Keep energy usage (paid stuff) only for Catching illuvials

[ebon onyx]

Consider using the energy only for illuvial catching instead of farming material, paying for farming may be too much

Instead limit the amount of material you can farm per run by having drone inventory slots, than can be increased by drone upgrades

1 slot can carry a X2-X3 item so the other drone upgrades that increase the X2 chances are still relevant

Also make it that as soon as you teleport to sanctum mesa all the loot is auto transfer to your inventory so the player does not have to manually do it, avoiding going into a run with the drone at full of items.

[wind basin]

This would actually be a solution to the mining/harvesting only runs.

But we would also be forcing players who enjoy those activities to be forced to capture illuvials, unless there was a relation between the amount of energy you have and the amount of resources you could carry. And if that was the case then I would rather just leave it as it is.

[hearty storm]

Seconded, as much as I would like to be able to solo the game and collect everything more easily, paying for farming gives more complexity to the in game economy. It's part of the appeal