Asphalt mines tips

[Ulrik]

There are nine mine shafts. A qud large map tile has 9 zones per tile. All the asphalt mine zones are mine shafts, you can dig to them from the central shaft. They seem to be identical in their depthwise layout.

Get friendly or neutral with crabs, then you can traverse past level 26 (where the great magma crabs + fire ants start) without much trouble. You can go down to level 100 easily then (haven't gone further).

Since the asphalt mines are guaranteed to continue down, digging out from the shaft into the Underground might be about the only guaranteed way to reach very very deep in the regular Underground caves. Do this and explore, you'll find high level loot in old corpses that way.

[57E]

Good to know, I haven't yet looked into them too deep myself.

My usual goto place to gamble for good loot is to go to the flickering tile on the south east corner of the worldmap and rush downs stairs trying to grab everything I can and recoil out before place starts to collapse.

[Ulrik]

I've never ever heard of that place. Thanks for the tip

[davidb11]

I never heard of the Asphalt mines at all until reading this, or the other zone that apparently falls down on your head. :)

I tend to like to explore around a lot, which is why I found the Space Time Vortex inside a cave that apparently had a bunch of Ur-steel weapons near it. :)

Exploring in caves can be fun, but can also be annoying.

[wehttam449]

only place I've ever found an arsplice seed is the deathlands. It's easier than you'd think to avoid engaging the stalkers and pyramids.

[Ulrik]

Originally posted by wehttam449:

only place I've ever found an arsplice seed is the deathlands. It's easier than you'd think to avoid engaging the stalkers and pyramids.

Ok, what's your tip? Pyramids you can tell from their forcefield fortunately, but leering stalkers? I usually just keep EMP grenades equipped so that I can escape, do you have anything better?

[57E]

Originally posted by davidb11:

I never heard of the Asphalt mines at all until reading this, or the other zone that apparently falls down on your head. :)

It's proper name is apparently Trembling Dunes, but on the map it just appears just as salt dunes. It's the south easter most tile on the world map and if you leave the map open you will notice that the it's tile changes over time.

It has shattered ruins with no rooms or corridors just randomly spread fulcerete walls and stairs down.
Underground areas have various robots, chrome clad hermits and few turrets. Kind of like a bit tougher early game dungeon, unless you have ways to easily deal with the robots.

The problem is that randomly the ground shakes and bits of ceiling fall to your head. I'm not sure if it causes the walls to move too, but sometimes the second level under ground is so collapsed that there is no way to get round wihtout diging.

If you can tolerate the occasional rock falling to the head and optimaly have burrowing claws and recoiler, there is always something down there.

At worst when I have only made it to the first level and couldn't go deeper I we got only a carbine or pistol and at best an chaingun or grenade launcher.


Also:
On the overworld map there is nameless a black tile on south wester corner. I have never made it past the deathlands to check it out, has anyone else?

[davidb11]

That area seems really neat. I will indeed go check it out the next time II play this game

[wehttam449]

Originally posted by Ulrik:

Originally posted by wehttam449:

only place I've ever found an arsplice seed is the deathlands. It's easier than you'd think to avoid engaging the stalkers and pyramids.

Ok, what's your tip? Pyramids you can tell from their forcefield fortunately, but leering stalkers? I usually just keep EMP grenades equipped so that I can escape, do you have anything better?

nope. EMPs and running, that's about it. Though, you can get away with looting a screen if you can keep the stalker from closing with you, their attacks are fairly inaccurate.

[Laughing Fool]

If you can get high enough reputation with robots, both pyramides and leering stalker will become neutral.