Skills vs. ore

[Julius]

Another n00b question...

Is the type of ore that you find directly related to skills (i.e., frig will only be found by miners of skill > 1000) or only indirectly via depth?

If the former, what skill is needed to find the various types of minerals? Do certain minerals tend to be found at certain depths? Has anyone tracked this info?

Thanks in advance,

Julius

[ACINONYX]

I can only hope that skills make a difference otherwise it's all a bit of a waste of time. Skills either directly increase the probability of finding a certain type of ore or skills allow you to use tools that increase that probability. I once found a few gold when my skills were in the double digits so at least in that VU, you could be low on skills and still find a rare ore. Of course, hasn't happened since. It's possible that skills now affect the type of ore found.

As for depth - a person with 3 days worth of skills and a TT finder was able to find a Gigantic deposit. Anyone can do this - it's just that the probability of doing so is very very low. Skills may simply increase that probability but it hasn't been proven.

[Dominatus]

i do belive skills and finder are both factors in what ores you find.

[Dante]

the more skilled you get (together with moving to new/better tools) the more ores you can find.

I noticed this myself as I started finding new "unknown" ore types (that means i never found them myself before). Which I am sure wast able to find first.

[Jihad]

ive chipped out ALL my mining skills (now they are not more then around 200)
this is the ores and enmatters i havent found yet (havent mined everywhere):

Alferix
Azzurdite
Dianum
Gold
Ignisium
Kanerium
Kirtz
Langotz
Maganite
Megan (not sure)
Niksarium
Petonium
Platinum
Quantium
Rugaritz
Terrudite
Tridenite
Valurite
Xeremite

-

Binary Fluid
Dunkel Plastix
Magerian Spray
Perl sand
Solis paste

[Sirhc]

Basically any miner has the chance of finding any ore/enmatter type and size. Skills will help increase that chance as well as equipment type (in conjunction with skills). So in a nutshell its a bit of luck and a bit of skill that helps. I will have to say the higher my mining skills have gotten I tend to find a bit more of the semi rare and rare ores. As for scoring an ATH well thats just luck or MA gifting you at the right time and spot. Don't play for an ATH just play to break even or profit. If lootius has an ATH in store for you it will happen. Skills do help you reduce costs by allowing you to pull more ore/enmatter by using your tools more effectively. GL happy mining.

[Steveborg]

I believe that the rare resources are deeper in the ground than the common ones and it takes good skill with a good finder to find them. Once Strakken (the best miner in the game) got the modified ore finder with a very deep range, he says he found more gold in a couple of weeks than he did in the previous year.

[Ironheart]

I can concur with the general opinion.

Since VU 7.6 when mining changed I have 'unlocked' several new ores. ie I have moved from never finding them (post 7.6) to finding them occasionally and in some cases now finding them regularly.

Some examples :-

megan - regular but not common, now very common
Gazzurdite - regular but not common, now very common
Ignisium - rare, now regular but not common
Durulium - rare, now regular but not common
Dianum - very rare, now regular but not common
Kanerium - never, now regular but not common
Alferix - never, now rarely (dont mine in alferix areas very often)
Azzurdite - never, now occasionally
Maganite - never, now very rarely (3 finds so far)

All the above is of course dependant on where I mine, for ex. there are 5 places where I can find Kanerium, I only find it 'regularly' in 1 place, the others are 'occasionally', elsewhere I never find it. And the info is skewed somewhat as to which fields I am regularly mining at the moment (not enough hours in the day to do them all), hence I seem to find Azzurdite every trip atm because I have been concentrating on 1 field.

Skill-wise I'm at ~1860 Prospecting and ~170 CGA, cant remember what I was at for Prospecting at start of VU 7.6 but it was before I unlocked Extraction, so was less than 1360, probably around 1250.

I dont think there is a fixed value at which ores unlock, I'm sure its a probability based on a mixture of skills, tools and luck.

Would be interested to hear if others have noticed something similar?

[Gingko]

My little (n00b) story:

Found from the beginning:
Lyst - Blaus - Belkar

Found after ~60 Geology / Prospecting:
Durulium - Erdorium - Caldorite

Found after ~80 Geology / Prospecting:
Zinc - Megan - Cumbriz

Cannot be sure that I did not mine in the wrong places though (although I have 6 or 7 areas I regularly visit).

So this could be the "beginner's unlock pattern".

[psychnosiz]

Think it s a mixture of skills and geography. I found kanerium in my first weeks and havent managed to find ANY since. I do notice though I find some dunkel (rarely) now and my typnolic finds and such are getting more common.

Think all the skills make one big equation which allows you to find more/bigger deps. Some deps are just more "public" (to encourage new players) and other are bigger through the miners' skill. My guess would dare to go that far to say that maybe even MA doesnt know exactly the size of an deposit (and ATH?) before it's looted.