⚠⚠ One additional case is needed (thanks to @runswithscissors9429) - testing on iron/lead due to the decreased damage done produces different results. While the stamina breakpoints remain correct, this changes the balance between the steel pick and the auger - and a quick test on iron when transitioning from tier 5 steel pick to tier 1 auger (both with full mods so the steel pick will 2 shot the iron) shows that the auger at tier 1 will match the pick or slightly better it, and that at full T6 pick vs auger, the auger will win handily, as the T6 still pick is still a 2-shot on iron, even when fully modded. So everything in the video is still correct, unless you're mining end game iron or lead, in which case, use an Auger!
I don’t see the minor gain as worth it, with the screamers changes you don’t actually gain anything since you spend so much time dealing with screamers. Mining is so fast late game with rock busters and coffee
Thank you for this additional comment, it caps off your video as the definitive video on mining in 1.0 It's too bad that you can never oneshot lead/iron but I suppose that makes the Auger actually worth something, since otherwise it seems rather useless. End game metal mining otherwise pickaxes seems the way to go.
@@Guts-the-Berserker Thanks for that comment! I wish I could have put it in the video, but it'll have to go as a lesson learned - and something I'll look to do better in future!
@@Guts-the-Berserker I'm too scared to dip my toe into Project Zomboid - from what I've heard there's lots of complexity and I'll spend far too much time trying to learn it all! 🤣 It does look fun though!
imagine if this was all in an excel spreadsheet. surly there could be a calc that would take into consideration total stam - (stam/swing)*(1-reduction%) + stam/s. then fit a table with basicaly n rows and m columns with every possible combo of gear/perks/food. those values then imported into the calc and extrapolated down and out n and m cells respectivly.
@@ChrisDaRunt Sounding 'cool' isn't something I have ever bothered with. I am too old for such nonsense. My OP was to acknowledge the tremendous work of Cautious Pancake, nothing more.
One very important fact regarding mining and screamers. Always crouch while mining, as it significantly reduces noise, heat, and the resulting screamer spawns. Just got done mining 20K iron with level 4 auger, while crouching, no screamers. Also helps to mine using a tunnel approach, i.e., mine using horizontal tunnels in various directions until you exit the ore node, then go back to center and mine in a different direction. This can spread the heat out over multiple chunks and reduce screamer spawns.
Also important to note that heat levels increasing much more rapidly from any iron blocks (PoI, ore and etc) being damaged in comparison with damaging other blocks, respectively stone (concrete) ones. At least it was so in pre V1.0. Mining a vein full of lead attracted to me around 6 screamers total. Mining a vein full of coal? None.
Not sure if they changed it in V1, but I remember Capp00 made a noise/heat map test with the auger in A20 or A21, and the auger only increased the heat map when you started mining (clicked the mouse button), but it didn't increase heat if you kept it running after that and kept mining.
The video mentioned that when you have cave in is what can spawn screamers if they are large enough. So crouching won't effect that, it will just effect wondering zombies near by from detecting you. Which reminds me, doesn't the game have a stealth aspect you can put points into to make you more quiet? I know the assassin outfit helps.
i mean honestly dont know if crouching really helps, have you seen something in files? i just farmed 50k iron with lvl 5 auger no crouching same hole 0 screamers, i then did 20k wood with chainsaw no screamers with 2 furnaces blasting iron, somehow when i was just standing in base it spawned 3 rad screamers (everything off except for dew collectors)
Even already knowing 99% of this info (veteran player just curious about what's different in 1.0 vs A21), this video was amazing. So clear yet quick enough that it's not super boring. Seriously kudos to you, you've earned yourself a sub.
beginner tip - an easy early game way to get some wood and iron and leather is to collect every chair you find in a poi then scrap them in your inventory. most recent playthrough i didn't even use the stone axe except on zeds.
My perception of Auger was always a tool for someone who doesn't spec into mining skills + it's multipurpose tool for digging and mining alike. The fact it doesn't use stamina can be useful in some cases, like collecting materials in POI and having an option to just jump or run to safety or when you have to dig a trench and need to jump out of it in a pinch.
2 things. Charismatic Nature 2 from a party member helps boost block damage, making the breakpoints a little easier. Especially the 1 hit breakpoint. And the other thing is the penalty on experience gain. The gathering boosters like mother lode, rock busters, art of mining coffee buzz all give a slight penalty to experience gained. The only exception seems to be the mining helmet. It is claimed that mining helmet 6 with treasure hunter mod, mining gloves, 1 hit setup with steel pick axe, and all the mining books, and learning elixir when mining coal/shale is the best mining xp. You still get a lot of gathering from the speed of it, but you maximise the experience gain. Though I have yet to compare it precisely to iron/lead.
The iron and rock breakers also effect other blocks, iron breaker is also for lead and the rock breaker also increases damage on coal, oil shale, nitrate
Really good guide! As someone who has around 600 hours of playtime and played since it first came out back in 2013, the auger is awful in its vanilla state, since it's suppose to be the end game item, I modded it so it 1-hits stone blocks because trying to clear an area quickly without it is a real pain
Thanks for a clear and thorough guide. As a veteran I learned a bit, but I think it is clear enough that new players would be well served watching this early. One final comment is that if you're trying to save points for non-strength builds, there's a couple of ways to get +1 to strength. One is the cigar, another is the strength mod for helmet. Those are the ones I know of. I was able to go to 2 and 2 in mining skills without spending any points in strength. Later when I began making things like bulk ammo and steel, I increased strength and mining skills.
Yeah thats a good tip, I wish I'd thought of putting that in! If you get those mods early it's great to pop them in your mining helmet, although it means when clearing a poi it'll be a bit slower.
I think the biggest draw for the auger prior to 1.0 was the capstone perk for art of mining giving you a chance to instantly break blocks. The augers incredibly high hit rate made it by far and away the best option for mining, and it wasnt even close. Now with it only being 20% more ore, the use of gas, and the noise, steel picks are much better now.
Just got a subscriber. The amount of work I can see you put in you deserved it. Not only testing all these variables, but then editing and putting together this video and others. Good man. Keep it up.
This is the most impressive video I've ever seen when it comes to mining. I don't have a ton of hours, but I figured I knew a lot about the game. Clearly this makes me a novice still lol
The way I see it, the reason to use the auger over a pickaxe is that it's a tool that mines dirt and ore, combining the shovel and pickaxe so you don't have to keep both. If you watch GNS's videos, you'll see Temreki generally prefers to start a mine by using the augur to clear out all the topsoil over the ore veins before delving into the ores themselves. This essentially allows him to start strip mining with far less trouble than having to shovel out the dirt and then switching to the pick (degrading two tools rather than one), and without wasting a bunch of stamina that will eat into your hunger and thirst.
This is an excellent video, and very thorough! The only time i will use an augur once i get to high level is for the interim period while my stamina regenerates from using the steel pickaxe. This way, there is no down time, you're using way less fuel, and there is less chance of calling in a screamer, before switching back to the pick axe once stamina has regenerated. Other than that particular situation, i just don't think the augur is worth the hassle.
Thanks for watching and agree that the auger is limited - hopefully if you can hit that 35% stamina reduction you won't have to wait for your stamina to regenerate anymore!
18:32 what you have failed to mention is, gas/fuel is pretty easy to make in huge amounts.. by the time augers start appearing youll probably have a chemistry station.. so unless ur playing on a map with no desert, fuel is often abundant... secondly you failed to mention food usage.. in this game thru alpha 19-21 i nearly always have enough drinks but i am always out of food or low on food, especially when i used to mine lots and build big bases. using an auger saves you A LOT OF FOOD. also, when talking about heat and screamers.. what i do is dig straight down to bedrock.. and then go sideways until i hit ore veins... even if screamers appear it takes them so long to dig down to you, that you can happily mine as long as you want... the only problem is, if they go in huge numbers of zombies in one small hole sometimes they can glitch thru the ground and fall down into your mine area.. in which case you should always have a means to escape... like a bicycle in the mine and a jump to ladder at the end to climb out. even better is to build a tiny little wall around the entrance of the mine.. in case some of the zombies migrate over. but thats only for if you were mining quite close to the entrance
And if you aren't into mining: Miner 96er is still crucial for breaking/harvesting stuff in POIs, but Mother Lode is completely useless in that case though. Also when min-maxing magazine spawn rates, keep in mind that the tool crafting magazines will compete with vehicle and workbench crafting magazines if you put any points into the mining perks.
Good point, it pushes the case for just putting more into Miner69er but these don't take itno account how many points you need in strength if that isn't your tree.
Mother load doesn't work on PoI blocks? Curtains, plastic barrels, etc? You can end up one shotting these things anyway without too much trouble without having to max out miner 69er.
Thank you for sharing and in the burnt forrest many of the trees if not all of them all have coal in them as well as wood, i literally chopped down tons of trees and they all had coal and obviously wood in them in the burnt forrest, so it's worth doing it in there if you want to collect wood and coal together, saves some time
One further thing to consider is resource conservation. Getting more ore from fewer nodes can reduce travel time from searching or traveling to more distant locations. So ore per minute, while important, isnt the only necessary consideration.
