Newb question bout Prospecting

[Skys]

Well i think i used something around over 30 Rustroots so far and the only thing i found so far was a Coppervein, but that was right on a alrdy claimed spot (Even tough the persons seems to not log in anymore). Am i just unlucky or is it normal that metals are rarely found? I also read around the Forum and some ppl said Prospecting is bugged, but thats like 4 months ago, is it still bugged or not?

[thirty-seven]

Metals are not rare at all.
Prospecting is not "bugged", but it's not 100% that u will get a signal even if u're standing on a vein. Sometimes u have to check some nearby tiles to get a stable result.

Good luck!

[Skys]

Metals are not rare at all.
Prospecting is not "bugged", but it's not 100% that u will get a signal even if u're standing on a vein. Sometimes u have to check some nearby tiles to get a stable result.

Good luck!

Hmm that alrdy helps, cuz i was moving bout 100-200 tiles everytime i failed. But if its not 100% how much % is it? Not exact(i dont think anyone would know) just estimated~

[Procne]

For me it seems to be around 30-50% chance to get positive reading.
I think the chance increases the closer you are to the vein.
Also you don't always get a reading to the closest vein, sometimes you may get a reading to distant veins.

[thirty-seven]

U can have 3-4 signals from different spots at the same tile. Sometimes it's easier to dig down to the bottom layer and find a spot by digging an unlimited tunnel.

[MagicManICT]

Prospecting is just really wonky. Sevenless wrote up a pretty good guide to it. I think he posted it in the RoB wiki article on prospecting or mining. You can also search for it in the forums. There's some older information from w3 on prospecting because it worked a bit different then. The basic mechanics was the same, but the results came out much different as ore was found in one spot, not spread out over an entire area.

Even if the vein you found is under claimed land, there's nothing stopping you from digging down a minehole outside the claim and then tunneling your way towards what you found. Also, there's 5 underground layers. That's a LOT of space to search. Prospecting will only give you results for one layer directly below you.