Mining
Buy a pickaxe, stand in the Mine Cave, and swing. Ore comes out in ten grades — the better the grade, the more it is worth, and a Rate10 gold nugget sells for thirteen times a Rate1 one.
Mining is the patient trade. It is the only source of the seven gems the CelestialStone quest needs, it is where the ore for your level-40 promotion comes from, and — if you are willing to stand still for a while — it is a steady income of its own.
Getting started
- In Twin City, find the Mine Admin on the western edge of town. Buy a pickaxe for 1000 silver, then ask him to send you down into the Mine Cave.
- Equip the pickaxe in your right hand and swing once. From there the digging continues on its own, roughly one swing every three seconds.
- To come back up, talk to the Mine Admin standing in the cave.
You stop digging the moment you move, unequip the pickaxe, die, leave the map, or your bag fills up. Nothing warns you before the bag fills, so keep an eye on it.
The mine is not a safe zone. You can be attacked down there, and a miner standing still is an easy mark. That is deliberate.
What comes out of the ground
Each swing has one chance at one find:
| Find | Roughly how often |
|---|---|
| Iron ore | about 1 swing in 8 |
| Gold ore | about 1 swing in 17 |
| EuxeniteOre | about 1 swing in 20 |
| A quest gem (one of seven kinds) | about 1 swing in 100 |
EuxeniteOre is what your level-40 promotion costs — five of them. The gems are the slow part of the CelestialStone quest: any single kind is around one swing in 700, so collecting all seven is a real grind. That is on purpose.
Ore grades
Every ore comes out at a grade from Rate1 to Rate10, and the grade is written into the name: Rate1IronOre, Rate7GoldOre, and so on. It is decided fresh for every lump you dig up — nothing you wear or do changes it.
Higher grades are worth more, and the gold ladder climbs steeply:
| Grade | Iron ore | Gold ore |
|---|---|---|
| Rate1 | 62 | 4,320 |
| Rate3 | 196 | 12,960 |
| Rate5 | 326 | 36,960 |
| Rate7 | 456 | 43,200 |
| Rate10 | 652 | 59,040 |
Each grade is half as likely as the one below it. So a bit over half of what you dig is Rate1, about one lump in sixteen is Rate5 or better, and Rate10 turns up about once in a thousand — roughly fourteen hours of steady digging. When it does, a single gold nugget is worth more than an hour of ordinary mining.
EuxeniteOre has no grades. There is only one kind, so the five your promotion needs are five of the same thing.
Selling it
Ore sells to any shopkeeper for a third of the price above — that is the standard rate for selling anything. There is no other use for iron and gold ore yet, so a miner's income is simply what the shop pays.
Related: The CelestialStone Quest · Promotion · Drop rates