I'm loving the Mining set in the game. I play Duo with my good friend, he's the Scavenger and Looter in 80% of our games and I'm the recourse gatherer. It's just fun for to gather resources in any survival game, wood, iron, etc. Even gems to give him to sell to traders. I'm simply loving this new update, since I've waited 6 years for the console version to be finally updated, and here it is. Thank you for the guide! :D
Love how you break things down I don't have too many questions about mining but still watched and loved the breakdown! Going to have to check the other videos
Don’t forget to save some points using strength mods! Had a solid setup for mining then added a strength AI and a Cigar mod to my miner helmet, and decided to just max out motherload AND miner 69r, and as an added bonus you can get max level master chef with all that strength as well, if you decide to delve into cooking recipes. (Which I also would highly recommend)
So helpful! I love your videos! Thank you! I’m a noob to this game but loving it and have watched your videos for a long time before actually playing. Any noob help is greatly appreciated!
It's really weird that the steel pickaxe is better than the auger, but it matches my testing too. The main things to consider are that the auger is better if you have little to no points in miner 69er (like when you use it just to break open end loot), and high-tier augers can be better for iron and coal (which have more HP), if you can't one-shot them with your pickaxe.
That's a good point on the loot boxes - and after doing some retesting I think the iron/lead is where auger does shine as well - I've added a pinned comment on the new tests.
Good work as always Pancake 👍🙂 I feel the auger is mainly used for digging up a mass amount of dirt / earth these days. The steel pick is way way nice when you start one-shotting blocks.
Thanks MrMac, I does feel that way, it used to tear up ore, particularly with the extra number of hits and the chance to 1 shot, the auger was brutal. But yes the 1 shot with the pick is so fast but you can also see better to aim than the auger and hear zombies better. Long live the steel pick ⛏️ 😀😀
seeing the number breakdown is great. i have for a long time felt that the auger was only good if you put no points into stamina reduction and/or got the chance to one shot. with that removed and the screamer changes from heat 100 to heat 25, the auger feels like a complete trap. good to see the trial runs for confirmation. though i feel you should have stayed with mining stone as that is a variable changed from comparing the stone axe.
A wealth of information! I especially love the segment when choosing mods. I've never known which mod is better than another since switching to 1.0. I appreciate the breakdown it helped a great deal!
I was just talking about this in the comments under another video last week :) Great data here. Only thing I think i'd point out, is that the auger performs much better on NON-ore (clay, sand, etc), as it can get into 1-hitting the soft material (very fast at the rate of hits from the auger) Oh, also... the value (or lack thereof) of the auger is NOT new. You can revert your game to previous alphas, and you'll see much the same numbers between the steel pick and auger. oh, also-also, the upgrade from stone axe to iron pick is fairly gentle due to the rate of hitting on the stone axe. This makes the stone axe a great 'multi-purpose' tool in POI raiding very deep into the game (possibly through all of end game, depending on your inventory woes).
Video Editing is really well done. Only thing that would have been better is having all the stages on screen and done up in a side by side at the end there. I was thinking in the way of a reference sheet or infographic type thing. Possibly do up a image file with you water-mark as the dividers and put that up in a pinned comment (also anywhere else it could be posted).
Back in the day we had to dig around aimlessly in the hopes of finding a vein. No ore was a promise and then it was a great excitement to find one. This is better for a video game but that was hardcore and fun as well.
A mine shaft vertically down at least 20 blocks then head in any of the 4 compass point directions. An just keep going. It doesn't matter if you use an auger, screamers aren't an issue. make sure to use a hatch on your mine shaft and some wall around it is best. With thousands of hours in this game as far back as Alpha 12, you cant beat a higher tier Auger with mods for iron and lead, screamers never become an issue as they never spawn near the shaft entrance since your normally in one of the lead out tunnels away mining.
While it's a perfectly valid way to mine, I don't think that would give as much ore as being more selective. If you just want nitrate then mining just in one direction isn't going to be as effective as single shotting just the nitrate blocks with a pick.
@@CautiousPancake not true. stone is always great to save because it sells in large stack for good coin not to mention cement making in furnaces. So when you finally do come across the specific ore or mineral your loooking for you are bale to completey clear it much easier than selectively clearing from the surface. Not only that wandering hordes come around frequently but screamers as well, when mining from the surface down selectively. Plus you have the added benefit of gathering other resources and valuble metals like gold,silver diamonds. I have tried many methods and the tunnel system is best. You can double back a few blocks left or right from your direction your heading and go backwards to cover larger areas. You also alleviate the dirt/soil /clay you need to dig thru.
i have heard that the auger is unbeatable in clay harvesting, so it would be important for that, since so many things require clay anyway. another thing to keep in mind, is that if one needs fortitude perks to keep stamina up to acquire these results, then they may just opt out since it is slow to gain perks over time, and intellect tends to be more important than fortitude. i don't typically go with fortitude.
Great job CP! Testing is a lot of work and I really appreciate you stepping through the most efficient mining progress from beginning to late game. I'm in late game right now and the biggest obstacle in mining is screamers...they always spawn full radiated hordes and it's quite a job having to constantly deal with them. :D
Thanks! And even with all the testing I missed something :( The auger is better for iron/lead mining - I've added a pinned comment to clarify. Rads certainly are a lot more present in the new version!
To avoid long detours around mountainous areas I cut vehicle tunnels under them at bedrock level (which makes it easier to stay level). This leads to finding very deep ore deposits. By limiting mining to no greater than 40 blocks above bedrock, crouching and avoiding the auger, I never attract screamers. This bedrock heat hack also works for masking industry heat. I often run 6-8 forges, 4 cement mixers, chem stations and cooking fires concurrently without attracting screamers. One note is to place blocks on all tunnel and base floors to prevent zombies spawning within your base (they can't spawn on player placed blocks). I suspect it's this mechanic to suppress spawning within the 'active sphere' that prevents screamers. If I ladder up to the surface above an industrial base screamers spawn immediately, so the area is clearly very hot. For early game 'top down' mining I always fortify the minehead to avoid screamer hordes entering the mine, and I travel between multiple mines to dissipate the heat (not overly effective for iron mines, they get hot FAST)
Great vid dude, I could talk about mining in this game all day. Just one note in regards to the types of resources, you missed an important one....clay. Can be tricky to get in some biomes or in towns. Always dig down below topsoil for max efficiency as topsoil has higher hp and yields no extra than the easier to break soil underneath. Rock busters and coffee buzz also increase clay gathering. Noticed very recently that you can one hit soil with a pickaxe once you have the strength, this removes the need to carry a shovel and actually gives more resource per block! Also worth noting that getting to advanced engineering lvl 3 or higher will reduce how much is used in forge, reducing how much mining you need to do in first place. Lastly, but i have more tips, there is one thing that could drastically change your numbers, there is an option to increase player block damage, you only have to tweak this slightly and you will be able to one hit iron/lead with steel pickaxe. Auger is absolute garbage now, noisy (you can change game files to reduce sound output), constantly calls in screamers and requires fuel like you mentioned. As a reminder, going to miner 69er will increase your chances of getting stronger tools sooner as well as increase your chances at getting the art of mining skillbooks. And if you are buzzed off coffee when mining, this will help with stamina regen so worth keeping in mind. Sneaking whilst mining reduces heat and noise for player. Auto-turrets can be helpful to deal with zombies falling into mines, especially screamers. If you have the coin you can buy a forget it elixer from trader to do the respec trick if you need to redistribute points better. And this is the last one, cigar and strength mod can be added to helmet to reduce the number of level up points required for miner 69er and motherlode
Thanks mate - that's one detailed comment! I agree with everything you said - and the use of a pick for clay (with increased yield) is a new one to me - I'll have to go have a play with that thanks! I did miss the iron/lead extra damage needed - which I had to put in a pinned comment to flag that the auger is superior only when you're mining those ores since you can't 1-shot (at least I couldn't see how). I avoided the cigar / str mod in this since - similar to my comment on heavy armor - most players (I assume) will pick their stat mod based on the one they need to max to 10, rather than just using it for mining (although you could swap it in and out). It was hard to choose some of the items to leave out of the vid so that it didn't get too lost on the ins and outs.
@@CautiousPancake ah yes, see your comment now. Just thought some things worth mentioning just in case some people might not realise i.e. customised fitting mod along with athletic shoes can heavily reduce movement/stamina penalties when using the other miner gear. I dont normally go full into strength anymore so whatever i can do to spec in to reduce the spend the better. With the mods added you can level up miner 69er and mother lode to level 3 without having to put a single point into strength and could potentially save you 4 points if you did want to max them out. I try to max out agility asap so strength is like a side tree nowadays for me. Ps. If you didnt want to add mods to your main armour helmet, just add it to miner helmet and carry it round with you or in vehicle for some impromptu mining or opening loot containers
For me, the numbers to remember the most are the stamina bonuses needed to never stop using the tools: 25% and 35%. because when going in POI you normally don't bring the miner suit. So you have to know how much is needed to use them to go through walls
For me the augur is more about time saved, I tend to build mega structures and if I build underground I use rockets to blast mine out the foundations.. the no stamina drain is better for me when you need mass clearing but want some basic shaping and resources or xp. If I actually need resources then yeah the tool is better, it's just not likely I ever need after digging out a base... blood moons are mining time.
Hey - that's fair enough. The pick can be just as quick once you get the stam reduction levels right ,but if you're not doing lots of mining I agree that you probably don't want to invest points into it, and just use the auger!
