Menu
What's New
By:
Filters

Is mining always this bad?

H

Hallmark Original

Hatchling
Joined
Jan 11, 2026
Posts
4
New player trying my hand at mining after reading a lot and thinking I could at least break even and gain skills with a 92-95% return and reasonable auction technique. Deposited about $350, downloaded LBML, and went to town.

Chipped in enough skill to max the F-101. In 2,000 drops of ore + enmatter with the F-101, I've only gotten a return of ~84.23%, which feels like robbery. Is it always this bad?
 
Having little exposure to mining, but yeah, I'd guess that's normal, if not slightly on the low end

You say you chipped in enough to max the F101. Maxing skill for a tool =/= looter skills. What's your prospector and surveyor profession levels (P->Resource Collecting). The higher those are the better the returns are, over a long time, over a large turnover. Though they should in theory never surpass 100% return, which is why you need MU from the mined ores / enm to make up for it

Happy to be corrected by someone more versed in the subject
 
1. I don't like bombing places people bomb too frequently
2. is it maxed on both ore & enmat?
3. are you indoors?
 
Hallmark Original said:
New player trying my hand at mining after reading a lot and thinking I could at least break even and gain skills with a 92-95% return and reasonable auction technique. Deposited about $350, downloaded LBML, and went to town.

Chipped in enough skill to max the F-101. In 2,000 drops of ore + enmatter with the F-101, I've only gotten a return of ~84.23%, which feels like robbery. Is it always this bad?
Click to expand...

92-95% is the usual now with ANY finder

BUT

MA changed it again

IF you mine where some 1 has just mined at the same spots ... you'll lucky to get 84% now and mostly get only fillers depending the time in between

BUT

You will get it back if you keep mining.

Count with averages and not for a few runs.

You still can make profit/break even if you mine in places that contain high % after sales and chips will not tell you that nor where to mine best.

Check out this thread pls

And check my mining log in my signature if you like that gives some tips every month after 25 years of mining.
 
Last edited:
Jayce Savage said:
What's your prospector and surveyor profession levels (P->Resource Collecting). The higher those are the better the returns are, over a long time, over a large turnover.
Click to expand...

Wait, is this true? I thought those were just for unlocking different finders. I might be wrong but I thought it was shown a long time ago that skills don't impact return in mining.
 
detritus2.0 said:
Wait, is this true? I thought those were just for unlocking different finders. I might be wrong but I thought it was shown a long time ago that skills don't impact return in mining.
Click to expand...

Why do you think so many miners with high skills and very expensive gear have stopped mining ... + the fact there is no longer a market in sales... or just a little market left.
 
Not worth it though , if you use Mining AMP basicly big lost unless you have 1000m+ finder else you just drop your money into another players spots over and over and most of the resource can't even found LOL , and lastly if not (10 PED Into $1 USD) i don't even know what this game selling point are :D
 
Yes mining is this bad, multiple bugs have been reported to Mindark regarding multiple finders not working the way that I feel that they should. What I would do is if you are not happy with the hit rate, wait about 15 minutes or switch areas.

I do find the waiting or switching areas quite boring and it just takes away engagement from the game.
 
R4tt3xx said:
Yes mining is this bad, multiple bugs have been reported to Mindark regarding multiple finders not working the way that I feel that they should. What I would do is if you are not happy with the hit rate, wait about 15 minutes or switch areas.

I do find the waiting or switching areas quite boring and it just takes away engagement from the game.
Click to expand...
What ever you do, dont listen to this guys.

He knows nothing about mining.

Best of luck!
 
Contract CH Hunter said:
What ever you do, dont listen to this guys.

He knows nothing about mining.

Best of luck!
Click to expand...
What you just did is a classic ad hominem abusive, literally zero argumentation, just an attempt to discredit the other person. You're claiming he knows nothing about mining even though you don't have a single mining global yourself and have only been playing for a few months, while he's had an account here on the forum since 2005. I really hope MA eventually implements an AI chat and forum moderator, because it's quite good at cleaning this kind of trolling.
 
