Access Requirement: Shubin Rep Grind
Hand mining and ship mining contracts have become a time and resource sink blocker that every player must overcome to access the new Rock Breaker content in Alpha 4.7. Here is the fastest way I am aware of to raise your Shubin reputation from zero to Contractor rank so you can stop grinding mining and start cracking rocks. This route is also solo able, and does not require a crew but will still benefit from it.
Watch the video guide below for clear visual examples of the obstacle workarounds, facility routing, and the entire process.
You should start the patch in Stanton on first login, I would advise to pick Lorville starting out as this guide is structured around that location. Relocate your spawn to Everus Harbor in orbit above Lorville as soon as possible. You can complete this entire mission chain easily right around Hurston and its moons besides some side trips to other locations.
Open the hand mining mission tab. You are looking for the ‘Small Purchase Order: Hand Mined Materials’ contract. Grab it and fly to the location given, it should be a HDMS location around Hurston.
After the first turn-in, you’ll get two new offers with significantly higher quotas: 80 Aphorite, 100 Dolivine, or 25 Hadanite. This time, you have to turn in everything requested, not just one pool. Even though turning in 200+ items seems daunting, the hand-mineable portions of these contracts are easily the most time-consuming part of the entire rep grind. Once you push past this phase, the grind gets infinitely faster.
Once that massive hand-mining contract is done, the gate opens. You will be given a brand new mission type from Shubin: an XS Purchase Order: Ship Mined Ore contract. These require either 2 Iron, 2 Quartz, or 2 Copper. Just like before, you only need to pick ONE of the three to turn in.
The Secret Bypass: These contracts want refined material, meaning you can just buy these commodities from outposts and stations around the game. If you don’t have a cargo ship, rent an Argo RAFT at Vantage Rentals in the Lorville Spaceport starting at 67k aUEC a day. You will need approximately 100 SCU of each commodity to get through the contracts that demand these materials, however 200 SCU is a much safer amount so you do not run out mid-grind, basically grab as much extra as you can comfortably afford. The commodities are likely to run out often often.
| Commodity | Primary Location | Reliability Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Copper | Megumi Refueling in Pyro | Orbituary in Pyro |
| Quartz | ArcCorp Mining Area 045 | Terra Gateway |
| Iron | Checkmate in Pyro | Orbituary in Pyro |
| Aluminum | Megumi / Stanton Gateway in Pyro | (Heavy Hauler Tip: Grab ~200 SCU of this now for Step 6) |
Next, you’ll unlock the Small Purchase Order: Ship Mined Ore with a 48k payout. These require 7 SCU of Iron, 6 SCU of Quartz, and 5 SCU of Copper delivered to HUR-L1 or HUR-L2. You’ll burn through resources faster, but you speed up the process significantly by remaining in space bouncing between orbital stations. Repeat these until Medium Purchase Order Contracts appear. That means you’ve hit Jr. Contractor and now should have access to Shared Rock Breaker Contracts.
In order to reach full Contractor rank and the Exclusive Rock Breaker contracts, run the Med. Purchase Order: Ship Mined Ore with a 71k payout. This contract expects 11 SCU of Aluminum and 7 SCU of Titanium delivered to New Babbage Spaceport.
- Aluminum: Buy at Stanton Gateway or Megumi (if you didn’t in Step 4).
- Titanium: Try MIC-L3 (out of the way and not often visited), HDMS Bezdek, or HDMS Lathan on Arial.
You will want to buy around 200-300 SCU of each material and deliver them down to New Babbage. Once completed, grab the 71k contract, pull the cargo up, and send it back down in batches. Simply repeat this contract until you unlock Large Contracts. Once you do, you have officially reached Contractor rank and have fully unlocked access to the Rock Breaker Contracts!
00: Prep & Arrival
Navigate to the Nyx System & setup in Levski or a People’s Service Station. Monitor the Mobiglass “Ship Mining” tab for relevant contracts. Speed is critical; these contracts will be scarce on release as there is a limited number of them available.
Before deploying to the QV Breaker Stations, be aware that there are two distinct versions of the Rock Breaker contract. Choose your deployment strategy carefully.
Exclusive Contract
- Entry Cost: 850,000 aUEC
- Environment: Normally strictly PvE
- Yield: Lower material quality
- Security: Facility interiors are secure. Be warned: The exterior grounds outside the station may still experience PvP.
Shared Contract
- Entry Cost: 175,000 aUEC
- Environment: Unrestricted PvPvE Contested Zone
- Yield: High material quality
- Security: At least 5 groups can compete for resources. Expect hostile player contact anywhere on site.
The facility is extremely cold in certain areas. Bring Heavy Armor or specialized temperature-resistant armor (Pembroke or Morozov sets). For combat I highly recommend the Ripper SMG and be sure to grab ammo. Armor and weapons can be bought at Levski.
You will need a Multitool equipped with Mining, Salvage, and Tractor Beam attachments as you will need all 3. Alternatively, if deploying with a squad, consider having a mix of dedicated full size MaxLift tractor beams and Cambio SRT salvage tools across the team for maximum efficiency.
