Ship Talk Commentary #5 - The MISC Prospector
Welcome back to Ship Talk Commentary. This is where I take a newly released concept ship and focus on it. There will not be any direct stat for stat comparisons to other ships in these STCs. They need to fly or crash on their own with what they are given. It has been a long time since I’ve done one of these. The last Ship Talk was #12 and it was in November last year and the last STC was in June. A long time indeed. Today we’re talking about the MISC Prospector, the first of many entry level career ships but with a specific focus on mining. You can find the Prospector Concept Sale page here. CIG is also doing a nice giveaway here if you put in an application to Shubin Interstellar. Best 5 submissions get an RSI Orion so if you haven’t done it, go do it.
I’m going to be using both the Ship Specs page and the Technical Overview for their current stats because one has things the other doesn’t and vice versa. I don’t understand why they can’t come to some sort of unified system to display these. Just as an example, the Spec page doesn’t show the additional maneuvering thrusters the Technical Overview does.
Link to the complete Ship Spec Picture.
Link to the Technical Overview chart.
High Res album of all Prospector images
Look and Design
I am a fan of MISC. I like their ships and own several myself including the Prospector now. Their designs are sleek and streamlined with little external adornment and in the case of the Freelancer, limited visibility. The Prospector bucks this trend and follows more in the Reliant’s footsteps. A large bubble canopy allows the operator to see around themselves to accurately assess distances and potential dangers. The ship is in my opinion ‘stubby’ looking. It looks like someone took a Freelancer model and put it in a hydraulic press for a couple seconds before taking it out and declared it ready. I’m not being mean when I say this and in fact like the overall shape. If anything it looks more rugged and able to take a few hits as long as they don’t hit the canopy.
The middle of the ship is easily the most ‘human’ part of the ship. You can see the mess of tubes and equipment that processes the rock before it that dumps into the external containers. I’ll get to the containers later but they are cool in their design and function. The back of the ship is what you’d expect from MISC and nothing really worth noting except the discharge area that blows out the tailings that the internal processors discard from the valuable minerals.
Going back though to the front CIG has shown us a cutaway view of the cockpit and immediate back area that is worth mentioning. In the front you have the cockpit of course, the bubble canopy again. The entire crew is a single pilot operator as the ship is meant for a single person to do solo mining with. I was honestly hoping for some sort of setup like the Reliant with the option of a 2nd person to handle some things but with the process being so automated that doesn’t seem to be necessary. Moving back behind the cockpit is a personal area with toilet and a bed along with some overhead compartments to store items. Along the back and on the sides we can see some monitors and along the side we can not see is the entry door and entry ladder.
Underneath the ship is the telescoping mining laser and tractor beam array. Form the other art pictures the arm can extend out and move side to side. The head can tilt up or down to hit the face of whatever is being mined giving the arm a wide range of movement. We also have the sensor array underneath the ship. This makes sense because its main purpose is to go down to planets for mining and what is being mined is directly beneath it. Overall the ship looks great and well thought out. Things make sense where they are and that is always a good thing.
Currently Listed Specs
Let’s start with the measurements since that comes first. I called the Prospector ‘stubby’ and the measurements reflect this. It is a full 8 meters shorter in length and a meter shorter in height. It maintains the same beam width however. The way this makes sense to me is that the Prospector doesn’t have the ‘neck’ of the Freelancer and its variants. It also isn’t carrying its cargo internally but outside so it can be shorter. Speaking of the Freelancer and Prospector, the Prospector has nearly 2x the mass of the basic Freelancer. This is ‘probably’ another case of not having taken proper mass in the past for the older ships.
Moving on is the cargo capacity which as stated is external only. The listed stat is 128 but to me at least this makes no sense. Follow me on a journey of math and let’s see if I can puzzle this out correctly. If I can’t well…..I do belong to TEST Squadron. First of all the listed Freelancer MAX stat for cargo is 123…..and this is probably incorrect by far because no updates to the spec page have been made since last year, but let’s say for a moment that it’s accurate. That means the Prospector is carrying around 5 more SCU on the outside than the MAX carries internally. 128 / 4 = 32 yes? That means each container on the outside of the ship carries more than a Reliant and a lot more than an Aurora CL with its huge underside carry box. That makes no sense to me but the picture we have that shows humans next to the ship may indicate this is actually is the case but I’m not 100% sold on it.
