Pioneer Mining
Added during the 2025 Catalyst Expansion, the Pioneer finally brings a new mining ship to the hands of Alpha clones. It bridges the gap between The Venture and Mining Barges. These fittings are designed to be fully Alpha clone compatible, though only Omegas can make use of the EC-300 ECM drones.
Pioneer Mining
Mining and Extraction
Fittings
Ore Mining
The pioneer's bonuses make it the best ore mining ship Alpha clones have access to. And they can even fit T2 mining lasers with the right skills.
Pioneer, Intro Ore
[Pioneer, Intro Ore] Mining Laser Upgrade I Mining Laser Upgrade I 1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner ML-3 Compact Mining Survey Chipset Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender EP-S Gaussian Scoped Mining Laser EP-S Gaussian Scoped Mining Laser EP-S Gaussian Scoped Mining Laser [Empty High slot] Small Core Defense Field Extender I Small Core Defense Field Extender I Small Core Defense Field Extender I Hobgoblin I x4 Hornet EC-300 x4
Pioneer, Optimal Ore
[Pioneer, Optimal Ore] Mining Laser Upgrade II Mining Laser Upgrade II 1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner Mining Survey Chipset II Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender Miner II Miner II Miner II [Empty High slot] Small Processor Overclocking Unit II Small Core Defense Field Extender I Small Core Defense Field Extender I Hobgoblin II x4 Hornet EC-300 x4
Gas Harvesting
The pioneer's bonuses also make it one of the best ships available to Alpha clones for Gas Harvesting, with its three Gas Cloud Scoops having the equivalent yield of 5 - 6 unbonused ones.
Pioneer, Intro Gas
[Pioneer, Intro Gas] Damage Control I Drone Damage Amplifier I 1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner ML-3 Compact Mining Survey Chipset Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender Gas Cloud Scoop I Gas Cloud Scoop I Gas Cloud Scoop I Core Probe Launcher I Small Core Defense Field Extender I Small Core Defense Field Extender I Small Core Defense Field Extender I Hobgoblin I x4 Hornet EC-300 x4 Core Scanner Probe I x16
Pioneer, Optimal Gas
[Pioneer, Optimal Gas] Damage Control II Drone Damage Amplifier II 1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner Mining Survey Chipset II Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender Gas Cloud Scoop I Gas Cloud Scoop I Gas Cloud Scoop I Core Probe Launcher I Small Core Defense Field Extender I Small Core Defense Field Extender I Small Core Defense Field Extender I Hobgoblin II x4 Hornet EC-300 x4 Core Scanner Probe I x16
Skillplans
You Can Access Pioneer Skillplans Here
Completing a ship's skillplan ensures that you meet the requirements to fit it, and have the necessary support skills to be effective whilst using it.
Flying Your Pioneer
Ore Mining
If you're new to mining, give the Introduction to Mining page a read to get some background knowledge.
Mining is a pretty straightforward activity in Eve, and can be done in almost every area of space. Start by finding an asteroid belt or mining anomaly. Once there, use your survey scanner to see how much ore is in the rocks around you, pick one, activate your mining lasers, and either orbit the rock or soft-align to a citadel. When your ore hold is full, you can empty it as-is into a citadel, or compress the ore using a rorqual, orca, porpoise, or refinery. Note that moon ore can only be compressed in a rorqual or orca.
Gas Harvesting
If you're new to gas harvesting, give the Gas Section of the Introduction to Mining page a read to get some background knowledge.
Gas can be found throughout New Eden, in 2 broad categories split between normal and wormhole space. Gas clouds spawn as Cosmic Signatures, and as such need to be scanned down before they can be accessed. Lowsec gas clouds can be harvested safely, while those found in all wormholes and most areas of nullsec have some risk-generating mechanic. Gas clouds are large objects, and usually only a handful are present per signature. This combined with the short range of your Gas Cloud Scoops means you'll mostly find yourself inside the clouds you're harvesting. Besides all that the idea is pretty much the same as mining. Note that gas can only be compressed by an Industrial Command Ship or Capital Industrial Ship.
Characteristics of Your Pioneer
Defensive Capabilities
The pioneer gives up the venture's Warp Core Strength bonus, but in exchange gets over double the tank, double the drone bandwidth, and 4x the drone bay capacity. It still won't hold up well to other players, but it does have a very limited capability to defend itself against NPCs. Omegas can use the Hornet EC-300s as a last-ditch effort to jam a tackler if they get caught.