Gaming/EVE Onlineguide

Perfect mining: Hulk, Orca and Rorqual

The skills, fits and implants for a max-yield Hulk pilot and an Orca or Rorqual booster, with skill plans you can paste straight into EVE.

miningskill-planshulkrorqualindustry

“Perfect” mining takes two pilots: a max-skilled Hulk doing the mining and a max-skilled Orca or Rorqual booster cutting its cycle time. This page covers the skills, modules and implants for both, what each upgrade is worth, and ready-made skill plans with every prerequisite included.

The Hulk pilot

Hulk
HulkExhumer with the highest mining yield of any subcapital. Everything below makes it pull more ore per second.

Skills

  • Exhumers V and Astrogeology V: both raise yield on every cycle.
  • Ore Processing skills at IV: only needed for Tech II mining crystals, one skill per ore family you mine.

Exhumers V is a long train for 3% more yield. At 200 M ISK a week that’s about 6 M ISK a week. Worth it, but train it last.

Fitting

Start with Tech II Mining Laser Upgrades and Tech I Strip Miners. From there, pick one of two paths:

Goal Strip miners Unboosted Rorqual-boosted Wasted ore
Most ore per second Modulated Strip Miner II + Type B II crystals ~50 m³/s ~130 m³/s ~32 / ~82 m³/s
Most ore with zero waste ORE Strip Miner ~37 m³/s ~97 m³/s none

Figures are for a max-skilled Hulk with three Mining Laser Upgrade IIs.

  • Max yield per second suits big fields where ore is plentiful and only speed matters. Use the Deep Core version on Mercoxit.
  • Zero waste wins when the best ore is scarce, like the R64 rocks in a moon pull. You mine less per second, but every unit of the valuable ore lands in your hold.
Modulated Strip Miner IIHighest yield per second. Takes Tech II crystals.
Modulated Deep Core Strip Miner IIThe same, for Mercoxit.
Type B II mining crystalMore yield than Type A, and more waste. One type per ore family.
ORE Strip MinerFaction strip miner. 800 m³ base vs 600 m³ for Tech I, with zero waste.
Strip Miner IThe baseline to compare against.
Mining Laser Upgrade IILow-slot yield bonus. Fit three.
'Carpo' Mining Laser UpgradeStoryline upgrade. +1% over Tech II for many times the price.

The ‘Carpo’ upgrade is the “perfect” pick on paper, but that extra 1% takes a very long time to pay for itself.

Implants

Inherent Implants 'Highwall' Mining MX-1005+5% mining yield, slot 10. Pays for itself in a few months.
Michi's Excavation Augmentor+5% mining yield, slot 7. Very expensive. Years to pay off.

Both add 5%, so at 200 M ISK a week each one earns about 10 M ISK a week. Divide the market price by 10 M to get the payback in weeks. The Highwall is easy to justify. The Michi only makes sense if you want perfection or have ISK to burn.

The booster pilot

A Mining Foreman Burst cuts the cycle time of every mining laser in the fleet, and that’s where most of the extra yield comes from.

Orca
OrcaIndustrial command ship. The booster for highsec.
Rorqual
RorqualCapital industrial ship. Strongest bursts, but it can't enter highsec and it's a big loss if it dies.

Skills

  • Leadership V, Mining Director V and Cybernetics V for both ships.
  • Orca: Industrial Command Ships V and Industrial Reconfiguration V.
  • Rorqual: Industrial Command Ships IV, Capital Industrial Ships V and Capital Industrial Reconfiguration V.

Fitting

Large Industrial Core IIOrca. Needed for full burst strength.
Capital Industrial Core IIRorqual. Needed for full burst strength.
Mining Foreman Burst IIFit three, one per charge.
Mining Laser Optimization ChargeCuts mining cycle time. The one that adds yield.
Mining Laser Field Enhancement ChargeMore mining range, less moving between rocks.
Mining Equipment Preservation ChargeLess crystal wear, lower running costs.

The Optimization charge has a 15% base cut to cycle time. Ship bonuses, skills and the mindlink push it much further:

Booster Without mindlink With mindlink Ore mined, max boost
Orca −37.2% cycle time −46.5% cycle time +86.9%
Rorqual −49.2% cycle time −61.5% cycle time +159.7%

Implant

Mining Foreman Mindlink+25% Mining Foreman Burst strength and duration.

The mindlink alone adds about 17% more ore under an Orca and about 35% under a Rorqual. At 200 M ISK a week that’s roughly 35 M ISK a week in the Orca case, so it pays for itself in a couple of weeks. Buy this one first.

Skill plans

Each plan lists every level in training order, prerequisites included. To use one:

  1. Click Copy on the block.
  2. In EVE, open Skills → Skill Plans and import from the clipboard, or paste it straight into your training queue.
  3. Levels you already have are skipped.

Times assume 1,800–2,700 SP an hour: from no implants up to a good remap with +5 attribute implants.

Hulk pilot

Exhumers V, Astrogeology V, the Hulk, every strip miner above and both implants. 47 skill levels, 4.65 M SP, about 72–108 days from a fresh character.

Spaceship Command I
Spaceship Command II
Spaceship Command III
Spaceship Command IV
Industry I
Industry II
Industry III
Industry IV
Industry V
Science I
Science II
Science III
Science IV
Mining I
Mining II
Mining III
Mining IV
Astrogeology I
Astrogeology II
Astrogeology III
Astrogeology IV
Astrogeology V
Exhumers I
Mining Frigate I
Mining Frigate II
Mining Frigate III
Mining Barge I
Mining Barge II
Mining Barge III
Mining Barge IV
Mining Barge V
Exhumers II
Exhumers III
Exhumers IV
Exhumers V
Mining Upgrades I
Mining Upgrades II
Mining Upgrades III
Mining Upgrades IV
Mining V
Deep Core Mining I
Deep Core Mining II
Cybernetics I
Cybernetics II
Cybernetics III
Cybernetics IV
Cybernetics V

Tech II crystals

Ore Processing IV for every asteroid and moon ore family. Delete the lines for ores you don’t mine. 63 skill levels, 4.64 M SP, about 72–108 days from a fresh character.

