Caspian ExplorerMining

The Caspian Explorer is Saud Kruger's deep-space flagship, and its mining case rests on re-roling that vast airframe. Fourteen optional internals hold a full refinery, a limpet swarm and a ~276 t ore hold, while an unusually generous hardpoint layout — one Large and six Medium mounts — carries the complete mining toolkit with a large multi-cannon to spare. A class-8 FSD and a class-5 fuel scoop let it reach distant pristine rings under its own power.

The problem is value. None of that hardware is mining-specific: there is no hull bonus, no Mk II mining exclusives, and the ~276 t hold trails the Type-9 (~512 t) and Anaconda (~360 t) that cost far less. At ~189M Cr on a large pad that can't reach ring outposts, it earns less ore per credit than a medium Python or Type-8. It mines well; it just makes no economic sense as a dedicated buy.

Four things carry the Caspian as a miner — none of them mining-specific:

• Deep internals. Fourteen optional slots fit a 4A refinery, three collector controllers, a prospector and a ~276 t ore hold with a shield and scoop still aboard.
• Generous hardpoints. One Large and six Medium mounts carry twin mining lasers, the seismic launcher, abrasion blaster and sub-surface missile — and still spare a mount for a real gun most miners can't fit.
• Reach. A class-8 FSD plus a class-5 fuel scoop take it to remote pristine rings without a carrier.
• Six utilities. A Pulse Wave Analyser, three shield boosters and two heat sinks at once — a full defensive suite alongside the mining kit.

A respectable ~276 t hold and a rare full-suite-plus-guns fit make it a competent miner, but a ~189M Cr price, large-pad-only access and zero mining specialisation hold it to 60 — cheaper hulls out-earn it per credit.

The 60/100 headline is a verdict against the mining role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Every table rates ships for mining specifically, split by landing-pad class. The Max cargo column is maximum ore-hold tonnage; the rating is the same 1–100 suitability verdict used across the site.

Same class — large mining ships

9 large-pad mining hulls carry a rating, led by Imperial Cutter (92). Every same-pad rival lands where this one does — the direct field to shop.

Other classes — the medium miners

The medium-pad mining field (9 rated), led by Type-11 Prospector (95) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

Other classes — the small-pad prospectors

The small-pad mining field (3 rated), led by Cobra Mk V (58) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

At ~189M Cr the Caspian is one of the most expensive ships in the game, though it carries no rank or permit gate. A full mining fit — refinery, limpet controllers, shield, guns and scoop — pushes the all-in figure past 250M Cr.

That is a great deal of money for a mid-field ore hold. A Type-9 hauls nearly double for a third of the price; a Python mines and fights on a medium pad for a third of it. The Caspian only makes sense here as a re-role — the cost is sunk into a hull bought for exploration or tourism, and mining is a secondary job it happens to do well.

A large-pad volume-mining fit that turns the Caspian's deep internals into a ~276 t ore hold while keeping a real gun and a light bi-weave for self-defence. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the mining baseline; Engineered adds range, cool running and shield the tools themselves stay stock, since mining hardware is not engineerable. This is a re-roled explorer, not a purpose-built barge: it hauls a respectable hold but carries no mining hull bonus and lands large-pad only.

Buy the hull and fit the essentials to start mining: a medium mining laser, an abrasion blaster, a base refinery and one collector and one prospector controller. The stock Lightweight Alloy hull is free, so no bulkhead spend here.

Everything else goes in E-rated and cheap buy-only: power plant, thrusters, the class-8 FSD, life support, power distributor and sensors all at base grade, with a class-7 fuel tank and a couple of cargo racks for the first ore.

Leave the rest of the optional internals empty for now — the full limpet swarm, the fuel scoop, the surface scanner and the larger ore racks all wait for the A-rated pass.

A-rating priority for a self-defended volume miner:

• 1Power Plant & Distributor → A — Run twin lasers, the seismic launcher and the limpet swarm together without a brown-out. ~30M Cr
• 2Full mining suite — Second mining laser, seismic launcher, sub-surface missile, 4A refinery and a Pulse Wave Analyser. ~6M Cr
• 3Limpet controllers — A size-5, size-3 and size-1 collector controller plus a prospector keep a big swarm feeding two lasers. low cost
• 46C bi-weave + three shield boosters — A forgiving landing shield that also buys the seconds to boost clear of a pirate. ~15M Cr
• 5Large + medium multi-cannon — Real self-defence most miners can't mount, to end an interdiction rather than only survive it. ~2M Cr
• 65A fuel scoop + ore racks + DSS — Self-sufficient reach to distant rings and the racks that make the ~276 t hold. ~20M Cr

The mining engineering pattern at large-hull scale — range, cool running, shield and guns. The mining tools themselves take no blueprint, so engineering targets the drive, plant, distributor, shield stack and the defensive multi-cannons. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Engineered, the Caspian mines a ~276 t hold behind a reinforced bi-weave and three shield boosters, with a large and a medium multi-cannon to end interdictions rather than flee them. The class-8 FSD and class-5 scoop carry all of it to distant pristine rings. It stays slow and large-pad-bound — capable, but never cheap for what it hauls.

• A-rate the plant and distributor first — two lasers and a limpet swarm brown out a class-1 distributor fast.
• Mind the large pad — every ore run ends at a big station; outpost-only ring systems are off-limits.
• The guns are the real edge over the barges — use them; the bi-weave alone won't save a laden hull from a determined pirate.
• It's a re-role, not a value buy — a Type-9, Python or Type-8 earns more ore per credit.