Mining

Mining is a non-combat activity that allows players to excavate various minerals and ores that are used as resources in Cetus, Fortuna, or the Necralisk. It can be performed in the Plains of Eidolon, the Orb Vallis, and the Cambion Drift.

Mechanics[]

Gear Acquisition[]

Before players can begin mining, they must first acquire a Nosam Cutter from Old Man Suumbaat in Cetus for Ostron standing, or a Sunpoint Plasma Drill from Smokefinger in Fortuna for Solaris United standing. Players must then equip the mining tool in their Gear Wheel to use it.

The Sunpoint Plasma Drill is superior to the Nosam Cutters: it can mine Very Rare gems, includes the features of other Cutters, can be upgraded, and can be purchased earlier than most other Cutters as it does not require any Syndicate ranks. It also has the slowest drill progress, making precise timing easier. It does, however, require at least 2,500  2,500 with Solaris United to be able to purchase, which could involve multiple Bounty Missions.

Acquiring a Basic Nosam Cutter in Cetus for a much simpler 500 standing (low enough to be gained during Saya's Vigil) and mining Venus gems that can be traded in for Standing is a quick way to get the Sunpoint Plasma Drill. Keeping the Nosam Cutter after this process is recommended, since the Drill has a remarkably low chance of finding Common and Uncommon ores and gems. However, note that a Nosam Cutter and a Sunpoint Plasma Drill cannot be equipped at the same time.

Finding Veins[]

Out on the Plains, Vallis, or Drift, players have several means of finding resource deposits.

• Veins stand out visually as bright colored spots surrounded by light grey patches on rocks and rock formations. Red and yellow spots denote Ores, while Blue spots denote Gems. Note that the various fossilized Sentient bones littering the Plains are not rocks (despite bearing a superficial resemblance to them) and will not have any mineral veins.
• Mining tools have several features to find minerals from a distance. Equipping a Sunpoint Plasma Drill or a Nosam Cutter (default hold Q  and select the desired Cutter) will bring up a HUD with the following features:
  • The left side of the HUD will display icons of rocks indicating the number of mineral deposits within the detector's range (higher tiers of Cutters have an increased detectable number).
  • The right side of the HUD is equipped with a rangefinder that shows the distance to the closest detected mineral vein (higher tiers of Cutters have an increased detection range).
  • An audible repeating tick (akin to a metal detector) will be heard if the detector is within range of a deposit. This sound will grow in pitch if the player is looking in the direction of the vein, and tick more frequently the closer player is to the source.
  • When unzoomed, a faint diamond-shape object will appear over veins that are within your field of view.
  • Higher grade Cutters will also display a gemstone icon on your Minimap when you are close enough, making it much easier to find the deposit.

Mining Process[]

Once the player has located a vein, they can begin mining it by equipping their Cutter, and then zooming in on the vein (default hold RMB ). This will reveal 1~3 blue drilling spots. You must aim onto a drilling spot, then press and hold the fire button (default LMB ) while remaining still. A ring of unlit colored lights with white brackets will appear. You can also press the Secondary Fire button after zooming in to adjust the magnification of the zoom (default MMB ).

The goal is to stop firing when the colored lights reach as close to the middle of these white brackets as possible. The brackets can sometimes be moving or changing in size, presenting a challenge in hitting the desired spot. Occasionally, these brackets can also be accompanied by a second, smaller set of special narrow brackets, which players can attempt to hit instead of the larger brackets for additional rewards.

A progress gauge will fill up at the top of the Cutter's HUD, composed of 5 small mineral icons determining the amount of resources gained and the quality of the deposit that was just mined, all affected by the timing of the cut. The mining is completed once the yellow gem bar fills up, which will reward a random mineral, either Ore or Gem depending on whether an Ore or Gem deposit was mined. Additionally, successfully hitting the special narrow brackets during mining will grant additional gem rewards on completion, even on ore veins.

The more accurate the timing during mining, the higher the likelihood a better-grade mineral will be mined, and the higher the amount of minerals will be given upon completion. Players can halt cutting at any time, however doing so will immediately "complete" the drilling spot that was cut into, preventing a retry of that spot, and thus reducing the quality and quantity of extracted minerals. This makes uninterrupted cutting most desirable, after clearing the immediate area of enemies.