Thank you immensely for your splendid videos! They serve as a veritable beacon of amusement during my work shifts. May your channel flourish with a multitude of subscribers and an abundance of views, particularly within the realm of 7 Days to Die! Wishing you an ever-increasing reservoir of success and recognition in your gaming pursuits.
Awesome content. There is a POI that has Oil Shale as well. I had one the other day in the Pine Forest (Random Map, No Mods). It was some kind of blown up/destroyed Oil Refinery (wish I could remember the name). The POI has a somewhat large blown up Olive (I think) colored silo. It had 3 nodes I believe. Not sure if it was more than surface as I did not mine it.
I dunno about you guys, but I always put at least 2 or 3 points into miner 69'er as soon as possible because it also increases how much damage you do to blocks as a whole, which, if you use the stone axe, allows you to break wooden blocks and doors in POIs much faster.
I always focus on maximizing both skills just to get tool books and better tools spawning early, that and my playstyle revolves around using those same tools as weapons early on, so the stamina bonuses help a lot. Nothing like an early iron axe to split zombies heads early on
Thanks. I got into this game in 2016 but I've never bothered with mining, only harvesting POIs. Sounds like it's basically just "invest 69er, don't eat a ceiling" which is nice I still miss the level 942 toilet pistols.
Yeah in hindsight I should have - almost certainly auger is best there, as the low HP should mean it will finish a dirt block and be starting on the next one while the pick swing animation is still going. Thanks for the feedback!
Because Silver/Gold nuggies and diamonds are gained by each time you hit an ore block, using an auger over a steel pickaxe is probably superior since the auger has a faster attack speed. Just a little bit of information if anyone was questioning that.
I’m quite sure the auger is still 2x better than the steel pickaxe, I’ve tested it myself, after 10,000 metal with rock busters and coffee and the +10% ore harvest with the steel pickaxe , I’d have 25,000-30,000 with the auger, both level 6 and modded out completely with the same mods. So yes people keep on using your auger it’s more effective and will get you 2x- 2.5x-3x the iron a steel pickaxe will get you in the same exact amount of time with the same exact buffs.
@@gizmo2231 I think it’s different for nitrate and coal, like the ore themselves has a lower yield for the steel pic and auger. But in my experience harvesting nitrate and coal against metal and lead, I believe they just have lower yield rates with auger and pic compared to their metallic counterparts cause i noticed I wouldn’t get as much with the pic and auger I could be wrong but that’s what I assume. Maybe it could be because they are a stone like ore, ever notice how harvest nitrate and coal they sound like rock breaking compared to the metal thud of metal and lead.
Maybe I take a different approach to mining than others. I always build a mine shaft in my base going down to bedrock, then mine from there. Steel pickaxe is extremely good, but i think a level 5 or 6 augur still beats it just barely. A fully realized miner 69er doesnt care about gas, and digging a shaft means that noise and heat are a non issue. The biggest benfit of the augur is that it can also dig, so it replaces both the shovel and the pickaxe, freeing up a slot on your toolbar. I can see a solo player sticking with a pickaxe, but if you are in a team and you are the designated miner, i say go augur all the way, even without the chance to instantly break the block.
Great guide! I'm a bit surprised you didn't mention the strength mod and cigar as a way of getting more points into M69er. I still find the auger best for clay, but there is something therapeutic about the pick when you're one-shoting the ore 😂
Thanks! I did think about the cigar, but given anyone with a non-strength build is usually better off using the the boost to their own stat (to save 3 skillpoints when maxing to 10) that I didn't think it was mining specific enough. That was my thinking, but I'm sure it could go either way :) Agree on the one-shot on the pick it's very satisfying after knowing how many hits it used to take!
The one thing the auger still does better imo is digging out huge sections of clay. The shovel easily one hits it but the animation is just a lot slower than an auger is. Which still isn't a big enough reason to use it really unless you're like me and are currently building a labyrinth in the front yard
Just use the auger. You don't need to worry about an armor set, coffee, candy... and just fuel. You likely have the chem station by the time you have the auger so fuel is not an issue. The best thing about the auger is putting both the pickax mods in it. It rips through rock like butter. Just so much easier.
If you're happy getting less material in the same time, sure! And honestly that sounds worse than I mean it to- there's really not that much difference in gameplay between 5 mins mining with a pickaxe and 5 mins with an auger, you're still gonna get lots of mats :D For example the coffee and candy only ensures you're going to get more mats for the same effort (unless you need coffee for the stam, but hopefully after this vid people don't need that)
@@CautiousPancake True but not everybody is going to need a huge base. I pretty much just finished my second playthrough and I only needed to mine less than 5000 iron total. Most of my iron comes from breaking down stuff. And this is so much better because after say 2 POI missions I have probably 10,000 Dukes in brass, lead, mechanical, electrical, pipes... If I wrench some cars too I can sell engines. Basically I would rather have a small but effective base and focus on missions than be grinding out for resources to build a monster base. My current base I picked a house with concrete walls. I fixed the fence around it, reinforced the doors inside and out, and built 3 defendable locations that I can fall back to if needed. Everything is safe in the attic and I can abandon the base to a water tower or billboard (just do not run too far or the game sends nastier stuff after you). I actually built a horde base near all 5 venders and I still have about 1500 cement left over. I even left the workstations, crops, storage, and some inventory at all the bases, but took the station upgrades.
All fine informative points. I am still going use my level 5 sugar and level 6 Helmut. I am rather lazy and the super helps me keep my mines organized.
Mostly a nitpick: I can understand the reasoning behind splitting point distribution in tests between Miner 69'er and Motherlode (3/5, 1/5 vs 4/5), but a lot of players probably go for flat point distribution. What I mean by that is that a lot of players probably put a point into both as they progress, which might be the layout for stats that some people are interested in- which could've been represented with a 2/2, 2/2 comparison alongside your other two just for full coverage on stats. And I don't know if it was a fluke, but I noticed extreme benefits to switching over to motor tools- then again, I perked into Miner and Motherlode really early on with my recent game to help out the team with resource gathering, so maybe I didn't pay enough attention to exact resource values. I might do some testing of my own, but this was interesting to watch.
Hey thanks - I love a good nitpick - shows up where I wasn't as clear as I could have been. I get what you are asking, but my intention was to show you don't ever want 2/2. The reasoning (at least in my head 😀) was that if: 1x M69 and 2x ML = 1921 coal (level 3 miner outfit) 2x M69 and 1x ML = 1885 coal (level 2 miner outfit) 3x M69 and 0x ML = 2040 coal (level 1 miner outfit) Then you always want to put the first 3 points into M69 as it has the biggest coal production with the lowest armor requirement. From there the other tests show that the next point should go into ML unless you need a damage breakpoint for a high tier steel pickaxe getting to 2-shot or 1-shot. There's lots of permutations for this, depending on when you're moving into mining (early or late game) how abundant gear is for you to find/buy/craft etc. But please test for yourself - I make mistakes like everyone and there could be something I've assumed in this that's not right.
@@CautiousPancake You could have tried 2/2 on the auger though. The later points in miner 69er and motherload both aren't as good as the early points considering the percentage increase to mining compared to the previous level. The auger takes stamina out of the equation, but that obviously doesn't mean you go full blown motherload with no miner 69er. I'm not sure why you tested that one.
@@Elrog3 I think I jumped straight to the 5/5 test to see if it ever got better and then assumed than since 5/5 would be a bust, and 1/5 was better for pickaxe, that at best it was playing catchup to get to even. Potentially dangerous assumption on my part in hindsight, and also worse was the missing of the differences for iron/lead vs ore like coal and nitrate. See pinned comment regarding auger being better for lead and iron.
would be nice if you made a video explaining how the investing in certain skills increases likely hood of certain books appearing (like how putting a point in lockpicking makes finding forge/workbench magazines wayy easier)
Cave-in's generate heat?! Did not know that, and that explains a LOT! edit: Upon finishing the video, I need to say thank you! Fantastic breakdown. I always look forward to your videos. On a funny note - This video has caused me to reflect on my gaming style. And it would seem that my personal strategy has been to push my points towards creating an ability to not run out of stamina for as long as possible, rather than maximizing the ore intake. It seems mostly due to my inability to think in terms of ore intake and selfishly only consider how much of my game time I would spend watching my character regenerate stamina. Not sure if that is brilliant or short sighted.
The only use case for an auger nowadays is for digging dirt/gravel, it does it a lot faster than a steel shovel. They should add a third gas tool specifically focused on stones/ores or fix the auger somehow
From this point forward, my name for the Ergo grip mod is Ogre grip mod. My old ears kept hearing Ogre instead of Ergo and I spent a few minutes trying to find out about this new mod. :)
I have never liked motor tools in this game, even if they were at one time more efficient in resource gathering. I always found it annoying how they would easily summon screamers, requiring a break in production to take care of them. I know it happens when mining metals, even with a pickaxe, but it happened so much more often with an auger. I have yet to get to this point in 1.0 though, so far. But it looks like I will be avoiding them, unless they make some changes to it, to make it a little more viable. Thanks for all the breakdowns! Very informative!
@@CautiousPancake this, too! I always build a platform above when I am mining . 10x10 platform of cobble, because it's so cheap and easy, and a junk turret with spike all around, forcing the screamers or any zombies to path directly into the turret to be killed. It keeps me a lot safer, and I don't get cave ins. But until I get that junk turret, I am a lot more weary and careful.
