Cobra Mk VMining

The Cobra Mk V is the modern heir to the Cobra line, and as a miner it punches above its size in capability while falling short on volume. Three medium and two small hardpoints comfortably carry every mining tool — mining lasers for surface deposits, a seismic charge launcher and sub-surface missile for core work, an abrasion blaster for surface deposits — and four utility mounts find room for a pulse wave analyser to spot rocks. Few small ships can mount a complete laser-and-core suite at all; the Mk V does it with mounts to spare.

The catch is the hold. Its deepest optional slot is a class 5, and after the refinery, prospector and collector controllers there is little room left for ore racks — you mine in short trips and dock often. Where it earns its place is small-pad access and speed: it reaches outpost-only ring systems and high-value hotspots that lock out medium and large miners, and it gets there and back fast. It is a starter and specialist miner, not a tonnage machine.

Four things define the Mk V as a miner — for better and worse:

• Mounts a full mining suite. Three mediums and two smalls fit lasers, a seismic launcher, a sub-surface missile and an abrasion blaster — complete laser and core capability, rare on a small hull.
• Small-pad access and speed. 412 m/s boost and universal outpost docking reach ring systems and hotspots bigger miners can't, and shuttle ore home quickly.
• Shallow hold. A class-5 deepest slot means that after the refinery and limpet controllers the ore racks are small — short trips, frequent docking.
• Cheap and rank-free. Under 1.5M Cr for the hull, no rank or permit gate — the lowest barrier to entry of any capable miner.

A complete laser-and-core suite on a fast, cheap small pad that docks anywhere lifts it, but a class-5-max hold capping practical ore at ~56 t holds it to 58.

The 58/100 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.

Both tables rate ships for mining specifically. The role column is the maximum cargo capacity in tonnes — though practical ore capacity is lower once the mining suite (refinery, limpet controllers) is fitted.

Same class — small-pad miners

Among true small-pad miners the Mk V leads: it carries the most ore, mounts the fullest mining suite, and is fast enough to shuttle it home. The Cobra Mk III and Adder are cheaper but smaller and less capable — the Mk V is the small-pad miner to graduate to once you outgrow them.

Other classes — the haulers you graduate to

Step up a pad class and the volume gap is stark: a Type-6 matches the Mk V's hold on a medium pad, and the dedicated trade-miners carry several times more. The Mk V's lasting niche is the small pad — the miner that reaches outpost-only rings the haulers can't dock at.

At ~1.48M Cr the hull is among the cheapest capable miners in the game, with no rank or permit gate. A full mining fit — lasers, seismic launcher, refinery, limpet controllers, ore racks and a shield — brings the all-in figure to roughly 6M Cr A-rated, well under most medium miners.

That low cost is the real argument for it: a complete mining platform for the price of one good run, with a negligible rebuy. For learning the loop or mining a few rich cores from an outpost base, it pays for itself quickly — you just won't out-earn a big hauler per trip.

A complete small-ship mining fit for laser and core work. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the mining baseline; Engineered focuses on mobility, range and a tougher shield — the mining tools themselves are not meaningfully engineered. The shallow internals force hard trade-offs between ore racks and the suite.

Buy the hull (~1.48M Cr) and fit a single medium mining laser, a refinery, a prospector and a collector controller, plus a basic shield generator — enough to laser-mine surface deposits from the first session. The stock lightweight alloy bulkhead stays on; a miner wants the light hull, not military plate. The core-mining hardpoints (seismic launcher, sub-surface missile, abrasion blaster), the second laser and every utility mount stay empty until A-rating.

Fill the class-5 and class-4 optional slots with cargo racks and keep a detailed surface scanner to map hotspots.

A-rate the power plant and distributor early so the lasers and limpets run without browning out the small class-4 cores.

A-rating priority for a small-pad miner:

• 1Power Distributor → A — Mining lasers and limpets are power-hungry on a class-4 distributor; A-rate first, then engineer Charge Enhanced (not Engine Focused) so WEP recharge keeps both lasers firing without stutter. ~600k Cr
• 2Power Plant → A — Run the full tool suite, shield and limpets together. ~700k Cr
• 3Refinery + limpet controllers — The heart of the mining loop; fit before more ore racks. ~1M Cr
• 4Shield Generator → bi-weave — Cheap insurance for the exposed minutes cracking a core. ~400k Cr
• 5FSD & thrusters → A — A-rate both for mobility: the FSD (~600k Cr) reaches distant hotspots and shuttles ore home faster, and A-rated thrusters boost the light hull clear of interdictions it can't win.

Mining engineering is light and focuses on the ship, not the tools — the mining hardware itself isn't meaningfully engineered. Felicity Farseer (maxed) carries the FSD; pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

Recommended order

• 1Engineer the ship for range and defence — FSD, bi-weave shield, thrusters — not the mining tools.
• 2Low-Emissions plant keeps heat down through long mining sessions on a small hull.
• 3FSD Increased Range matters most: a small fuel tank and shallow hold mean you live on jump range to reach hotspots.
• 4Leave the mining hardpoints — lasers, seismic launcher, sub-surface missile and abrasion blaster — stock; they carry no blueprint. The refinery and limpet controllers gain little, so spend your effort on the ship's mobility and defence.

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

Engineered, the Mk V mines a full ~56t hold behind a respectable bi-weave shield and lightweight engineered armour, and reaches distant hotspots on ~30 ly jumps — a fast, cheap, go-anywhere miner. The bulkhead stays lightweight alloy (engineered Lightweight, not military plate), so it adds a little integrity without costing jump range or boost. The hold stays small, so it never out-earns a hauler per trip; what engineering buys is reach and survivability, not tonnage.

• Mine high-value cores, not bulk ore — with a ~56t hold the Mk V earns by quality per tonne, not volume.
• Don't engineer the mining tools — they don't benefit; spend on FSD range and the shield instead.
• A-rate the class-4 plant and distributor before adding tools — they're the bottleneck on a small hull.
• Use the small pad deliberately: it reaches outpost-only rings the haulers can't, which is the whole reason to pick it over a Type-6.