Shaft Miner
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SUPPLY STAFF | |
Shaft Miner |
Access: Mining Station, Mining Station, Cargo Office, Mineral Storage Additional Access: Maintenance, Cargo Bay, MULEbot access, Quartermaster's Office Difficulty: Hard Supervisors: Quartermaster and Head of Personnel Duties: Mine ores and process them into useful materials. Kill hostile wildlife. Go on an adventure in mysterious ruins. Guides: Lavaland, Department Standard Operating Procedure Quote: Spare vouc- oh. |
Welcome, Miner! You will break rocks, slay monsters, and die lost and alone in the depths of the caverns. Not on some sandy asteroid, but on a planet!
Bare minimum requirements: Stay alive long enough to return your loot to the ship.
Workin' In The Coal Mine
Being a miner can be somewhat tedious, but you serve a crucial role in the R&D food chain, and can accrue some decent personal rewards. Just follow a few guidelines to keep yourself from becoming dead in the mines.
Your workplace, planets (and occasionally the outside of the ship), has some hazards
- Ash storms will cut right through your clothes, dealing constant burn damage if you are outside. A rain of dark particles outdoors indicate an ash storm.
- Lava - one step in and you'll be badly burned and on fire.
- Chasms - Anything that falls into one will disappear from this world.
The risk of these hazards can be reduced by watching your step and being aware of your surroundings. Don't walk into lava, chasms, or outside during an ash storm. You'll get a text warning not long before a ash storm is about to begin, so long as you stay near shelter (or have a bluespace shelter capsule with you) then you'll be fine.
If you run into rock with a pick or drill in your inactive hand, it will automatically start digging for you. ALSO, it is important to note that you are able to click more than ONE square of rock at a time when mining or digging for sand! As long as it's accessible, you don't have to wait to finish digging before you start digging again, so you can have several dig jobs running in parallel. Just don't change hands or move until all dig jobs are done.
Working With Your Boss
Who is your boss? You answer to the Executive Officer, much like the rest of Supply -- but usually, you'll just be talking to the Quartermaster or other Miners. He has full access to Mining, so keep that in mind.
The Objective
You're here to mine, so get digging! Once you're full to bursting with ores, drag your ore box back to the ship and head to cargo where the ore redemption machine sits. Insert your ID, and empty the box next to the machine to offload your ores and have them instantly processed into sheets. You gain points for doing this, so be sure to claim them and then retrieve your ID. Now buy new gear if you want, take your crate and it's back to the mines!
How to Do This
- Gear up! From the mining equipment locker, you will need Meson Scanner goggles, a mining scanner, your pickaxe (optional), a bluespace shelter capsule (DON'T FORGET!) and your standard issue proto-kinetic accelerator. If you want, there is also a additional mining satchel, and a shovel.
- Use your voucher on a mining vending machine to select your choice of advanced mining tool: a bluespace shelter capsule-chest rig combo pack, resonator, advanced mining scanner or a drone.
- Near the lockers are suit storage units with mining hardsuits and breath masks, as well as an oxygen tank dispenser. You'll need those.
- Before you go, you'll want an Ore Box, which can hold an infinite amount of minerals. Ore boxes are available on the mining shuttle and can be made from wood planks.
- Make sure you've packed a bluespace shelter capsule if you plan on a long distance expedition.
- Find dem minerals. Click the scanner in hand to be able to see deposits in the rock. Try to get a mixture of:
- Gold
- Silver
- Uranium
- Plasma
- Diamond
Note:Sand can be dug up with a shovel or drill and iron can be seen without a scanner, but they do not redeem as many points as the other minerals.
- Go to the ore redeemer and get points. If R&D doesn't show up, you can also deliver materials to R&D (10-15 sheets each material except iron) and everything else to Robotics. Ask R&D for a sonic jackhammer if they have the materials.
- At the mining equipment vendor you can get sonic jackhammers, jetpacks, MediPens and more with the points you've gained.
- Use your better gear to push deeper onto planets.