It is a 1 person ship. No bells and whistles, just one person. As I said earlier I was hoping for a co-op ship you could take with a friend but could also fly solo like the Reliant if you wanted to but after reading the page a few times I’m ok with the 1 person crew. We do not know the Power Plant size because none is given on either spec sheet. The same can be said of the shield but given its role I want to say it will have a fairly strong shield.
The engines are up next. The rear main engines are a TR3 size and like the Freelancer there are 2 of them on swivel mounts. The Technical Overview states there are also 2 TR2 maneuvering thrusters. I believe these are the VTOL thrusters we see just behind the living area inside but I could be wrong. Lastly there are 10 TR1 maneuvering thrusters for overall mobility. The main engines are a step down from even the base Freelancer and 2 steps down from the MAX which has TR5 engines. I’m wondering if the engines don’t put out as much thrust as the Freelancer because the ship needs some sort of inherent vulnerability or if there is another reason.
Let’s talk weapons, or lack thereof. It has 2 S1 weapons(See the full spec picture above). That’s it. Done. The ship has rubber band guns to defend itself and I for one applaud CIG for this with my left hand. On the right hand that is clapping the possible lack of speed and maneuverability(see main engines) is at the same time a bit worrisome. But the ship is not meant to fight, it is purpose built to mine. If you wish to mine without being in a group that has protection it is at your own risk so be careful.
Finally let’s talk about the equipment that is not listed for.,..reasons. First of all we have the scanner that is made just for scanning underneath the surface of asteroids and the crust of planets to see what is really in there. This scanner though is scaled to the size and capabilities of the ship however and it is not nearly as good as the Orion but it works for what it needs to do. Don’t be expecting a super scanner, just a good one. Next is a Jump Drive. Now I’ve seen comments from people wondering it even has one if it isn’t listed. If the Freelancers have one this one will too otherwise it would be impossible for the ship to leave system to refine and sell what it mines since it is supposed to be a solo all in one ship. The next piece of equipment is the mining laser/tractor beam arm that is underneath the ship in the belly and what gives the ship it’s mining capability. Finally we have the filtering unit in the middle of the ship that puts the minerals into containers and discharges the tailings or overburden.
The Meat and Bones
Getting to the meat of the ship is the information presented on the concept sale page and I’m starting at the “Bright Prospects” heading further down from the top. CIG begins by stating that this is the first of many new ships that will be focused on entry level ships into various careers such as Mining, Salvaging, etc. A thread has been set up for questions to do a Q&A on Wednesday and Friday here. So how does this compare to the Orion? CIG answers that quite well on the sale page:
The Prospector is first and foremost a planetary miner. It can land on asteroids large enough to support it and other large objects(Idris maybe?!?!?!!?) but the reason for landing is because it allows you to shunt power from other systems to the mining laser and give it a boost. This means it can dig deeper. If the asteroid isn’t much bigger than the Prospector, you should probably find another target. CIG breaks down the phases of planetary mining as such:
The article goes into some detail about the difference between the scanner on the Prospector and the Orion. Simply put the Prospector’s scanner is for a single asteroid(if it’s small enough) and it may need to orbit around one to find what it’s looking for if it is large enough and for scanning planetary crust. The Orion’s scanner is scaled up to its size and can do multiple asteroids at a higher level and at a much longer range but it can not do anything planetside so it misses out on those resources. The article goes on to talk about EVA and letting the laser ‘run’. I would not recommend this because you may just find your ship blown up if you hit a pocket of gas. Going out to fix something seems to be on the menu for the ship if it breaks and I support that. Your ship will wear over time so it is natural things will deteriorate.
Worth It?
