Mass Effect 2 Hints

Mining Tips

• 1 of 11: After buying a good supply of probes at a fuel depot, guide the Normandy into a planet so you can choose to go into orbit and start the scanning process.
• 2 of 11: That process is very slow and tedious. What you do is hold down the Scan key (right mouse button on the PC) and move the scanner display slowly across the planet's surface while watching the squiggly line that's directly above the list of your current supply of the four minable elements.
• 3 of 11: When the squiggly line above an element rises up, that means you're scanning near a deposit of that element. How high the line rises up tells you how much is there. (Note that you can also listen to the scanner, since it starts making different noises when you've found a significant deposit of something.)
• 4 of 11: There are many small deposits of minerals that really aren't worth using probes on. Those are the ones that don't raise the squiggly line very high or cause the scanner to make different noises. You usually won't want to probe any deposit that doesn't raise the squiggly line above the third horizontal green line, especially if you're low on probes and the system you're in doesn't have a fuel depot.
• 5 of 11: When you find a deposit, don't immediately launch a probe. Instead, very slowly scan around the area to find the spot that gives you the best scanner reading, then launch your probe. That'll ensure you get the most out of a deposit.
• 6 of 11: Another thing to note is the planet's slow rotation about its vertical axis. The rotation stops when you're holding down the Scan key (and when you're pressing the A key on the PC), and it speeds up greatly when you push the scanner against its left or right sides.
• 7 of 11: Deposits generally cover a fairly large area of the planet's surface, especially if they're large deposits. That means you don't have to be too slow and tedious in your scanning. Going fast will probably mean you miss several small deposits that aren't worth mining anyway, but you shouldn't miss any big ones.
• 8 of 11: So here's the best way to conduct a planetary mining expedition. While holding down the Scan key, run the scanner as fast as it'll go all over the currently viewed planetary surface while watching and/or listening for squiggly line spikes. When you find one, move slowly around to find the best spot for your probe, then launch it and continue your scan. After you cover the visible surface, move the scanner to the right side of the planet to make it rotate a whole new surface into view. Keep that up until you've rotated back around to where you started. (You'll know when you have, since you'll be back around to where you first dropped probes.)
• 9 of 11: Under the name of the planet is a "Scanner Results" field that gives a one-word overall assessment of the planet's current mineral richness. However, this isn't really useful, since thorough scanning can often reveal a few last big deposits even after the scanner results read "poor" or "depleted."
• 10 of 11: When mining planets in a system that doesn't have a fuel depot, make sure you enter the system with enough probes that you don't have to go back for more (since doing so will cost you extra fuel).
• 11 of 11: Actually, the most important mining tip is to frequently rest your aching hand! My right hand often got very sore holding down the right mouse button and moving the mouse around for long periods of scanning. (Those heartless BioWare guys don't care how much they hurt us!)

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