General
Mining is not the most interesting skilll in the game. All you do
is double click shovels, target the ground, double click shovels,
and target the ground...over and over again.
This skill can be very profitable though. Ingots sell anywhere from
8gp - 100gp or more per ingot, depending on the ingot color and
the economy of your shard. Or you can smith them up yourself.
In order to get ingots you must dig up some ore with your shovel
or pickaxe in or near a cave or against a mountain. After you dig
up some ore you go to a forge and smelt the ore into ingots. For
every large ore you smelt you get two ingots.
Also if you find colored ore, then you found a vein. Every time
that you go to the "vein" location, the color of ore that you find
will be in that same spot every time. Vein locations vary from shard
to shard. Some miners choose to mark runes to the various ore veins
and keep runebooks of the various ore color veins. You can also
find such runebooks in most popular shard rune libraries - but be
aware that the "public" ore mining books are exactly that
- public - and those prized colored ore veins may be tapped out
during high traffic playtimes.
Resmelting
You can also use the resmelting feature of Blacksmithing to make
the most of your metal resources. Resmelting allows you to melt
down armor and weapons back into ingots. If you smelt a plate chest
that was created with dull copper ingots, for example, you'll get
dull copper ingots, and not the regular iron color. The number of
ingots you get in return for resmelting an item depends on your
mining skill. The higher your mining skill, the more ingots you
will get from smelting. (You'll get back about half of the ingots
required to craft the item at GM mining). Also, the wear and tear
on the item determines how many ingots you will get back as well.
So before you try smelting items, repair them. And lastly, don't
plan on buying armor/weapons from NPC's and trying to smelt them
- they only give 1 ingot/per item you smelt.
Note: smelting armor and weapons does not raise your mining skill
but it is affected by it. Although, the higher mining you have,
the easier it is to train up Blacksmithing because you can smelt
what you make thereby lowering the number of ingots you need to
mine to GM Blacksmithing. It is highly recommended that you GM your
mining skill before undertaking the task of GM'ing Blacksmithing.
There are 3 sizes of ore: small, medium and large piles.
| 1 Large ore = 2 ingots (12 stones) |
 |
| 1 Medium ore = 1 ingot (7 stones) |
or  |
| 2 Small ore = 1 ingot (4 stones) |
 |
| 1 large = 2 medium = 4 small |
You can turn large ore into smaller piles, but you can't change small
ore back to large ore. Since a stack of ore becomes much lighter when
you change it from large to small, it helps to carry some small pieces
of ore around with you and turn all the ore that you mine into small piles.
To merge two piles simply double-click the first one and target the second
one.
Pack animals can carry 133 of the large ore. The smaller ore is lighter
meaning that your packy can carry 800 of the very small stuff (making
400 ingots) as opposed to the 266 you get from the large ore.
Misc. Mining Information
Ore Spawn Mechanism
You get a random amount of total ore pieces per mining spot, ranging from
a mere 10 up to a whooping 34. In addition the ratio of colored ore to
iron ore is important. It's often an all-or-nothing sort of spawn: you'll
either get a vein full of colored ore pieces and a few iron clunkers,
or tons of iron and only a few of the precious colored ore.. The type
of ore that can be found in one location usually remains the same, but
it varies between shards. (Ore veins can randomly change color since AoS,
but this phenomenon is rare). Ore spawns in resource squares (8x8 tile
areas), and mining anywhere in that square will take ore from the same
vein. There are maps for UO Auto Map that have these squares already drawn
in, which makes mining much easier.
Ore Spawn Rates
| Ore Color |
Percentage of Overall Spawn |
Iron |
50% |
Dull copper |
11.2% |
Shadow |
9.8% |
Copper |
8.4% |
Bronze |
7.0% |
Golden |
5.6% |
Agapite |
4.2% |
Verite |
2.8% |
Valorite |
1.4% |
Ore Respawn Timer
The ore respawn timer is approximately 15 to 30 minutes and mining
spots respawn individually. This means that inside mining caves
some spots might respawn fast and others slow. The only thing that's
guaranteed is that over the course of several hours the average
respawn time per spot will be approximately 15 to 30 minutes.
Chance of Ore Color Changing:
The color of a colored ore vein can change over time. This time
is said to be very long, though. If a single spot is mined all around
the clock every single day (ie. 24/7) it will on average change
color after a month or two. The less it gets mined the longer it
will on average take before it might change color. Since 24/7 mining
is not realistic we might expect to see ore spots change color about
every half year to every year. OSI has confirmed that the system
exists, but reports of spots which did change have been very sparse
(though there have been some).
Granite and Sand Mining
Other substances that can be mined are sand and granite, used in
glassblowing and stonecrafting. GM miners can dig for sand in any
sandy area like the desert, or a beach (more details below). You
can also dig up special single rocks in any normal ore mining spot.
