So, yeah, after several years of playing this game, I’ve come to the realization that I am just a blue-collar worker in Star Citizen. I started out almost exclusively mining in my Prospector. Flying around and collecting ore, processing it, and hauling it to the depot for sales. By and through that I got a lot of experience with hauling cargo. Started with the ores that I processed but soon found myself moving medical supplies through pirate infested space along with many safer routes. Even…gasp…hauling drugs. Yup, I will admit, I dabbled in the illicit area of space narcotics trafficking. I made fortunes, lost fortunes, dodged space cops, had my cargo seized by said cops. But, in the end, I was just a trucker in the stars.

   Now, I find myself embracing more of the working-class lifestyle by salvaging hulls for scrap! I know, so glamorous! I’m not some pretty boy fancy pilot racing for money or hunting down pirates in my loaded-out fighter. Nope, color me blue, turn on some oldies on the radio, and watch me slowly troll the asteroid fields looking the remains of unfortunate explorers and said fancy boy fighters. I’ll take the remains of their sleek multi-million-dollar ships and turn it in for some chow and a few coins in my pocket.

   Now, why choose this lifestyle? Is it raining ladies upon my return to port? Am I hefting bags of money like Scrooge McDuck? I am being hoisted on the shoulders of an admiring crowd? Well…no one really notices me. The only girls I get are paid for (don’t judge…space bucks to space dolls is totally legit!). Those bags of money…well you got it right there… I am not making swim in the dollars pool cash but I am generating an excellent pay for time spent matrix and I really enjoy the serenity and beauty of cruising through the asteroid belt.

   So, my ship of choice is a decked-out Drake Vulture. How is decked out? Well, a slick Atlas drive, a paint job to drive away the construction cone default yellow, and some fresh level A components makes me feel like my Drake purrs with contentedness as I pull out of the hangar 😊

   Now, the secrets in my method are not to be shared…so keep it to yourself along with the profits! What am I saying?!? Space is huge! Tell everyone! Let’s all go make quick and easy money! Hell, that was the nickname of the last girl in Lorville that I dated! Shhh…just like truckers we don’t talk about who or what hops into our Cab late at night to keep us warm in deep space….

   Yeah, yeah, back to the practical side…we are the hammer and nail of Star Citizen. As you breach the environmental protections of the space station and smoothly glide into the intractable void of space you need to set your sights on the illustrious Aaron Halo. It is there where we shall find the sheer number of salvageable plates blooming like spring flowers.

   To get to the exact spot in the Aaron Halo you need cozy up to the big brains at the Cornerstone Organization. Those eggheads have mapped out everything you need and even created an interactive map to give you precise timing and coordinates! For our purposes here, I am going to use my last flight out of Hurston. I waypointed Everus Harbor as my starting point. My destination waypoint target was Arc L-4. That is NOT your real destination though. Cue the music from Missing Persons…Destination Unknown! But unlike that song we really do know our destination…we just have to…ugh…calculate it. I know…the thought of math or numbers is really too much. I’m still distracted by singing the song actually.

   Back to business.

   So, the website that I mentioned will, gasp, do the calculations for you!!! Destination, Aaron Halo band five. Like your teacher said when they talked about you in elementary school…it is the densest. https://cstone.space/aaronhalo . Once you get there and read and appreciate the article (thank you chief nerd CaptSheppard!) scroll on down to the 3D interactive System Model with Routes. This is your Tandy Computer…your Texas Instruments calculator…your savior from math! Under controls click on your QT drive…if it isn’t Atlas kick yourself, go buy an Atlas, and return to this guide. Double-click on your starting point (for me Hurston). Then double-click on your destination (for me Arc-L4). Now, bzzz, bzzz, bzzz, calc-u-lating…calc-u-lating and done. My intercept time with band 5 is 8,713,116 remaining. Takes about 2 minutes and 40 seconds to get there. How bloody wonderful is that?!?

   So, in game now, set your destination and, dare I say it, Engage! I’m flying! I’m flying through hyperspace! Stop gawking and pay attention to the numbers flying and telling you distance remaining!!!! Now, our calculator is way more precise then this flying toaster oven of a Drake ship and it’s quick travel display so you are going to have to finesse this. I know, us dirt haulers don’t finesse anything but now is your time to shine. Drop out of quick time at 8.8 (instead of 8.7) as the delay will usually be right on target. How do you know if you are in the right area? Well, are there a LOT of asteroids around you or are there SOME asteroids around you? It’s a visual thing. You really know when you are in band 5 due to just how many fill your screen.

   Now, you need to get into scan mode and set your focus rate (PIERC) at 0% and start scanning. The results will be clusters all around you of varying signature. You are looking for signatures in multiples of 2000 which indicates salvageable plates. I generally look for 10k and above BUT really anything will do because there are so many opportunities here. As you approach the panels keep increasing the focus to fix the target. Once it is fixed slowly approach. At some point those teardrop points that indicate the panel locations will disappear. You need to cruise along (deploy landing gear to act as an inhibitor). The panels need time to spawn. Once they do spawn (you’ll see them with blue halo outlines) you are good to start your mining modules.

   Now, notes on being successful here.

• Your left module should be Clinch Scraper and your right should be Abrade. Use Left Alt + D to disengage left module so only right is changeable. Right Click your mouse to switch to the Abrade and then Use Left Alt + S to reengage the left.
• Your filler station holds 13 SCU of Materials. I fill up to 12 SCU before going down to generate the boxes and start stacking them up. That way nothing is wasted. Fill up to 13SCU at the end when you are not going to generate anymore.
• I get 37 boxes in total (stack as much as I can and leave 13 SCU in the filler station). I know that some people can get one or two more but I have not figured out a safe way to do so. When I do more I sometimes get crushed by the moving boxes or they clip out into space. I don’t mess it with it and settle for the 37.
• Go to a TTD center to make your sales. When you sell 37 boxes, you sell the first batch and then generate your ship go to the hangar and generate the 13 more boxes that you had sitting in the filler station you will make approximately $533,400 plus or minus a little bit depending on the market.
• Salvaging plates is WAY better than ships. You get a density that is up to 3x higher and a midsize plate can fill up 80% of your station.
• When you are slowing moving towards the invisible not yet spawned panels keep an eye on your collision warning alert as that is often your first sign.
• I have found this better, easier, and more profitable than searching LaGrange points.
• Some say that if you get a 6000 signature reading that it may not be panels so I avoid them. I cannot confirm if this is accurate or not and is solely based on my readings.
• For an extremely long look on how this is done our friend Codepic (another brainy nerd) did upload a video (I think that all the views are me, hahaha) to assist. https://youtu.be/BpzYMJitzDs?si=SJxohw1jLMaeKkrw
• I recently went to a 16K signature and it completely filled my vulture with some left over
• For the time spent to dollars made to ease of accomplishing this is one of the most profitable and enjoyable loops in the game

   Without Exploration there can be no discovery!