CorsairMining

The Corsair is a medium-pad multirole hull re-roled to mining, and it does the job through sheer internal depth rather than any purpose-built advantage. Ten optional internals — three of them class 6 — let it carry the complete tool suite (lasers, seismic launcher, sub-surface missile, abrasion blaster), a refinery, a limpet swarm and a genuinely useful ore hold at the same time, which most mediums cannot.

What it lacks is specialisation. There is no mining hull bonus, no exclusive Mk II hardware like the Type-11 Prospector, and the mining tools cap at medium, so the three large mounts are under-filled. Against the dedicated trade-miners it costs far more per tonne of ore returned: a Type-8 or Python extracts as much for a fraction of the outlay. The Corsair earns its keep only if you already own it, or want one medium hull that mines, fights and hauls without a module swap being a compromise.

Three things make the Corsair a workable medium miner:

• Ten optional internals, three class-6. Exceptional depth for a medium — enough to hold the full extraction suite and a competitive ore hold (~176 t) without the constant slot-juggling smaller hulls suffer.
• Six hardpoints plus four utilities. Every mining tool fits with a large mount left over for a gun, and the four utility mounts carry a Pulse Wave Analyser and a shield-booster pair.
• Medium pad, no rank, Imperial pace. Docks at outposts the large barges can't reach, needs no rank or permit, and boosts to 355 m/s to break an interdiction.

Deep internals and a full tool-and-gun fit on a rank-free medium pad carry the score; the absence of any mining specialisation, a mid-pack ore hold and a premium hull price cap it at 68.

The 68/100 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 — medium mining ships

9 medium-pad mining hulls carry a rating, led by Type-11 Prospector (95). Every same-pad rival lands where this one does — the direct field to shop.

Other classes — the capital barges

The large-pad mining field (9 rated), led by Imperial Cutter (92) — bigger pads and bankrolls. They out-muscle 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 ~76.9M Cr the Corsair is one of the most expensive medium-pad miners, and for mining that money buys nothing the role rewards — there is no hull bonus, no exclusive tooling, just internal depth you can approximate on cheaper hulls. A full mining fit adds a refinery, limpet controllers and a bi-weave on top, but no combat-grade engineering is needed, so the all-in figure stays modest against the hull price itself.

The value case is thin from scratch and strong if the Corsair is already in your hangar. As a from-new mining buy, a Type-8 (~35M Cr) hauls far more ore per credit and a Python defends itself better for less. The Corsair only makes sense when you want one medium hull that also mines.

A complete laser-and-core mining fit that keeps a gun and a bi-weave for self-defence, using the deep optionals for ore. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the mining baseline; Engineered focuses on range, mobility and shield — the mining tools themselves are not meaningfully engineered.

Buy the hull and fit the mining essentials cheaply: a mining laser and a seismic charge launcher on two large mounts, an abrasion blaster on a medium, and a Pulse Wave Analyser up top to find rocks worth cracking. Bulkheads stay stock Lightweight Alloy — a miner sheds mass, it doesn't armour up.

Slot a class-6 refinery-and-hold core: a refinery, one collector controller, one prospector controller, a detailed surface scanner and a cargo rack in the first size-6 bay. A stock bi-weave in another size-6 keeps you alive long enough to run — you can mine profitably before spending a credit on A-rating.

Leave the two remaining large mounts and the spare bays empty at this stage; the internal depth means you can add the sub-surface missile, a second laser and more racks as credits allow.

A-rating priority for a medium miner is mobility and hold, not firepower:

• 1Power Plant → 7A — Runs lasers, the limpet swarm and a real shield together. ~9M Cr
• 2Thrusters → 7A — Preserve the Imperial pace so a laden hull can break interdictions. ~8M Cr
• 3FSD → 5A — Reach distant hotspots and haul a deep hold home. ~5M Cr
• 4Power Distributor → 7A — Sustains mining-laser draw and boost charge together. ~7M Cr
• 5Shield Generator → 6C bi-weave — The most shield the hull will carry for the exposed minutes of cracking a core. ~5M Cr
• 6Refinery → 4A — More reagent bins means fewer part-filled fragments wasted. ~1M Cr

Engineer for reach, mobility and shield — the mining tools carry no blueprints, so they stay stock. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application; visit in person for experimentals.

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

Initial is a functional but bare loop: stock cores, a couple of tools and a small hold. A-rating transforms reach and mobility — the ~28 LY laden range and boosted thrusters make distant hotspots practical and interdictions survivable. Engineered, the FSD stretches past ~40 LY laden, the ~700 MJ bi-weave and two shield boosters buy real survival time, and a single Overcharged multi-cannon with Corrosive Shell turns off casual pirates. The ore hold barely moves — mining tools don't engineer — so the gains are all in getting there, getting home and staying alive.

• The three size-6 bays are the reason to mine in a Corsair — use them for cargo, not gear, and keep the suite in the smaller slots.
• Mining lasers and launchers cap at medium, so the large mounts under-fill — don't expect the hardpoint count to translate into extra mining power.
• It carries a real bi-weave and a gun; unlike most mediums it can deter a pirate rather than only flee, but it still can't brawl — treat the gun as a deterrent.
• If you don't already own the hull, price it honestly against a Type-8 or Python before buying one to mine.