Mining?

[BigCountry]

If I cannot create a mine support without metal. And I cannot find metal nodes without a mine support how exactly am I suppose to find ore?

The L1 walls are not marked for cave in. Yes some nodes will create dust as I mine thru them looking for ore, which I then know to avoid.

But the first level walls there are just too many no warning cave ins. I have had 2 cave ins in the past 24s hours rendering my char pretty much useless since I cannot recover from the wounds. Literally it's 1/2 heath every cave in. And there is no medicine unlock for new players really. Well it's very hard to obtain wool.

So if mining is end game (sure looks to be), what exactly is the meta path in this game after you do all the beginner stuff. You cannot really progress without metal. And if you cannot get metal, without first getting metal?!?, how exactly do you proceed?

[Burinn]

The .01 kilograms of dust that drop from the ceiling is indicative of the number of adjacent tiles that will cause cave ins. You should be able to deduce what can be mined by playing what is basically a game of mine sweeper.

Get rustroot extract.

[MagicManICT]

This is how we all do it. Find a spot that isn't going to completely kill your energy to crack open, and just keep chipping away. If an area seems to have a lot of dust, move on, because the area is probably entirely unstable. If you cause a cave-in, move a good 30-40 tiles away. The cave-in drops more unstable tiles into the area. Take burinn's advice and use the dust as a marker of what may be nearby.

It can be tough finding the first ore, but once you get enough, mining won't be a problem.

Also, this late in the world, plenty of people are trading metal of various qualities. Find out where you are and who nearby might be willing to trade for a few bars.

[budzilla]

Another quick tip is to make sure you are in sprint mode, and as soon as you hear the wall start to crumble, run a good 15-20 tiles away. Sometimes you'll run for nothing but other times you'll save yourself a concussion.

[Autisticus]

Another quick tip is to make sure you are in sprint mode, and as soon as you hear the wall start to crumble, run a good 15-20 tiles away. Sometimes you'll run for nothing but other times you'll save yourself a concussion.

Does this actually work? Is there enough time?

[budzilla]

Another quick tip is to make sure you are in sprint mode, and as soon as you hear the wall start to crumble, run a good 15-20 tiles away. Sometimes you'll run for nothing but other times you'll save yourself a concussion.

Does this actually work? Is there enough time?

All depends on your reaction time.

[Granger]

All depends on your reaction time.

And your ping.

[budzilla]

All depends on your reaction time.

And your ping.

True. I usually have around 150-200 though and it works okay for me.

[Agame]

It is safe. But you gotta be prepared. First you select 4th speed and drink. You then select the cave wall with mining, your char starts hitting the wall. Now, really fast, right click anywhere to make your cursor click-to-move, then position it those 20-40 meters down the cave in the direction that seems the most free for you to run. And wait there, eyes on screen, hand on mouse. There is a little delay between start of cracking sound and the actual cave-in if any. Your char must be running before the first cracking sound ends.

It's stressing but is effective at getting 0 shp damage in 4 cave-ins in a row.

[NeoBasilisk]

To summarize, your first mining will always be the hardest. Having metal makes it much easier to get more. Sometimes you will get incredibly lucky, and sometimes incredibly unlucky.