • Also Omber Processing IV if you're in Minmatar space; Kernite Processing IV if you're in Amarr space
  • Requires Refining IV and V
• Ice Mining V (if you're an ice miner)
• Cybernetics V (for the yield implants)
• Drones V
• Mining Drones V
• Drone Interfacing V

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Capacitor skills:

• Energy Management III-IV
• Energy Systems Operation III-IV

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Tanking skills:

• Shield Operation III+
• Shield Management III+
• Shield Compensation III+
• Tactical Shield Manipulation III+
• EM/Thermal/Explosive/Kinetic Shield Compensation III+

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Leadership skills (allows you to boost a squad in a large op):

• Leadership V
• Mining Foreman V

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Implants for improved yield:

• Hardwiring - Inherent Implants 'Highwall' HX-2 (Slot 10)
  • 125 million as of this writing
• Michi's Excavation Augmentor (Slot 7)
  • 550 million as of this writing; only in contracts

Other useful skills:

• Refining skills (for refining your ores)
• Trade skills (for selling your minerals)

References

• Forum thread
• Ultimate Mining Setups