Bring at least 10 fuses (mandatory) to restore localized power to doors, along with Medpens (Hemozal) and medical supplies of your choosing to survive intense engagements.
Bring Prospector/Mole mining ships to collect the materials once the fracture sequence is complete. You will also need an Apollo/Med-Ursa ship with medical facilities as there will be a lot of combat.
Required Fleet Checklist
Required Supplies Checklist
ONCE GEARED UP, DEPLOY TO THE FACILITY TO BEGIN PHASE 01
01: Power & Material Collection
Begin your operation on the facility floor. You must secure power and extract raw Sadaryx material before proceeding to the rest of the facility. Land behind the large rock within the locations ring as shown. The pads are just below the dish like structure.
You will want to enter the facility through the side entrances instead of the main entrance near the pads, as of the current state of 4.7 CIG has changed the layout to make the Section 1 & 2 doors in the Power Core locked and only able to be opened once you enter those sections and place a fuse in the door from the external entrances. I recommend going left from the pad area and entering the facility from here as it will provide the most supplies towards initial progress via capacitors. The side entrances are left and right of the pads as shown below.Ensure you are set to the ships medical bed before deploying.
Nodes, loot, and capacitors are often hidden behind new environmental obstacles. Clear the room of Valakkar guards before switching from weapons to your Multitool.
Locate the derelict 4-legged yellow mining robots scattered around the Power Core Area & Harvest their capacitors and manually install them at the central Power Core in front of the elevator when you first arrive. This section is broken into Sector 1 & 2. I have provided a list of the mining robot locations below by sector.
Sector 1
Sector 2
Extract 12 units of material from the light grey deposits with red veins around the facility. These are typically located in designated mining locations with mining equipment, behind destructible ice walls (Handheld Mining Tool: Shatter destructible ice walls with full power), and behind broken doors (Salvage Tool: Repair broken door panels via tanks below red lights).
You must collect exactly 12 Units to progress. Each node produces at least 2 units. Nodes are guarded by Valakkar often times in cramped spaces. Clear the room before switching from weapon to Multitool.
ONCE COMPLETE, BOARD THE TRAM TO OPERATIONS
02: Operations Systems Reset
Board the tram to access the Operations facility. A full Facility Reset is mandatory to expose the randomized codes for Refractors A, B, and C. Codes will not appear until the reset is complete.
Enter the Airlock leading to the one building on the platform, & access the primary console in Operations room to initiate the Facility Reset sequence by hitting the button shown below.
Locate three distinct Refractor Codes to unlock and align the laser refractors. Randomized Code Locations:
- Power Core: Bridge below capacitor turn-in.
- Operations: Right of Reset Button by server rack.
- Storage: Inside sector (Visit via Laser section).
Log them below for use in Phase 04.
03: Storage & Beam Catalysts
Use the Tram on the ring to reach the Laser Floor. Clear hostiles and board the trolley to the High-Risk Storage Section. Secure the 4 Beam Catalysts and transport them to the laser.
Move through the Laser Floor and clear enemies before boarding the trolley to enter the Storage area. Ensure you are heavily armed.
Enter the facility, fight your way to the opposite side of the room from the tram, and take the stairs up to the control room for the storage area. Access the room opposite the trolley station; hit the button on the screen and release catalysts via terminal. Grab them with a tractor beam, load all 4 catalysts onto the trolley using tractor beam, and move them back to the trams.
Ride the trolley back to the main Laser Assembly station. Tractor beam catalysts from trolley, and physically slot all 4 into the side ports of the main laser housing.
04: Craft Lenses & Entering Codes
Fabricate lenses using the ore from Phase 02. Board the external tram and visit Refractors A, B, and C to input codes from Phase 03.
Lens bay is up stairs on the opposite side of the laser from the trolley to the storage area from earlier. Consumes 4 Sadaryx ore per lens. Craft 3x Lenses; slot into the array numbered 1 through 3 at the front of the laser. You insert the material via prompts within the hopper to the right of the fabricator, it practically works like placing a fuse within a door. Once 4 units of material are Sadaryx are placed, hit the button on the screen to activate the unit.
Board the External Tram. Visit Refractors A, B, and C via tram navigation screen.
Enter codes from Phase 03 into terminals. Each Refractor unit has two terminals to enter the code on either side, the screen will confirm its working and turn green to confirm acceptance. Refractors will normally extend outward, exposing the refractor head.
05: Final Check and Mine
Verify all green status. Initiate the fracture event. Extraction of unstable material is the final goal.
Control Room is at the back of the laser. Check the main display to assure all 3 refractors are aligned, all 3 lenses are in, and all 4 catalysts are loaded. UI must show GREEN 100% status for best ore return. Partial Completion is possible, if you can hit the button you can fire the laser. However lower percentages ensures worse returns from the final rock break.
Hit Laser Control Ignition Button. Laser fires and breaches rock face.
Once the laser stops firing, fly ships into fracture hole.
