In Stardew Valley, mining is one of the main activities, offering resources required for crafting, upgrades, and gifts. Many players often find it difficult to amass a good amount of ore in a single day, especially when targeting specific ores like Copper, Iron, and Gold. This article focuses on optimizing your mining route for iron ore, based on strategies that have proven effective.
How to Get Started
It takes roughly 50 in-game minutes to walk from your farmhouse to the mine. The advised start time is 7:00 am. The objective is to repetitively use the mine elevator to farm ore most efficiently.
Why Level 41?
When you take the mine elevator to Level 40, you’ll find yourself on a “chest floor,” which has a slingshot in a chest. Many players wonder why not to pick up this chest. The simple answer is there are better weapons available, and the slingshot is non-sellable, making it less appealing.
The Mining Routine
- Elevator to Level 40: Start by taking the elevator to Level 40, a “chest floor.”
- Walk to the Staircase: Walk to the staircase to descend to Level 41.
- Mine Level 41: This is your primary focus floor for mining Iron Ore.
Key Points for Efficient Mining
- Diagonal Movement: Move diagonally whenever possible to save time.
- Interaction Key: Press the interaction key in advance when going up or down the elevator.
- Visibility: Make your screen’s zoom level as large as possible to better spot ores.
- Quick Scans: If you don’t see any ore nodes, simply return to the elevator and go back to Level 40, then repeat the process.
Advanced Tips
Eating for Speed
While in the early stages of the game you might find it expensive to afford speed-boosting food items like Coffee, consuming them can speed up your mining process significantly.
When to Skip
Sometimes you may encounter a floor with ore nodes that are too far or surrounded by too many monsters. In such cases, it’s often better to skip that floor and move on.
Weapon and Tools
Upgrading your pickaxe can improve your mining efficiency, but consider your priorities. If you’re currently focusing on other farming activities like growing Strawberries or Hops, maybe hold off on the pickaxe upgrades.
Mining Mechanics: What Influences Ore Spawn?
Ore spawns are not entirely dependent on luck. While higher luck may improve your chances of encountering larger ore clusters, even the worst luck can sometimes yield more clusters, albeit smaller ones.
Ore Spawn Rates
The spawn rate for ores doesn’t entirely depend on luck. Copper has a base spawn rate of 1.44%, higher than Iron at 1.2% and Gold at 0.8%. However, these spawn rates increase with each floor, with Iron Ore having an 8.32% chance at Level 41 and Gold Ore having a 10.01% chance at Level 81.
Conclusion
In summary, better luck generally yields more ore, and it’s best to focus on larger clusters when you’re fortunate. On days of bad luck, it might be more efficient to aim for isolated nodes. With no mining traits, you can expect around 200 iron ores a day, which can go up to 300 with mining traits and even reach 500 on a good luck day.