Mining
/guides/mining
Mining
Mining lets you dig ore, dust and gems out of rocks around Valen. You need a pickaxe and a high enough Mining level for the rock. Ore and dust are smelted into bars for Smithing, and some rocks also give power gems or chest keys.
How mining works
1. Get a pickaxe from a Mining Stall (see Pickaxes and equipment below) and equip it. 2. Mine a rock. Each ore gives Mining XP. A higher Mining level raises your chance to mine an ore and lets you mine higher tier rocks. 3. Carry more with an Ore Sack or Ore Crate on your back. You can only take the ore out at a bank. 4. Smelt your ore into bars at a furnace. Bars are used for Smithing.
Rocks
Each kind of rock gives one ore or dust. XP is the base amount per ore, before any game-wide XP bonus.
Volcanic rocks give dust instead of ore. Most dust can stand in for its ore when smelting (see Smelting). Gem chances are the base chance per ore. Like rare fish, most gems have bad-luck protection, so the chance rises the longer you go without one.
Pickaxes and equipment
Pickaxes go in your main hand. Gear adds mining power. Battle pickaxes also work as weapons and give a bonus gather chance in the Darklands.
Gems, keys and rare finds
Power gems can be attached to jewellery. Keys open the Iron, Mithril, Darkened and Elven chests.
Smelting
Smelting turns ore and dust into bars and trains Smithing. The Dwarven Furnace guide explains how its heat works.
Tips
Volcanic rocks are the only rocks that drop Iron, Mithril and Dark Keys.
An Ore Sack holds 50 ore. The Members only Ore Crate holds 500.
A Mining potion gives +5 Mining level for a while. The Potion Making guide shows how to brew it.
Not confirmed yet
The game files don't include the formula for your chance to mine an ore, so this guide doesn't show one. Fishing uses (level × power) ÷ (level × power + difficulty), and mining may work the same way, but that hasn't been checked. The files also don't say how big the Darklands gather bonus (0.15 to 0.6) is in practice. The Volcanic Coal and Iron Rocks are set up with the Volcanic Gold Rock's loot as well, and nobody has checked in game whether they can give Gold Dust or Dark Keys. If you test any of this, let us know and we'll add it here.