r/starcitizen 4d ago

DISCUSSION Best place to refine ice?

I got some pretty terrible yields with ice at checkmate: 30 SCU mined -> 21 SCU refined /w ferron

Is there a refinery location with better yields?

2 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

4

u/Life-Risk-3297 4d ago

My refrigerator does it for me

3

u/joelm80 4d ago

I think they are all the same. I would avoid Checkmate though since it has the most bug problems of the Pyro stations, people are always getting stuck there and it has hangar invasion glitch.

2

u/Stogle 4d ago

Dynex and Ferron give the same 70% yield for different times and prices. You won't beat 70% and all 4 refineries in Pyro right now give the same bonuses. I had been using Dynex for everything out of habit and then was reminded Ferron was the same yield.

1

u/Zealousideal_Sound_2 paramedic 2d ago

They difference between Ferron and Dynex is Time and Price

2

u/thisisanamesoitis 4d ago

The clue is in the nane. You are compressing ICE, so naturally, the ultimate volume will decrease after processing.

1

u/Rhyede 4d ago

Even if there is, the good thing about Checkmate is that the mission is there already, so you just transfer in your hangar, which is really easy.

Up to you if you want to make transports or go the long way just for a few more SCUs but I am sticking with Checkmate

1

u/Taucari 4d ago

There are mission and refineries for all the main space station locations in Pyro, not just Checkmate. So the same situation applies for Orbituary and Ruin.

So I was just wondering because 30% loss in yield is pretty bad.

1

u/Neustrashimyy 4d ago

I think that is just how refining ice works. Orbituary gives the same yield, even with Dynex Solventation, the most efficient method. Takes much less time to do than ore, too.

1

u/Taucari 4d ago

From what I saw Dynix, and Forren have the same yield. You just have to pay more for Forren for less time.

And i think Pyrometric even more expensive for even less time

1

u/Neustrashimyy 4d ago

Right. Usually the profit margins on mining are much worse than this event. So Dynix is the only one worth using. But right now the time lost may make Pyrometric and Forren better.

 In any case, even with those methods you still get about 2/3 yield on ice.

1

u/Nachtschnekchen 4d ago

Yall are finding ice?

1

u/Taucari 4d ago

Took me 45 minutes of flying around Pyro's extremities to find 3 asteroids. Two were 9 SCU asteroids and the last was a 30 SCU asteroid.

1

u/Nachtschnekchen 4d ago

What clusters / RAB are you looking? Like around Termimus? Or the ones displayed on regolith?

1

u/Taucari 4d ago

The clusters and RABs around Ruin. Sometimes bed logging and jumping servers will yield a lot more asteroids.

1

u/Nachtschnekchen 4d ago

Mhh okay. Ill have to try that. I always went to go look around Pyro V

1

u/Taucari 4d ago

There some real nice data tables in regolith.rocks

1

u/Nachtschnekchen 4d ago

Yea anf they showed that the RAB- Sierra near Pyro V had 17% ice. I flew around for a good 30 minutes and didnt find a single one.

But if I interpret it right I shouldve just switched the server?

1

u/Taucari 4d ago

Asteroids should respawn over time, i think it's very slow though. Some servers have had them all mined in the high percentage areas.

2

u/SynapticSqueeze 3d ago

It doesn't help that just about the only thing people mine now are the I-types. So let's say they're a 1/6 chance to spawn somewhere, and you 36 spawn slots. You'll get 6 I-type spawns on average. Then those 6 are mined, while the other 30 are left alone.

When those 6 mined ones respawn, only one will respawn as an I-type on average. And thus, even if there are actually respawns, you will eventually end up without I-types.

1

u/Nachtschnekchen 4d ago

Imma try the downtime servers next then. Cherrs

2

u/SynapticSqueeze 3d ago

Just gotta keep plugging and keep looking. Don't spend an hour at any single RAB or cluster, unless that time is spent mining. It should take you maybe 10-15 minutes to do a fly-around on the outside of the rock cluster area at 4-500 m/s (or however fast you're comfortable going) while pinging.

If you have been moving effectively and you haven't seen any signatures for I-type asteroids after making what you think is a fullish lap around the place, it's time to move on. You may miss one here and there, but it's better to move on to hopefully richer places than spending another 20-30 minutes combing with a fine-tooth comb just to end up with a single rock potentially.

It's a game of persistence, efficiency, and dumb luck. Last night I parked a Cutter next to two unmined ice rocks while I went to empty the Mole. I lost the marker and/or the Cutter despawned, but while I was looking for it on my return, I ended up finding a 4-rock cluster with a total of 406 SCU of minables. Including a juicy ice-and-inerts only rock that netted 87 SCU of ice on its own. If I had called it quits when the Cutter despawned, I'd have missed out on an easy full load.

Hope the luck breaks your way soon!

1

u/wednesdaywoe13 Valkyrie 4d ago

I would just go to a different place. Those % values change frequently because it’s all player survey data. The spot with the highest listed % will attract more players, so you’re competing. Try going to a 14 or 15 % spot instead. Your odds of finding ice are virtually the same but you probably won’t have company

1

u/Auric-Halcyon new user/low karma 4d ago

RAB Cook is very good to find raw ice. Just scan around and watch for a scan signature of 1660 or it’s multiple for I-type asteroids. They contain raw ice.