Yeah... okokkook... just tested this... all the info is correct... but boys... no one is gonna craft a tier 1 auger when with just a few more books you can get a tier 6 ... just don't touch the auger till you can craft a tier 6. Once you get a tier 6 auger... just use it, in ten minutes here, I have ploughed though about 100k steel. Couldn't ever dream about doing that with a pickaxe. Tier 6 auger is legit. Will save you hours.
Additional at night i am mining under a mountain. First i dig down to lv 13 (10 blocks above bedrock). Then i dig horizontal into the mountain until i find ore. Because auf the difference between surface and my position the screamers will not dig down. Deep underground you can find a lot of ore and have a lot of stone for early money and later for concrete. Thanks and sorry for my english :)
This is really only applicable if you're after output over time, if your goal is overall output from a vein you'd want to preference yield over stam. Given how much ore there is though I doubt anyone cares, I just like using the whole buffalo. The auger is really only useful for removing topsoil in an open pit mine or for quickly flattening out a spot for a base, they need to buff the damage or give it a yield bonus to make it competitive.
I exclusively use augers for dirt wherever I can, because it's faster than shovels & ignores grass. The auger is so much of a better upgrade for the iron shovel than taking the steel shovel.
Yeah - absolutely fair point - as a lot of people have pointed out I should have also covered clay (and maybe even sand, although no one seems to care about sand :D).
I'm just glad someone actually did the maths on it. Playing co-op and my friend was always asking why I use auger to clear for bases/foundations and not when actually mining. My only reason was, "it just feels like I get more..." Well now I know I do lol
omg, NEVER dig yourself into a tunnel; that's why you're so vulnerable to screamers! Always mine an open pit with the greatest degrees of freedom in all direction, so you can pick your battle in the most advantageous point, or simply escape. If you find you're enclosed, start mining those ceilings and walls until you can see sky.
Right? As he dug straight down I was horrified lol - open cast so you can run out, never forget my first shale mine years ago where countless z's filled it 😬
I mix and match - you'd be surprised how many comments I got on this telling me to make sure I dug down in a tunnel even further then go sideways so I never get a screamer! Lots of different ways to approach mining :D
@@enkephalin07 Don't think you read my message right, I was pointing out that what you consider to be a cardinal sin, many other consider to be the best way to do it. Your approach to open pit might be fine- but where you stop to fight or escape as you said, that will reduce the time for mining. All good though if you're not convinced.
@@CautiousPancakeWith a high tier augur that time is trivial. If you really don't have the time to dedicate to a resource haul in the first place, then you should probably be so quick that screamers won't be an interruption. But the time invested in establishing an open pit does pay off; you get plenty of soil and sand you'll also need, and the yields you can get out of it will pay off for many weeks. I think the objection isn't at all due to time-efficiency, but the interruption of a cozy, meditative activity that lulls players into such sedation that they resent adapting to threats. This is a poor pattern to fall into in the context of a survival horror sandbox.
on my previous playthrough I did ALL I could to get to 1 shot metal ore. I even crafted 10 tier6 steel pickaxes to have best dmg to blocks possible. Best I could do was 48 block hp left on metal ore. all tier6 mining gear and all skills maxed. only way to do it is to up block damage to 125%.. I do it now for player, zombies and zombies on horde night. This game needs a whole re-balancing makeover.. 1.0 release my a55.
Yeah I missed that in the vid and had to add a pinned comment that the auger does better on the metal mining since you can't 1shot with the pick (that I could see). Glad it wasn't just me! I feel like if they want auger to be superior the ores need to all mine the same and ignore the extra damage on metal. Downside would be forcing everyone onto the auger which many will not like for the noise!
Watching this video is pretty helpful, ironically when i decided to get into mining, i went full hog into maxing the perks right away, so all the nuance of optimization is wasted on me. I didn't know about the miner outfit though, so I'll be sure to have our tailor player craft me a set
So the best option would be a level 6 steel pickaxe, a level 3 or above miner outfit, 3+ points in miner 69er. I like that idea because this week I did 30k in oil shale with the pickaxe and maybe had 1-2 zombies to deal with (and heard them coming). I got 30k in iron yesterday with the auger and had to deal with radiated zombies, wolves, dire wolves, plus a few screamers, and the only time I heard them coming is if I was gassing up the auger.
If you really want to micro manage, you use the auger for all of the gravel nodes, and switch to pickaxe for the actual ores. Nothing clears gravel faster than the auger
I believe the steel pickaxe in A21 was also better than the auger. Plus the pickaxe is quieter, and doesn't generate as much heat as the auger. It doesn't look like there is a single magic formula (impossible to test every variation) but this video gives us a good idea of what perks to get and how the mods, magazines, and drinks help. Edit (based on CP's edit): I still prefer the pickaxe because mining with it is relaxing to me. Also, lower heat, and not having to fight off a screamer is more relaxing.
Thanks weldabar! Thats my takeaway as well, it would only be for a specific lead or iron run that I had set screamer defences that I might consider the auger!
I view the auger as the best way to mine when you don't want to use points in Strength. For example, I think the best build is now pure intelligence with the Nerd Gear since you gain extra skill points when you level up which means you will outpace all other players as you level up. Now if you are a full Strength build with a focus on mining then you just don't need an auger because a steel pickaxe will gather resources faster than you can spend them. For me, I still don't like using motor tools anyways because I don't like wasting gas. I can just mine slower, it's not that big a deal.
Agree that's one of the best uses. With this video I was trying to flag that you'll get lots more ore (if that's a focus) with only a couple of points into strength (to level 3) then 3 points into miner69 and 1 into motherload. If that's too many that's ok though! Also, just a note on the nerd gear - the outfit bonus only applies to extra skill points that come from reading magazines, not from levelling up.
⚠⚠ One additional case is needed (thanks to @runswithscissors9429) - testing on iron/lead due to the decreased damage done produces different results. While the stamina breakpoints remain correct, this changes the balance between the steel pick and the auger - and a quick test on iron when transitioning from tier 5 steel pick to tier 1 auger (both with full mods so the steel pick will 2 shot the iron) shows that the auger at tier 1 will match the pick or slightly better it, and that at full T6 pick vs auger, the auger will win handily, as the T6 still pick is still a 2-shot on iron, even when fully modded. So everything in the video is still correct, unless you're mining end game iron or lead, in which case, use an Auger!
I don’t see the minor gain as worth it, with the screamers changes you don’t actually gain anything since you spend so much time dealing with screamers. Mining is so fast late game with rock busters and coffee
Thank you for this additional comment, it caps off your video as the definitive video on mining in 1.0
It's too bad that you can never oneshot lead/iron but I suppose that makes the Auger actually worth something, since otherwise it seems rather useless. End game metal mining otherwise pickaxes seems the way to go.
@@Guts-the-Berserker Thanks for that comment! I wish I could have put it in the video, but it'll have to go as a lesson learned - and something I'll look to do better in future!
@@CautiousPancake Hey thanks for appreciating it. Ever play Zomboid out of curiousity? Can't wait for that one to update.
@@Guts-the-Berserker I'm too scared to dip my toe into Project Zomboid - from what I've heard there's lots of complexity and I'll spend far too much time trying to learn it all! 🤣 It does look fun though!
society would be doing worse if it wasn't for people who posted in-depth tutorials concerning game statistics, thank you so much
You're most welcome - and thanks!
imagine if this was all in an excel spreadsheet. surly there could be a calc that would take into consideration total stam - (stam/swing)*(1-reduction%) + stam/s. then fit a table with basicaly n rows and m columns with every possible combo of gear/perks/food. those values then imported into the calc and extrapolated down and out n and m cells respectivly.
The most comprehensive guide to mining you could want. Even with 2k+ hours, I still learned a few things.
Thanks PJF!
Because the devs are pure shit and changing there ideas every view seconds. Forget all u learned in the videos. Will all be changed bei the dEvS
Thats because they keep changing things even though they wouldnt need a change :D
Game hasn’t even been out for a month but you have 2k hours bro using alpha hours to sound cool 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
@@ChrisDaRunt Sounding 'cool' isn't something I have ever bothered with. I am too old for such nonsense. My OP was to acknowledge the tremendous work of Cautious Pancake, nothing more.
One very important fact regarding mining and screamers. Always crouch while mining, as it significantly reduces noise, heat, and the resulting screamer spawns. Just got done mining 20K iron with level 4 auger, while crouching, no screamers. Also helps to mine using a tunnel approach, i.e., mine using horizontal tunnels in various directions until you exit the ore node, then go back to center and mine in a different direction. This can spread the heat out over multiple chunks and reduce screamer spawns.
Also important to note that heat levels increasing much more rapidly from any iron blocks (PoI, ore and etc) being damaged in comparison with damaging other blocks, respectively stone (concrete) ones. At least it was so in pre V1.0.
Mining a vein full of lead attracted to me around 6 screamers total. Mining a vein full of coal? None.
Not sure if they changed it in V1, but I remember Capp00 made a noise/heat map test with the auger in A20 or A21, and the auger only increased the heat map when you started mining (clicked the mouse button), but it didn't increase heat if you kept it running after that and kept mining.
The video mentioned that when you have cave in is what can spawn screamers if they are large enough. So crouching won't effect that, it will just effect wondering zombies near by from detecting you. Which reminds me, doesn't the game have a stealth aspect you can put points into to make you more quiet? I know the assassin outfit helps.
