Aperio: The short answer is that you need to find a gem pocket and build a series of mines to see which ones seem to have the best yields Aperio: gem pockets are in 40 x 40 grids starting at 0,0 Aperio: So you can, for example, start at 1600, 1600 and test 1 coordinate in each direction ti look at 4 pockets to see what is there Aperio: Once you find the gem you're looking for, lay a series of mines about 9 coords apart. Then mine each one about 100 times and rate the gem yield. Pick the best and go to town on that one. A macro helps Aperio: Also, I personally believe that having a high PER helps with gem yield Aperio: There are also some other useful techinques, but that's the gist of it. If you're just using guild or public mines, I can assure you that you're using the worst mines in the game Aperio: I have some mines that I can run until they break and get 2-3 large or better out of it Aperio: Also the gem type influences the huge drop rate Aperio: quartz drops more often than sapphire or diamond Aperio: Don't know if any of that helps. I have other tips, but I'm probably boring the hell out of you :)
ElSangre: thats very good info Aperio: Thanks. Doesn't even get into my reverse dowsing technique :) ElSangre: reverse dowsing ? explain Aperio: Well, you cannot salvage a mine where you hit an ore Aperio: So while on PER/FOC food, you can try to miss random veins to preserve mats Aperio: and just salvage the sand mines if you miss the gem type you're looking for Aperio: Like you, I did a line west of camp Aperio: I hit each coordinate with 4 mines and salvaged them after marking down what they had. I then moved 80 coords (since I had already done each pocket) and repeated Aperio: I hit a vein of lithium quite my accident and had to work around that ElSangre: i did something like that also only i built 100 mines to start the line salvages all quartz and continued the line till all mats were used to build a good gem mine Aperio: After that I wouldn't drop a mine until I knew it wasn't going to interfere with my mats Aperio: Yep Aperio: I killed the mines where the intersection only had one gem type Aperio: But I found an intersection of 3 types and built that one out