YES! What are you waiting for? Ship Talk? Pfft, who reads that? Go get one! Ok seriously. I know the price($140.00) has scared some people off from it but it does seem to be worth the cost. It IS almost Freelancer size and made with a specific purpose unlike the Lancer which is more of a general purpose vessel. This ship can be a more solid UEC earner if you stick to it and learn it. It does something the Orion can not do which is planet mining and not only that but it is a solo ship which seems to appeal to many people and certainly those that may just want to take a night off and do their own thing for once. Turn up the music and go. I think that is awesome and can not wait to see the small solo salvage ship or the repair ship or whatever they give us next.
If you have the cash go ahead and get one because it is a solo crew ship that can potentially make some good cash ingame. You can always melt it later if you decide you don’t want it or you can CCU it and still have LTI. It will be a useful ship regardless of how you want to use it. In big fleets, small groups or solo action it will do well. I got one but everyone knew I would anyway because of what it represents. But more than that it is freedom to decide how you want to play the game.
So what’s next? As I said last year these will come out infrequently and without a schedule. Basically Ship Talk will be done when I feel I can write something good and informative about whatever ship they put up for concept sale. You’ll notice I didn’t put one up for the Blade because they sprung it on us and frankly it wasn’t a very interesting ship to me. We’ll see what CIG puts up next. I remember Ben saying they were going to try to do these 6 weeks apart. I guess we’ll see what happens in 6 weeks won’t we? Until next time!
Your turn! What do you all think of the ship now that we've all had a chance to sleep on it? Those that decided not to get one are you rethinking your choice? Did Black Sunder inspire more people to take out their wallets and purchase a ship they didn't think they needed but now can't do without? We'll find out here!
Welcome back to Ship Talk Commentary. This is where I take a newly released concept ship and focus on it. There will not be any direct stat for stat comparisons to other ships in these STCs. They need to fly or crash on their own with what they are given. It has been a long time since I’ve done one of these. The last Ship Talk was #12 and it was in November last year and the last STC was in June. A long time indeed. Today we’re talking about the MISC Prospector, the first of many entry level career ships but with a specific focus on mining. You can find the Prospector Concept Sale page here. CIG is also doing a nice giveaway here if you put in an application to Shubin Interstellar. Best 5 submissions get an RSI Orion so if you haven’t done it, go do it.
I’m going to be using both the Ship Specs page and the Technical Overview for their current stats because one has things the other doesn’t and vice versa. I don’t understand why they can’t come to some sort of unified system to display these. Just as an example, the Spec page doesn’t show the additional maneuvering thrusters the Technical Overview does.
Link to the complete Ship Spec Picture.
Link to the Technical Overview chart.
High Res album of all Prospector images
Look and Design
I am a fan of MISC. I like their ships and own several myself including the Prospector now. Their designs are sleek and streamlined with little external adornment and in the case of the Freelancer, limited visibility. The Prospector bucks this trend and follows more in the Reliant’s footsteps. A large bubble canopy allows the operator to see around themselves to accurately assess distances and potential dangers. The ship is in my opinion ‘stubby’ looking. It looks like someone took a Freelancer model and put it in a hydraulic press for a couple seconds before taking it out and declared it ready. I’m not being mean when I say this and in fact like the overall shape. If anything it looks more rugged and able to take a few hits as long as they don’t hit the canopy.
The middle of the ship is easily the most ‘human’ part of the ship. You can see the mess of tubes and equipment that processes the rock before it that dumps into the external containers. I’ll get to the containers later but they are cool in their design and function. The back of the ship is what you’d expect from MISC and nothing really worth noting except the discharge area that blows out the tailings that the internal processors discard from the valuable minerals.
Going back though to the front CIG has shown us a cutaway view of the cockpit and immediate back area that is worth mentioning. In the front you have the cockpit of course, the bubble canopy again. The entire crew is a single pilot operator as the ship is meant for a single person to do solo mining with. I was honestly hoping for some sort of setup like the Reliant with the option of a 2nd person to handle some things but with the process being so automated that doesn’t seem to be necessary. Moving back behind the cockpit is a personal area with toilet and a bed along with some overhead compartments to store items. Along the back and on the sides we can see some monitors and along the side we can not see is the entry door and entry ladder.
