EQNext Landmark Guide: Mining

In this guide I’ll go over the basics of mining, the primary method of gathering resources for building.

You start out with a Stone Pick. This is a tier 1 pick allowing you to gather tier 1 materials. For Founders, you get a Founder’s Pick as well. The Founder’s Pick is also a tier 1 pick. acquiring new picks is done through crafting.

How To Mine:

To mine, you need to drag your pick to a hotbar. Once you have it on your hotbar, hitting the associated button will toggle on/off the pick. If the pick is on you will get either a blue or red circle on the ground where your mouse is. Using the left mouse button allows you to mine the mineable spot.

Here you can see a red circle, meaning I can’t mine that spot. In this case it’s just because I was too far away.

A blue circle means it’s within range. A red circle means it’s out of range, within a claim, or your grappling hook is attached to that spot.You will still get a blue circle even if the material is of a higher tier than your pick. If you find that all the resources are too high for you to mine, try jumping to a different area. Islands are labeled on a tier system, beginners want to be gathering on a tier 1 island even if your claim is on a tier 3 island.

Tips For Mining:

Here are a few tips that you may find useful while mining.

Claims:

First you can’t mine in a claim, whether it’s yours or not. If you’re trying to clear out the area for building, you’ll have to use the delete tool. More to come on the delete tool in future guides.

Mining Underground:

Don’t just dig in a straight line through the terrain, especially through mountains. It’s easy to get lost underground and end up digging under the surface, never finding it. The area you’ve dug also heals over time. If you dig too long, the tunnel behind you may get blocked off. I’ve had this happen to me already within the game.

In addition to this, if you’re just digging through stone and dirt, odds are you won’t find any resources other than dirt and stone. Resources are close to the surface so digging deep underground isn’t necessary.

Resources:

When digging a resource out, even the smallest dot of color from the resource is a part of the resource. You need it make sure you get it all. If you’re just farming willy nilly, though,  it’s not necessary to make sure you cleared the entire resource out.

Some resources are found under others. Tin is normally found connected to copper. If you’re struggling to find tin, dig up a few veins of copper and see if there is some tin underneath.

Here’s an example of hidden resources. The grayish area in the white circle is tin, and the whole area I am standing in was filled with copper with some dirt and stone.

You can make things float. Digging around a resource completely won’t make the resource fall. The resource will hold it’s shape and position. This is more interesting in building than it is in mining. If you miss a piece of a resource and it’s floating in front of you, it’s possible that it will prevent you from moving until you get it, or dig a path around. The smaller pieces are hard to hit if they’re floating.

This wraps up my basic mining guide. For any thoughts, questions, or concerns leave a comment below. Be sure to check my EQNext Landmark guide directory for more guides.