The “Mole” is a recently released ship that can only be obtained by either paying 30-50$, or by mining LOTS of asteroids. About 1500 to be more precise. In this review we will be going over the pros and cons of the ship, and some of the easiest ways to grind out the parts for it bearing in mind the latest patch which broke a few methods.
Section 1: Obtaining the parts
There are a few methods to get the parts easily, but one that guarantees at least one part every time. To get parts for the Mole, you must perfectly extract the materials from an asteroid in Open Space. This is done by heating up asteroids (by shooting at them) and maintaining maximum heat until they explode. If an asteroid just explodes and drops nothing, it was a failed extraction. If it explodes and drops a lot of ores and a container, it was a perfect extraction.
Thi’Lith - 
This pulsar-like alien weapon fits on fighters , and has a rate of fire (RoF) of 60 shots per minute. This RoF is almost perfectly ideal for mining asteroids , but with slightly higher fire-rate it becomes faster and easier.
For low rank ships, up to 8, it can be difficult to use this weapon to mine effectively, but if placed on a gunship using overdrive
, it will guarantee a part every time.
For higher rank ships, installing one Iridium Heatsink
is typically enough to guarantee a part drops after mining.
It is recommended to install the Spatial Scanner 
and Extended Hull 
passive modules as well. The Spatial Scanner will make it much easier to identify and track nearby asteroids, and the Extended Hulls allow you to carry more items. Two Extended Hull modules will give your fighter matching cargo capacity of the Mole itself and allow you to carry all possible asteroid drops , as well as 3-4 other items.
Section 2: Pros of the Mole
To start off on a good note, there are still some nice things about the Mole that can’t be ignored. These attributes give it the edge against other ships as a mining vehicle , but are largely just comfort items.
- Extended pickup radius - The Mole comes default with a pickup radius of 750m , which is 450m further than every other normal ship.
- Extended cargo hold - The Mole also comes standard with 14 cargo spaces , which is as much as TWO extended hulls placed on a standard fighter.
- Faster maneuverability - The Mole is marginally faster and more maneuverable than a standard Federation engineer of its class.
-
Mail Drone
- The Mole also has the option to be fitted with a cargo drone. This can be used to send items to the station without actually needing to dock or locate one on the map. - Base hull and shield regeneration - The Mole comes fitted with " Repair Drones" that naturally and constantly regenerate the hull and shield of the ship, and can be used to heal allies as well.
- Ability to use Warp Gates - The Warp Gate is a standard Engineer module that gives you somewhat greater sprint speed between asteroids.
- The Mole also has the option to be fitted with a cargo drone. This can be used to send items to the station without actually needing to dock or locate one on the map.
Section 3: Cons of the Mole (Vs Thi'lith fighters)
While the Mole is spectacular compared to random ships at mining, and generally as a ship in Open Space, it does fall short drastically in some areas when compared to ships fitted specifically for mining.
- Very slow top speed - When compared to the 600-800mps top speed of well-fitted fighters, the Mole has almost half the top speed.
-
Low-efficiency mining weapon - The Emitter ML
(Mining Laser) may have advanced cooling systems , but it is very touchy when mining, and often fails to give maximum yield when mining. - Low combat efficiency - The Mole is an Engineer frigate, and an odd one at that, so it is often not suitable for combat if NPC’s or players pick a fight. The Thi’lith also allows you to take on enemies while still mining!
- Extremely high initial cost - The Mole takes around 1500 asteroids to be mined in order to get the parts to craft it, and by then you might as well be a pro at using a normal ship to mine.
- Can only mine one asteroid at a time - The Thi’lith allows the user to mine more than one asteroid simultaneously if within range. The Emitter ML only permits one asteroid to be mined, which takes full focus.
- Obvious target - This is a nit-picky one, but normal fighters don’t often look like a prime target in Open Space for pirate players, while the Mole is obviously a ripe choice for piracy , and often falls victim to player pirates in PvP sectors.
- Large, slow target - As stated above, the Mole is an engineer, and by that heritage is squishier overall , easier to hit from afar, and it’s often hard to hit fast targets with the mining laser.
(Mining Laser) may have advanced cooling systems , but it is very touchy when mining, and often fails to give maximum yield when mining.
Section 4: So should I dedicate my time/money to get it?
The easy answer to that is “it depends on you as the pilot,” but the answer for the average pilot is a decisive no. This ship is harder to get, more expensive, more unwieldy, and g enerally worse at mining than other dedicated builds. If you want a ship for mining in Open Space, spend a few resources on a Thi’Lith blueprint and weapon, instead of 24 hours worth of asteroid mining and several hundred monocrystals of parts to build a mediocre mining ship.
Section 5: How could it be better? (For the devs!)
The obvious answer is two-fold:
- Make the Emitter ML Mining Laser never fail at mining, and ALWAYS grant a perfect extraction. It’s a mining weapon on a mining ship that is dedicated to mining and costs LOTS of time/resources to get. It should be perfect at doing its job. It should also potentially increase/double asteroid drops by default like a built-in Asteroid Conquerer license.
- Make it faster and more maneuverable. It’s slow and not hardy at all, so it falls short greatly when compared to dedicated mining fighters. Increasing the max speed by about 20-50% would be GREAT and with that increasing turn speed and acceleration.
Thanks for giving this a read! I might add more info later as I continue playing with the Mole, but for now it is definitely NOT a great mining ship. It CAN mine well, but it takes concentration and a very steady hand, unlike other builds.
- The Mole also has the option to be fitted with a cargo drone. This can be used to send items to the station without actually needing to dock or locate one on the map.
(Mining Laser) may have advanced cooling systems , but it is very touchy when mining, and often fails to give maximum yield when mining.