Mining

[Rdtcmtt]

Hello I decided to purchase a mercury Ts that can carry about 3500 to 4000 units , still tring to understand a few things .
I bought it in the Aragon shipyard in Aragon space and sent it to ore belt to mine and then come back here and sell it on its own.
Slow process but steady , I noticed when I leave it alone and come back to it, it has ship damage to it.

Do I need more shielding , I know there not being attacked.
Or perhaps it's to crowded out there , go to a less conjested sector.
Don't feel safe leaving them alone.

Also I have decided to literally not use seta , just do it the long way , I may tap on it when docking.
I'm wondering why the ships that you may have follow you or protect you , fly so sparaddically I mean they are all over the place , flying across your bow etc.
I'm also wondering about how they fly in space , I'm thinking that out there it is vast , and I should not be worried to much in running into your own ships , ther is just to much space out there for this to be happening.

I mean in reality would not your ships in this time and reality be following you in a more battle ready formation , or a smooth follow you command , and the ships computers on there own will move around obstacles in a manner , in stead of your ships flying like there on drugs , zig zagging here and dodging ships there.
How come they won't fly in a more professional manner.

I almost like flying alone and have them follow after I'm already there so that they won't bang into each other.
Also just to be fare I'm still considered a newbie , I have acquired a measly 24,335,332 credits own four ships 1 m3 blackshaw fully loaded, a TP transport , and two mercury TS.

So I may be way off in my questions.

Thanks.......Robert

[pref]

If you are in sector while the ship does the mining, it can get hurt by the rocks while collecting them (hits a bigger rock a bit too quick and shields are gone). If you let the miner work OOS (i mean you are not in the same sector as the miner) then collisions are off so the ship cannot get hurt if there are no enemies nearby.

[Nanook]

What pref said is mostly true. However, there's a built-in 'feature' to the mobile mining commands that allows your miners to be randomly damaged by the rocks they're mining even while you're away (OOS). Thus, it's wise to give your miners the maximum shielding they can carry, since the shields will absorb all or most of the random damage.

[Aragosnat]

To add to the shield part. From what I remember you will need a ship with greater then 75 MJ to avoid all hull damage. So Ships with four 25 MJ shields would be Ideal. Or just use a TL or TM and use Falcon Haulers to haul the minerals to ther destinations.

[AgamemnonArgon]

Any non combat ship, TS, TP, TL, are sitting ducks for the Pirate or unfriendlies near it.

They are not designed for combat so expect attrition losses in those ships.