Guide:Mining techniques

This is a collection of mining techniques to enhance Terrarian mining.

Grapple Shaft Mining
Required Items:


 * Grappling Hook (or Ivy Whip)
 * Any type of pickaxe
 * A high amount of wood or wood platforms

Just dig a two- or three-block-wide hole going down, bridging the area between with wood platforms every time the last one placed has moved off the screen.

This is very useful for discovering caves and the Underground Jungle, as well as providing quick access to The Underworld.

The best part is the quick ascent, as you can use momentum if you are quick enough with your clicks, the biggest con is that you need a lot more wood compared to other techniques.

To reduce the use of wood and increase mining speed, use a lucky horseshoe (which negates fall damage) and a magic mirror (to return to base quickly).

For a safe and quick way down to the Underworld, assuming you don't have a Lucky Horseshoe, bring a few buckets and make a two-block-deep pool of water to fall into. This must be placed just above the Underworld, however, as water cannot exist in hell.

Required Items

 * Fall damage negating item, this includes lava, water, cobwebs, any form of grappling hook, or the ability to use a Lucky Horseshoe
 * Any type of pickaxe
 * Sand (Not necessary, but extremely helpful. Can be replaced by any building material if sand is a problem)
 * Depth Meter (Optional, unless you really care how deep you dig)
 * Shine Potion (Optional, the Orb of Light and Mining Helmet can also provide hands-free light)
 * Obsidian Skull (Optional, recommended for when you reach the underworld)
 * Mining Helmet (Optional, but it's much easier to see with, Orb of Light is an acceptable replacement)
 * Magic Mirror (Optional, you may instead leave the world and reconnect to return to your spawn point)

The goal of this form of mining is not to maximize your ore output. It is a method of getting you from point A. above-ground to point B. below-ground. Many keep chutes like this to their mushroom farm/jungle farms. It also allows quick access to the underworld. If at any point you need to stop to explore a cavern or mine for ores, feel free to do so.

To dig correctly, find a location where you will be able to easily access near your spawn. In the case of making an underground corruption farm, the opposite holds true. In case you need to return to the surface to drop off materials or withdraw items, a magic mirror is suggested. Start mining straight down. You should have no problems. At a point where you want a temporary stop, you can use wood platforms. If you have reached your destination then place down a few blocks worth of water, or a cobweb to stop the fall damage for you.

Avoiding Obstacles
As you tunnel downward, a variety of obstacles may impede your progress. Here are some ways to overcome them and carry on quickly.

Monsters - Most monsters will not bother you, if your shaft is sealed. Burrowing monsters and casters, on the other hand, pose a real danger. For casters, sadly to say, the only real solution is to get to their level, kill them, and get back to the shaft, ASAP. If you have a Vilethorn and mana, you can possibly use it to kill them without getting near them. (Certain ranged weapons can also fire through walls, under the right conditions - the Star Cannon, for example.)

Air Pockets - This is why you brought sand. Before you fall, place sand to the area directly beneath your feet. The sand will fall to the bottom of the floor, and eventually will build itself back up underneath you, assuring you do not fall to your death. You may then remove the blocks beneath you, building the shaft walls as you go. You may instead drop sand for the walls as well, if you don't mind its instability.

Water/Lava - See the next heading on Digging Through Liquids.

Ways to improve your mining efficiency

 * 1) Upgrade your equipment regularly.  Better pickaxes mean faster mining.  If you carry a Nightmare Pickaxe as well as a Molten Pickaxe then you have the ability to dig through dirt and mud extremely quickly. The Nightmare Pickaxe should be used on mud and dirt blocks due to its faster swing speed and it takes the same amount of hits per block as the Molten Pickaxe making it more efficient. The Molten Pickaxe should be used on all other materials as they take one or more hits with the Nightmare Pickaxe whereas the molten pickaxe has the higher power so it is more efficient when mining harder types of block. The use of Feral Claws or Shadow Armor (melee attack speed enhancing items)makes you swing the pickaxe faster, but the actual speed at which the blocks are mined remains the same. Still, the use of such items can be a good idea for certain mining situations, where you have to protect yourself from the enemies. These situations include meteorite ore mining (swing your pickaxe faster to defend against meteor heads)and hellstone mining (to defend against fire imps).
 * 2) Mining with a friend makes it go by extremely quickly.  You can increase your speed about 300% in multiplayer.  One player can aim at blocks on one side and the other can focus on blocks on the other side.  Since there's no mouse movement, you move downwards at an extremely fast pace.
 * 3) If you can't mine with a friend, make sure you're mining only two blocks width. If you have a hole 2 block wide, you can easily click and hold the left mouse button, moving the cursor back and forth quickly (so long as your pickaxe is strong enough), instead of moving your mouse around. You hardly have to move at all if you click in the right spot (aiming directly under your feet when standing in the middle of the two blocks).
 * 4) If you come a choice between stone or dirt, dig through the dirt, as it is faster to dig through with any pickaxe compared to stone.
 * 5) Potions can greatly enhance your mining trips. By bringing potions such as the spelunker potion, the shine potion, the hunter potion, the gravitation potion, the waterwalking potion or the swiftness potion you can see all the hidden gems that you would have missed otherwise, or save on torches to become one yourself, or to see mobs like worms, or outrun skeletons, or walk on the ceiling or walk on lava unscathed.

Digging Through Water
As of 1.0.6, blocks cannot be placed in lava (though sand may still be dropped in from above).

Required

 * Pickaxe
 * A source of light (lava produces light)
 * A block to be placed (Dirt, Stone, etc.)
 * A few Gills or Obsidian Skin Potions (if desired)

Digging Downward
If you encounter lava or water when digging downward, replace the water or lava in your path with the blocks you brought along. Place them at least 4 blocks wide and as far downward as you can reach. You can then dig the 2 middle blocks out, leaving walls on either side to hold back the flood. Repeat this this process until reaching your goal.

Digging Crosswise
This is performed almost exactly the same as digging downward, except that you'll place blocks to the side at least 5 high, as far as you can reach. Dig the middle 3 blocks out, leaving a passage high enough to walk though, but still protected from flooding. Fill the liquid with blocks, dig some of them, and repeat until you've reached your goal.

Constructing Air Pockets
When digging underwater or exploring flooded caves, you may run out of breath far from the surface. To avoid drowning, you can place blocks above you 4 across and 2 high, so you have 8 blocks in total. Then dig out the 2 blocks in the middle of the bottom layer, as shown to the right. Jump (or grapple) into the new air pocket to get a breath of fresh air. If you're digging sideways underwater, you can simply dig a hole 2 blocks wide in the ceiling.

If using an Obsidian Skin Potion, this technique is also useful while submerged in lava. Alternatively, using a Gills Potion makes constructing air pockets unnecessary.