Laser Mining Imperial Cutter Build (2024)

AnElite Dangerousship build for end-game laser mining.

Goals

Create a ship to:

1. Laser mine Platinum, Painite and bulk community goal minerals in planetary rings for long periods.
2. Be fast and agile enough to escape pirates or manoeuvre around asteroids easily. Surviving in Low- or Medium-Intensity Resource Extraction sites is a bonus.
3. Operate close to a fleet carrier or friendly station, and so does not require a fuel scoop.

Build

Links: EDSY and Coriolis (have your preferred one open as you read the guide for easy reference)

While a Type-9 Heavy is a cheap and effective bulk laser miner, the Imperial Cutter is faster, more agile, has a better Power Distributor and is in a different class regarding weapons, shields and armour. Unfortunately, the Imperial Cutter requires a mountainous rank unlock and comes with an eye-watering price tag.

Other contenders include the Federal Corvette, which has a better Power Distributor and better manoeuvrability but lacks the Imperial Cutter’s cargo space. The Anaconda is similarly light on cargo space.

The laser mining aspects of this build are similar to the Python Mining Build I described previously.

Laser Mining:

1. Mining Lasers and Power Distributor:This build has four 2D Mining Lasers and uses a Weapon Focused blueprint on the Power Distributor. This means it can comfortably deplete an asteroid without exhausting its weapon capacitor. Equip the mining lasers in the top and bottom hardpoints and not the nacelle hardpoints to make mining smaller asteroids easier.
2. Collector Limpet Controllers: Three collector limpets per 2D mining laser is a good guide for efficient fragment collection. A-rated Collector Limpet Controllers have a longer lifetime while B-rated have a longer range. A longer lifetime means fewer limpets are required. Most laser mining occurs at close range, so A-rated Collector Limpet Controllers are preferred. Use the Lightweight blueprint for a small boost to speed and agility.
3. Prospector Limpet Controller: These tell you an asteroid’s composition and increase the number of fragments mining lasers can burn off. A-rated Prospector Limpet controllers provide more fragments than B-rated, B-rated more than C-rated and so on. Once again, use the Lightweight blueprint for a small boost to speed and agility.
4. Avoid Mining Multi-Limpet Controllers: Multi-limpet controllers are great for multi-purpose builds or ships with constrained slots. However, dedicated limpet controllers are less effective for mining. Their lower rating means prospector limpets produce fewer fragments and their collector limpets have shorter lifetimes.
5. Cargo space:Use the larger slots for Cargo Racks and the smaller slots for limpet controllers and a refinery. The 512 T cargo space should be ample. Fill it with between 25% to 75% capacity with limpets before heading out, with lower values if you are using a mining map or are otherwise familiar with the area.
6. Refinery:A 4A Refinery is more than large enough for most mining tasks, particularly if you have to wait for the occasional “Refinery Full” bug to clear.
7. Detailed Surface Scanner:A Detailed Surface Scanner probes rings for hotspots or to see hotspots revealed previously.

Defence:

1. Shields and armour to taste:Mining does not require particularly strong shields. The eight utility slots coupled with a size six shield generator, the smallest an Imperial Cutter can practically fit, are overkill for mining. Impact or “physics” damage is absolute so resistances are not important. This build uses Bi-Weaves due to the lower power requirements and faster regeneration speeds when fighting in lower-intensity resource extraction zones.
2. Military slots: Use Guardian Shield Reinforcement Packages to bolster shields. Hull and Module reinforcements are good substitutes if you have not unlocked those modules. The two military slots can be left empty if cost or mass are tight.
3. Point Defence: Equip a Point Defence on the lower hull near the cargo hatch to protect against hatch breaker limpets. However, deactivate it if mining in a wing or with friends. Otherwise, it may target others’ collector and prospector limpets.
4. Weapons to taste: The three remaining hardpoints can be left empty or filled with your preferred weapons. Medium Lasers and a Huge Multicannon are an effective pairing.

Variations

1. Resource Extraction Site Mining:This build can handle itself against most pirates and in Low- and Medium-Intensity Resource Extraction zones. To improve the build’s effectiveness, consider replacing one of the 5A Collector Limpet Controllers with a fighter bay. Swap the sensors to Long Range A-rated Sensors to see what is coming. Wingmates are ideal. Flee if your shields drop.
2. Fuel Scoop:If you want to operate without a carrier or in remote locations, swap one of the 5A Collector Limpet Controllers for a 5A Fuel Scoop.

Tactics

1. Fire groups:Have one fire group for laser mining. Put the Prospector Limpet Controller on one button and both the Collector Limpet Controller and Mining Lasers on the other. Putting both collector limpets and mining lasers together means collector limpets are released when you fire the mining lasers.
2. Laser Mining:Laser mining is covered by guides from elsewhere. To summarize, fly close to an asteroid then fire a prospector limpet at it. When it hits the asteroid, select the prospector limpet to see the asteroid’s composition in the info panel. If it contains sufficient minerals, move close to the asteroid near the pole of its rotation Fire mining lasers at it to melt off fragments, which the collector limpets will pick up. Open your cargo hatch for the limpets to drop the fragments into your refinery. When the asteroid is depleted, move to another asteroid and repeat. Ignore minerals you are not interested in. Abandon limpets in groups of 10 to 20 if your cargo racks are full.
3. Pip management: Mining is best with four pips to weapons and two in engines. Unless you want to lazily boost into each asteroid instead of breaking, shields should only be needed for accidental bumps or pirates. Avoid boosting unless you are running from pirates or jumping out because an Imperial Cutter requires kilometers to slow down.
4. Pirates: Waiting for the initial pirate to spawn, scan you and move on is the easiest plan. It may spawn outside sensor range so be patient. However, This build’s copious shields and huge hardpoint give the option of defeating most pirates if you are impatient.
5. Resource Extraction Zones: Choose a resource extraction site within a hotspot if you want to mine a particular mineral. Start about 20 km away from the centre of the zone to avoid most of the traffic. Have the fighter deployed and set to “Defensive”.