• Access: Expedition Bay, Cargo Office, Mineral Storage
• Additional Access: Maintenance, Cargo Bay, MULEbot access, Quartermaster's Office
• Difficulty: Easy to Hard
• Supervisors: Quartermaster and Head of Personnel
• Duties: Mine ores and process them into useful materials. Process other planetside resources. Neutralize hostile wildlife. Adventure in mysterious ruins. Deal with Xenoarchaeologists and other scientific nutters who want to examine the things that get dug up. Join salvage operations if nobody's stuck an asteroid on the mineral magnet.
• Guides: Planetary Environment Guides.
• Quote: Spare vouc- oh.

Welcome, Miner! You will break rocks, slay monsters, and die lost and alone in the depths of whatever godforsaken rock you're mining. Depending on where the ship has decided to park, this may be very easy indeed or excruciatingly difficult.

Bare minimum requirements: Stay alive long enough to return your loot to the ship.

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.

First, check out the hazards of your planetary environment.

• 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 constant freezing temperatures will kill you just as surely as the depths of space - in fact, they're often not much warmer.
• Ice is slippery and can create hazards that must be removed from the work area.
• Chasms - Yep, they're here too, and just as dangerous.

• The temperature is highly variable depending on where you set up camp, but generally comfortable. You still risk being caught in storms, high winds, or other effects of the weather.
• Caverns might flood if you aren't careful, but are often home to fantastic gems.
• The local wildlife is likely to be far more common and in many cases very hungry. Don't get too comfortable and assume you're invincible.
• Chasms - Yep, they still happen, though much less frequently.

The risk of these hazards can be reduced by watching your step and being aware of your surroundings. Don't walk into dangerous terrain, or outside during a storm. You'll get a text warning not long before a 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 asteroid or planet 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. If you have a Kinetic Accelerator, you can't do multiple dig jobs in parallel, but it digs much faster!

Who is your boss? You answer to the Head of Personnel, much like the rest of Supply – but usually, you'll just be talking to the Quartermaster or other Miners. He can watch cameras on the Mining Stations you might encounter and has full access to Mining, so keep that in mind.

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!

• 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.
• Depending on cargo's budget, they can pay to have a Mining Station constructed on your chosen planet. This station will include a place for a shuttle to park, an EVA chamber, a miniature Medbay, a maintenance room and a small kitchen area. You can get an explorer suit, breath mask, and oxygen tank from Mining EVA, and find the mini-Medbay on the western side of the base, where you can find first-aid kits. The maintenance room adjacent to it is where you can top off internals.
• Before you go, you'll want an Ore Box, which is effectively a crate that can hold an infinite amount of minerals. Ore boxes are available on the mining station and cargo bay.
• Make sure you've packed a bluespace shelter capsule if you plan on a long distance expedition.
• Now get out there and start looking for 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 into the planet.
• If you feel robust enough, look for Ruins - they might contain dangerous monsters, but they might also contain interesting discoveries that can benefit you or Xenoarchaeologists.
• If you feel especially badass, use your Positioning System and look for Megafauna to try to put down.

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 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, others hate it. A 'useful' companion that helps in storing ore and hunting wildlife. You can also purchase upgrades to make the little bugger more useful.

Mining for the sake of it can only get you so far. By mining minerals and returning them to the station 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 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.

The following is a list of default mining equipment:

Items that, while not critical to take, can be situationally useful.

The following are more advanced items that need to be purchased from a mining equipment vendor, points being earned by mining.

These items can either be acquired from a voucher, or are bought with points earned via mining via the redemption machine on the station. Prices are included.

These items are either joke items or are highly situational items you can buy.

The following is a list of advance items that can be acquired only from RnD, using a combination of minerals and high tech research.

Depending on what planet or asteroid your ship chooses to do its mining on, you will often find a variety of bloodthirsty alien lifeforms populating the caverns, walking just fine over the area's natural hazards. 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!

Butcher a watcher for 2 pieces of diamond ore.
Tip: Watchers are notably weak to explosions due to the nature of their bodies, taking over half their health in damage from even the weakest of explosions. | Medium |

You're not always the only sentient being on the planet. Aside from the lovecraftian horrors living down there you may also conflict with several groups or factions of beings on the planet - some hostile, some friendly.

The following 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.

Prisoners PMC Expedition #1 Threat Level: High, Hostile Note: A prison transport carrying high tier prisoners 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 okay but it sells for little and is highly abundant on the station already.

Name Wall Raw Ore Point Value Processed Ore Frequency Uses Iron Ironwall.png Ironore.png 1 Metal.png Very Common For just about everything. Plasteel Ironore.pngPlasmaore.png N/A An alloy of iron and plasma, for AI cores and reinforced walls. Can now be produced via the ore redemption machine.

Sand Minefloor.png Sandore.png 1 Glass.png Very Common For making glass, which has a plethora of station 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 Sandore.pngIronore.png N/A Glass r.png N/A For reinforced glass, which is tougher than normal glass.

Plasma Plasmawall.png Plasmaore.png 15 Plasmadone.png Common Ship sheets back to Centcom for bonus supply points.

Silver Silverwall.png Silverore.png 16 Silverdone.png Semi-Common Making dosh, mechs, and researching Bluespace.

Gold Goldwall.png Goldore.png 18 Golddone.png Semi-Common For making various electronics or pimping out Beepsky.

Uranium Uraniumwall.png Uraniumore.png 30 Uraniumdone.png Uncommon For making you radioactive (notice: no joke, this shit is deadly as a wall or a door). Delicious cocktails.

Diamond Diamondwall.png Diamondore.png 50 Diamonddone.png Rare For making mech parts, among other industrial uses.

Gibtonite Gibtonitewall.gif Gibtoniteore.png N/A Uncommon For blowing shit up, whether they be solid asteroid or other things. Hitting it with your mining tools will start a chain reaction. If you don't stop the reaction with your mining scanner in time, the gibtonite will explode. If you do, you can mine the ore, pick it up (you need both hands free) and use it as an explosive. The closer the gibtonite was to exploding before defused, the more potent its power. Cannot be forged or turned in to the ore redemption machine, so don't bring any of this to the station or else you'll be arrested - if security figures out what the hell it is.

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 its malf failure!

Bananium Bananimumwall.png Bananimumore.png 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 science – but it never hurts to know what to aim for.

Scientists just want a little (10-15 of each is enough to last them the entire round) uranium, plasma, diamond and gold for their research. 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 station if the Roboticists are competent enough to build helpful stompy mechs for everybody! Too bad the Ripley is the only good mech 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 station. 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 station 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 Head of Personnel 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 station, 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 HoP 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.

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 station, 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!

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 station.

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 station 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.

If you're a miner, a 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.