Mining Strategy (might have minor spoilers but no story elements)

[The Scarlet Ducky]

I'm a bit hesitant to post this because I expect that the mines are going to get nerfed some how.

The mines have a very interesting set of properties I'm not sure I've ever seen in a game before. There are some mechanics that when put together seem very exploitative and I'm not sure if the devs designed it this way or not. But I'm going to outline my basic mining strategy.

So the basis for this strategy is it's ok to be exhausted. If you follow this you are going to be at half stamina the next day so choose your timing wisely. (You could try it without going exhausted by its way more tedious.) You do not need any stamina at all going into the mines but if you want there are 5 green herbs in the mountain you can pick up before or after mining. Make your way down to whatever level you are comfortable mining in. For example you can find copper below lvl 4 but harder enemies start showing up at lvl 9 so you may want to stop at lvl 8. The miner's helmet can be found in a chest on lvl 10 so if you don't have it yet dodge your way down and get it, then go back to lvl 8 if you don't have an upgraded hammer. You do not need stamina at all in order to break walls or kill enemies. If you have no stamina you won't get any xp or loot while doing these things but you are here primarily for ore. On your way down gather all the green and black herbs you can find and avoid all the enemies you can so your not getting hit and wasting health.

The ladders up and down can more or less be easily located if you know what to look for. There is a patch of redish brown soil around the ladder and if it's completely buried a block adjacent to the ladder will be empty. Green mushrooms, if spawned, will also indicate the ladder is near by (within 8 tiles). So if you see a single block knocked out of what looks to be solid wall then the ladder is probably there.

Once you get to the floor you want to mine, kill all the enemies and then eat a bunch of herbs for stamina. Now that you have energy, mining will giving you xp and loot again. Pay attention to the mushrooms and their colors. I'm not 100% on this but since the devs said green mushrooms indicate the ladder, I extrapelate that different colored mushoom will indicate certain types of ore. So I've been mining close to mushrooms and it seems to be working. (I'm not too sure how this can be analysed though because mushrooms won't always spawn and can be clustered in groups of different colors) I think however that orange will indicate copper and blue mushrooms indicate silver, but I've also gotten lithium, quartz, and saltpeter.

So after you are out of stamina, continue to go up and down the ladder between your chosen lvl and the lvl above to keep respawning green and black herbs. Then go back to mining. Rinse/repeat until you have a full inventory. In about an hour mining lvl 7-8 I got: 15 iron, 12 copper, 8 saltpeter, 5 lithium, 7 quartz, and 3 silver. Then I made my way out and ate the herbs I found on the way up to top up stamina and health. Also, I was already exhausted from the previous day. I probably could have been more efficient if I had started with access to my full stamina bar.

Anyway, hope the devs don't nerf this too hard. It's kinda fun.

[oi__io]

Mushroom indicating type of ore or mineral is a very interesting theory. It could be a work of RNG and you fall into confirmation bias. Or it could be that you're on to something real. Too bad there's no way we can verify it ourselves. Wonder if the dev will confirm or deny this one. Hmmm....

[vdweller]

Confirmed :)

[Lux Beacon]

Ah so mushrooms determine what ores can be mined? So the more mushrooms in one location the more ores that can be mined? So, just look for lots of mushrooms? Okay, thanks for the tip.

[vdweller]

No, I was talking about the green mushrooms indicating that the exit is nearby.

[CeliriaRose]

I like mining as well though I never would have guessed the green mushrooms were a hint. I just thought they were decorative but good to know :)

[lucasleeskavlan]

If I may add- mining gets a LOT easier once you get to level 20 of the mines. There's a big red ladder that runs all the way back to the surface- so you can jump right back down to 20 and work from there! REALLY helpful for farming copper and gold, but you WILL have to make it to 32 to find any Octotinium for final upgrades!

[Shaos]

I didn't went far in the mine, actually I never got down from first floor. I was planning to later and focused on explore the world, but I noticed the mine can be exploited.

I like to give people green herbs, so i kept going in and out of the 1 floor to farm them. You can get a lot of herbs doing so.

I think people will find even more ways to exploit the mines

[bluerosethegoldenwitch]

The manipulation of the stamina is a great suggestion! I didn't even think of that, lol. That's far more smarter than just trying to conserve stamina for the whole trip like I tried.

Anyway, here are my suggestions:

-Upgrade the hammer ASAP. Copper appears at level 4 and if you can farm that and get that upgraded that SHOULD conserve a lot more stamina in terms of getting the walls smashed in less strikes.

-Work on maxing a range of skills so you can get better perks fitted for the mining. The ones in question that are probably best suited (that I found) are...

Mine Cleave
Stone Sense
Gatherer (for green herb farming, this is probably more applicable near the mountain spawns in anything but still super helpful)

+ a combat friendly perk that helps you survive, cause even if you try to avoid engaging with most enemies, you can still get quite the beating and most mine trips are in it for the long haul

Night Vision seems to help quite a bit and also may be beneficial in terms of spotting out stairs.

Hopefully that helps someone. Honestly, once you get the right perks in place, a lot of things get more manageable.

[Shaos]

Originally posted by bluerosethegoldenwitch:

The manipulation of the stamina is a great suggestion! I didn't even think of that, lol. That's far more smarter than just trying to conserve stamina for the whole trip like I tried.

Anyway, here are my suggestions:

-Upgrade the hammer ASAP. Copper appears at level 4 and if you can farm that and get that upgraded that SHOULD conserve a lot more stamina in terms of getting the walls smashed in less strikes.

-Work on maxing a range of skills so you can get better perks fitted for the mining. The ones in question that are probably best suited (that I found) are...

Mine Cleave
Stone Sense
Gatherer (for green herb farming, this is probably more applicable near the mountain spawns in anything but still super helpful)

+ a combat friendly perk that helps you survive, cause even if you try to avoid engaging with most enemies, you can still get quite the beating and most mine trips are in it for the long haul

Night Vision seems to help quite a bit and also may be beneficial in terms of spotting out stairs.

Hopefully that helps someone. Honestly, once you get the right perks in place, a lot of things get more manageable.

The perk system is amazing. Simple as that.

Can we max it?

[The Scarlet Ducky]

Originally posted by oi__io:

Mushroom indicating type of ore or mineral is a very interesting theory. It could be a work of RNG and you fall into confirmation bias. Or it could be that you're on to something real. Too bad there's no way we can verify it ourselves. Wonder if the dev will confirm or deny this one. Hmmm....

I've been thinking about how it might be analized but I really can't come up with a good way. I'm not even sure if there is a way to tell if it's true or not let alone seperate out the colors. I'm sure a genius mathimatition could figure it out but that certainly doesn't describe me. I just thought I would throw the theory out there and maybe someone else could find a way.

[The Scarlet Ducky]

Originally posted by vdweller:

No, I was talking about the green mushrooms indicating that the exit is nearby.

My hopes were lifted and then dashed in about 10 seconds.

So can I infer that it's not true that other mushroom colors indicate ore or are you not willing to confirm it one way or the other?

[oi__io]

Originally posted by The Scarlet Ducky:

So can I infer that it's not true that other mushroom colors indicate ore or are you not willing to confirm it one way or the other?

He's neither confirming nor denying your theory. ;p

[lemothelemon]

So if I run out of stamina in the mine and eat to regain some, will Ibe able to find ore again?

[Tuckr13]

Originally posted by lemothelemon:

So if I run out of stamina in the mine and eat to regain some, will Ibe able to find ore again?

yes.

[jay jay the dank planezinho]

the tip with the green mushrooms was spot on. it really makes finding the ladder much easier now.