@@fragalot crouching affects the heat generation speed afaik. Meaning that you'll hit the critical heat point twice as less with stealth mode enabled.
i mean honestly dont know if crouching really helps, have you seen something in files? i just farmed 50k iron with lvl 5 auger no crouching same hole 0 screamers, i then did 20k wood with chainsaw no screamers with 2 furnaces blasting iron, somehow when i was just standing in base it spawned 3 rad screamers (everything off except for dew collectors)
Even already knowing 99% of this info (veteran player just curious about what's different in 1.0 vs A21), this video was amazing. So clear yet quick enough that it's not super boring. Seriously kudos to you, you've earned yourself a sub.
Thanks so much!
I love seeing the min/max and math of all the different perks, and tools
Thanks 👍
@@tehaon likewise. I'm implementing this thank you so much @cautiouspancake
I agree showing the math helps a lot. Keep up the good work brother.
beginner tip - an easy early game way to get some wood and iron and leather is to collect every chair you find in a poi then scrap them in your inventory. most recent playthrough i didn't even use the stone axe except on zeds.
The perfect video for mining, not the video I was looking for, but definitly the video I needed
Thanks!!
Good news, everyone!
There's more than one reference going on, now, and you just got delivered both of them!
My perception of Auger was always a tool for someone who doesn't spec into mining skills + it's multipurpose tool for digging and mining alike.
The fact it doesn't use stamina can be useful in some cases, like collecting materials in POI and having an option to just jump or run to safety or when you have to dig a trench and need to jump out of it in a pinch.
It was great when you had a chance to one shot ores. Now that thats gone it's not worth the screamer hassle.
2 things.
Charismatic Nature 2 from a party member helps boost block damage, making the breakpoints a little easier. Especially the 1 hit breakpoint.
And the other thing is the penalty on experience gain. The gathering boosters like mother lode, rock busters, art of mining coffee buzz all give a slight penalty to experience gained. The only exception seems to be the mining helmet.
It is claimed that mining helmet 6 with treasure hunter mod, mining gloves, 1 hit setup with steel pick axe, and all the mining books, and learning elixir when mining coal/shale is the best mining xp. You still get a lot of gathering from the speed of it, but you maximise the experience gain. Though I have yet to compare it precisely to iron/lead.
The iron and rock breakers also effect other blocks, iron breaker is also for lead and the rock breaker also increases damage on coal, oil shale, nitrate
I usually go with 3 pts into miner 69er, 3 pts into motherlode and stick to steel picks. Less trouble from screamers. Good vid btw, thank you
You're welcome, and sounds like you've got the breakpoints all sorted 😀
Well done, pancake, this must have been a lot of work to put together with results through all the different use cases. Great work!
Thanks! And yes, wasn't the easiest vid to pull together, but worthwhile! 😊
additional tip while digging with a pickaxe, sneak first before swinging because it will reduce the heat generated, preventing screamer spawns
Really good guide! As someone who has around 600 hours of playtime and played since it first came out back in 2013, the auger is awful in its vanilla state, since it's suppose to be the end game item, I modded it so it 1-hits stone blocks because trying to clear an area quickly without it is a real pain
Just dig out a box with the one hit steel pick method and let the collapse remove the majority of blocks.
Thanks for a clear and thorough guide. As a veteran I learned a bit, but I think it is clear enough that new players would be well served watching this early. One final comment is that if you're trying to save points for non-strength builds, there's a couple of ways to get +1 to strength. One is the cigar, another is the strength mod for helmet. Those are the ones I know of. I was able to go to 2 and 2 in mining skills without spending any points in strength. Later when I began making things like bulk ammo and steel, I increased strength and mining skills.
Yeah thats a good tip, I wish I'd thought of putting that in! If you get those mods early it's great to pop them in your mining helmet, although it means when clearing a poi it'll be a bit slower.
I think the biggest draw for the auger prior to 1.0 was the capstone perk for art of mining giving you a chance to instantly break blocks. The augers incredibly high hit rate made it by far and away the best option for mining, and it wasnt even close. Now with it only being 20% more ore, the use of gas, and the noise, steel picks are much better now.
Agreed, I miss that perk! Someone suggested it would be a nice miner armour set bonus, and I agree, even if it was just a low percentage
Just crouch while using the auger
Just got a subscriber. The amount of work I can see you put in you deserved it. Not only testing all these variables, but then editing and putting together this video and others. Good man. Keep it up.
On that note, I didn't even know cave ins caused heat. That's how much you're teaching pancake, really, keep up the amazing+ work.
Thanks so much Wildoutness - glad it was helpful and welcome!
This is the most impressive video I've ever seen when it comes to mining. I don't have a ton of hours, but I figured I knew a lot about the game. Clearly this makes me a novice still lol
There's always bits to learn - I've learned new bits as well from people in the comments after putting this out!
The way I see it, the reason to use the auger over a pickaxe is that it's a tool that mines dirt and ore, combining the shovel and pickaxe so you don't have to keep both. If you watch GNS's videos, you'll see Temreki generally prefers to start a mine by using the augur to clear out all the topsoil over the ore veins before delving into the ores themselves. This essentially allows him to start strip mining with far less trouble than having to shovel out the dirt and then switching to the pick (degrading two tools rather than one), and without wasting a bunch of stamina that will eat into your hunger and thirst.
This is an excellent video, and very thorough! The only time i will use an augur once i get to high level is for the interim period while my stamina regenerates from using the steel pickaxe. This way, there is no down time, you're using way less fuel, and there is less chance of calling in a screamer, before switching back to the pick axe once stamina has regenerated. Other than that particular situation, i just don't think the augur is worth the hassle.
Thanks for watching and agree that the auger is limited - hopefully if you can hit that 35% stamina reduction you won't have to wait for your stamina to regenerate anymore!
Now that was a thorough video. Nice job.
Much appreciated!
18:32 what you have failed to mention is, gas/fuel is pretty easy to make in huge amounts.. by the time augers start appearing youll probably have a chemistry station.. so unless ur playing on a map with no desert, fuel is often abundant... secondly you failed to mention food usage.. in this game thru alpha 19-21 i nearly always have enough drinks but i am always out of food or low on food, especially when i used to mine lots and build big bases. using an auger saves you A LOT OF FOOD. also, when talking about heat and screamers.. what i do is dig straight down to bedrock.. and then go sideways until i hit ore veins... even if screamers appear it takes them so long to dig down to you, that you can happily mine as long as you want... the only problem is, if they go in huge numbers of zombies in one small hole sometimes they can glitch thru the ground and fall down into your mine area.. in which case you should always have a means to escape... like a bicycle in the mine and a jump to ladder at the end to climb out. even better is to build a tiny little wall around the entrance of the mine.. in case some of the zombies migrate over. but thats only for if you were mining quite close to the entrance
And if you aren't into mining:
Miner 96er is still crucial for breaking/harvesting stuff in POIs, but Mother Lode is completely useless in that case though.
Also when min-maxing magazine spawn rates, keep in mind that the tool crafting magazines will compete with vehicle and workbench crafting magazines if you put any points into the mining perks.
Good point, it pushes the case for just putting more into Miner69er but these don't take itno account how many points you need in strength if that isn't your tree.
Mother load doesn't work on PoI blocks? Curtains, plastic barrels, etc? You can end up one shotting these things anyway without too much trouble without having to max out miner 69er.
You know the difference between dicking around and science: science you take notes :D great Vid
🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for sharing and in the burnt forrest many of the trees if not all of them all have coal in them as well as wood, i literally chopped down tons of trees and they all had coal and obviously wood in them in the burnt forrest, so it's worth doing it in there if you want to collect wood and coal together, saves some time
One further thing to consider is resource conservation. Getting more ore from fewer nodes can reduce travel time from searching or traveling to more distant locations. So ore per minute, while important, isnt the only necessary consideration.
This guy literally did the math, and I really appreciate that level of detail!
Thanks🙂
Thank you. I was trying to figure out exactly how to mine without having to stop all the time. Truly thank you.
You're welcome!
I'm loving the Mining set in the game. I play Duo with my good friend, he's the Scavenger and Looter in 80% of our games and I'm the recourse gatherer. It's just fun for to gather resources in any survival game, wood, iron, etc. Even gems to give him to sell to traders. I'm simply loving this new update, since I've waited 6 years for the console version to be finally updated, and here it is. Thank you for the guide! :D
Thanks - and wow glad you're enjoying the console edition now it's finally here!
This was a great video and you deserve way more subs man! Good Job!
Thanks mate! 🙂
Just watched to see how mining is more of a salvager myself, great vid earnt a sub even though ill never use the info it was delivered flawlessly
Thanks so much!
Love how you break things down I don't have too many questions about mining but still watched and loved the breakdown! Going to have to check the other videos
Thanks so much!
Don’t forget to save some points using strength mods! Had a solid setup for mining then added a strength AI and a Cigar mod to my miner helmet, and decided to just max out motherload AND miner 69r, and as an added bonus you can get max level master chef with all that strength as well, if you decide to delve into cooking recipes. (Which I also would highly recommend)
So helpful! I love your videos! Thank you! I’m a noob to this game but loving it and have watched your videos for a long time before actually playing. Any noob help is greatly appreciated!
