Things are moving in Eve. By the time I actually hit the two hundred million isk mark, I had almost coasted to 300. So it happened that I checked my in game mail only to find my insurance coverage had expired on my Covetor mining barge.
My plan all along has been to get my mission runner/hauler pilot to the point where he could fly a mining barge. Maybe not a Hulk, but certainly a Covetor would come in handy for clearing mission spaces with my fulltime miner. The mission runner/hauler was only a few days from being able to pilot the Covetor and I didn’t cherish the idea of losing the insurance premium when I handed it over in just a few days.
So, I finally decided to throw down for a Hulk for my miner. With the tritanium market still strong, I’m guessing that I’ll recoup within about a week. Halada’s indispensible mining guide has everything you need to know about the Hulk. Fortunately, I already have most of what I need to fit it. While I’m not quite to the 20% yield increase over the Covetor as advertised, I’m getting there. Even so, its already a significant improvement.
Compared to the Covetor, the Hulk feels faster and more agile– at least as far as mining barges are either. Having a decent tank means that I worry much less. The Hulk is anything but fragile. Finally, it has enough cargo space that it can store a few cycles worth of ore before I have to empty it. All of this makes for an even more efficient operation.
When I’m mining a few systems from my home area, its nice not having to worry about can flippers so much while my hauler is making a run to base. All in all, I’m quite pleased so far and looking forward to doing dual barge ops soon.
The one thing I’m finding is that I’m a bit tight on power and CPU when fitting out the Hulk. I’m currently training for MLU IIs, but even with one MLU I and a bit of a tank, I’m finding I’m a bit shy. The basic setup is:
High Slots:
3x Modulated Strip Miners (with T2 crystals)
Medium Slots:
1x Survey Scanner
1x Small Shield Extender I
1x Explosion Dampening Amplifier I
1x Magnetic Scattering Amplifier I
Low slots:
1 Mining Laser Upgrade I
1 Power Diagnostic System II
Which leaves me at 42/44.1 power and tight on CPU. If I swap in 2x MLU IIs and take the scanner and take one of the hardeners offline, everything should work and I should be able to pull down about 1,508 units of Veldspar per MSM per minute or 13,572 units per cycle (3 MSMs) or 271,440 units per hour. Pure Hulky goodness.
