How do you actually use the hoist in the crystal mine descent area?

[Pumathang]

I repaired it but I literally can't figure out how to use it, like where the interaction point is to trigger it. All I can find is guides for how to repair it, but nothing shows someone using it to descend. Am I missing something obvious?

[Soul]

I'm also interested to know this. I couldn't figure it out either, so I ended up using platforms to descend. Huge waste of black diamonds, unfortunately.

[Solus The Immortal]

it doesn't actually move you just climb down a series of rope ladders. Theres no "elevator" mechanics in the game.

[Soul]

Well that's anti-climactic.

[Pumathang]

Originally posted by Solus The Immortal:

it doesn't actually move you just climb down a series of rope ladders. Theres no "elevator" mechanics in the game.

It says "hoist"... and it has a pulley system. The quest says to take it down... presumably there's a proper way to operate it, otherwise it would just say to climb down the ladder. Supposedly it needed to be repaired because it operated something. I don't expect a modern elevator, but why would it need all those resources if all we needed to do was make a big ladder?

I was asking because the first time I tried climbing down the rope ladder, not realizing I'd get stuck at the bottom. Didn't have enough charcoal for a hearth to build back up, so I went exploring... ended up falling to my death. I'd never died before, and was unpleasantly surprised to find I'd lost all my gear. I grabbed some materials and mounted a rescue mission, retrieving my fallen gear from halfway down the pit... then climbed all the way back up. I wanted to avoid doing so ever again, hence the post.

[Soul]

There is a map stone at the bottom of the descent, but it needs to be rebuilt. I missed it the first few times I ran past it because it was hidden by mushrooms, but man, I was so happy when I found it lol

[Lady Neravin]

Originally posted by Soul:

There is a map stone at the bottom of the descent, but it needs to be rebuilt. I missed it the first few times I ran past it because it was hidden by mushrooms, but man, I was so happy when I found it lol

I directly went to the next one at the lake XD

[Pumathang]

Originally posted by Soul:

There is a map stone at the bottom of the descent, but it needs to be rebuilt. I missed it the first few times I ran past it because it was hidden by mushrooms, but man, I was so happy when I found it lol

I found it but didn't have a black diamond with me... since I avoided bringing valuables in case I fell again and died in someplace unreachable. Had to fight off a horde at the bottom with no stamina and no good weapons since it took several days to descend and I didn't bring materials for a fully-fledged base, and climbing back up to restock was NOT happening.

The quest makes it sound like there's a way to get to the bottom without making it ridiculously difficult... and I've read several things online that say DON'T try to build your way down. *shrugs*

[Soul]

I feel your pain. For all the fun this game has given me, it has also given me an equal amount of frustration.

[Wonderboy in Monsterland]

yeah same....wasted 15 black diamonds on a hoist that does nothing...climbed manually all the way down only to be attacked by dozens of critters and then died having to spawn all the way at the top again...its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥...stupid and tedious gameplay

[william_es]

There's a broken mapstone at the very very very bottom. Bring 1 black diamond and you can repair the mapstone. After that, you just teleport to the mapstone. It's a one time trek.

There's no requirement to build a way back up. Many of us did build quick scaffolds just as a backup. But with some careful planning you can just work your way around the descent slowly dropping from ledge to ledge. There's a couple of dicey parts where you'd have to worry about falling too far and taking lethal damage. But it could be done as a one way drop, repair the mapstone, and then never deal with it ever again.

[Pumathang]

In retrospect, it's probably not as bad if you go into it with the mindset of "having to slowly and carefully pick your way down a giant shaft without falling to your death"... the problem is, the game presents it as "use precious resources to fix the lift so you don't HAVE to plummet to your death"... and your dwarf gives no indication that their proposed "solution" failed to work, and you're no better off than you were before you tried to fix it.

Since there's no acknowledgment or disappointed remark that engineering isn't exactly your dwarf's strong suit, a lot of people probably sat there thinking the lift was "fixed," looking for an interaction point and reloading in hopes of fixing what they thought was a bug. By the time you realize you just wasted your resources, you've probably also wasted half an hour or more consulting online guides or videos, growing increasingly frustrated because you can't figure out something that seems like it should be obvious---because there has to be a way to make it work---the game wouldn't trick you into wasting resources, right?

On the other hand, if my dwarf had peered over the edge and uneasily remarked, "I guess I've got no choice but to climb my way to the bottom..." Well, at least I would have been immersed in the in-game climb, rather than thinking about whether the entire internet also missed something obvious, or worrying about finding more black diamonds.

Overall, I did enjoy the game, despite several bugs and frustrations along the way... but this part of the game in particular was just stupid, and I still don't understand why "fixing" the lift was an objective in the first place, since there was literally no point.

[FirstToDie]

Yeah, this was a disappointment. I fully expected it to act like an actual lift, but it really does nothing. You are left confused as you try to find how to activate it, only to realize you will have to build your way down anyway.

I have a feeling this was actually intended to be a functional lift, but the budget and time required may have resulted in what we end up with.

Its telling that there are no moving objects anywhere in the game, besides player make doors.