Vlugta asteroid field
I was contacted earlier today by a Ferrengi named Isihl. Having purchased the mineral rights on an asteroid field near Bajor, she discovered it is filled with Dilithium ore. The problem is that she doesn’t have enough man power to mine it, and is offering a deal of splitting whatever I mine. After a little soul searching I have decided to try it out.
After traveling to the Beta Ursae block, I ordered the ship to the Vlugta asteroid field near Bajor. To be able to mine the Dilithium ore, you need an environmental suit. Of course Brol just happens to sell pre-owned suits for 100 refined Dilithium. Need I say this is starting to look like a typical Ferrengi operation?
How to use the environmental suit
The process of mining seems pretty simple, at least in theory. First thing you have to do is put on the environmental suit. The only issue I have with the current suits is that your armor doesn’t fit under the suit. once the suit is equipped you have to turn it on, don’t worry though you will not be able to activate the airlock without turning on the suit.
The suit itself offers a few features that are helpful. First it protects you from the vacuum of space. Secondly, it provides mobility via the built in reaction thrusters. The thrusters can be used to jump to a navigation point up to 45 meters from your current position. This can be quite helpful when you have long distances to cover.
The suit also acts like armor. It offers protection versus all energy type hazards, radiation hazards and toxic hazards. While bulky, the suit does not stop you from using weapons, or other tools even when activated which makes it ideal for working in asteroid fields.
The main thing to remember is that these suits are designed to protect you from the environment not move quickly. So take your time when using these suits.
How to mine Dilithium ore
When accepting the mission you are allowed to prospect at 5 Dilithium sites. The sites are scattered all over the asteroid and only some of them are usable at any given point. You must line up your mining laser with the calibration points to successfully mine Dilithium ore. If you are out of alignment, you will not see the lasers being activated. Once in alignment however, you will see the lasers converging on a single point in the middle of the targeting scanner. The ore is only found in small amounts so you will have to continually adjust your calibration. After spending one minute mining, you can move on to the next site.
Personally, I am not impressed. As with everything that involves a Ferrengi, this deal is too good to be true. If you are a typical star ship captain, you will find the rewards to be feeble compared to the time and effort spent trying to achieve them. You are better off doing an exploration mission, shooting Borg, or practicing against other players as the rewards are higher and take less effort.
While it is certainly possible to mine Dilithium ore in this manner, I would suggest seeking ore elsewhere.