This idea also extends to drills, as the closer to the core of the planet you get even diamond tools become frustratingly slow (Brought up by Luceil Mechanica) The standard Manipulator (The one you begin with) has 3 modular slots, which can be upgraded with a variety of modules. Modules may include Speed Upgrade, Range Upgrade, Width Upgrade, etc With each tier, there would be a new Manipulator, with an additional 3 modular slots. Modules themselves could even have tiers, take for example the speed upgrade. Tier 1: +%10.00 Speed Tier 2: +%20.00 Speed Tier 3: +%30.00 Speed With all that explained, i will wait for feedback over what i should change and improve. That being said please be constructive with your feedback.
Really good idea but keep in mind that matter manipulators are more for placing blocks than breaking them, that's the job of Pickaxes and Drills, and we don't want to make them obsolete. I support being able to adjust the width of it and range to allow better building though. Just keep in mind you don't want to make other mining tools obsolete.
I see your point, even if it was modular drills, i personally feel most mining is fairly slow even with a diamond drill at some depths.
If you make drills modular though that sounds really awesome because when you're digging through the core of the planet even a diamond drill has it's problems. High-cost modular additions would be nice to speed things along if this extends over to drills.