Currently the 4 ore specific badges for mining denic and so on unlock nothing.
The ore specific beams do not out perform the HD mining beam,

I would propose that a mining beam be created that will out preform the hd beam while mining the ore it is designed for but do poorly for all other ores.

the heat rate would be roughly calculated as

((target ore X ore percentage x Bonus_heat_Rate) + (normal heatrate x percentage) / 2) * Heat Rate

This would have the effect of making the beam more effective in proportion to the roids purity.

Bonus_heat_Rate = 0 .5 (to start) cutting the heat to half for the target ore but could be set as low as 0.10 which is the same as the HE beam assuming the normal rate was set to 1.0

Any player may equip them however only a level 4 badge holder will gain their benefits, Non Badge players will only receive ore at the normal rates.
As a possible alternative each badge level could cause a 0.10 reduction in the Bonus_heat_Rate
Ie level 1 BHR = 0.6
level 2 BHR = 0.5
level 3 BHR = 0.4
level 4 BHR = 0.3
level 5 BHR = 0.2 // new badge level
level 6 BHR = 0.1 // new badge level

If the Devs are so inclined the badge level could be extended to 10 and the Reduction could start at 0.9
The grind would be rather insane but then so are most of us miners :}

Proposed Initail beam specs:

Large Port
Mass 2000k
Range 30 m
Grid Power 5
Heat Rate 1.0
Extraction rate 1.0 + 0.6 x Badge level (3.4 @ level 4) )
Extraction Bonus 100 + 60 x badge level (240 @ level 4)

I would also suggest that badges and beams be created for all of the ores - I know having an aquean badge may seem rather silly but It would give a tiny bit of reason for us to mine it....

Questions? Comments?

Mining is good the way it is don't change it. Sorry you don't have the patience to mine. -1

+1 to PaKettle

So basically you mean a beam like a Heliocene beam that would only extract Heliocene faster? Is it like the one listed on the vo wiki perhaps? You do know these exist right and maybe just need a tweak in numbers to make them as useful as the HD beams (but only on specific ores mind)?

Apart from that snide little comment, I do agree that the ore specific beams need a buff, a major buff. Maybe increase the % of targeted ore by 150-200% (so the 200%+ beams become 400%+ and you would probably only get the ore you are after then). Because right now there is no reason to use them at all over even a mining beam mk2. I kind of like the idea that the better the mining badge you have the better you mine too, so what the hell, mining sucks but

+1

If the badges are extended, lets NOT havethem as ridiculous as our generic mining badges right now - no "world crusher" badge or whatever it is called for the top of the specific badge charts

One of these days I will have to get serious about the planet cracker badge :} Having the higher levels does extend the endgame somewhat even when they are beyond reach. Planet cracker was based on the assumption we would have massive sized ships capable of mining and hauling 10000 cu loads at a time.....

Yoda,yes this is a hefty buff to the beams listed based on the badge level achieved. Hopefully it will make both the badges and the beams more useful overall. Having a better bean for one ore is traded off by being poorly equipped for any other ore and by the time you get to level 4 on any of the badges players are almost always over level 10 as well so a speed up is well justified. Also these beams are based on actual mining experience rather then the completion of the prospecting missions.

The extraction bonus the devs use is rather weird so a 200 percent bonus does not actually double your chances of getting the ore but rather doubles the number of crates available of the target ore so even a 1000 percent bonus will not get you 100 percent pure ore.