That's awesome thanks! Glad they are helpful and let me know if there's any topics you think need covering!
A lot of work went into this one! Thanks for creating this!
You're most welcome - thanks for watching!
It's really weird that the steel pickaxe is better than the auger, but it matches my testing too.
The main things to consider are that the auger is better if you have little to no points in miner 69er (like when you use it just to break open end loot), and high-tier augers can be better for iron and coal (which have more HP), if you can't one-shot them with your pickaxe.
That's a good point on the loot boxes - and after doing some retesting I think the iron/lead is where auger does shine as well - I've added a pinned comment on the new tests.
Good work as always Pancake 👍🙂 I feel the auger is mainly used for digging up a mass amount of dirt / earth these days. The steel pick is way way nice when you start one-shotting blocks.
Thanks MrMac, I does feel that way, it used to tear up ore, particularly with the extra number of hits and the chance to 1 shot, the auger was brutal. But yes the 1 shot with the pick is so fast but you can also see better to aim than the auger and hear zombies better. Long live the steel pick ⛏️ 😀😀
seeing the number breakdown is great. i have for a long time felt that the auger was only good if you put no points into stamina reduction and/or got the chance to one shot. with that removed and the screamer changes from heat 100 to heat 25, the auger feels like a complete trap. good to see the trial runs for confirmation. though i feel you should have stayed with mining stone as that is a variable changed from comparing the stone axe.
Unrelated to your comment but wanted to compliment your profile picture! I think its charming 😊
Wow, that skill breakdown and testing was awesome. Loved it.
Thanks! Hope it is useful ☺️
A wealth of information! I especially love the segment when choosing mods. I've never known which mod is better than another since switching to 1.0. I appreciate the breakdown it helped a great deal!
Glad to help!
Wow, I’ve been going off of legacy rules. Glad I watched this
I was just talking about this in the comments under another video last week :) Great data here.
Only thing I think i'd point out, is that the auger performs much better on NON-ore (clay, sand, etc), as it can get into 1-hitting the soft material (very fast at the rate of hits from the auger)
Oh, also... the value (or lack thereof) of the auger is NOT new. You can revert your game to previous alphas, and you'll see much the same numbers between the steel pick and auger.
oh, also-also, the upgrade from stone axe to iron pick is fairly gentle due to the rate of hitting on the stone axe. This makes the stone axe a great 'multi-purpose' tool in POI raiding very deep into the game (possibly through all of end game, depending on your inventory woes).
Great job with this!! I just got an auger and was wondering why my steel tools seemed to work better.
Glad I could help!
Video Editing is really well done. Only thing that would have been better is having all the stages on screen and done up in a side by side at the end there. I was thinking in the way of a reference sheet or infographic type thing.
Possibly do up a image file with you water-mark as the dividers and put that up in a pinned comment (also anywhere else it could be posted).
That's great feedback thanks! I'll see if I can finish the next vid early and work on a graphic.
Back in the day we had to dig around aimlessly in the hopes of finding a vein. No ore was a promise and then it was a great excitement to find one. This is better for a video game but that was hardcore and fun as well.
Yeah - some of the overhaul mods remove the nodes on top so you can't tell where it is - I think Darkness Falls and possibly others!
A mine shaft vertically down at least 20 blocks then head in any of the 4 compass point directions. An just keep going. It doesn't matter if you use an auger, screamers aren't an issue. make sure to use a hatch on your mine shaft and some wall around it is best. With thousands of hours in this game as far back as Alpha 12, you cant beat a higher tier Auger with mods for iron and lead, screamers never become an issue as they never spawn near the shaft entrance since your normally in one of the lead out tunnels away mining.
While it's a perfectly valid way to mine, I don't think that would give as much ore as being more selective. If you just want nitrate then mining just in one direction isn't going to be as effective as single shotting just the nitrate blocks with a pick.
@@CautiousPancake not true. stone is always great to save because it sells in large stack for good coin not to mention cement making in furnaces. So when you finally do come across the specific ore or mineral your loooking for you are bale to completey clear it much easier than selectively clearing from the surface. Not only that wandering hordes come around frequently but screamers as well, when mining from the surface down selectively. Plus you have the added benefit of gathering other resources and valuble metals like gold,silver diamonds. I have tried many methods and the tunnel system is best. You can double back a few blocks left or right from your direction your heading and go backwards to cover larger areas. You also alleviate the dirt/soil /clay you need to dig thru.
i have heard that the auger is unbeatable in clay harvesting, so it would be important for that, since so many things require clay anyway. another thing to keep in mind, is that if one needs fortitude perks to keep stamina up to acquire these results, then they may just opt out since it is slow to gain perks over time, and intellect tends to be more important than fortitude. i don't typically go with fortitude.
Thank you. I learned a lot of things I overlook on my runs. I love mining and this video helped me out
Thanks for watching and glad it was useful!
3.38 "so if you do have a big one prepare for a screamer". Words of wisdom indeed
🤣🫢
One of the reasons I switched to an auger, other than memory of it being better than steel, it is both a pick and a shovel in one.
Yeah saving a toolbar slot can be worth it, if you don't mind the noise!
Liked and subscribed. I really appreciate videos based on thoughtful experimentation that save me time! Thank you!!!
Awesome, thank you!
Great job CP! Testing is a lot of work and I really appreciate you stepping through the most efficient mining progress from beginning to late game. I'm in late game right now and the biggest obstacle in mining is screamers...they always spawn full radiated hordes and it's quite a job having to constantly deal with them. :D
Thanks! And even with all the testing I missed something :( The auger is better for iron/lead mining - I've added a pinned comment to clarify. Rads certainly are a lot more present in the new version!
That's a unfortunate abbreviation
Do not abbreviate bros name😭
To avoid long detours around mountainous areas I cut vehicle tunnels under them at bedrock level (which makes it easier to stay level). This leads to finding very deep ore deposits. By limiting mining to no greater than 40 blocks above bedrock, crouching and avoiding the auger, I never attract screamers. This bedrock heat hack also works for masking industry heat. I often run 6-8 forges, 4 cement mixers, chem stations and cooking fires concurrently without attracting screamers. One note is to place blocks on all tunnel and base floors to prevent zombies spawning within your base (they can't spawn on player placed blocks). I suspect it's this mechanic to suppress spawning within the 'active sphere' that prevents screamers. If I ladder up to the surface above an industrial base screamers spawn immediately, so the area is clearly very hot.
For early game 'top down' mining I always fortify the minehead to avoid screamer hordes entering the mine, and I travel between multiple mines to dissipate the heat (not overly effective for iron mines, they get hot FAST)
@@doczoff5655 Great tips!
Great vid dude, I could talk about mining in this game all day. Just one note in regards to the types of resources, you missed an important one....clay. Can be tricky to get in some biomes or in towns. Always dig down below topsoil for max efficiency as topsoil has higher hp and yields no extra than the easier to break soil underneath. Rock busters and coffee buzz also increase clay gathering. Noticed very recently that you can one hit soil with a pickaxe once you have the strength, this removes the need to carry a shovel and actually gives more resource per block! Also worth noting that getting to advanced engineering lvl 3 or higher will reduce how much is used in forge, reducing how much mining you need to do in first place. Lastly, but i have more tips, there is one thing that could drastically change your numbers, there is an option to increase player block damage, you only have to tweak this slightly and you will be able to one hit iron/lead with steel pickaxe. Auger is absolute garbage now, noisy (you can change game files to reduce sound output), constantly calls in screamers and requires fuel like you mentioned. As a reminder, going to miner 69er will increase your chances of getting stronger tools sooner as well as increase your chances at getting the art of mining skillbooks. And if you are buzzed off coffee when mining, this will help with stamina regen so worth keeping in mind. Sneaking whilst mining reduces heat and noise for player. Auto-turrets can be helpful to deal with zombies falling into mines, especially screamers. If you have the coin you can buy a forget it elixer from trader to do the respec trick if you need to redistribute points better. And this is the last one, cigar and strength mod can be added to helmet to reduce the number of level up points required for miner 69er and motherlode
Thanks mate - that's one detailed comment! I agree with everything you said - and the use of a pick for clay (with increased yield) is a new one to me - I'll have to go have a play with that thanks! I did miss the iron/lead extra damage needed - which I had to put in a pinned comment to flag that the auger is superior only when you're mining those ores since you can't 1-shot (at least I couldn't see how). I avoided the cigar / str mod in this since - similar to my comment on heavy armor - most players (I assume) will pick their stat mod based on the one they need to max to 10, rather than just using it for mining (although you could swap it in and out). It was hard to choose some of the items to leave out of the vid so that it didn't get too lost on the ins and outs.
@@CautiousPancake ah yes, see your comment now. Just thought some things worth mentioning just in case some people might not realise i.e. customised fitting mod along with athletic shoes can heavily reduce movement/stamina penalties when using the other miner gear. I dont normally go full into strength anymore so whatever i can do to spec in to reduce the spend the better. With the mods added you can level up miner 69er and mother lode to level 3 without having to put a single point into strength and could potentially save you 4 points if you did want to max them out. I try to max out agility asap so strength is like a side tree nowadays for me. Ps. If you didnt want to add mods to your main armour helmet, just add it to miner helmet and carry it round with you or in vehicle for some impromptu mining or opening loot containers
For me, the numbers to remember the most are the stamina bonuses needed to never stop using the tools: 25% and 35%.
because when going in POI you normally don't bring the miner suit. So you have to know how much is needed to use them to go through walls
Yes absolutely that's what I hope people can remember from this!
