Shaft Miner

Welcome, Miner! You will break rocks, slay monsters, and die lost and alone in the depths of the caverns. Not on some sandy asteroid, but on what we call Lavaland!

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

Workin' In The Coal Mine
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.

Your workplace, Lavaland, has some hazards: The risk of these hazards can be reduced by watching your step and being aware of your surroundings. Don't walk into lava, chasms, or outside during an ash storm. You'll get a text warning not long before a ash 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.
 * 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.

You can click on an adjacent rock or run directly into it to begin picking or drilling the rock, but the Kinetic Accelerator is much faster and more efficient and you should be using that instead of a pickaxe or basic mining drill. Keep in mind that if you do decide to pick or drill your way through rock, you can have multiple dig jobs running at the same time to mine faster.

Working With Your Boss
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 lavaland and has full access to Mining, so keep that in mind.

The Objective
You're here to mine, so get digging! Once you're full to bursting with ores, drag your ore box back to the station and head to cargo where the Ore Redemption Machine sits. Insert your ID and, drag the box next to the machine to automatically offload your ores and have them instantly processed into sheets. Then click "claim" to retrieve money as a reward to your currently work ID. Now print new gear from the supply techfab and buy new gear from the mining vendor, then take your crate and head back to lavaland!

Gearing up

 * 1) 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 an additional mining satchel, and a shovel for digging up ash (for glass).
 * 2) Attach your seclite and knife to your proto-kinetic accelerator to save space, and to let you bash things harder without having to take out your knife.
 * 3) Use your voucher on a mining vending machine to select your choice of advanced mining tools, listed below.
 * 4) Go to the Lavaland Mining Station and get an explorer suit, breath mask, and oxygen tank from Mining 'EVA'. On the western side of the base, there is a mini-Medbay where you can find first-aid kits, and a maintenance room where you can top off internals. The nearby storage room has more gear lockers and Ore boxes.
 * 5) Before you go, you'll want an Ore Box, which can hold an infinite amount of minerals. Ore boxes are available on the mining station, the mining shuttle and rarely on the field. More can be built with wood planks.
 * 6) For extra safety, grab a GPS device, set it to your name and tell the QM and other miners about it. If you're lucky, they will drag your lifeless body back to medbay.

Smashing rocks

 * 1) Find minerals. The further north, the better ore. Activate your scanner and shove it into your bag or internals box. Every once in a while it sends out a pulse that lets you see deposits in the rock a few tiles away from you. Try to get a mixture of every type of mineral.
 * 2) Pick up minerals by either having your mining bag in your belt slot or pockets, then just walk over the minerals. If you're dragging an ore box behind you, you'll automatically deposit minerals into the box instead of your bag.
 * 3) Once you've had enough, return to the main station with your Ore box. Do not deliver ore to the processing plant on the lavaland mining base, as that room is outdated.
 * 4) Miners have access to the science channel (with :n).
 * 5) Drag your ore box to the delivery tile next to the ORM Ore_redemption.gif (usually north or south of it, depending on station). That'll automatically empty the box into the ORM Ore_redemption.gif.
 * 6) Take your mining satchel into your hand and activate it while standing on the same delivery tile next to the ORM Ore_redemption.gif. This will empty any ores in the bag into the ORM as well. Already processed sheets inserted into the ORM do not give any points. Only raw ores count.
 * 7) Click "Claim". You do not need to insert your ID.
 * 8) Go to a mining equipment vendor to buy advanced equipment with the points you've gained.

Life beyond smashing rocks

 * 1) Use your better gear to push deeper into Lavaland.
 * 2) Print Advanced Plasma Cutters and Mining Satchels of Holding at the cargo protolathe for even more efficient mining.
 * 3) If you feel robust enough, explore some ruins and die horribly get amazing rewards.
 * 4) If you feel VERY robust, look for Megafauna with your GPS and try to kill it, for extremely valuable loot.

Voucher equipment
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:
 * Survival Capsule and Explorer's Webbing: The webbing (you put on your belt slot) allows you to carry even more mining equipment - having a second shelter capsule is nice too. 900 pts value.
 * Resonator Kit: Comes with a resonator, explorer's webbing, mini extinguisher and advanced scanner. While the resonator is underwhelming, the advanced scanner has almost twice the scanning range and updates much faster. 2100 pts.
 * Mining Drone: A little companion that helps in storing ore and hunting wildlife. Only useful once you install the sentience upgrade module. Comes with an industrial welding tool, a welding mask and a KA modkit that allows shots to pass through the drone. ~800 pts.
 * Extraction and Rescue Kit: Contains a fulton extraction pack and a beacon, which allows you to send back home minerals, items and dead miners without having to use the ferry. As a bonus, you get 30 marker beacons too. 1700 pts.
 * Crusher Kit: Contains a proto-kinetic crusher, a chest webbing like the capsule kit, an advanced scanner and a mini fire extinguisher. The crusher is two-handed and hard to use without getting hit, but has a chance to make fauna drop powerful trophies. 2450 pts.
 * Mining Conscription Kit: A duffle bag full of basic items for one conscript - Proto-kinetic accelerator, survival knife, seclite, explorer's suit, mesons, mining scanner and satchel, gas mask, a supply radio key and a special card that adds mining access to IDs. Good for when you want to recruit metafriends fresh conscripts. 1500 pts.

Mining Skill
Mining with certain tools will slowly increase your mining skill, making you faster at mining. If your skill in mining is greater than Journeyman you will also randomly see ores around you when using a mining tool.