Ahos Vsroi said:
What you just did is a classic ad hominem abusive, literally zero argumentation, just an attempt to discredit the other person. You're claiming he knows nothing about mining even though you don't have a single mining global yourself and have only been playing for a few months, while he's had an account here on the forum since 2005. I really hope MA eventually implements an AI chat and forum moderator, because it's quite good at cleaning this kind of trolling.
Click to expand...
Really isn't that hard to figure out R4tt3xx doesn't know what he is talking about... since you are so keen at pointing out the longevity of his account you would see that he is completely out of touch with how mining works.
 
Hallmark Original said:
New player trying my hand at mining after reading a lot and thinking I could at least break even and gain skills with a 92-95% return and reasonable auction technique. Deposited about $350, downloaded LBML, and went to town.

Chipped in enough skill to max the F-101. In 2,000 drops of ore + enmatter with the F-101, I've only gotten a return of ~84.23%, which feels like robbery. Is it always this bad?
Click to expand...
No, it is not. Remember to take mining challenges from rdi representative- it will give you award- prospecting, mining, surveying and ground assessment.
( https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forum/index.php?threads/mining-challenges.221396/ ). If you do mine chose between ore and en matter at the beginning your journey in mining dont do both, when dropping a bomb. check area where you want to mine, what you can find there the most at mining blog.
And yes, like others said- time when you mine is important too.
don't give up, and yes you can feel like is robbery, but there is ups and downs and sometimes no loot if servers don't work normal.
 
Ahos Vsroi said:
What you just did is a classic ad hominem abusive, literally zero argumentation, just an attempt to discredit the other person. You're claiming he knows nothing about mining even though you don't have a single mining global yourself and have only been playing for a few months, while he's had an account here on the forum since 2005. I really hope MA eventually implements an AI chat and forum moderator, because it's quite good at cleaning this kind of trolling.
Click to expand...
Have tried, in multiple posts. It is pointless to continue hit my head to the brick wall.

Hope none of the new player listen to him.

He's been here 20 years learned nothing or adapted to the changes. What he got to show for it beside complaining?

IF you would check my hunting logs instead of EL which can't be trusted these days since it does not record everything. You would understand that i am man of data, proof and honesty.

Just to add amount of globals and hofs tell you nothing about how succesful someone is.

It tells you only that person has either cycled alot or gambled alot.

Hunting, Mining and Crafting all work the same.

TT in TT out, MU decide your loss, break even or profit.

Best of luck and happy hunting! 🙂
 
Last edited:
T16-5 MADMAwith nastya said:
the forums would be better off without his constant pumping of falsehoods and shit theories
Click to expand...
I disagree.. his topics contains a lot of useful information. It usually comes from people trying to explain it in as simple words as possible in hopes that something will stick.

They have occasionally also started interesting discussions in an otherwise pretty dead topic (mining, that is)

I think that claiming we as a community would be better off without something/someone is both dangerous and untrue. There is always a takeaway for someone from any discussion. I think that we should value this.
 
Hallmark Original said:
New player trying my hand at mining after reading a lot and thinking I could at least break even and gain skills with a 92-95% return and reasonable auction technique. Deposited about $350, downloaded LBML, and went to town.

Chipped in enough skill to max the F-101. In 2,000 drops of ore + enmatter with the F-101, I've only gotten a return of ~84.23%, which feels like robbery. Is it always this bad?
Click to expand...
I usually wouldn't recommend chipping in and you'd normally skill up and learn a bit in that short time in takes to max it out. That's better than chipping in for more advanced finders though, so I wouldn't worry too much there.

With that said, maxing out the finder wouldn't affect your TT. At that depth, you probably wouldn't be getting much change in MU, but resource type is what's affected by depth. TT for the most part isn't affected by equipment in mining unless you're talking about excavator eff/pec, and that's not a huge component.

First though, it's not unheard of to get near 85% TT over that many drops. With just the way averages work, most may be in that 92-95% range, but you're going to get some outside that range. Back when mining MU was better, the MU would at least get you closer to break-even so that while you may still be losing ped for awhile, you could keep cycling.

