Mining/Metalworking?

[Evil Betty]

So since I can't log onto my other character that has 2000+ people in front of them, I made one on a new server. I'm trying to get into the whole merchantile thing. I decided to try mining and metalworking.

So, as far as mining is concerned. There are certain spots on maps where mining points pop up. So far I've only found Iron nodes, but I've gotten everything from copper to archenium(?) from them, albeit at a much lower drop rate. I'm going to assume higher tier nodes show up on higher level maps for now.

Metalworking seems pretty straightforward. You melt down the metal you get into bars. When you get 100 of a bar, you can make a trade pack. But I think I'm going to actually use it for crafting. You also get stones from mining, which can be used at masonry craft tables.

Since I'm looking to craft with the stuff right now, I checked out the Anvil and Plate crafting stations. Turns out you can't make any weapons/armor until your lvl 20. Or, at least, you can't use any of it. So I guess I'll just keep mining in the meantime.

But yeah, just some thoughts. Does anyone have any tips or tricks? And does your mining proficiency actually do anything?

[Evil Betty]

Originally posted by madjago:

the higher your mining is the more chance of fortuna veins appearing (the ones that turn up under iron ore some times) and you will get a higher drop rate of pure ore which is a high level crafting ingredient as for other ores the only one that is really an ore is starshard but thats underwater and only used for jewerly the third type of ore is on auroria and it givees you a trade pack of aurioan mineral water which is used for certain things that i forget

Oh nice. Thank you for the info.

[RedEntropy]

Originally posted by madjago:

the higher your mining is the more chance of fortuna veins appearing (the ones that turn up under iron ore some times) and you will get a higher drop rate of pure ore which is a high level crafting ingredient as for other ores the only one that is really an ore is starshard but thats underwater and only used for jewerly the third type of ore is on auroria and it givees you a trade pack of aurioan mineral water which is used for certain things that i forget

This isn't completly accurate.
Iron nodes, and starshard as well, are the only two mining nodes you will find in the game world (that I'm aware of.) Iron nodes have a chance of spawning a rare fortuna node after you deplete that iron node. The higher your mining prof. the higher the chance of getting a fortuna node. The fortuna node can give you any numbre of things, from rare ores to gems.
Basically every iron node you mine has a chance of spawning an additional node that have a chance of giving you any of the other ores (such as copper, silver, and gold), gems (such as amethysts) and pure forms of those ores (including iron.) It's not clear to me if your mining prof. directly effects the chance of getting what from a fortuna node - I believe that's random but based on a certain range of chance. IE. some things are more rare then others. One rare ore is Archeum ore, which is a high level crafing mat. Do not get this confused with the other archeums used in crafing such as archeum motes and archeum dust. They are used in different things.

Starshard is not obtained from a Iron or Fortuna node. It's a specific type of mining node only found underwater around cinderstone and used in some of the higher level crafting recipes. I believe all they can drop is starshard chips (3 to an ingot) and rock. But then I havn't mined a huge amount of them so I could just be unlucky. It's alsp used in many of the higher tier crafting recipes, such as dive helmets. Not just jewlery.

The auroria mineral water your talking about is obtained from springs in Auroria, which is then used to water a Archeum tree that is purchased on mirage island. It's not really mining node.

[Evil Betty]

Hmm, I see. So I can probably pawn off any jewels or unneeded mats I find.

What about masonry? I know I get a ton of stones from mining. Anything interesting in that skill? Can it help with homebuilding?

[Evil Betty]

Is there a way to find mining spots easier? Or do I just have to look around. All the ones I find are usually at the bottom of a hill or cliff.

[RedEntropy]

just look around in the world. Pretty much anywhere that has a rock outcropping will spawn iron nodes from time to time. Some areas more then others. Try to get off the beaten path to find less mined areas. I find along coast lines are usually pretty good in some spots (such as along east dewstone.) But again it all depends on how many other people have the same idea.

[maebae]

since people are trying to build their houses and theyre good for hereafter stones, raw stone and/or bricks are selling for a pretty good price

[Evil Betty]

Originally posted by mae:

since people are trying to build their houses and theyre good for hereafter stones, raw stone and/or bricks are selling for a pretty good price

Yeah after I went house shopping I realized some of the homes require more stone rather than wood. So I can probably make a pretty penny of the raw materials while mining. Almost lvl 20 too, so I can start forging stuff. Although, I still haven't found a place to set my house down yet. And how the hell do you even get 300 gilde or whatever for the bigger homes?

[maebae]

there are quite a few quests that give gilda as you are lvling (about 50-60 i think) and the rest you'll need to do daily quests from say the bluesalt brotherhood guys (about 4-5 a day)

[Evil Betty]

Originally posted by mae:

there are quite a few quests that give gilda as you are lvling (about 50-60 i think) and the rest you'll need to do daily quests from say the bluesalt brotherhood guys (about 4-5 a day)

So, doing the math, in an ideal situation where you could play everyday and get the 4-5 stars, not counting the 50-60 you get from leveling, it would take roughly 60ish days to acquire 300 gilda by yourself. Uhg. I mean, I know having a big house would be cool. Not to mention there's finding the land for it, the materials to make it, and the taxes to own it. Wonder If I can find a decent guild somewhere.

[Evil Betty]

So I decided to by the cheapest house, and finally found a place to set it. Right next to my farm as it turns out. It's 2/3 stone though, so I spent the better half of yesterday mining for 300 raw stones -_-. Oh well, 1 down, 2 to go.