Underneath the ship is the telescoping mining laser and tractor beam array. Form the other art pictures the arm can extend out and move side to side. The head can tilt up or down to hit the face of whatever is being mined giving the arm a wide range of movement. We also have the sensor array underneath the ship. This makes sense because its main purpose is to go down to planets for mining and what is being mined is directly beneath it. Overall the ship looks great and well thought out. Things make sense where they are and that is always a good thing.
Currently Listed Specs
Let’s start with the measurements since that comes first. I called the Prospector ‘stubby’ and the measurements reflect this. It is a full 8 meters shorter in length and a meter shorter in height. It maintains the same beam width however. The way this makes sense to me is that the Prospector doesn’t have the ‘neck’ of the Freelancer and its variants. It also isn’t carrying its cargo internally but outside so it can be shorter. Speaking of the Freelancer and Prospector, the Prospector has nearly 2x the mass of the basic Freelancer. This is ‘probably’ another case of not having taken proper mass in the past for the older ships.
Moving on is the cargo capacity which as stated is external only. The listed stat is 128 but to me at least this makes no sense. Follow me on a journey of math and let’s see if I can puzzle this out correctly. If I can’t well…..I do belong to TEST Squadron. First of all the listed Freelancer MAX stat for cargo is 123…..and this is probably incorrect by far because no updates to the spec page have been made since last year, but let’s say for a moment that it’s accurate. That means the Prospector is carrying around 5 more SCU on the outside than the MAX carries internally. 128 / 4 = 32 yes? That means each container on the outside of the ship carries more than a Reliant and a lot more than an Aurora CL with its huge underside carry box. That makes no sense to me but the picture we have that shows humans next to the ship may indicate this is actually is the case but I’m not 100% sold on it.
It is a 1 person ship. No bells and whistles, just one person. As I said earlier I was hoping for a co-op ship you could take with a friend but could also fly solo like the Reliant if you wanted to but after reading the page a few times I’m ok with the 1 person crew. We do not know the Power Plant size because none is given on either spec sheet. The same can be said of the shield but given its role I want to say it will have a fairly strong shield.
The engines are up next. The rear main engines are a TR3 size and like the Freelancer there are 2 of them on swivel mounts. The Technical Overview states there are also 2 TR2 maneuvering thrusters. I believe these are the VTOL thrusters we see just behind the living area inside but I could be wrong. Lastly there are 10 TR1 maneuvering thrusters for overall mobility. The main engines are a step down from even the base Freelancer and 2 steps down from the MAX which has TR5 engines. I’m wondering if the engines don’t put out as much thrust as the Freelancer because the ship needs some sort of inherent vulnerability or if there is another reason.
Let’s talk weapons, or lack thereof. It has 2 S1 weapons(See the full spec picture above). That’s it. Done. The ship has rubber band guns to defend itself and I for one applaud CIG for this with my left hand. On the right hand that is clapping the possible lack of speed and maneuverability(see main engines) is at the same time a bit worrisome. But the ship is not meant to fight, it is purpose built to mine. If you wish to mine without being in a group that has protection it is at your own risk so be careful.
Finally let’s talk about the equipment that is not listed for.,..reasons. First of all we have the scanner that is made just for scanning underneath the surface of asteroids and the crust of planets to see what is really in there. This scanner though is scaled to the size and capabilities of the ship however and it is not nearly as good as the Orion but it works for what it needs to do. Don’t be expecting a super scanner, just a good one. Next is a Jump Drive. Now I’ve seen comments from people wondering it even has one if it isn’t listed. If the Freelancers have one this one will too otherwise it would be impossible for the ship to leave system to refine and sell what it mines since it is supposed to be a solo all in one ship. The next piece of equipment is the mining laser/tractor beam arm that is underneath the ship in the belly and what gives the ship it’s mining capability. Finally we have the filtering unit in the middle of the ship that puts the minerals into containers and discharges the tailings or overburden.