The result of the mining is determined by different factors:

• The usual calculation is to first multiply the total amount of filling of small icons by the multiplier of the resource type and then rounding the result to the upper integer number.
  • Blue veins have a x1 multiplier and Red veins have x2. Some resources have no multiplier as there can only be 1 gain, such as Nyth.
  • For example, Coprun has a x2 multiplier and 10 maximum gain from a vein. If the total amount of filling is just below 3 full icons by a small amount then the result will be 6. And if it is above 3 by just a small amount then it will be 7.
• Minimum and maximum number of gains are also affected by the distance of the vein to the gates.
  • Red veins give a minimum of 3 near the gate and will give at least 6 far away. In both cases, 10 is the maximum number.
  • Blue veins give a minimum of 2 but maximum of 4 near the gate, and will give a minimum of 4 and maximum of 6 if far away.
• Rarities of ores and gems mined are also affected by the distance of the vein to the gates.
  • For instance, Hesperon, the rarest variant of Orb Vallis ores, can be found much more frequently in the lake and the mushroom forest in the northwest at the Temple of Profit; one of the furthest point of distance from the gate.
• Without boosters, Blue Veins have a maximum gain of 6, and Red Veins have a maximum gain of 10.
  • Resource Booster will double (x2) this amount.
  • Either Loyal Retriever or Resourceful Retriever has the potential to individually affect each ore type in a vein when hitting the special narrow brackets. This will be indicated with the "2x" icon near the name of the affected ore after mining the vein.
  • While having both boosters, the gain can be multiplied up to 4; x2 from Resource Booster, a %13 chance for another x2 from Loyal Retriever or an 18% chance from Resourceful Retriever.

Cutters[]

Cutters can be purchased from Old Man Suumbaat or Smokefinger for standing. More advanced Cutters feature more accurate mining beams, longer mineral detection ranges and Minimap mineral radar. While being able to cut all rarities of ore, only certain Cutters can mine rare gems. Regardless, all Cutters have a base beam range of 9 meters (without upgrades).

Nosam Cutter	Focused Nosam Cutter	Advanced Nosam Cutter	Sunpoint Plasma Drill
Ostron500  500 Rank 0: Neutral	Ostron750  750 Rank 2: Visitor	Ostron1000  1000 Rank 4: Surah	Solaris United2500  2500 Rank 0: Neutral
Not Upgradable			Upgradable
No rare Gems		All rare Gems	All rare Gems
Fastest, unstable laser	Fast, less unstable laser	Slower, stable laser	Slow, stable laser
No Radar 30m Detection Range 5 Deposits Detection Amount	No Radar 45m Detection Range 10 Deposits Detection Amount	50m Radar (Minimap) 60m Detection Range 10 Deposits Detection Amount	50m Radar (Minimap) 60m Detection Range 10 Deposits Detection Amount

Widgets[]

Widgets are upgrades that are permanently applied to only the Sunpoint Plasma Drill upon being purchased, enhancing their utility. There are two Widgets available and are both bought from Smokefinger for 30,000  30,000 at the rank of Old Mate. Both Widgets can be applied simultaneously.

Sunpoint Plasma Drill Range Widget Increases plasma beam range. (9 to 14 meters)	Sunpoint Plasma Drill Silencer Widget Mine in peace and avoid alerting nearby enemies with this drill silencing widget.

Ores[]

Ores can be mined from red veins in Plains of Eidolon/Orb Vallis and yellow veins in Cambion Drift. Raw Ores can be refined and combined with other Resources in the Foundry to form materials suitable for construction. Unlike Gems, Ores cannot be turned in for standing to their local vendors (with the exception of Cambion Drift's Otak for Otak Tokens), and cannot be traded to other players.

Type	Plains of Eidolon	Orb Vallis	Cambion Drift
Image
Common	Coprun Pyrol	Axidite Travoride	Adramalium Bapholite
Uncommon	Ferros	Venerol	Namalon
Rare	Auron	Hesperon	Thaumica

Gems[]

Gems can be mined from blue veins. Raw gems can be refined for use in certain Foundry Blueprints, or Traded to other players. Raw gems can be turned in directly for Standing or Standing-related items:

• Gems from the Plains of Eidolon can be turned in to Old Man Suumbaat for Ostron standing.
• Gems from the Orb Vallis can be turned in to Smokefinger for Solaris United standing.
• Gems from the Cambion Drift can be turned in to Otak for Otak Tokens, which can be traded in to Grandmother for Entrati Standing.

However, once refined, they can no longer be turned for Standing.

