Orbit 2.0, Part 7: a balance pass. Enemies per minute and yield per activity were measured in live play. It turned out mining didn’t hold up: a field in the Scrapyard carried 2.3 ore on average, the entire outer ring under 25 — against a required job of 40 ore. Meanwhile, an hour of hunting brought in 1,750 to 2,700 ions, mining plus selling only a third of that, and anyone who leaned on resource gathering earned almost no experience.
- The Scrapyard is now really the mining ring: instead of two-thirds dead rock, it now carries mostly iron. A field now holds about 7 ore instead of 2.3. The Hangar (10) and Embers (23) are unchanged.
- Fields respawn per ring: if fewer than four are left in the player’s ring, a new one appears every 45 s. Previously, fields only respawned when fewer than seven stood system-wide — a cleared-out outer ring just stayed empty.
- Ore targets for jobs lowered from 40/60/90 to 30/45/70. The Scrapyard’s required job can now be done in about five minutes of mining.
- Trading rate raised from 2/3/4 to 3/4/6 ions per ore. Mining and selling now stand as their own path alongside hunting — safer, and a bit slower.
- Jobs now pay more, and they pay experience too: 60+30×ring ions (was 30+15), 15+10×ring ore (was 10+5), and, new, 60+40×ring XP. A secured zone gives 120+60×ring ions and 150+100×ring XP. Playing through resources, jobs and trading now also levels you up.
- Enemy density stays as it is: quiet in the outer ring (0–1 enemies per minute as long as no scout has radioed in), 18–34 at a nest.