Voucher
You start the shift with a complimentary mining voucher, worth one free item out of a selection of four. These items, and their strengths, are:
- Bluespace Capsule + Chest Belt Webbing: The capsule is a good choice to allow you to explore out on planets (don't use it on the ship or in space) for even longer, and the webbing (you put on your belt slot) allows you to carry even more mining equipment, like a pickaxe. A strong starting choice.
- Resonator: A viable alternative weapon, not as competitive since you start with a Proto-Kinetic Accelerator but the Resonator can prove useful for large scale mining or for fending off certain wildlife.
- Adv Mining Scanner: This scanner has a more expanded view range, allowing you to see all minerals withing the entire screen. Very useful but not a critically needed item as you can compensate with the standard scanner by exploring more thoroughly.
- Mining Drone: Some swear by it, other's hate it. A 'useful' companion that helps in storing ore and hunting wildlife. You can also purchase upgrade to make the little bugger more useful.
For Great Profit!
Mining for the sake of it can only get you so far. By mining minerals and returning them to the ship you'll accrue mining points, you can then use these points to buy better and more powerful equipment and supplies from a equipment vendor. You can then in turn use these items to push further onto planets to mine better minerals, fell stronger wildlife and find greater treasure. Consider it all a investment.
Stimpacks can help you in a pinch for example, or a Wormhole Jaunter can help you escape what would have been a death trap. Or saving up for a Legion Stabilizer can let you save their instant healing heart for later. Or you can spend it all on booze and cigars.
Setting up a FOB (Forward Operation Base) with quantum pads will allow you to travel from the ship to the planet. Building one is a win-win for mining and the rest of the ship because it allows mining to do their job and the rest of the ship to do theirs. Keep in mind, you need the portable telecommunication relay to keep the planet loaded when the ship leaves orbit. Otherwise the Z-level will be unloaded and everything and everyone will be deleted!
Default Gear
The following is a list of default mining equipment:
Essential Equipment
Item | Description |
---|---|
Mining Hardsuit |
Your standard-issue mining hardsuit for use by Miners. Can hold a normal-sized oxygen tank and has a built-in helmet with a light on it. Useless on planets but great for back on or outside the ship. You can also reinforce it with goliath plates. |
Breath Mask and Oxygen Tank |
So you can have oxygen when mining. Oxygen tanks are available from the tank storage unit, and can be worn on your suits storage slot. You can also use your emergency oxygen tank which can be placed on your suit. Running out of oxygen is unlikely with the full sized tank. |
Meson Scanners and Mining Scanner |
When used together will briefly flash any non-iron ore on screen. Can be placed in your pocket to work automatically. Mesons are worn on the eyes and let you see structures through walls. |
Global Positioning System, GPS |
The crew monitoring console back on the ship won't catch your suit sensor signal from all the way down on the planet. Having one of these on you will help others track down your body if you happen to develop a case of the dead. In addition it can be used to locate other miners (who bothered to take it) as well as "lost" signals, be wary. Be sure to set your name on the GPS. |
Survival Knife |
Use it for butchering the wildlife (hit while on harm intent). It's as strong against mobs as a pickaxe, but you can't mine with it. You can store it in your boots to save space, but remember to alt-click the boots to draw the knife back out. |
Brute patch |
Heals severe bruising, which you will most likely get from the wildlife. You start the shift with one in your pocket. |
Bluespace shelter capsule |
Activate this in your hand, and it'll near instantly produce a beautiful shelter. Ash storms do not hurt you inside, but wildlife can break through the walls. The shelter contains a cupboard which contains a guitar and some donk pockets. It also has a sleeper which requires another person to use. Never leave home without one. You're issued one for free in your the mining lockers on ship. |
Ore Satchel |
For carrying ore without using a mining cart, holds 50 ore nuggets. Get at least one of these, make sure to set the bag to "all on tile". Use in conjunction with an ore crate. (Newbie tip: This does not work like a typical backpack. Hold it in your hand and click the ore with that hand to pick it up.) |
Mining Voucher |
Found in your backpack, exchange this at the mining equipment locker for one of several items listed below |
Proto-kinetic Accelerator |
A gun. The good part is that it packs a punch in a vacuum and has infinite shots. The bad part is that it tickles in pressurized environments, has to automatically reload after each shot, and has a range of three steps. Each blast can clear a rock wall if you feel like digging using this, which it can do well. Standard issue equipment you can get from your mining locker. |
Miscellaneous Equipment
Items that, while not critical to take, can be situationally useful.
