Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Not being in optimum range is total newbie playstyle and is thus punished significantly, so for gem mining it gives you a good reduction of laser power.
The main difficulty is aiming properly so you are still constantly on the target at higher range. Maximum range can become difficult due to the ship's wavering, but half range should be easy.
Which laser you use is mostly irrelevant. I probably wouldn't use the Lancet since it reduces resistance so massively without having a real penalty from its other stats. (Impact could be appealing due to its large optimum charge window, though, and its lower range. - I tried it and it can certainly help with some rocks having tiny optimum windows, and there it is not feasible without increasing distance. Hofstede is interesting, too, since it has such a low range. Easy to reduce its power a lot without losing aim.)
Having to collect the gems by hand is one downside, but there are also so many downsides to ROC mining, including various ones that affect time investment.
You can always store filled backpacks in the mining ship's personal storage. Plus, you still have its regular cargo capacity for a load of ores.
Not being in optimum range is total newbie playstyle and is thus punished significantly, so for gem mining it gives you a good reduction of laser power.
The main difficulty is aiming properly so you are still constantly on the target at higher range. Maximum range can become difficult due to the ship's wavering, but half range should be easy.
Which laser you use is mostly irrelevant. I probably wouldn't use the Lancet since it reduces resistance so massively without having a real penalty from its other stats. (Impact could be appealing due to its large optimum charge window, though, and its lower range. - I tried it and it can certainly help with some rocks having tiny optimum windows, and there it is not feasible without increasing distance. Hofstede is interesting, too, since it has such a low range. Easy to reduce its power a lot without losing aim.)
Having to collect the gems by hand is one downside, but there are also so many downsides to ROC mining, including various ones that affect time investment.
You can always store filled backpacks in the mining ship's personal storage. Plus, you still have its regular cargo capacity for a load of ores.