These rocks are called granite and come in all 9 ore colors. Both
skills can be bought in the form of books from gargoyle shopkeepers
in the gargoyle city in Ilshenar. The books cost 11K each, they
look like open books, and are clearly labeled. Double clicking them
makes you learn the respective skill. To read such a book and learn
the skill you must be at least GM in the respective base skill (for
instance to learn sand digging you must be GM Mining).
You do NOT need any skill points to learn sand and granite mining.
They are implemented as passive specializations to existing skills
and all you can do is either have them or not have them. Digging
for granite and digging for sand are both specializations to the
mining skill. Once you have learned such an Add-On skill it will
only work while you are GM in the base skill. If your base skill
drops even 0.1, the add-on skill no longer works. So if your GM
Mining drops to 99.9, you are no longer able to dig up sand or granite
rocks. Once the base skill is back to GM level, you regain the ability
to perform the add-on skill.
Granite mining can be turned off, just set it via a context menu
that you get on mining tools. Click or shift+click on any mining
tool and a menu will appear. This menu offers all the choices there
are. Note that what you select is set for your character, not for
the tool.
The granite rocks weigh 10 stones per piece and do not stack. The
color of the rock is determined by the color of the ore vein that
you mine: Dull Copper, Shadow, Copper, Bronze, Gold, Agapite, Verite,
Valorite. (Granite can be crafted into stone furniture of the same
color using the stone masonry add on to the carpentry skill).
To get sand you use a mining tool wherever you see sand on the ground
(beaches and deserts). Sand weighs one stone per piece and will
not stack. This puts a considerable limit on how many of them you
can carry and store in your bank or house.
When digging sand, on average it takes 10 to 12 seconds to dig one
piece of sand and a single sand mining spot yields between 6 and
12 sand pieces.
Special Items
Gloves of Mining
Bulk Order Deeds can give so called "Gloves Of Mining" as one of the possible
(random) rewards. These gloves raise your displayed mining skill by either
+1 (leather gloves of mining), +3 (studded leather gloves of mining),
or +5 (ringmail gloves of mining). They work even when your real mining
skill is GM, which means you get up to 105 displayed mining skill. The
increased mining skill will improve your chances at smelting colored ore.
No other notable effect has been discovered. Wearing them while still
training your mining skill means that you can indeed mine colors above
your normal mining level without the gloves, because the ore color you
can mine is based on your displayed skill value (as is your chance at
smelting).
Sturdy Shovels and Sturdy Pickaxes
Bulk Order Deeds can give sturdy pickaxes or sturdy shovels as one of
their (random) rewards. These sturdy mining tools will give a lot more
digs before they break than regular mining tools. The usual number of
digs should be somewhere in between 150 and 200 for a sturdy item! They
are absolutely great when mining, because you do not have to get a new
shovel or pickaxe every few spots.
The Prospectors Tool
Can be obtained as a reward for low to mid end Bulk Order Deeds (BODs). It will upgrade all the ore in an ore vein (ie. resource square) by one color level. Only the ore currently in the vein is upgraded. When the vein respawns new ore it will be back to the normal ore color of the vein. Prospector's tools come with a number of charges. One charge is used up per use. The tool itself does not do any mining and it can upgrade a vein only once. After using the tool you must use a shovel or pickaxe to get the upgraded ore. There is no risk involved in using a prospector's tool as compared to a gargoyle pickaxe, which runs the risk of spawning an ore elemental.
Gargoyle pickaxes
Pickaxes can be used on upgraded spots to upgrade the color once more.
You must first use the prospector's tool on the designated mining spot
and then use a gargoyle pickaxe to dig up the ore. This will for instance
give Valorite on an Agapite spot (ie. two color levels above the normal
color)! You do however run the risk of spawning an ore elemental, as is
normal with gargoyle pickaxes. Ore elementals can be lethal if you are
not properly protected or have no fighting skill. A valorite elemental
has been known to whomp naked miners in a matter of 2 or 3 hits.
Skill Training
MINING GAIN TABLE
| Skill level | Color Ore |
| Any | Iron |
| 65 | Dull Copper |
| 70 | Shadow |
| 75 | Copper |
| 80 | Bronze |
| 85 | Golden |
| 90 | Agapite |
| 95 | Verite |
| 99 | Valorite |
I n the 70s region you should gain about 2.0 to 3.0 per hour. In the (lower
to mid) 90s region you should still gain about 0.5 to 1.0 per hour.
Mining strategies
Shovels
Buy shovels from NPC tinkers, they are cheaper to buy than to make. Shovels
are also lighter than pickaxes.
Beetle Mining
Beetle mining is one of the best uses for these creatures. They can carry
just as much as any packhorse (133 large ore or 400 small ore). The best
part of these guys is that they are rideable so you don't even need to
wait for them to bond before you can "recall" mine.Beetles can also fight.
A fully trained beetle can take down most creatures that will spawn near
mountains. A great way to train a beetle AND mine is take it to Shame
to fight earth elementals and just take the small ore off the corpses.