While it's not entirely known how the lootpool works, you can see trends on global trackers like Entropia Life (when it was still active at least, not sure if Entropia Central has this yet). Sometimes overall mining loot would be down during parts of the week or you might see multi-week trends. As to how that works I won't hazard I guess, but you definitely can end up in longer-term downswings. That doesn't really address that certain areas/servers may have poorer TT return than others for a time, but that's at least where you can see if you're getting say 20-30 NRFS, that may be a sign to stop and mine elsewhere. You can't really time when TT returns are going to be really good, but it does help to keep an eye on when to take a break for a bit rather than pushing through in an area.

Hopefully that gives you a few ideas on what could be affecting your TT returns that aren't entirely in our control. It could be you were in a server that for whatever reason was stingy that really drove the average down. Sometimes all it takes is one global/hof and then things even out.
 
Last edited:
detritus2.0 said:
Wait, is this true? I thought those were just for unlocking different finders. I might be wrong but I thought it was shown a long time ago that skills don't impact return in mining.
Click to expand...
You're right. I don't think that is true either. I don't have them too high and I had around 99% tt return from mining last year(probably a little bit inflated because I also did some hunting and returns there were lower), still 95% easily, but count it over 5k+ PED spent, usually it averages out before that if you mine unamped(amped might be more since you cycle more faster).
 
What I was pointing out in this thread has nothing to do with taking a side in the mining debate.
There is a big difference between a substantive discussion and a tribal conflict, and what’s happening here is very clearly the second.

When I compared someone who has been around since 2005 with someone who has only been playing for a few months, that was not a personal attack, it was a perfectly reasonable way to talk about experience and likelihood of understanding the system. It’s the same as comparing a driver with 20+ years behind the wheel to someone who got their license six months ago. It doesn’t guarantee who is right, but in the absence of detailed data, it’s a logical factor to consider.

What I have not done at any point is claim that his specific advice about minig is definitely correct or incorrect. I haven’t followed his post history, I don’t need to, and I’m not interested in digging through someone’s entire forum past just to validate whether I’m “allowed” to question the way others are responding. My point is simple: if you claim someone “knows nothing” or is “wrong”, the burden is on you to show why.

What I see instead are replies like:

- “don’t listen to this guy, he knows nothing”
- “I’ve explained it many times before, it’s pointless”
- “go check his previous posts”
- “the forum would be better off without his falsehoods and shit theories”

None of this is an argument.
It’s all just an attempt to discredit the person instead of engaging with what was actually written. That is exactly what I called out as ad hominem and trolling.
To make it crystal clear:

A substantive discussion means:
- addressing the actual claim,
- presenting data, reasoning, or examples,
- explaining why you think something is wrong,
- responding to arguments with counter‑arguments,
-staying focused on the topic, not the person.

A tribal conflict means:
- attacking the person instead of their statements,
- appealing to reputation, history, or group alignment instead of logic,
- repeating “he’s wrong” without showing how or why,
- forming a little group that just dogpiles with likes/dislikes,
- treating criticism of your reasoning as a personal attack.

What I see here is entirely the second category. Someone points out that a reply is pure ad hominem and lacks logic, and the reaction is… more ad hominem and even less logic. That doesn’t prove that he’s wrong or roght about mining; it only proves that some people here don’t know how to argue without resorting to personal attacks.

That’s the whole point of my comment. Not defending a person. Not defending a specific mining strategy. Just pointing out that if you can’t separate “I don’t like this guy” from “is his reasoning correct?”, then you’re not having a discussion, you’re just doing tribal warfare and calling it an argument.

I’m still waiting for an actual, reasoned explanation of why changing location “makes no sense”, because so far nobody has provided one. Many experienced miners recommend doing exactly that, and I’ve seen some of veteran players and streamers adjust their position when hit‑rate drops. If someone believes this approach is wrong, then the logical next step is to explain why, not to attack the person who mentioned it.
The fact that I have to explain this in such detail proves how much an AI moderator is needed here. I'm waiting for more thumbs down, which only proves once again how right I am. this is the last thing you have left when you cannot express yourself substantively and when a personal attack has already been pointed out to you.
 
