What this is about
A loadout is the combination of laser head, modules and consumables. The values of the heads are in mining heads, the modules in modules and consumables. This guide says which combination fits which task – not which number is best.
Preparation
Before fitting you answer one question: what are you currently failing at?
- Rocks too hard? Then you lack mining power.
- Rocks shattering? Then you lack control over the window (see fracturing).
- Time? Then you lack range or a second head.
A loadout solves exactly one of these three problems. All three at once does not work.
Tasks and roles
Solo the loadout is a compromise – you cannot swap anything en route. In a crew with several mining stations each station can be fitted differently: one for power, one for control. That is the main reason a multi-crew ship pays off.
Equipment
Three basic directions:
- For power. The strongest head your ship carries. For hard rocks and large deposits. Costs power and makes you more conspicuous.
- For control. Modules that influence the mining window. For rocks that have been shattering on you.
- For range and speed. For areas where you travel a lot and stand still little.
The actual values – mining power, optimal and maximum range, power draw – are in tables from the game data in mining heads. We do not repeat them here so that there is only one place that has to be right.
Modules sit in three slots, plus the laser head switch and the permanent modifier. If you do not set them you fly with whatever the ship came with.
| Game action | Default keyboard/mouse | Default joystick | Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire Mining Laser (Toggle) | Mouse left | Button 1 | toggle |
| Switch Mining Laser (Toggle) | Left Alt + Mouse left | Button 2 | toggle |
| Increase Mining Laser Power | Mouse wheel (axis) | Button 3 | single press |
| Decrease Mining Laser Power | not bound by default | Button 4 | single press |
| Increase / Decrease Mining Laser Power | not bound by default | not bound by default | axis |
| Activate Mining Module (Slot 1) | Left Alt + 1 | not bound by default | single press |
| Activate Mining Module (Slot 2) | Left Alt + 2 | not bound by default | single press |
| Activate Mining Module (Slot 3) | Left Alt + 3 | not bound by default | single press |
| Toggle Laser Beam (High / low) | Left Alt + 4 | not bound by default | toggle |
| Jettison Cargo | Left Alt + J | not bound by default | single press |
Game default binding, game version 4.10.0-hotfix (55227). If you rebound it yourself, your binding applies.
Anything marked “not bound by default” you have to bind yourself in the game settings – we do not guess a key.
HOTAS/HOSAS: the joystick column is the default binding of ONE stick. On two sticks you assign pitch, yaw, roll and lateral strafe yourself – which axis a manoeuvre needs is listed in the HOTAS / HOSAS section.
Sequence
- Name the problem. One, not three.
- Fit the loadout for it. Head, modules, consumables – before launch.
- Fly the same area. Otherwise you are comparing areas, not loadouts.
- Count. Rocks attempted, rocks cracked, fill level.
- Keep or discard. Whoever counts nothing keeps swapping forever.
- Goal
- Compare two loadouts in the same area.
- Preparation
- A mining ship, two prepared module sets, an area you know.
- Task
- Fly the same section twice, once per loadout, with the same time limit. Count: how many rocks attempted, how many cracked, how full the container at the end. Note the result per loadout.
- Success criterion
- You can say which of the two loadouts yielded more in this area – with numbers, not with a feeling.
- Partner
- required
- Functions needed
- Fire Mining Laser (Toggle)
- Switch Mining Laser (Toggle)
- Increase Mining Laser Power
- Decrease Mining Laser Power
- Increase / Decrease Mining Laser Power
- Activate Mining Module (Slot 1)
Risk and reward
A power loadout needs more electricity and can force you to shut other systems down. Consumables are gone once used – hoard them and you never use them; waste them and you do not have them when it counts.
On return: a better loadout only yields more if mining really was your bottleneck. If the return trip is the bottleneck a stronger laser helps nothing – then the work belongs in solo optimisation.
Typical mistakes
- Wanting everything at once. A loadout that is mediocre everywhere is good nowhere.
- Swapping without comparing. Without a counted run every swap is a matter of taste.
- Saving consumables. They help nobody in storage.
- Copying values by hand. The tables are in the data guides and are updated there with the game version.
Next step
That completes the mining path. To continue with the return, the trading side is under cargo; to mine as a group, see crew mining.