Packhorse mining
One packhorse can carry
133 large ore @ 12 stones (266 ingots)
228 medium ore @ 7 stones (228 ingots)
800 small ore @ 2 stones (400 ingots)
Care must be taken with Packhorse mining in Felucca, as pets can be attacked
and killed by anyone without having to take a murder count. You should
be able to gate a packhorse to mine. Bonded pack horses can be used for
Recall mining.
Recall mining
Mark a few mining locations, and then recall to one, mine until you're
at your weight limit, recall to a forge and smelt. A bonded pack animal
will travel with you making this a very effective method.
Leap-fogging
Drag your iron ore stack behind you as you make your way around a mountain
or through a cave. Beware of ore-snachers.
Gate-mining
After mining a lot of ore (see previous method), instead of leap-fogging
it to a forge you can use a gate to transport it.
With the ore next to you, cast gate travel to your house (or a bank, forge
etc.) Standing on top of the gate, Double click it. (the gate is now your
Last Object). On the other side, take one step forward and WALK back into
the gate. It is important that you do NOT click the gate (or anything
else for that matter.) You're now back in the mine over the gate, with
the ore next to you. Pick up all the ore and hold it. If you walked too
far, cast teleport and tele on top of the gate. Press your LastObject
macro to "use" the gate and go back through. You are going to have to
press it a couple of times since you've to wait a few seconds before re-entering
a gate. You should now be back on the other side of the gate, with all
the ore still on your cursor. Either bank it, or drop it and smelt it.
Boat mining
It is now no longer possible to use telekinesis for stealing ore from
boats. This means that the spot directly behind the mast of a large boat
is again safe from any ore thieves (as long as they can't get aboard your
boat). Do not leave a boat parked near the mountains as it will be deleted
by GM if someone complains. Move it off a few tiles and you should be
ok.
Tips & Tricks
- Doubled Resource Spawn in Felucca-
This is one great and wonderful enhancement. When you go mining in Felucca
you will get TWO ore pieces per dig. In other words you will get twice
the amount of ore within the same time, compared to mining in Trammel.
Using a packy is highly recommended due to the sheer amount. Using a
bonded packy a large amount of ore can be mined very quickly.
- Mining Macro-
The best way to mine the ore is via a UOA macro. Go inside a mine, start recording, use a shovel and target the location where you're standing. Now stop recording and change the first line to 'item type' and the target line to 'target relative location.' Add a pause after the target, depending on how lagged you are (500-1500 ms.)
- Pack animals can carry 133 of the large ore. The smaller ore is lighter meaning that your packy can carry 800 of the very small stuff (making 400 ingots) as opposed to the 266 you get from the large ore.
- A good way to release some tension of double clicking over and over
again is to use last object and last target. Double click on your shovel
and target where you're going to dig. Then use last object and last
target and it will automatically dig in the same spot for you. Another
way is to set a UOA macro for 'use item type' then bind it to a key
for quicker reps. If you use a pickaxe (which must be equipped in your
hand to be used), you can use UOA's key for "use item in hand"
to relieve the tension of double-clicking.
- Get 100 strength before you start mining, because you can carry more ore and shovels. Each ore weighs 12 stones, so you'll need as much strength as you can get.
- If you have below 65 skill then you should only try to smelt 4 or so ore at a time. Then keep smelting more and more/per 5 skill points in mining that you get. At GM mining you can smelt any amount of ore at a time.
- To gain mining skill more quickly, smelt one large or medium colored
ore at a time (or 2 smalls), especially if you are at or near the minimal
skill to dig it up. IE: if you have 70 mining and dig up shadow ore,
then only smelt one shadow ore at a time. While training, stick to this
method for at least the highest ore color you can dig up, and one or
two colors beneath it. This is especially useful when you get into the
90+ range, because you will not gain much skill from regular mining
anymore. You may want to stick to the rule of smelting the higher colors
one-by-one, even after you GM mining, as you lose half of the ore you
attempted to smelt in the event of a failure. So if you have a nice
stack of 50 medium valorite ore pieces and you fail a smelt, you just
lost yourself 25 pieces (or 50 ingots). Ouch.
- Pick up Tinkering and make your own shovels as you go on. You need approximately 65 tinkering, tinkers' tools and ingots (any color) to create shovels.
- If mining in Fel, find a faction town that has a low tax rate. Shovels are much cheaper then. Also, if all you are interested in is iron, use a faction vendor (again in a low tax rate town) to buy the ore. It can be bought for as low as 3gp per ingot.
- If mining in a dangerous or secluded spot, the bag of sending will help you by sending that ore to your bank. Realize that weight is a factor and charging a bag of sending 'could' be expensive and/or time consuming.
-------------
Version 1.0: 01/06/03 -Initial Draft.
Version 1.1: 01/09/03 -Added Beetle information.
Version 1.2: 01/22/03 -Corrected confusing verbage.
Version 1.3: 09/15/03 -Added some info, removed outdated references
Information Gathered from: Old UOPG Guide, Old Phazer Skills Guides, personal
experience, UOStratics,
UOPG Readers, and other sources. |