Item | Description |
---|---|
Pickaxe |
Somewhat antiquated thanks to the prevalence of the proto-kinetic accelerator and resonator. Nevertheless it can be used to dig wide tunnels, robust certain monsters in melee combat and as a backup if you lose your resonator. It can also fit inside a belt chest webbing. |
Shovel |
Gathering sand. You can stick this in your backpack. |
Ore box |
Used for carrying huge amounts of ore. While a satchel can only hold 50 nuggets, this can hold an unlimited sum. You cannot carry it but you can drag or push it with you. Use your satchel on the box to empty it into the box. |
Crowbar |
Just in case when coming back from the mines there is a blackout. Spawns in your backpack. |
Advance Gear
The following are more advance items that need to be purchased from a mining equipment vendor, points being earned by mining.
Voucher/Reward Equipment
These items can either be acquired from a voucher, or are bought with points earned via mining via the redemption machine on the ship. Prices are included.
|
Misc/Joke Reward Equipment
These items are either joke items or are highly situational items you can buy.
RnD Gear
The following is a list of advance items that can be acquired only from RnD, using a combination of minerals and high tech research.
The Wildlife
Lava planets are filled with a variety of bloodthirsty alien lifeforms populating the caverns, walking just fine over the ponds and puddles of lava. Fortunately, you can fight them whilst taking minimal damage, if you have the know-how.
Useful items can be harvested from these creatures' corpses should you triumph; butcher them with a knife and the goods will spill out!
Creature | Description | Threat |
---|---|---|
Legions |
Considered annoying at worst, and a free medkit at best. These creatures unleash legion skulls, one after another at you whilst trying to keep a distance. Fortunately, each of its spawn dies in a single hit (even a single punch), and deal tickle damage to you; the legion itself can't directly hit you. It's best to go on the aggressive against these with pickaxe in hand, advancing constantly whilst picking away each of its brood. Once you've closed the gap or have it stuck in a corner, it's toast.
|
Low |
Watchers |
Fierce, territorial beasts capable of firing freezing beams, cold enough to inflict serious freeze burns while the watcher closes in and attacks its immobilized target. Fortunately, they don't attack unless someone comes very close to them, so if you don't feel confident, you can just wait until you have a few more goliath plates, or maybe some gibonite.
|
Medium |
Goliaths |
The bane of many careless miners. These monsters carry a hefty health pool, a mean wallop, and a deceptively dangerous ranged tentacle attack. They are inherently resistant to lasers, so using a KA is the best option regarding dealing with these. They move at a slow pace, stopping every couple seconds to burrow tentacles under you. These will trap you for a long duration if you stand on top of them for too long.
|
High |
Goldgrubs |
Mostly harmless and quite rare. These creatures swallow up any loose, valuable ore they can find and flee when approached by a human, smashing through even solid rock on their path of escape before burrowing into the ground. A tactic toward killing one is to throw an ore towards it, and quickly charging in to kill it while it's busy eating, but note that kinetic accelerator shots do nothing against these. Their skin is reflective, requiring a pickaxe melee smackdown to ensure a kill.
|
None |
FILE MISSING Unidentified Lifeforms |
Long range recon missions have identified at least two additional lifeforms living deep within the planets mining network. Little is known of these creatures except they are very hostile towards intruders, the biggest lifeform signature was detected near a unknown structure. all recon elements were killed in action.
|
EXTREME |
Xenoforms
Your not always the only sentient being on the planet. Aside from the lovecraftian horrors living down there you may also content with several groups or factions of beings on the planet. Some hostile, some friendly.
The follow is a list of all known sentient groups found on the planet based on information sent from recon squads.
Podmen
Recon Expedition #4
Threat Level: Minimal, Non Hostile
Note: A small group of podmen were observed living inside a crashed ship. They appear minimally armed and seem to avoid leaving their home.