For Great Profit!
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 an equipment vendor. You can then in turn use these items to push further into Lavaland to mine more minerals, fell stronger wildlife and find greater treasure. Consider it all an investment.

Survival Medipens can help you in a pinch for example, or a Wormhole Jaunter can help you escape what would have been a death trap. Or using Legion Stabilizer on Legion Cores, to let you save their heal and anti-slowdown effects for later. Or you can spend it all on booze and cigars.

Default Gear
The following is a list of default mining equipment:

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

Advanced Gear
The following are more advanced items that need to be purchased from a mining equipment vendor, with points:

Voucher/Reward Equipment
These items can either be acquired from a voucher, or can be bought with mining points, usually earned from delivering ore to the Ore Redemption Machine on the station. Prices are included.

The Free Golem ship has some extra goodies:

RnD Gear
The following is a list of advance items that can be acquired from your departmental techfab after research.

All of this gear is printed out at the supply department protolathe.

The Wildlife
Lavaland is filled with a variety of bloodthirsty alien lifeforms populating the caverns, walking just fine over the ponds and puddles of lava. 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 by attacking the corpse on and the goods will spill out!

Shiny Mobs
Common lavaland mobs now have rare mutations. Common mining mobs have a 1% chance on initialize to gain a new appearance and new stats, however, this is 5% for legions.

Necropolis Chest Loot
Necropolis Chests are guaranteed whenever you destroy a tendril or a pulsating tumor. They also drop from the Legion megafauna, when you kill a Stage 3 skull. For the bosses' loot, see Megafauna.

Pulsating Tumor
See Pulsating Tumor

Crusher trophies
Each time you kill a Lavaland enemy with the Crusher, there is a chance that it drops a trophy. These can be attached to your Crusher for unique effects.

Craftables
Not only can you kill the local fauna, you can also cobble together items from their smashed remains. Open the crafting menu for this.

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

The follow 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 sealed vault. 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.

Syndicate Agents
Recon Expedition #45 Threat Level:Extreme, Hostile Notes: It has come to attention that the syndicate (direct corporation/group unknown) has recently set up a large compound in lavaland. This may explain where expedition #38-44 has gone. They are equipped with high end weaponry and has been stated that trace bits of gunpowder has been found around the lava moat that the base is stationed in, suggesting that this base may be wired to self-destruct. We also detected radio waves coming and going from the compound. If found, turn back and report to your superiors immediately.

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 ok but it sells for little and is highly abundant on the station already.

Alloys
Some ores can be smelted to produce alloys.

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 autism science -- but it never hurts to know what to aim for.


 * Scientists at least a bit of every ore. In exchange, they may research upgrades for your Kinetic Accelerator, a Plasma Cutter, a Mining Satchel of Holding, and, if you're lucky, Night Vision Meson Scanners or a Bag of Holding!
 * 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 lavaproof Firefighter is the only good mech for mining. Get a Clarke and reap the profits.
 * The Quartermaster may want mineral sheets to trade them in for bonus supply credits. Plasma in particular is both common and valuable.
 * Everybody could always use more iron, glass and plasteel, but especially Roboticists and Station Engineers.
 * The Chemist and Xenobiologist will all appreciate having extra plasma.
 * A competent Virologist can use several sheets of uranium to create incredibly powerful healing viruses that let you heal out of crit in two seconds.
 * 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 Lavaland
While on Lavaland, you may come upon artificial structures. They can have items ranging from magical artifacts, to other lifeforms, to alien facehuggers. If you are at all unsure, always let your mining buddies know using :u before going in: some ruins can be very dangerous.

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.
 * Middle mouse click swaps your hand, allowing you to shoot minerals and grat them with the satchel quickly.
 * 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.
 * You can dual wield PKAs. Use to fire both at once.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * You could alternatively buy the drone, fully upgrade it, give it an AI Module, and tell it to go valid-hunt. A mining drone dragging a bar of soap is surprisingly robust against even changelings.
 * Life improving things:
 * Mining suit upgrade : Goliath plates add +10% melee resist each time when applied to a suit. The plates will stack until they reach 30%, which may help you live in case a goliath grabs you.
 * 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). Also they are ashproof. If you get fully augumented, you are ash storm proof. Downside : EMP vulnerability.
 * Kinetic accelerators can be used as infinite tools to navigate space, since every time you fire, it'll throw you in the opposite direction.
 * Sentient minebots can very easily be commanded to go help security if there is an imminent threat to the station. Their melee saw is very robust, and works just as well as on the station as it is on lavaland. The proto-kinetic accelerator that they are equipped with is very robust when in space.
 * If you dont have a mining satchel of holding, and no ore box, you can deconstruct tables in the library (the curator is probably too busy organizing a game of D&D to really care much) to obtain wooden planks. You can then use these wooden planks to fabricate an ore box.
 * If science hasn't researched Advanced Mining Technology within 10 minutes of the start of the shift, please remind them. There is normally at least 1 single person in science competent enough to do so.

Dead Space
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, Lavaland is isolated, dangerous, and as expansive as you're willing to dig out. Plenty of room for somebody to get lost in... Forever!

Tips for Traitoring

 * 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 Lavaland.
 * 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.
 * You can make a chemical payload container using any shitty bit of gibtonite. This can be useful for making chemical bombs, but it relies on knowing how to obtain specific chemicals that can be robust and accessible to a Miner.

Tips for Culting
If you're a miner, 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 station and into safe custody. Warning: Teleporting from Lavaland will make the destination rune glow brightly and open a rift in reality that may not only reveal the rune, but the location of your base as well.