1. Why Heat Is Your Real Enemy
In Starminer, heat is more dangerous than aliens. Aliens are a symptom — heat is the cause. Every module you activate generates thermal output, which raises your heat signature, which attracts alien patrols. Mastering heat is mastering the game's core tension: productivity vs. safety.
💡 The Golden Rule
Run cool, run quiet. A ship with 20% heat signature is effectively invisible. The same ship at 80% heat will be attacked within 30 seconds. The most profitable mining operation is the one that doesn't get blown up.
2. How Heat Generation Works
Every active module on your ship or station has a Heat/sec stat. This number is added to your total heat output continuously while the module is active. The total is then compared against your cooling capacity (from radiators) to determine your net heat signature.
| Module Type | Typical Heat/sec | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mining Laser Mk I | 25 | Highest heat source — sustained mining is the #1 attractor |
| Mining Laser Mk II | 35 | More efficient per ore but higher absolute heat |
| Refinery Mk I | 12 | Constant while processing |
| Plasma Cannon (firing) | 15-30 | Heat spikes during combat — much higher than listed |
| Railgun (firing) | 40-70 | Massive heat per shot — limited fire rate balances it |
| Reactor (idle) | 5 | Base heat — all ships generate some |
| Shield Generator | 8 | Constant while shields are up |
| Engine (cruising) | 10 | Higher during boost |
Combat Heat Multiplier: During combat, weapons generate 2-3× their listed heat. A plasma cannon that shows 15 Heat/sec may actually produce 40 Heat/sec during sustained fire. This is why battles escalate — your weapons heat attracts more enemies, which forces more weapons fire, which attracts even more enemies.
3. Radiators: Your Cooling System
Radiators are the only way to dissipate heat into space. Each radiator has a Cooling/sec rating that directly subtracts from your total heat output to determine your net signature.
Radiator Types
| Radiator | Cooling/sec | Mass | Power Draw | Research Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Radiator | 15 | 2t | 5 MW | Default |
| Extended Radiator | 25 | 3t | 8 MW | 1,000 RP |
| High-Efficiency Radiator | 40 | 4t | 12 MW | 3,000 RP |
| Military-Grade Radiator | 60 | 5t | 18 MW | 6,000 RP |
Radiator Placement Rules
- Must face open space: Radiators need direct line-of-sight to the void. Any module, armor plate, or structure between the radiator surface and open space reduces efficiency by up to 90%
- Surface area matters: Radiators mounted on the exterior of your ship work at 100%. Internally mounted radiators work at 10-30%
- Don't cluster them: Two radiators placed next to each other reduce each other's efficiency by 15% (heat bleed between panels)
- Thermal paste doubles efficiency: Once researched (mid tech tree), apply thermal paste between heat-generating modules and attached radiators for 2× cooling
4. Heat Signature & Alien Detection
Your net heat signature = Total Heat Generated − Total Cooling. This number determines how visible you are to aliens.
| Net Signature | Detection Range | Threat Level | Spawn Timer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-20% | 0 km | 🟢 Invisible | Never |
| 21-40% | 3 km | 🟢 Low | ~3 min |
| 41-60% | 6 km | 🟡 Medium | ~90 sec |
| 61-80% | 10 km | 🟠 High | ~45 sec |
| 81-100% | Unlimited | 🔴 Critical | ~20 sec |
5. Cooling Strategies by Scenario
⛏️ Mining Operations
Mining is the highest-heat activity. Strategy: burst mine, not continuous. Mine for 3-4 minutes → shut down lasers → let heat dissipate for 1 minute → resume. This keeps your average signature in the green zone. Or deploy Drill Nodes and leave — zero heat from your ship while the Node works.
🚀 Travel
Cruising generates moderate heat. Keep non-essential modules (refinery, weapons) powered off during long transits. Your heat signature should stay below 30% — if it's higher, you're running too many systems.
⚔️ Combat
Combat heat spikes are unavoidable. Strategy: end fights fast. The longer combat lasts, the more your heat builds, the more enemies spawn. If a fight exceeds 2 minutes, you're in an escalation spiral — disengage, cool down, re-engage.
🫥 Stealth
For pure stealth (Survival mode, hostile territory): shut down everything except life support and passive sensors. Signature drops to 5-10%. You can drift past enemy fleets undetected. Add a military-grade radiator and you're a ghost.
6. Low-Heat Ship Builds
The "Ghost" Miner — Designed for Survival mode and hostile system mining:
- 1× Mining Laser Mk I (25 heat)
- 2× High-Efficiency Radiators (80 cooling)
- 1× Small Reactor (5 heat)
- 1× Basic Engine (10 heat)
- Net signature while mining: 40 heat − 80 cooling = −40% (invisible)
💡 Over-cooling is a valid strategy
Don't aim for "exactly enough" cooling. Aim for 2× your expected heat output. The mass cost of extra radiators is negligible compared to the cost of losing a ship to alien attack.
7. Emergency Cooling Procedures
If your heat signature hits critical (80%+) and you hear alien warp-in sounds:
- Immediately stop all mining/weapons fire
- Press 1-4 to divert all power to shields (gives you survival time)
- Boost away from your current position — aliens warp to your last known heat source location
- Once 5+ km away, emergency shutdown (Ctrl+Shift+X) for 30 seconds
- Heat will drop to near zero. Aliens lose track. You survive.
Related: Combat & Defense · Enemy Types · Survival Mode