Type	Plains of Eidolon		Orb Vallis		Cambion Drift
Image
Common	50  50	Azurite Devar	50  50	Phasmin Noctrul	Dagonic Tiametrite Heciphron
Uncommon	75  75	Veridos	200  200	Goblite
Rare	100  100	Crimzian	500  500	Amarast	Necrathene
	"Eidolon Gems"		Requires Advanced Nosam Cutter or Sunpoint Plasma Drill		Embolos Xenorhast
	400  400	Sentirum Nyth	1000  1000	Zodian Thyst

Notes[]

• A Nosam Cutter and a Plasma Drill cannot be equipped at the same time.
• A selection of (refined) gems can be bought directly from the traders for   under Today's Special.
• Refined gems are Tradeable under "Crafting Components".
• Gems are used as materials in open-world crafting, including the creation of Zaws, Kitguns, and Amps.
• The secondary fire function (default middle mouse button) can be used to enhance the mining tool's zoom level while aiming.
• Firing the Cutter is considered an alarming action, and will thus alert enemies within the vicinity. Consequently, it will disrupt  Ivara's  Prowl ability when used, rendering her visible for the duration the cutter is active. The Silencer Widget for the Sunpoint Plasma Drill will counteract this, costing 30,000  30,000 with Solaris United.
• The color of the Cutter/Drill and its beam is determined by the Warframe's chosen Colors and Energy Color, respectively.
• The Advanced Nosam Cutter or Sunpoint Plasma Drill is required to mine the Eidolon gems Sentirum and Nyth, while the Sunpoint Plasma Drill is required to mine Vallis gems Zodian and Thyst. Both the Advanced Nosam Cutter and Sunpoint Plasma Drill can mine the Cambion gems Embolos and Xenorhast, although the Sunpoint Plasma Drill greatly increases the chances of finding them.
• With an Advanced Nosam Cutter or Sunpoint Plasma Drill, it may show that 10 deposits were detected. However, there can be, in fact, more than 10 deposits marked on the Mini-map.
• Using the built-up charge of  Volt's passive ability, it is possible to deal damage with a Nosam Cutter or Sunpoint Plasma Drill equal to the amount of electricity stored.
• The amount of resources yielded in mining are affected by Resource Boosters, Loyal Retriever or Resourceful Retriever, multiplying the amount acquired.
• The frequency of gem deposits is affected by a Resource Drop Chance Booster.

Tips[]

• Although significantly outclassed by the Sunpoint Plasma Drill, the Focused Nosam Cutter's inability to mine any sort of rare gem makes it ideal for farming gems such as  Amarast
• Using your melee during the reward popups from a vein will close it early, allowing you to go back to your cutter more quickly. (Nodes do not appear while the rewards are on screen.)
• While caves have a high concentration of veins, they may generate in areas that are quite difficult to reach with a cutter, such as high up rock faces and on ceilings.
  • Using  Ivara's Dashwire Arrow to create elevation can make reaching these veins much easier.
  •  Titania can also use the cutters in  Razorwing mode, which can aid in scouting for veins, and also reaching veins that are otherwise difficult or impossible to mine, even with the 14-meter beam upgrade for the Sunpoint Drill.
• Mining veins spawn in greater numbers in areas with many rocks packed closely together, such as caves and rock tunnels. As for specific locations;
  • The area on the Plains where one can consistently find the most mining veins in the smallest area is the bay known as Er-Phryah's Vigil. It is located west and slightly north of the Cetus gates, around Grineer Base #2 (as marked on the map). This bay area can be recognized by the towering Sentient bones in the local shallows, which are periodically electrified by a nearby Grineer machine. This bay and the nearby cave will almost always have 15 or more veins in a relatively small 100 square meter area, making it ideal for mining.
  • The cave system at the Twin Horns is quite close to the Cetus gates, allowing for quick returns to reload the cave, and its large area makes it home to a sizeable number of veins. Players must take care of Akkalak Turrets placed at the far end of the cave, as they can knock miners out of position on top of killing unattentive players.
  • Between Central Maintenance and the small coolant lake behind Fortuna's entrance is a stretch of road with a high number of deposits, as well as a small cave system where more veins can spawn. Both features making it ideal for quick mineral gathering. Be wary of patrols arriving via Condor Dropships.
  • Entering and exiting Deck 12 will respawn any veins.
  • The two cave systems that flank the Catabolic Gutter are quite large and often contain a significant number of deposits, with the northern cave system relatively close to the Necralisk entrance.

Media[]

Plains of Eidolon gems concept art

A concise guide to mining- Ores, gems and locations

Warframe Farming - Eidolon Mining (Gems & Ore)

MINING ON VALLIS - Toroid Hunting and Cave Dwelling Warframe

Patch History[]

Last updated: Hotfix 22.19.1 (2018-05-03)

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