The Meat and Bones
Getting to the meat of the ship is the information presented on the concept sale page and I’m starting at the “Bright Prospects” heading further down from the top. CIG begins by stating that this is the first of many new ships that will be focused on entry level ships into various careers such as Mining, Salvaging, etc. A thread has been set up for questions to do a Q&A on Wednesday and Friday here. So how does this compare to the Orion? CIG answers that quite well on the sale page:
I take this to mean that the Prospector is a scalpel that can get at specific veins of material in an asteroid or on the surface and then extract them. The Orion on the other hand is a sledge hammer capable of breaking even the largest asteroids down to dust all the while taking in the ore and processing it(if it has the refinery apparently). It has all the tools necessary to carry out this process and has the cargo capacity to stay in the field much longer and this is crucial to its function as an asteroid sledge hammer. So Prospector is small scale the Orion is large scale but the Orion can not go down to mine planets and this is a critical difference that leads into the next section which is planetary mining.
The Prospector is first and foremost a planetary miner. It can land on asteroids large enough to support it and other large objects(Idris maybe?!?!?!!?) but the reason for landing is because it allows you to shunt power from other systems to the mining laser and give it a boost. This means it can dig deeper. If the asteroid isn’t much bigger than the Prospector, you should probably find another target. CIG breaks down the phases of planetary mining as such:
It is a simple system that you see in games that have some sort of complex mining mechanic. Scan, land/prep, mine, and sell. The ship seems to work best with something like a Hull A or similar to pick up the full containers and transport them back so it doesn't have to keep running back when it gets full.
The article goes into some detail about the difference between the scanner on the Prospector and the Orion. Simply put the Prospector’s scanner is for a single asteroid(if it’s small enough) and it may need to orbit around one to find what it’s looking for if it is large enough and for scanning planetary crust. The Orion’s scanner is scaled up to its size and can do multiple asteroids at a higher level and at a much longer range but it can not do anything planetside so it misses out on those resources. The article goes on to talk about EVA and letting the laser ‘run’. I would not recommend this because you may just find your ship blown up if you hit a pocket of gas. Going out to fix something seems to be on the menu for the ship if it breaks and I support that. Your ship will wear over time so it is natural things will deteriorate.
Worth It?
YES! What are you waiting for? Ship Talk? Pfft, who reads that? Go get one! Ok seriously. I know the price($140.00) has scared some people off from it but it does seem to be worth the cost. It IS almost Freelancer size and made with a specific purpose unlike the Lancer which is more of a general purpose vessel. This ship can be a more solid UEC earner if you stick to it and learn it. It does something the Orion can not do which is planet mining and not only that but it is a solo ship which seems to appeal to many people and certainly those that may just want to take a night off and do their own thing for once. Turn up the music and go. I think that is awesome and can not wait to see the small solo salvage ship or the repair ship or whatever they give us next.
If you have the cash go ahead and get one because it is a solo crew ship that can potentially make some good cash ingame. You can always melt it later if you decide you don’t want it or you can CCU it and still have LTI. It will be a useful ship regardless of how you want to use it. In big fleets, small groups or solo action it will do well. I got one but everyone knew I would anyway because of what it represents. But more than that it is freedom to decide how you want to play the game.
So what’s next? As I said last year these will come out infrequently and without a schedule. Basically Ship Talk will be done when I feel I can write something good and informative about whatever ship they put up for concept sale. You’ll notice I didn’t put one up for the Blade because they sprung it on us and frankly it wasn’t a very interesting ship to me. We’ll see what CIG puts up next. I remember Ben saying they were going to try to do these 6 weeks apart. I guess we’ll see what happens in 6 weeks won’t we? Until next time!
Your turn! What do you all think of the ship now that we've all had a chance to sleep on it? Those that decided not to get one are you rethinking your choice? Did Black Sunder inspire more people to take out their wallets and purchase a ship they didn't think they needed but now can't do without? We'll find out here!
Last edited:
