The video explores RSI’s mining ships in Star Citizen, focusing on the versatile mid-sized Arastra as a multi-crew vessel designed for extended missions and ground mining support, while contrasting it with the massive, space-focused endgame Orion. It highlights that current basic mining mechanics limit these ships’ potential, emphasizing the need for more advanced gameplay updates to fully realize their capabilities.
The video provides an in-depth look at RSI’s two mining ships in Star Citizen: the massive Orion and the mid-to-large-sized Arastra. While the Orion is positioned as the ultimate endgame mining ship, it remains far from completion, leading the focus to shift towards the Arastra. Introduced a few years ago, the Arastra is designed as a multi-crew mining vessel that fills the gap between smaller mining ships and the Orion. Despite its potential, the Arastra is somewhat overlooked in marketing and community discussions, largely due to its concept status and the current simplicity of mining gameplay in the game.
The Arastra features a distinct RSI design with a functional, industrial aesthetic, emphasizing exposed structural elements and utility over sleekness. It is equipped to be self-sustaining for extended missions, with facilities such as a kitchen, beds, onboard refinery, large ore storage, and the ability to carry additional vehicles. The ship supports a crew of up to five, allowing multiple players to mine simultaneously. Its design includes innovative features like remote turrets that can slide along tracks and transform to cover 360-degree mining, enhancing its operational flexibility in space and on planetary surfaces.
A notable capability of the Arastra is its support for ground mining vehicles, enabling crew members to venture planet-side for surface mining while the ship handles other tasks. However, the current mining mechanics in Star Citizen limit the effectiveness of such a ship, as mining is primarily rock-focused and requires relocating frequently, which is inefficient for a large vessel like the Arastra. The presenter suggests that for the Arastra to reach its full potential, the game’s mining system needs to evolve to include more complex mechanics like underground deposit mining, making the ship’s design and features more meaningful.
The video also contrasts the Arastra with the Orion, highlighting the latter’s enormous scale and industrial focus. The Orion has undergone significant size increases since its initial concept to accommodate crew and mining operations adequately. While the Orion is designed exclusively for space mining of large asteroids, the Arastra is more versatile, capable of mining, refining, and transporting resources both in space and near planetary surfaces. The Arastra is portrayed as an all-in-one mining solution for players progressing beyond small-scale mining but not yet ready for the massive Orion.
Finally, the video touches on the broader context of mining gameplay in Star Citizen, noting that current mechanics are relatively basic and may not justify the release of high-end ships like the Orion or Arastra yet. The speaker hopes for future updates introducing “tier 2” industrial-level mining systems that would provide more depth and specialization, such as distinct roles for crew members and advanced mining techniques. This evolution would make these large mining ships more viable and rewarding to operate, aligning with the ambitious designs and potential of the RSI Arastra and Orion.