Golems
Recon Expedition #9
Threat Level: Minimal, Non Hostile
Note: A unidentified flying object was seen crashing by Recon Team Charlie during expedition #8. Alpha team on expedition #9 located a group of golems, the golems appeared utterly uninterested in their surroundings all things considered.
Ashwalkers
Recon Expedition #13
Threat Level: Medium, Hostile
Note: It appears a group of Basiliscus Lizretus, also known as Lizardmen, live on the planet, they are hostile to all intruders. These 'ashwalkers' only started to appear when mining operations started, they are agile but lightly armed, wielding primitively forged armor and spears. They appear to also have a hostile relationship with the wildlife, having been observed killing and dragging wildlife corpses away, as to why they need these corpses the recon team is unable to ascertain.
Prisioners
PMC Expedition #1
Threat Level: High, Hostile
Note: A prison transport carrying high tier prisioners crashed on the planet, a PMC expedition was mounted to track them down but the team was unable to locate the crash site and was forced to abandon when the ash storms took a turn for the worse. Any prisoners found should be considered armed and extremely dangerous, and should only be approached by a fully equipped security team.
The Ores
These are what you should be looking out for, generally try and get a good mix of the more exotic ore types. Iron ore is ok but it sells for little and is highly abundant on the ship already.
Name | Wall | Raw Ore | Point Value | Processed Ore | Frequency | Uses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Iron | 1 | Very Common | For just about everything. | |||
Plasteel | N/A | An alloy of iron and plasma, for AI cores and reinforced walls. Can now be produced via the ore redemption machine. | ||||
Sand | 1 | Very Common | For making glass, which has a plethora of ship applications. Activate sand in your hand to make sandstone bricks. These can be used to make dirt which can be used to grow plants. | |||
Reinforced Glass | N/A | N/A | For reinforced glass, which is tougher than normal glass. | |||
Plasma | 15 | Common | Ship sheets back to Centcom for bonus supply points. | |||
Silver | 16 | Semi-Common | Making dosh, mechs, and researching Bluespace. | |||
Gold | 18 | Semi-Common | For making various electronics or pimping out Beepsky. | |||
Uranium | 30 | Uncommon | For making you radioactive (notice: no joke, this shit is deadly as a wall or a door). Delicious cocktails. | |||
Diamond | 50 | Rare | For making mech parts, among other industrial uses. | |||
Gibtonite | N/A | Uncommon | For How to obtain Gibtonite: Hit ore, count to 8 flashes of the ore then hit it with your scanner. Gibtonite varies in the number of reactions it has, so you may get lower quality ore. Use 2 of the 0 reaction ores (the most potent) to blow open the AI core and make it cry at it's malf failure! | |||
Bananium | 60 | HONK! | A rare and unusual mineral found exclusively in clown-controlled space. Used only for the H.O.N.K. mech. |
Additionally, bluespace crystals sometimes spawn on mining. These crystals can be used in various ways. Give them to science to increase bluespace science, hold onto them to use as a risk free jaunter, or throw them at people to make them teleport randomly (often into space.)
Who Needs What
Miners don't have to deliver ores directly to departments -- they can if they want, or if those bastards are too lazy to leave their fortress of autism science -- but it never hurts to know what to aim fir.
- Scientists just want a little (10-15 of each is enough to last them the entire round) uranium, plasma, diamond and gold. In exchange, they may give you a bomb or more advanced mining tools like a Sonic Jackhammer or a Diamond Drill, both for even faster digging!
- Roboticists need diamond, uranium, silver and gold for building mech parts. Give them enough and you've indirectly helped out most of the departments on the ship if the Roboticists are competent enough to build helpful stompy mechs for everybody! Too bad the Ripley is the only
goodmech for mining. - The Quartermaster may want mineral sheets to trade them in for bonus supply credits.
- Everybody could always use more iron, glass and plasteel, but especially Roboticists and Station Engineers.
- The Virologist, Chemist and Xenobiologist will all appreciate having extra plasma.
- A Clown with Bananium is a grateful and dangerous ally.
- The Bartender can use a few sheets of uranium or iron to craft some of his rarest cocktails.
