I know there is recommended levels on amps but my questions are: 1. When should I? 2. Is the decay the same for enmatter and ores (entropidia.info shows a set decay rate)? 3. How does the efficiency rating effect my finds? I have decided to just mine enmatter so that I could have bigger stacks for now. I would like to not have to run around for 5 hours to get it all. ) Thanks for all your help in advance, Ash
P.S. I have read http://arkadiaforum.com/showthread.php?1698-When-does-it-become-worth-amping-finders and the above questions were not answered.
1. when the markup in the resources you find is higher then the markup of the amps, or when you just want to have fun and get some bigger finds 2. yes 3. no
As per Archangels post on PCF hope this helps Level 3 Finder Amplifier (L) decays 100 PEC per use It would be reasonable to think that the returns in TT (in non taxed area) would be increased by the relation of the costs that increase So if you instead of spending 1 PED (ore) start spending 2 the return should increase by 2 times since your investement in probing equipment increased 2 times I would say that effiecieny is a poorly choosen word. (And I don't advise somebody to use a mining amp unless the avatar is at least 5 times higher than the required level - just by taking limited blueprints as example, if others SIB are to be considered then 10 levels higher would be ore safe). In resume: If the requirements is level A don't use it unless you are at least at level A+5 Efficiency is just a measure of the decay per use So: 5.0 efficiecy decays 100 PEC 1.3 efficiecy decays 25 PEC (it means that it was rounded up and it should be written there 1.25) 3.8 efficiecy decays 75 PEC (again it's a round up of 3.75) 12.5 efficiecy decays 250 PEC 100 efficiecy decays 2000 PEC 1 efficiency equals 20 pec decay. while (L) amps reduce profit margin per click due to the markup paid, a miner can achieve a higher absolute profit per click. which amp is optimal to use depends on prices for amps and markup to be found as well as average tt return.
To answer question one that is a personal prefrence when you should amp. It should go by your knowledge of the area you are in as to use it or not. To adress it by levels...Just know that because MA says you can use something at a certain level Most certainly does NOT mean that you will be effective using it at that level. An example would be the old school 105 finders. They were set to max at level 5 but they truely did not become effective until you had close to 4k in prospecting. Granted some people have different results due to play style but for the average non gamler type miner this is reasonably accurate. The decay rates are set the same per levels of the amps and this ties in with the efficiancy which is simply the number used to determine decay per use as stated in above post. Bottom line is that amps wont change tt return much. They simply allow you to cycle ped faster and create the oppertunity for a bigger hit in one chunk when the catch up loot comes after a long wave of loss. Be very careful how you use them and work within the limits of your ability to pay for them as they have sucked the life from many a player who went over board for the swirlies in their hunts for fame and glory. There are many threads on the original Entropia forum of miners stating they lost thousands of dollars in a short amount of time gamble mineing with amps.