Thank you! As a beginner a great guide. Concise and very clear instructions. Subbed!
Thanks, and welcome :)
For me the augur is more about time saved, I tend to build mega structures and if I build underground I use rockets to blast mine out the foundations.. the no stamina drain is better for me when you need mass clearing but want some basic shaping and resources or xp.
If I actually need resources then yeah the tool is better, it's just not likely I ever need after digging out a base... blood moons are mining time.
Hey - that's fair enough. The pick can be just as quick once you get the stam reduction levels right ,but if you're not doing lots of mining I agree that you probably don't want to invest points into it, and just use the auger!
Thank you immensely for your splendid videos! They serve as a veritable beacon of amusement during my work shifts. May your channel flourish with a multitude of subscribers and an abundance of views, particularly within the realm of 7 Days to Die! Wishing you an ever-increasing reservoir of success and recognition in your gaming pursuits.
Thanks so much Jim! 😊 Have a great day at work!
Love how mining stone underground is more efficient than mining those little stone nodes on the ground
@@bWILLYant Yeah those little stones are convenient in a pinch, but not good for bulk.
Awesome content. There is a POI that has Oil Shale as well. I had one the other day in the Pine Forest (Random Map, No Mods). It was some kind of blown up/destroyed Oil Refinery (wish I could remember the name). The POI has a somewhat large blown up Olive (I think) colored silo. It had 3 nodes I believe. Not sure if it was more than surface as I did not mine it.
Just realized I’ve been watching you for a while now and haven’t subscribed, there you go.
Thanks for subbing, and for watching :)
Not only did this video help a lot with mining, it also put me to sleep, 10/10, I guess it’s something about your voice lol
Haha I hope that's a good thing 😀. Warning to viewers not to listen to my vids while driving!
Thank you for this top notch production 👏
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks!
I dunno about you guys, but I always put at least 2 or 3 points into miner 69'er as soon as possible because it also increases how much damage you do to blocks as a whole, which, if you use the stone axe, allows you to break wooden blocks and doors in POIs much faster.
I always focus on maximizing both skills just to get tool books and better tools spawning early, that and my playstyle revolves around using those same tools as weapons early on, so the stamina bonuses help a lot. Nothing like an early iron axe to split zombies heads early on
Thanks. I got into this game in 2016 but I've never bothered with mining, only harvesting POIs. Sounds like it's basically just "invest 69er, don't eat a ceiling" which is nice
I still miss the level 942 toilet pistols.
"Don't eat a ceiling" - words to live by :D
Thanks for this very in-depth look at mining!
Thanks 👍
Great test for ore. I hoped that you would also check for clay.
Yeah in hindsight I should have - almost certainly auger is best there, as the low HP should mean it will finish a dirt block and be starting on the next one while the pick swing animation is still going. Thanks for the feedback!
Thank you! Finally video explain the map colours. 😆👍🏻
Glad it was helpful!
If you're running short of stamina you can drink beer too as that give you a stamina buff that stacks with coffee etc.
Because Silver/Gold nuggies and diamonds are gained by each time you hit an ore block, using an auger over a steel pickaxe is probably superior since the auger has a faster attack speed. Just a little bit of information if anyone was questioning that.
Good little tip!
This video may have been boring..... but it got my like, sub, and comment!
Hehe - I did my best to make hours of mining footage as interesting as possible :D :D Thanks for the sub and comment!
I’m quite sure the auger is still 2x better than the steel pickaxe, I’ve tested it myself, after 10,000 metal with rock busters and coffee and the +10% ore harvest with the steel pickaxe , I’d have 25,000-30,000 with the auger, both level 6 and modded out completely with the same mods. So yes people keep on using your auger it’s more effective and will get you 2x- 2.5x-3x the iron a steel pickaxe will get you in the same exact amount of time with the same exact buffs.
Yeah i harvest more with auger as well but on coal the auger doesnt seem that good. Could it be coal is diffrent to mine then metal and the others?
@@gizmo2231 I think it’s different for nitrate and coal, like the ore themselves has a lower yield for the steel pic and auger. But in my experience harvesting nitrate and coal against metal and lead, I believe they just have lower yield rates with auger and pic compared to their metallic counterparts cause i noticed I wouldn’t get as much with the pic and auger I could be wrong but that’s what I assume. Maybe it could be because they are a stone like ore, ever notice how harvest nitrate and coal they sound like rock breaking compared to the metal thud of metal and lead.
Maybe I take a different approach to mining than others. I always build a mine shaft in my base going down to bedrock, then mine from there. Steel pickaxe is extremely good, but i think a level 5 or 6 augur still beats it just barely. A fully realized miner 69er doesnt care about gas, and digging a shaft means that noise and heat are a non issue. The biggest benfit of the augur is that it can also dig, so it replaces both the shovel and the pickaxe, freeing up a slot on your toolbar. I can see a solo player sticking with a pickaxe, but if you are in a team and you are the designated miner, i say go augur all the way, even without the chance to instantly break the block.
Great guide!
I'm a bit surprised you didn't mention the strength mod and cigar as a way of getting more points into M69er.
I still find the auger best for clay, but there is something therapeutic about the pick when you're one-shoting the ore 😂
Thanks! I did think about the cigar, but given anyone with a non-strength build is usually better off using the the boost to their own stat (to save 3 skillpoints when maxing to 10) that I didn't think it was mining specific enough. That was my thinking, but I'm sure it could go either way :)
Agree on the one-shot on the pick it's very satisfying after knowing how many hits it used to take!
The one thing the auger still does better imo is digging out huge sections of clay. The shovel easily one hits it but the animation is just a lot slower than an auger is. Which still isn't a big enough reason to use it really unless you're like me and are currently building a labyrinth in the front yard
Yeah, for clay it's best for sure! Love the idea of a labyrinth!
Just use the auger. You don't need to worry about an armor set, coffee, candy... and just fuel. You likely have the chem station by the time you have the auger so fuel is not an issue. The best thing about the auger is putting both the pickax mods in it. It rips through rock like butter. Just so much easier.
If you're happy getting less material in the same time, sure! And honestly that sounds worse than I mean it to- there's really not that much difference in gameplay between 5 mins mining with a pickaxe and 5 mins with an auger, you're still gonna get lots of mats :D
For example the coffee and candy only ensures you're going to get more mats for the same effort (unless you need coffee for the stam, but hopefully after this vid people don't need that)
@@CautiousPancake True but not everybody is going to need a huge base. I pretty much just finished my second playthrough and I only needed to mine less than 5000 iron total. Most of my iron comes from breaking down stuff. And this is so much better because after say 2 POI missions I have probably 10,000 Dukes in brass, lead, mechanical, electrical, pipes... If I wrench some cars too I can sell engines.
Basically I would rather have a small but effective base and focus on missions than be grinding out for resources to build a monster base. My current base I picked a house with concrete walls. I fixed the fence around it, reinforced the doors inside and out, and built 3 defendable locations that I can fall back to if needed. Everything is safe in the attic and I can abandon the base to a water tower or billboard (just do not run too far or the game sends nastier stuff after you). I actually built a horde base near all 5 venders and I still have about 1500 cement left over. I even left the workstations, crops, storage, and some inventory at all the bases, but took the station upgrades.
Mother load doesn't mess with magazines loot. Unless I want good tools early. I just make lock picks
Fair enough! So many aspects to this to try and boil down...
All fine informative points. I am still going use my level 5 sugar and level 6 Helmut. I am rather lazy and the super helps me keep my mines organized.
Yeah no worries, everyone can play their own way!
Mostly a nitpick: I can understand the reasoning behind splitting point distribution in tests between Miner 69'er and Motherlode (3/5, 1/5 vs 4/5), but a lot of players probably go for flat point distribution. What I mean by that is that a lot of players probably put a point into both as they progress, which might be the layout for stats that some people are interested in- which could've been represented with a 2/2, 2/2 comparison alongside your other two just for full coverage on stats.
And I don't know if it was a fluke, but I noticed extreme benefits to switching over to motor tools- then again, I perked into Miner and Motherlode really early on with my recent game to help out the team with resource gathering, so maybe I didn't pay enough attention to exact resource values. I might do some testing of my own, but this was interesting to watch.
Hey thanks - I love a good nitpick - shows up where I wasn't as clear as I could have been. I get what you are asking, but my intention was to show you don't ever want 2/2.
The reasoning (at least in my head 😀) was that if:
1x M69 and 2x ML = 1921 coal (level 3 miner outfit)
2x M69 and 1x ML = 1885 coal (level 2 miner outfit)
3x M69 and 0x ML = 2040 coal (level 1 miner outfit)
Then you always want to put the first 3 points into M69 as it has the biggest coal production with the lowest armor requirement. From there the other tests show that the next point should go into ML unless you need a damage breakpoint for a high tier steel pickaxe getting to 2-shot or 1-shot.
There's lots of permutations for this, depending on when you're moving into mining (early or late game) how abundant gear is for you to find/buy/craft etc.
But please test for yourself - I make mistakes like everyone and there could be something I've assumed in this that's not right.