Secrets of the Asteroid
While on the asteroid, you may come upon small boxed structures, usually made of plasma or reinforced walls. Dig in through openings, or use the blue toolbox in the hardsuit room to break down that wall and discover your prize! They could have items ranging from magical artifacts to alien facehuggers. A plasma wall doesn't necessarily mean an alien, always check. If you are at all unsure, always let your mining buddies know using :u before you tear down that wall.
You may randomly find a facehugger in one of the treasure rooms. Do not infect yourself with the facehugger. This makes the admins very cross. If you are an antagonist, or a responsible parent with a xeno baby den set up somewhere full of monkeys, you should consider yourself as having more leeway. Do not try to pick the Facehugger up. Construct a locker, put the hugger in the locker, weld it and drag it back to the ship. It'll leap at the vulnerable targets it sees once it's re-opened.
Some super useful Treasures you might find while mining include:
- A mysterious medibot. It is black and heals significantly better than other types.
- A Grinder. The limits depend on your ability to use it yourself.
- Cultist Armor. Faster than the mining one but can't be upgraded. Also can get you arrested.
- Various spellbooks. Ranging smoke, knock and blind. In the hands of a good miner, can make a huge difference.
- An E-cutlass. Considered one of the rarest and most desired items from mining, An e-sword in all regards.
- Creature : The creature comes from the Cultist room. If you are a traitor, emagging the laz injector gives you a potent ally that's fast and lethal.
- Soul Stone : Useful for slaving people as a traitor, less useful to non antags.
- Sonic Jackhammer : Breaks walls. ALL OF THEM.
Tips
- Always go with at least two other people when mining. Not only can you mine faster together, the chance that they could both be 'lings/traitors is rather low. Pickaxe to the skull tends to put down most people.
- You can view the contents of a mining satchel as if it were a backpack.
- Durands only require uranium and silver, which are abundant. So if you find just 5 diamond, to get yourself a diamond drill, and mine out shit tons of metal, uranium and silver, you can make it Durand ship 13!
- Wish soup is made of 20 units of water and nothing else, but sometimes (~25% of the time) will actually be generated with nutriment you can actually get full on. Meaning it's one of the only things you can make once the donk pockets run out. It's also the only thing you can make on the DJ station at all without importing ingredients (provided you bring something to hold the water in).
- Ctrl-Z (with no hotkey-mode) or just Z (with hotkey-mode on) cocks the combat/mining shotgun. No more clicking in between shots!
- Minebots are great at distracting monsters. Just walk near and bash the distracted target with your drill. They can take quite a beating, though goliaths can take them down pretty quickly if you're not quick enough. Plus they collect all the crap gibtonite left.
- The Proto-kinetic Accelerator can destroy electrified grilles without needing a pair of insulated gloves.
- The Proto-kinetic Accelerator will obliterate a space carp in one hit while in space.
- The Executive Officer may reward you with all access if you resurrect Ian. Also, sometimes the Research Director will reward you for a pet gold grub.
- If you're expecting trouble on the ship, consider taking out a window on the mining shuttle before you return to make a quick getaway so you're not trapped like a rat in a cage.
- Taking stimulants before delivering materials to science will help keep you alive.
- The mining drone can be repaired with a welding tool, but not in the middle of a fight. A goliath will always win in a one on one fight with a mining drone.
- Life improving things:
- Mining rig upgrade : Goliath plates add +10% melee resist each time when applied to a rig, ideally if you're just mining you'd want to solely apply that to your chest piece. When maxed out you'll be able to fight a goliath without kiting and take minor damage. It is recommended to apply plates to the head instead if you plan to antag as players more often target your head. The plates will stack until they reach 80%. That makes your suit a space worthy riot suit.
- Security Jumpsuit : This gives a +10% melee resist to everywhere but your head. Nag the QM or XO to give you one.
- Augmentations : Augs are VERY useful for miners, as healing with a welder is ultimately easier. Plus they work differently than armor when it comes to protection, instead reducing all brute damage taken by an augmented body part by 5 (4 for burn). Downside : EMP vulnerability.
