Anyone have tips for drilling?

garath

I found a huge copper deposit on a nice flat spot of the ocean floor and mined it to obtain 6-8 pieces of copper. I used these to make beacons to mark other nice copper deposits. I marked four deposits on not so flat spots in the Grand Reef. I knew those copper pieces would likely fall off never to be seen again. No problem. I took a Gravsphere with me. I placed it right next to the copper deposit and went to town mining. I finish mining and expect the Gravsphere will have collected 6-8 pieces of copper. But what do you think I found instead?

The @#$#@ Gravsphere had grabbed maybe a half dozen fish and a limestone deposit. It hadn't attracked even one single piece of copper.

So, I tried to follow the "fall path" of the copper to see if I could get the mined copper that way. Nope. Not a chance. My best guess it they "clipped" through the world and fell into oblivion.

Does anyone have any tips for using the Gravsphere to mine? Or, are all the deposits *not* on flat ground pretty much impossible to mine?

0x6A7232

Eh, you can equip the PRAWN Propulsion Cannon, and then I *think* you can lift the entire deposit to a safer (floor isn't buggy) location. You can also use it to grab pieces as they come off, but I don't think you can load them into inventory, so you'd have to set them someplace (assuming they don't fly directly through the floor).

ZeddIsDead

Wow, you can lift an entire deposit? That is good to know! It would be cool if you could take it back to base and throw it straight in an ore refinery

adel_50

ZeddIsDead wrote: »

Wow, you can lift an entire deposit? That is good to know! It would be cool if you could take it back to base and throw it straight in an ore refinery

Might be something after 1.0 eh

zetachron

Sorry, I've given up mining long ago. It's tedious and unrewarding, as the process takes far too long for only a small amount of pieces that you have to pick up slowly while searching for them with all the disadvantages you mentioned. As mentioned the whole ore pile can be moved, but not be put to inventory, which is another failure.

I tend to gather only the small resources while diving, which is really fast and without danger with the reinforced diving suit. For copper you have a far better method with the Sea Treader's route and the rest is just map knowledge where large masses of small resources are to be found.

The only exception of unavoidable drilling is the few pieces Kyanite you need and the drilling of ion crystals at the PCF.

For me drilling is a complete failure in comparison to resource pickups. Only people who want to feel the experience might like it.

garath

zetachron wrote: »

Sorry, I've given up mining long ago. It's tedious and unrewarding, as the process takes far too long for only a small amount of pieces that you have to pick up slowly while searching for them with all the disadvantages you mentioned. As mentioned the whole ore pile can be moved, but not be put to inventory, which is another failure.

I tend to gather only the small resources while diving, which is really fast and without danger with the reinforced diving suit. For copper you have a far better method with the Sea Treader's route and the rest is just map knowledge where large masses of small resources are to be found.

The only exception of unavoidable drilling is the few pieces Kyanite you need and the drilling of ion crystals at the PCF.

For me drilling is a complete failure in comparison to resource pickups. Only people who want to feel the experience might like it.

Thanks! I'll head to the Sea Treaders when I play tonight.

Hulkie2345

I like mining. But I do agree the system in place needs work. The drill arm just needs to be able to suck up the drops and its done. Or they could make a new storage unit for ores. Than a grinder multipurpose room machine that can do the work.

garath

Hulkie2345 wrote: »

I like mining. But I do agree the system in place needs work. The drill arm just needs to be able to suck up the drops and its done. Or they could make a new storage unit for ores. Than a grinder multipurpose room machine that can do the work.

^^ Exactly. Wish they would just move the ore to the PRAWN storage as you mine instead of making it break off.

0x6A7232

Hulkie2345 wrote: »

I like mining. But I do agree the system in place needs work. The drill arm just needs to be able to suck up the drops and its done. Or they could make a new storage unit for ores. Than a grinder multipurpose room machine that can do the work.

Or maybe (additionally?) change the function of the Gravsphere so that you can select what you want to pick up?

zetachron

0x6A7232 wrote: »

Hulkie2345 wrote: »

I like mining. But I do agree the system in place needs work. The drill arm just needs to be able to suck up the drops and its done. Or they could make a new storage unit for ores. Than a grinder multipurpose room machine that can do the work.

Or maybe (additionally?) change the function of the Gravsphere so that you can select what you want to pick up?

Even then it would be too much extra work for almost nothing. The time I need to drill a big ore resource is about the time to get double or triple the amount diving through a mini resource field that is dense. Yet you would expect the opposite. That drilling is good for advanced and fast resource gathering or only good for resources otherwise unavailable.

But the game doesn't use any of the 2 possible drilling advantages. Neither is it fast and making you resource rich, nor are there much resources you don't get otherwise. I mean that little Kyanite is a joke. And a machine to produce ion crystals in drillable form and not just a simple small crystal is also a joke.