@@CautiousPancake You could have tried 2/2 on the auger though. The later points in miner 69er and motherload both aren't as good as the early points considering the percentage increase to mining compared to the previous level. The auger takes stamina out of the equation, but that obviously doesn't mean you go full blown motherload with no miner 69er. I'm not sure why you tested that one.
@@Elrog3 I think I jumped straight to the 5/5 test to see if it ever got better and then assumed than since 5/5 would be a bust, and 1/5 was better for pickaxe, that at best it was playing catchup to get to even. Potentially dangerous assumption on my part in hindsight, and also worse was the missing of the differences for iron/lead vs ore like coal and nitrate. See pinned comment regarding auger being better for lead and iron.
would be nice if you made a video explaining how the investing in certain skills increases likely hood of certain books appearing (like how putting a point in lockpicking makes finding forge/workbench magazines wayy easier)
That's a whole other topic for sure!
Cave-in's generate heat?! Did not know that, and that explains a LOT!
edit: Upon finishing the video, I need to say thank you! Fantastic breakdown. I always look forward to your videos.
On a funny note - This video has caused me to reflect on my gaming style. And it would seem that my personal strategy has been to push my points towards creating an ability to not run out of stamina for as long as possible, rather than maximizing the ore intake. It seems mostly due to my inability to think in terms of ore intake and selfishly only consider how much of my game time I would spend watching my character regenerate stamina. Not sure if that is brilliant or short sighted.
The only use case for an auger nowadays is for digging dirt/gravel, it does it a lot faster than a steel shovel. They should add a third gas tool specifically focused on stones/ores or fix the auger somehow
I run an auger because that means I then no longer need to carry a shovel as well.
Agreed, although I still keep a steel pick in my inventory or on my vehicle
yet you still need to carry gas on you so the same amount of slots are being used
@@Moon-cz5ze I'm carrying fuel regardless since I tend to keep some on hand for my truck/motorcycle.
You mean to say no longer need to carry LOCKPICKS as well . Hehehe
Agreed and you need less food and water/coffee
From this point forward, my name for the Ergo grip mod is Ogre grip mod. My old ears kept hearing Ogre instead of Ergo and I spent a few minutes trying to find out about this new mod. :)
Lol between your ears and my ability to mispronounce most things it probably was the ogre mod 🤣
I have never liked motor tools in this game, even if they were at one time more efficient in resource gathering. I always found it annoying how they would easily summon screamers, requiring a break in production to take care of them. I know it happens when mining metals, even with a pickaxe, but it happened so much more often with an auger.
I have yet to get to this point in 1.0 though, so far. But it looks like I will be avoiding them, unless they make some changes to it, to make it a little more viable.
Thanks for all the breakdowns! Very informative!
You're welcome, and I agree. With regard to screamers, at least with the pickaxe you can hear them coming!
@@CautiousPancake this, too! I always build a platform above when I am mining . 10x10 platform of cobble, because it's so cheap and easy, and a junk turret with spike all around, forcing the screamers or any zombies to path directly into the turret to be killed. It keeps me a lot safer, and I don't get cave ins.
But until I get that junk turret, I am a lot more weary and careful.
Yeah... okokkook... just tested this... all the info is correct... but boys... no one is gonna craft a tier 1 auger when with just a few more books you can get a tier 6 ... just don't touch the auger till you can craft a tier 6. Once you get a tier 6 auger... just use it, in ten minutes here, I have ploughed though about 100k steel. Couldn't ever dream about doing that with a pickaxe. Tier 6 auger is legit. Will save you hours.
Additional at night i am mining under a mountain. First i dig down to lv 13 (10 blocks above bedrock). Then i dig horizontal into the mountain until i find ore. Because auf the difference between surface and my position the screamers will not dig down. Deep underground you can find a lot of ore and have a lot of stone for early money and later for concrete.
Thanks and sorry for my english :)
Thanks, that sounds like a good technique!
This is really only applicable if you're after output over time, if your goal is overall output from a vein you'd want to preference yield over stam. Given how much ore there is though I doubt anyone cares, I just like using the whole buffalo.
The auger is really only useful for removing topsoil in an open pit mine or for quickly flattening out a spot for a base, they need to buff the damage or give it a yield bonus to make it competitive.
I exclusively use augers for dirt wherever I can, because it's faster than shovels & ignores grass.
The auger is so much of a better upgrade for the iron shovel than taking the steel shovel.
Yeah - absolutely fair point - as a lot of people have pointed out I should have also covered clay (and maybe even sand, although no one seems to care about sand :D).
Someone who is in need of concrete should be. 😂
I'm just glad someone actually did the maths on it. Playing co-op and my friend was always asking why I use auger to clear for bases/foundations and not when actually mining. My only reason was, "it just feels like I get more..."
Well now I know I do lol
Thank you for spending the time to learn all this and sharing it!
You're welcome- thanks for watching!
The dedication good job man. thank you. Can't wait to play. Like for real tho lol Some good testing
Thanks mate - appreciate it!
omg, NEVER dig yourself into a tunnel; that's why you're so vulnerable to screamers! Always mine an open pit with the greatest degrees of freedom in all direction, so you can pick your battle in the most advantageous point, or simply escape. If you find you're enclosed, start mining those ceilings and walls until you can see sky.
Right? As he dug straight down I was horrified lol - open cast so you can run out, never forget my first shale mine years ago where countless z's filled it 😬
I mix and match - you'd be surprised how many comments I got on this telling me to make sure I dug down in a tunnel even further then go sideways so I never get a screamer! Lots of different ways to approach mining :D
@@CautiousPancake Any fear of screamers is kind of a clue that your auguring method isn't tactically sound. Maybe it's not the augur that's to blame?
@@enkephalin07 Don't think you read my message right, I was pointing out that what you consider to be a cardinal sin, many other consider to be the best way to do it. Your approach to open pit might be fine- but where you stop to fight or escape as you said, that will reduce the time for mining. All good though if you're not convinced.
@@CautiousPancakeWith a high tier augur that time is trivial. If you really don't have the time to dedicate to a resource haul in the first place, then you should probably be so quick that screamers won't be an interruption. But the time invested in establishing an open pit does pay off; you get plenty of soil and sand you'll also need, and the yields you can get out of it will pay off for many weeks. I think the objection isn't at all due to time-efficiency, but the interruption of a cozy, meditative activity that lulls players into such sedation that they resent adapting to threats. This is a poor pattern to fall into in the context of a survival horror sandbox.
on my previous playthrough I did ALL I could to get to 1 shot metal ore. I even crafted 10 tier6 steel pickaxes to have best dmg to blocks possible. Best I could do was 48 block hp left on metal ore. all tier6 mining gear and all skills maxed. only way to do it is to up block damage to 125%.. I do it now for player, zombies and zombies on horde night. This game needs a whole re-balancing makeover.. 1.0 release my a55.
Yeah I missed that in the vid and had to add a pinned comment that the auger does better on the metal mining since you can't 1shot with the pick (that I could see). Glad it wasn't just me!
I feel like if they want auger to be superior the ores need to all mine the same and ignore the extra damage on metal.
Downside would be forcing everyone onto the auger which many will not like for the noise!
Watching this video is pretty helpful, ironically when i decided to get into mining, i went full hog into maxing the perks right away, so all the nuance of optimization is wasted on me. I didn't know about the miner outfit though, so I'll be sure to have our tailor player craft me a set
I was an Underground Miner in Rl. i usually gallery stope with support.
I never run out of iron or stone , good for building up defense early on
So the best option would be a level 6 steel pickaxe, a level 3 or above miner outfit, 3+ points in miner 69er. I like that idea because this week I did 30k in oil shale with the pickaxe and maybe had 1-2 zombies to deal with (and heard them coming). I got 30k in iron yesterday with the auger and had to deal with radiated zombies, wolves, dire wolves, plus a few screamers, and the only time I heard them coming is if I was gassing up the auger.
If you really want to micro manage, you use the auger for all of the gravel nodes, and switch to pickaxe for the actual ores.
Nothing clears gravel faster than the auger
I believe the steel pickaxe in A21 was also better than the auger. Plus the pickaxe is quieter, and doesn't generate as much heat as the auger.
It doesn't look like there is a single magic formula (impossible to test every variation) but this video gives us a good idea of what perks to get and how the mods, magazines, and drinks help.
Edit (based on CP's edit): I still prefer the pickaxe because mining with it is relaxing to me. Also, lower heat, and not having to fight off a screamer is more relaxing.
Thanks weldabar! Thats my takeaway as well, it would only be for a specific lead or iron run that I had set screamer defences that I might consider the auger!
I view the auger as the best way to mine when you don't want to use points in Strength. For example, I think the best build is now pure intelligence with the Nerd Gear since you gain extra skill points when you level up which means you will outpace all other players as you level up.
Now if you are a full Strength build with a focus on mining then you just don't need an auger because a steel pickaxe will gather resources faster than you can spend them. For me, I still don't like using motor tools anyways because I don't like wasting gas. I can just mine slower, it's not that big a deal.
Agree that's one of the best uses. With this video I was trying to flag that you'll get lots more ore (if that's a focus) with only a couple of points into strength (to level 3) then 3 points into miner69 and 1 into motherload. If that's too many that's ok though!
Also, just a note on the nerd gear - the outfit bonus only applies to extra skill points that come from reading magazines, not from levelling up.
Dont forget about the lil droid that floats around n yells at you for stamina 😂😅