- If these three are combined you become close to immune to melee, only a ninja's energy blade is robust enough to even so much as scratch you, and blobs are utterly hopeless. However, guns are still a threat, and anybody can still surprise you with a stunprod and strip away your precious +4 rig. And be wary, the gods may not take kindly to your hubris.
- Kinetic accelerators can be used as infinite tools to navigate space, since every time you fire, it'll throw you in the opposite direction.
Dead Space
A traitorous miner has a lot of advantages. You have a space suit for free right away and a robust pickaxe. Certain minerals you'll find have more "specialized" uses -- uranium structures will irradiate people, plasma can start fires, gibtonite goes boom. You can also buy dangerous "mining" tools and possibly even revive those monsters you've been fighting. As long as you have some mineral wealth or an ore box with you, no one will suspect your presence around the ship, even in highly restricted areas like robotics or toxins, and if you are smart enough, you could get a big stompy mech to drill people to death! In addition, the asteroid is isolated, hard to get to, dangerous, and as expansive as you're willing to dig out. Plenty of room for somebody to get lost in... Forever!
Tips for Traitoring
- If you're a miner and you have to kill another miner; there's a really easy way to block communications one way so he can't call for help.
- Grab a multitool, go to the mining communications room.
- Use the multi tool on the relay and make sure the relay isn't sending, meaning your headset won't go to people on the ship.
- Kill your target with their shouts for help unheard.
- You can get plasma at exactly the heat you need for canister bombs by welding a plasma door in vacuum. Use an air pump to take it, then put [REDACTED] KPa into an empty large tank (the size of plasma, emergency O2, etc). You can then ignite it with a can of pure O2 set to release at 1013.25 KPa. This is the Shaft Miner's canister bomb. It's easy to set up on the asteroid.
- More than one uranium wall is hilariously deadly, as they give off a pulse of radiation every couple of seconds. This pulse makes other uranium walls in range pulse as well, and they all run on their own timer.
- Tiers 0-1-2-3 can gib bodies, remember mining suits take 50% of damage away from bombs, so strip miners you want to make disappear forever first.
- Ripley is a fairly robust murdering tool, if you can, convince robotics to put a gravity catapult on it. SLAM PEOPLE INTO WALLS. THE SUFFERING NEVER ENDS.
- Space is your best ally. Your weapons are more lethal in space, and anyone who wants to chase you will need access to a jetpack and EVA gear. Make people fight on your terms by blowing up the ship with various Gibtonite charges, or bust in, stun and drag targets into space.
- Stim packs don't just increase your movement speed, they lower the duration of stuns. Always have this running in your system to remain speedy and more difficult to keep down.
Tips for Culting
If you're a miner, Mining Station is the perfect hive for a cult. The back room can easily be broken down by Constructs, runes can be placed, and a single artificer can make it very difficult for Security to try and raid. Remember to cut cameras, so a Non-Asimov AI doesn't bolt and electrocute every door. Remember to use Teleport other to get Cultists off ship and into safe custody. All the station needs is a Medibot and you are golden.
Jobs on FTL13 | |
Command | Captain, Executive Officer, Bridge Officer |
Security | Head of Security, Security Officer, Master-at-Arms, Detective |
Engineering | Chief Engineer, Ship Engineer, Atmospheric Technician |
Supply | Quartermaster, Cargo Technician, Shaft Miner, Munitions Officer |
Science | Research Director, Scientist, Roboticist |
Medical | Chief Medical Officer, Medical Doctor, Chemist, Geneticist, Virologist |
Service | Janitor, Bartender, Cook, Botanist, Clown, Mime |
Civilian | Assistant, Lawyer, Chaplain, Librarian |
Non-human | AI, Cyborg, Positronic Brain, Drone, Personal AI, Construct, Adamantine Golem, Ghost |
Antagonists | Traitor, Changeling, Nuclear Operative, Wizard, Shadowling, Abductor, Xenomorph, Revenant, Space Ninja, Holoparasite, Swarmers, Blob, Devil, Clockwork Cult |
Special | Centcom Official, Death Squad Officer, Emergency Response Officer, Ian |
Races | Humans, Lizardperson, Flyperson, Plasmaman, Podman, Miscellaneous |