My suggestions for drilling to work:

• Make drilling a single splitup process or speed up the splitting parts, so it takes less time
• Forget the Gravsphere for that as this includes too much workaround for only a few pieces
• Allow at least the Propulsion arm to suck and auto place in inventory, allowing to mass suck items you drill with the other arm
• Make some other rare resources drillable only
• Cut those big ion drillable crytals out of the game and replace them with tiny ones
• For those vertical wall drills you'd need a grappling hook and a drill arm that can also suck while drilling
• Don't forget that drilling is late game tech and therefore can be made more powerful

SouthernGorilla

Odd, the gravsphere always worked for me. Maybe it got changed in the new update? I haven't tried it recently. True, it does pick up everything in range. But that's not always a drawback. I have used the propulsion cannon to move deposits. But that also seems like a limited option. Some of the deposits are simply inaccessible to the exosuit. I've seen deposits in caves I know the suit could never get to. It's a shame the scanner tool can't, I don't know, *scan* the area for bits you dropped.

DaveyNY

Tell her to hold still and turn off the TV.

... ???

OOps... wrong kinda drilling.

0x6A7232

zetachron wrote: »

[*] Cut those big ion drillable crytals out of the game and replace them with tiny ones

You could replace them with tiny ones stacked in a pile, (which makes more sense, IMHO) so you can pick them up by hand, if they're worried about there being enough ion crystals in-game at that progression point.

ZeddIsDead

zetachron wrote: »

Sorry, I've given up mining long ago. It's tedious and unrewarding, as the process takes far too long for only a small amount of pieces that you have to pick up slowly while searching for them with all the disadvantages you mentioned. As mentioned the whole ore pile can be moved, but not be put to inventory, which is another failure.

I tend to gather only the small resources while diving, which is really fast and without danger with the reinforced diving suit. For copper you have a far better method with the Sea Treader's route and the rest is just map knowledge where large masses of small resources are to be found.

The only exception of unavoidable drilling is the few pieces Kyanite you need and the drilling of ion crystals at the PCF.

For me drilling is a complete failure in comparison to resource pickups. Only people who want to feel the experience might like it.

Depends largely on the resource. If we're talking titanium, glass or uranite then I entirely agree with you!

Copper, magnetite and gold are awesome to mine though, since pick-up spots for these are scattered and unreliable (e.g. you find a lot of lead/titanium when looking for copper).

Especially copper...previously I've always lacked in copper until I got the Prawn drill arm. The Devs seem to have increased barnacles on Reefbacks lately however (4-5 per Reefback), so in this playthrough copper hasn't been an issue.

The above suggestions about mining by @zetachron are still great though.

garath

ZeddIsDead wrote: »

The Devs seem to have increased barnacles on Reefbacks lately however (4-5 per Reefback), so in this playthrough copper hasn't been an issue.

I wonder if the DEVS will ever allow us to actually click on barnacles. Isn't that one of the longest running bugs in the game?

0x6A7232

garath wrote: »

ZeddIsDead wrote: »

The Devs seem to have increased barnacles on Reefbacks lately however (4-5 per Reefback), so in this playthrough copper hasn't been an issue.

I wonder if the DEVS will ever allow us to actually click on barnacles. Isn't that one of the longest running bugs in the game?

I thought that was fixed in Ghost?

Jacke

ZeddIsDead wrote: »

Especially copper...previously I've always lacked in copper until I got the Prawn drill arm. The Devs seem to have increased barnacles on Reefbacks lately however (4-5 per Reefback), so in this playthrough copper hasn't been an issue.

Will have to check out the Reefback barnacles. For copper I've done sweeps of Kelp Forests, especially the one just north of the Grand Reef, as well as locating the large coral tubes in the Safe Shallows and sweeping through them. Though I have to look out for the increased number of Crashfish.

The ultimate solution for Copper, as well as Lithium, is runs to the Sea Treaders, finding the beasties, and follow them and harvest the outcroppings they stir up before they sink back under the surface. A very good source of Copper and Lithium. A bit tricky with just a stock Seamoth with just the stock 200m max depth, but possible.

garath

0x6A7232 wrote: »

garath wrote: »

ZeddIsDead wrote: »

The Devs seem to have increased barnacles on Reefbacks lately however (4-5 per Reefback), so in this playthrough copper hasn't been an issue.

I wonder if the DEVS will ever allow us to actually click on barnacles. Isn't that one of the longest running bugs in the game?

I thought that was fixed in Ghost?

It's definitely better than it was. I think I would say it has gone from being completely impossible to now being possible but erratic.

ssutcliffe

I get copper from the Sparse Reef. Copper, glass and occasionally gold are the only things I generally mine for. Glass is probably the most important, simply because I like bases with a lot of windows and glass corridors. Copper is always in short supply even with the drill arm. 2 for beacons? 4 for a compass?! 2 for a simple sign or picture frame?? Ugh! It makes the signs and picture frames unusable until you have a drill arm. It also makes the compass very hard to get early game because you need that copper for so many other important things. I have mined titanium in the Lost River when making a base by the giant tree. It would be better if the Drill Arm was easier to get since it is so very important for base building. Without it, the Prawn is simply not worth using.

garath

I was lucky to find the Drill Arm very early in my latest game--maybe even before I got the PRAWN. I want to say the blueprint fragments were outside lying on the ground rather than deep inside the bowels of one of the more twisty wrecks like in the past.

