SkyshipsWiki

Skyships Mining Guide: How to Mine and Fix Laser Warnings

Last updated:

Find a deposit, position your ship, and use the mining laser to fill your cargo hold in Skyships.

A ship mining a Copper deposit with the collection rate and remaining amount displayed.

Quick answer

Fly close to a deposit, point your ship's bow toward it, and hold F. Turn toward the deposit if it is outside the laser arc, move closer if it is out of range, and find another deposit when it is depleted. Return to port when your cargo hold is full.

Find and Approach a Deposit

  1. Press M to open the Tactical Map. Use the legend to identify Iron, Copper, and Nickel deposit markers.
  2. Zoom with the mouse wheel and drag the map to inspect the area. Press Space to recenter it on your ship.
  3. Right-click to set a waypoint at your chosen deposit, then fly toward it.

For an early Iron run, look near Fort Anton. See the map and ports guide for more navigation and docking help.

Tactical Map showing Iron, Copper, and Nickel deposit markers and the map legend.

Point the Bow at the Deposit and Hold F

Fly close to the deposit and turn your ship's bow toward it. Hold F to fire the mining laser and collect ore.

The mining display identifies the resource, collection rate, and amount left in the deposit. Collected ore enters your cargo hold, where you can watch its quantity and weight increase. Use the same approach and control to mine Iron, Copper, Nickel, Silver, and Tungsten.

For ore weights and market price examples, see the resource directory.

A ship mining a Copper deposit with the collection rate and remaining amount displayed.

Fix Laser Arc, Range, and Depleted Deposit Messages

Message What to do
OUT OF LASER ARC Turn the ship's bow toward the deposit until it is within the laser's arc.
NO DEPOSIT IN RANGE Fly closer to a mineable deposit, then hold F.
DEPOSIT DEPLETED The current deposit is mined out. Move to another one to continue; the ore already collected stays in your cargo hold.
Out of Laser Arc warning while a ship is beside a Copper deposit.

Improve Mining Runs

Keep the deposit within range and the laser arc to reduce interruptions, and move on when it runs out. Choose mining research for your current ship:

  • Wasp: Mining & Cargo Package improves mining speed and range as well as cargo capacity. It requires Radar Waveguide Tuning and costs 75 CR.
  • Corvette: Look for Mining & Ore Package in its tech tree.
  • Strizh: Cargo Conversion reveals the optional Ore Cutting Heads upgrade, priced at 590 CR.
  • Berkut: Its tech tree includes Mining Power Supply and Ore Cutting Heads.

For ship-specific combinations and prerequisites, see mining builds.

Deep Cut can award resources while mining; one Copper occurrence awarded 6 Copper. Watch your cargo weight and return to port when full: overloading slows the ship. Dock to store the load in your Bunker; storage does not automatically sell it. See cargo and storage for the docking and storage details.