Mine Caves

[Pepermolen219]

Does anybody knows whats the minimum requirement of strength to mine cave walls?

[sabinati]

it varies, and is also effected by the quality of the tool you use. sqrt (str * tool q) = effective mining ability. i've seen it as low as 10.

[Sevenless]

A lot depends on the hardness of the walls and the quality of your tools. I have a cave that requires about a Q70 pick and about 170 strength just to scratch the walls. Do remember, hardness comes in nodes though, so you can find areas of the caves that are softer.

No trade option:

Make yourself the best Q bear cape, bear tooth necklace and stone axe you can. Go hunting stone nodes by digging in the mountains. Even with 10 STR, this boosts you over 50 usually. With a Q20+ stone axe, this is usually enough to boost you to the point that you'll be able to mine somewhere in the cave. Pay attention to the different skills required so that you're not reducing the quality of your items more than necessary. Every point of STR makes a difference in mining speed at this point usually.

Trade option:

Q50+ picks are quite cheap on the forums right now. If you have a village, gather up some flotsam and you'll be able to trade for one easily. Make your own bearcape or trade for one of those as well. Those two things should almost guarantee even a 10 STR char can mine a good chunk of any cave system.