Jacke

ssutcliffe wrote: »

Copper, glass and occasionally gold are the only things I generally mine for. Glass is probably the most important, simply because I like bases with a lot of windows and glass corridors. Copper is always in short supply even with the drill arm. 2 for beacons? 4 for a compass?! 2 for a simple sign or picture frame?? Ugh! It makes the signs and picture frames unusable until you have a drill arm. It also makes the compass very hard to get early game because you need that copper for so many other important things. .... It would be better if the Drill Arm was easier to get since it is so very important for base building. Without it, the Prawn is simply not worth using.

Don't know if these are in the Cuddle Fish Update for stable, but in the last day, there's been a number of blueprint changes in Experimental.

Important one for Copper is Beacon is changed to "Silver + Titanium". Compass is still "Copper Wire + Computer Chip", which is 4 Copper, but you only need to make one so you have a compass when outside a vehicle. Thermometer is still present as a blueprint but it's no longer in the menu of the Fabricator; so you only have temperature data on vehicle HUD's.

If I need a lot of Copper, I used to go to the Sea Treader's Path and follow them. The outcroppings they stir up that slowly sink away give Copper and Lithium. However, I've not done that since the Ghost Leviathan update, so that may have changed too.

The biggest issue I'm seeing now is the usual one of how to deal with the beasties, especially packs of Bone Sharks and the new Ghost Leviathans. Some discussion in others topics.

BUT I've just made the Cyclops. Just moving it a bit to park it by my base and playing with Silent Running burned 10% of the stored batteries. That's damn silly charge consumption. For what the Cyclops was designed for, that it has so little endurance is just wrong.

I've made 1 spare Powercell and found 2 more. But at those power consumption levels, it looks like I'm going to need anywhere from 6 to 12 or more spare Powercells to carry on the Cyclops.

So far for recharging Powercells, I've use the Moonpool and the Solar Module on the Seamoth. Drained Powercells on the Cyclops are going to be a pain, especially as you can't get an integral recharging module until you go down to the Lava Zones and find Kyaninte. And I've never been down there, but I think you need the PRAWN Drill Arm to get it.

So prior to that, for recharging it's going to be using the Solar Module on the Seamoth or a bank of Powercell Rechargers in a base, 4 or more to recharge 8 or more Powercells at a time. That's going to be a lot of Powercells.

garath wrote: »

I was lucky to find the Drill Arm very early in my latest game--maybe even before I got the PRAWN. I want to say the blueprint fragments were outside lying on the ground rather than deep inside the bowels of one of the more twisty wrecks like in the past.

I haven't found the Drill Arm in the wrecks to the south, southwest, west, northwest, or north. I've not explored the Grand Reef as much as I'd like to because of the threat of Ghost Leviathans. Also still looking to unlock Alien Containment and Modification Station. Wrecks remaining: any aft of the Aurora, Mountains, Bulb Zone

Hyp3rion

Jacke wrote: »

BUT I've just made the Cyclops. Just moving it a bit to park it by my base and playing with Silent Running burned 10% of the stored batteries. That's damn silly charge consumption. For what the Cyclops was designed for, that it has so little endurance is just wrong.

I've made 1 spare Powercell and found 2 more. But at those power consumption levels, it looks like I'm going to need anywhere from 6 to 12 or more spare Powercells to carry on the Cyclops.

Just reinstalled and started a new survival game last night after having not played for a good 6-8 or more months (really can't remember when I last played Subnautica) and it's a shame to hear the Cyclops is still essentially pointless apart from using it as an semi-mobile base of operations / storage area due to excessive power consumption. I really feel that once I have achieved the feat of constructing a cyclops, my game should focus more on being able to do a lot more long distance exploration for a long time before needing to stop and restock and replenish. Instead you end up spending most of your time just trying to find resources to keep it powered and yourself fed and hydrated from all the time spent resource gathering....not fun.

- Hyp3rion

Hulkie2345

Hyp3rion wrote: »

Jacke wrote: »

BUT I've just made the Cyclops. Just moving it a bit to park it by my base and playing with Silent Running burned 10% of the stored batteries. That's damn silly charge consumption. For what the Cyclops was designed for, that it has so little endurance is just wrong.

I've made 1 spare Powercell and found 2 more. But at those power consumption levels, it looks like I'm going to need anywhere from 6 to 12 or more spare Powercells to carry on the Cyclops.

Just reinstalled and started a new survival game last night after having not played for a good 6-8 or more months (really can't remember when I last played Subnautica) and it's a shame to hear the Cyclops is still essentially pointless apart from using it as an semi-mobile base of operations / storage area due to excessive power consumption. I really feel that once I have achieved the feat of constructing a cyclops, my game should focus more on being able to do a lot more long distance exploration for a long time before needing to stop and restock and replenish. Instead you end up spending most of your time just trying to find resources to keep it powered and yourself fed and hydrated from all the time spent resource gathering....not fun.

- Hyp3rion

I enjoy the Cyclops. With some issues here and there. But I think I know why. I'm in freedom mode. If that's required to make the Cyclops usable, that's bad game design.