Last edited:
Ahos Vsroi said:
I’m still waiting for an actual, reasoned explanation of why changing location “makes no sense”, because so far nobody has provided one.
Click to expand...
It makes sense, it is actualy one of those rare cases where Rattex seem to know something about mining.

That is the dangerous part, some new player assuming based on this comment alone might seek up he's other posts and belive that nonsense.

R4tt3xx said:
Yes mining is this bad, multiple bugs have been reported to Mindark regarding multiple finders not working the way that I feel that they should.
Click to expand...

Did he provide data to validate these claims?

My quote was poorly edited much to due me trying to stay up to speed what else nonsense he was coming up in another new threads, where he indeed did try to jump start exatly same loop of discussion why mining sucks?

Rattex has tendency to push he's own idea about how mining should work, while ignoring how game works and every bit of data provided to him or any attempt to discuss what he think he's "found out" by other reputable miners.

I agree with you on the part of not engaging with the trolls. 👍

Dont feel bad about dislikes, those happen.

Happy hunting! 🙂
 
Last edited:
I've swung +/- 10k PED very regularly before.
Leeloo Miner said:
Why do you think so many miners with high skills and very expensive gear have stopped mining ... + the fact there is no longer a market in sales... or just a little market left.
Click to expand...

Not true. I left before simply because profitability relative to living was too low. I needed to hit 30-40k PED profit monthly to do ok in life since i was pretty much full time, but I only hit about 5-15k PED monthly profit then.

One of the biggest miners (lv 100+ now) since my old days is still around now. Dude's a funny character :), he's free to play too.
 
83-85% is the standard mining return without hofs.

just keep dropping.
 
R4tt3xx said:
Yes mining is this bad, multiple bugs have been reported to Mindark regarding multiple finders not working the way that I feel that they should. What I would do is if you are not happy with the hit rate, wait about 15 minutes or switch areas.

I do find the waiting or switching areas quite boring and it just takes away engagement from the game.
Click to expand...

Assuming you are moving around sufficiently, there is no need to switch areas or wait "15mins", this is not a thing.
 
Contract CH Hunter said:
It makes sense, it is actualy one of those rare cases where Rattex seem to know something about mining.

That is the dangerous part, some new player assuming based on this comment alone might seek up he's other posts and belive that nonsense.



Did he provide data to validate these claims?

My quote was poorly edited much to due me trying to stay up to speed what else nonsense he was coming up in another new threads, where he indeed did try to jump start exatly same loop of discussion why mining sucks?

Rattex has tendency to push he's own idea about how mining should work, while ignoring how game works and every bit of data provided to him or any attempt to discuss what the think he's "found out" by other reputable miners.

I agree with you on the part of not engaging with the trolls. 👍

Dont feel bad about dislikes, those happen.

Happy hunting! 🙂
Click to expand...
What data ?

What I am seeing in-game are mining tools that dont work properly and have incorrect stats (max depth is off by 400+- m) and descriptions (tools refer to bombs when bombs no longer exist)

All of it has been submitted to Mindark in the form of tickets. Funny thing is that I did not even find the initial issue, it was another miner.

Even funnier was watching him drop a probe, get nothing, move about 4 meters, accidently drop another probe and get a global.. oh boy I was pissed off when I saw that.
 
Last edited:
Socrates|Mindark said:
Assuming you are moving around sufficiently, there is no need to switch areas or wait "15mins", this is not a thing.
Click to expand...

Don't worry, he will completely ignore you and still waste support time with needless tickets because whatever you say doesn't align with his spiral layer spreadsheet theory.
 
What I am noticing is the diminishing returns pattern and really its becoming a bit much right now, when I see it, alt-f4 is pressed and no this is not a whine, this is what I do. 6 PED profit tt for the day is not bad, I will take it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top