Your Drill Is Slow and You Do Not Know Why
You place a Drill on an asteroid. It produces 60 Iron/min. You place a second Drill next to it. It produces 40 Iron/min. You add a third: 20 Iron/min. The ore is running out, the asteroid is depleting faster than your drills can extract, and you have no idea how the depletion system works.
Outworld Station’s mining system has two hidden mechanics: node depletion rate and drill efficiency falloff. Placing drills too close together causes massive efficiency loss.
The Short Version
Space drills 4 tiles apart minimum. Each drill has a 4-tile radius depletion zone. Overlap reduces total output. Upgrade drill tier before adding more drills. A single Tier 2 drill outputs as much as 3 Tier 1 drills in the same space. Overclocking increases speed by 50% at 2x power cost.
v1.1: Two new technologies change drill and mining strategy: Enhanced Containment (better handling of volatile/hazardous resource outputs) and Exo-Planet Lifters (extends mining and lifting reach to more distant or exotic planetary bodies). Together they open bodies you previously could not mine and make volatile outputs safer to process.
v1.1 New Mining Technologies
v1.1 adds two research technologies that reshape how and where you mine. Both are reached through the research tree — plan them into your Research Order.
Enhanced Containment
Some resources are volatile or hazardous. Before v1.1, extracting and routing them was risky and limited. The Enhanced Containment tech improves containment of these volatile/hazardous outputs, so drills and refineries handle them with fewer losses and safety penalties.
When it matters:
- Mining volatile resource nodes (hazardous gases, reactive ores)
- Running remote outposts where containment failures are costly
- Pairing with the Bio-extractor / chemical chain on exotic bodies
Strategy impact: With Enhanced Containment, you can lean into volatile-rich deposits you would previously have avoided. Treat it as a prerequisite before committing drills to hazardous nodes.
Exo-Planet Lifters
Exo-Planet Lifters extend your mining and lifting reach to more distant or exotic planetary bodies. Bodies that were previously out of range — far-orbit moons, exotic-surface planets — become mineable once this tech is researched.
When it matters:
- You have depleted nearby asteroids and need new sources
- Exotic bodies hold rare materials not found locally
- You want to offload remote mining to automated lifting rather than hand-towing
Strategy impact: This breaks the mid/late-game “local patch is empty” wall. Research Exo-Planet Lifters when your home-system asteroids are past 50% depletion, then expand the drill grid to the newly reachable bodies. Remote mining scales especially well with Mk2/Mk3 drills (see Mk2/Mk3 Factory Guide).
Updated Tech/Tier Discussion
The drill upgrade path still runs T1 -> T2 -> T3 -> Deep Core, but v1.1’s two techs are now part of the same decision. A typical ordering:
- Drill tiers (T2 at Level 3, T3 at Level 6) for raw throughput
- Enhanced Containment when you first touch volatile nodes
- Exo-Planet Lifters when local asteroids deplete, to open new bodies
- Deep Core Drill on your best remaining/exotic body for endgame
Drill Tiers and Stats[+]
Drill Comparison
| Drill Tier | Base Rate | Power Draw | Optimal Spacing | Unlock | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Drill (T1) | 60/min | 20 kW | 4 tiles | Starting | 10 Iron |
| Improved Drill (T2) | 120/min | 40 kW | 5 tiles | Station Level 3 | 20 Iron + 10 Copper |
| Advanced Drill (T3) | 240/min | 80 kW | 6 tiles | Station Level 6 | 40 Electronics + 10 Titanium |
| Deep Core Drill | 400/min | 150 kW | 8 tiles | Station Level 9 | 80 Superalloy + 20 Tungsten |
Overclocking Stats:
| Drill Tier | Normal Rate | Overclocked | Power Cost | Overheat Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | 60/min | 90/min (+50%) | 40 kW (2x) | Low |
| T2 | 120/min | 180/min (+50%) | 80 kW (2x) | Medium |
| T3 | 240/min | 360/min (+50%) | 160 kW (2x) | High (needs cooling) |
| Deep Core | 400/min | 600/min (+50%) | 300 kW (2x) | Very High |
Depletion Mechanics - How Asteroids Run Dry[+]
Understanding Depletion
Every asteroid has a total ore pool. Each drill extracts from this pool. The pool does not regenerate.
Asteroid Ore Pool by Size:
| Asteroid Size | Iron Pool | Copper Pool | Titanium Pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (50m) | 2,000 | 1,000 | 500 |
| Medium (100m) | 5,000 | 3,000 | 1,500 |
| Large (200m+) | 15,000 | 8,000 | 5,000 |
Depletion Warning Signs:
- Drill output drops below 70% of base rate = 50% depleted
- Drill output drops below 40% of base rate = 80% depleted
- Drill output stops = asteroid fully depleted
Rule of Thumb
When a drill drops to 50% of its base rate, it is time to find the next asteroid. Do not wait until it fully depletes. The last 20% of ore takes as long as the first 80% because the remaining ore is scattered and hard to reach.
Drill Spacing Optimization[+]
The Efficiency Chart
| Spacing | T1 Output/Tile | Total (4 drills) | Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 tiles | 30/min | 120/min | 50% |
| 3 tiles | 45/min | 180/min | 75% |
| 4 tiles | 55/min | 220/min | 92% |
| 5 tiles | 58/min | 232/min | 97% |
| 6+ tiles | 60/min | 240/min | 100% |
Conclusion: 4 tile spacing is the sweet spot. Going to 5 tiles gives only 5% more output per drill but costs more connector range.
Upgrade Path
- Start with T1 drills at 4-tile spacing
- Upgrade to T2 when you have Copper production (Station Level 3)
- Add a 3rd T2 drill when T1 drills start depleting
- Upgrade to T3 only after you have Electronics chain running
- Overclock only for burst needs (preparing for a big build)
- Deep Core drill on your best remaining asteroid when chasing endgame