User:Rabble/hugegems

Gem Blocks and You

• The map is divided into 40 x 40 coordinate square blocks starting at 0, 0. Only one gem type is found in any block. For example, all of mines built between 1,1 and 39,39 will produce the same type of gem. It doesn't matter if the mine is at 1,1 or 1,10 or 17,12 or whatever.

• Auto-mines don't produce gems. You only find gems by working a mine manually.

• When you build a mine, the computer determines how frequently the mine will produce gems. The gem rate can vary from under 1% to almost 20%. You won't know the gem rate on a mine until you build it and work it for a while. There is no way to improve the rate as which a mine will produce gems.

• If you tear down a sand mine and build a new mine in the same spot, it can change the gem pull rate.

• If you tear down a sand mine, you get salvage back from it (assuming you have salvage trained). If you tear down an ore mine, you don't get any salvage in return.

• If you build a new sand mine on the same spot as an old sand mine, the new mine always starts as a level 1 mine. If you build a new ore mine on the same spot as an old ore mine, the new ore mines starts at a higher level than the old ore mine.

• Some gem types are more common than others. After checking 150 different 40x40 blocks, I found 1 opal block, 2 sapphire, 2 diamond, 6 ruby, 8 emerald, 10 topaz, and 120 quartz blocks.

Finding a gem type

• Train your salvage skill. Finding huge gems requires a lot of mine rebuilding. You'll use up too much material unless you have salvage trained to at least level 3.

• What gem type do you want? Is it rubies or topaz or something else?

• Ask your friends or neighbors for the location of a 40x40 block that produces the gem type you want.

• If you can't get someone to tell you the location of a gem block, then gather the materials needed to build several mines, and head out to an open spot in the wilderness. Look at your map coordinates and divide by 40 to figure out what 40x40 block you are in. (For example, if you are at -1320, +4287 then -1320/40 = -33 and +4287/40 = +107 so you are in block -33, +107)

• Build a mine. It will probably be a sand mine. Odd as it sounds, sand mines can be built on sand, grass, dirt, clay, etc. They are called sand mines because working them produces sand. Use your new sand mine a few times until you get a gem. Is it the gem type that you want? Probably not. If not, salvage the mine but record the type of gem produced by that location. Then move to the next gem block (by going either north, south, east or west 40 coordinates) and build a new mine. Test it. Is it the type of gem you want? Probably not. Salvage it and move again. It can take a few dozen mines to locate all of the basic gem types -- and several dozen more to locate diamonds and opals. But since you get to salvage each mine after you build it, you'll get back most of your materials. With some patience, you can find blocks for all gem types.

Operating the mine

• Cook mining food to boost your strength and perception. I'd recommend gaining at least 8 points in each but any boost is good. If you are playing on the main T4 shard, feel free to chat me for a relatively cheap cook4 mining recipe.

• Once you find a location for the desired gem, build one sand mine. You might be tempted to build more but one is plenty. Eat your favorite mining food and mine 100 sand from your new sand mine. After 100 sand, look at the mine to see how many gems it produced. If it's less than 10 gems, tear the mine down for salvage and build a new one in the same spot. Mine 100 sand from it. This goes *very* fast with good mining food. On average, you'll have to rebuild several times before getting a mine that yields 10% or more in gems.

• Now that you have the right gem type and a good gem producing mine, work it! Work the mine until it collapses and repair it. Then work it more. Most good gem mines will kick out a huge gem every 2-3 repairs. If the mine goes more than 5 repairs without making a huge, tear it down for salvage and build a new one.

Wrap-up

This whole process does take some time and effort but it's possible for even a relatively new player to find all of the gems. I found all my own huge gems in this game -- as well as a few dozen more that I sold or gave away -- within my first two months in ATiTD and before I even was level 20. You just need some salvage skill, some patience, mining food, and the ability to keep track of map coordinates.