Industry I
Reprocessing I
Reprocessing II
Reprocessing III
Reprocessing IV
Science I
Science II
Science III
Simple Ore Processing I
Simple Ore Processing II
Simple Ore Processing III
Simple Ore Processing IV
Reprocessing V
Coherent Ore Processing I
Coherent Ore Processing II
Coherent Ore Processing III
Coherent Ore Processing IV
Reprocessing Efficiency I
Reprocessing Efficiency II
Reprocessing Efficiency III
Reprocessing Efficiency IV
Science IV
Metallurgy I
Metallurgy II
Metallurgy III
Variegated Ore Processing I
Variegated Ore Processing II
Variegated Ore Processing III
Variegated Ore Processing IV
Reprocessing Efficiency V
Metallurgy IV
Complex Ore Processing I
Complex Ore Processing II
Complex Ore Processing III
Complex Ore Processing IV
Abyssal Ore Processing I
Abyssal Ore Processing II
Abyssal Ore Processing III
Abyssal Ore Processing IV
Mercoxit Ore Processing I
Mercoxit Ore Processing II
Mercoxit Ore Processing III
Mercoxit Ore Processing IV
Ubiquitous Moon Ore Processing I
Ubiquitous Moon Ore Processing II
Ubiquitous Moon Ore Processing III
Ubiquitous Moon Ore Processing IV
Common Moon Ore Processing I
Common Moon Ore Processing II
Common Moon Ore Processing III
Common Moon Ore Processing IV
Uncommon Moon Ore Processing I
Uncommon Moon Ore Processing II
Uncommon Moon Ore Processing III
Uncommon Moon Ore Processing IV
Rare Moon Ore Processing I
Rare Moon Ore Processing II
Rare Moon Ore Processing III
Rare Moon Ore Processing IV
Exceptional Moon Ore Processing I
Exceptional Moon Ore Processing II
Exceptional Moon Ore Processing III
Exceptional Moon Ore Processing IV

Orca booster

Orca with Large Industrial Core II, Mining Foreman Burst II and the mindlink. 50 skill levels, 6.71 M SP, about 104–155 days from a fresh character.

Spaceship Command I
Spaceship Command II
Spaceship Command III
Spaceship Command IV
Spaceship Command V
ORE Hauler I
ORE Hauler II
ORE Hauler III
Leadership I
Mining Foreman I
Mining Foreman II
Mining Foreman III
Mining Foreman IV
Mining Foreman V
Mining Director I
Industrial Command Ships I
Industrial Command Ships II
Industrial Command Ships III
Industrial Command Ships IV
Industrial Command Ships V
Industry I
Industry II
Industry III
Mass Production I
Mass Production II
Mass Production III
Mass Production IV
Mass Production V
Advanced Mass Production I
Industrial Reconfiguration I
Industrial Reconfiguration II
Industrial Reconfiguration III
Industrial Reconfiguration IV
Industrial Reconfiguration V
Leadership II
Leadership III
Leadership IV
Leadership V
Science I
Science II
Science III
Cybernetics I
Cybernetics II
Cybernetics III
Cybernetics IV
Cybernetics V
Mining Director II
Mining Director III
Mining Director IV
Mining Director V

Rorqual booster

Rorqual with Capital Industrial Core II, Mining Foreman Burst II and the mindlink. 77 skill levels, 11.54 M SP, about 178–267 days from a fresh character.

Spaceship Command I
Spaceship Command II
Spaceship Command III
Spaceship Command IV
Spaceship Command V
Advanced Spaceship Command I
Advanced Spaceship Command II
Advanced Spaceship Command III
Advanced Spaceship Command IV
Advanced Spaceship Command V
ORE Hauler I
ORE Hauler II
ORE Hauler III
Leadership I
Mining Foreman I
Mining Foreman II
Mining Foreman III
Mining Foreman IV
Mining Foreman V
Mining Director I
Industrial Command Ships I
Industrial Command Ships II
Industrial Command Ships III
Capital Ships I
Capital Ships II
Industry I
Industry II
Industry III
Mass Production I
Mass Production II
Mass Production III
Mass Production IV
Mass Production V
Advanced Mass Production I
Advanced Mass Production II
Advanced Mass Production III
Advanced Mass Production IV
Capital Industrial Reconfiguration I
Capital Industrial Ships I
Navigation I
Navigation II
Navigation III
Navigation IV
Navigation V
Warp Drive Operation I
Warp Drive Operation II
Warp Drive Operation III
Warp Drive Operation IV
Warp Drive Operation V
Science I
Science II
Science III
Science IV
Science V
Jump Drive Operation I
Industrial Command Ships IV
Capital Industrial Ships II
Capital Industrial Ships III
Capital Industrial Ships IV
Capital Industrial Ships V
Capital Industrial Reconfiguration II
Capital Industrial Reconfiguration III
Capital Industrial Reconfiguration IV
Capital Industrial Reconfiguration V
Leadership II
Leadership III
Leadership IV
Leadership V
Cybernetics I
Cybernetics II
Cybernetics III
Cybernetics IV
Cybernetics V
Mining Director II
Mining Director III
Mining Director IV
Mining Director V

Adapted from Perfect mining on the EVE University wiki (CC BY-SA 4.0). Item icons and ship renders © CCP hf.