The Sigma Shipyards Asteroid Miner is a civilian ship in Escape Velocity Nova. This ship is unavailable for most of the Vell-os Storyline.
"Asteroid mining has been the staple method of gathering materials since the time of the construction of the Kane band. Dr. Harbhajan Singh of the University of Mumbai first came up with a basic robotic craft designed to latch onto an asteroid and maneuver it close to a planet for processing. Today's Asteroid Miners are manned by a crew of six and are the backbone of the resource gathering efforts of the Federation and the Auroran Empire." ― Buying a Asteroid Miner
The Asteroid Miner is a passable ship for asteroid mining, being the only ship purpose-built for the task. However, some Independent captains will insist that the job can be done better with other ships.
Stats[]
"An Asteroid Miner is certainly an odd looking ship, with extremely low speeds, no armor or shields, and few redeeming qualities bar its large cargo space. Still, it's probably better than a Heavy Shuttle, if you can look past the cost to hire it. Its captain assures you he will not go haring off after errant asteroids, but will instead do only what you tell him to do, but you remain a little doubtful..." ― Hiring a Asteroid Miner
Although you can't hire an Asteroid Miner, if you manage to acquire one as an escort through piracy you'll discover that they indeed do not chase errant rocks.
Prospector (#379)[]
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This ship has the 'economy at work' tag which when combined with its Asteroid Scoop, causes AI piloting it to prioritize collecting 'stroid bits when possible and shooting asteroids when none are available. You can observe this behavior in systems such as Sol and Fomalhaut. They will go for your bits, which is quite annoying.
Ship Variants[]
The Asteroid Miner has no shipvariants.
Gameplay Analysis[]
"The Asteroid Miner is a good enough ship for mining asteroids, with its 100 tons of cargo space, but mining just isn't profitable enough (in my opinion) to warrant getting this ship. It's not a bad escort, however." ― EVula Survival Guide
The stock Asteroid Miner is not a combat-capable craft, for three reasons:
- First off, the robot arms must extend before it can even fire, giving your opponent about two seconds' worth of free shots.
- Secondly, it is not very maneuverable or very fast.
- Thirdly, the mining lasers are good for use against asteroids, but supremely weak against shields and armor (surprisingly enough!).
Despite these flaws, the Asteroid Miner can fight off a Pirate Viper by itself, barely. Replacing the 4 mining lasers (3t each) with 6 Light Cannons (2t each) can at least give you a slim chance against hostile ships while still allowing for normal mining operations. Despite lacking the 10x asteroid damage flag, the Light Cannon's superior reload time (7 vs 20) makes up for this by sheer rate of fire with a full "six pack" installed. However, this would require a trip to Rauther, which is outside of an Asteroid Miner's typical stomping grounds (Fomalhaut, Sol, Achernar and Lotus).
Pirates will never fly this vessel but capturing a disabled Asteroid Miner from a Trader (which would make you a Pirate yourself!) provides an easy 100t of cargo space, almost as much as a Terrapin.
Images[]
The Asteroid Miner was likely made by Dave Williams, because he remembers doing the Inverse kinematics rigging for it's arms.
Appearance[]
Ship Spins[]
This ship has 36 frames per set and 6 sets for 216 frames in total. The lights and engines also have 6 sets, which is artistically unnecessary since those effects don't overlay the arms. (A possible space saving consideration?)
It unfolds when firing weapons.
- Ship: 80x80
- Lights: 80x80
- Engine: 80x80
Representative Images[]
Additional Images[]
