I use both pies depending on the tools I’m using and the task at hand. Nothing to do with cost, it’s more about prolonging the life of the tools that were a bit more of a pain in the proverbial to forge. I’ve tested all of the variety of options for different tools at each and every tier extensively and I’ve just settled on the combinations that suit me.
I do the same effective thing on T6 also now by using Topaz speed hammers with a strength brew and a persisting pie. They use 22 energy per swing compared to 38 with a diamond so i’m able to swing much longer between pauses. They have an extra 400 base durability so with a persisting pie and the durability epic that equates to around 3880 effective durability so they will last almost twice as long as a diamond with a starberry, and I really don’t mind the pauses personally when I’m Gem or Lucent mining as I’m checking my atlas regularly to pinpoint hot spots or chomping a piece of steak to keep my energy bar high. Another good thing is that I rarely use speed brews anymore.
I use starberry pies when I’m mindlessly farming soil or sand or a specific rock colour, for clearing large underground spaces for building, etc, etc. Those times when the pauses do nothing but slow me down from finishing a task. I also pop a starberry pie occasionally if I’m lucky enough to hit a lucent exo right as it spawns and find myself in a sweet mining spot… I can happily smash a stack of max speed sapphires in a very short amount of time if it’s for a worthy cause, haha.
As I clear out the whole area when I mine(sand, gravel, floaters, etc) stopping slows me down and also don’t need to check the Atlas much either but we all have our own styles of mining.
Absolutely, but that’s exactly the way I mine too and why I love the sapphires as they do with 15 extra action speed. Anyway, all I’m saying is I’m happy to give you a few to try out before you pass judgement, you might be surprised as it sounds like you’ve been sold some duds in the past.
Then it’s not a proper T7 hammer. With a mega strength brew plus dmg lvl 9/10 it 1 hits rocks on T7 if you have the right miner spec which I’m assuming you have…
And even tho I do use saph hammers on a T7 I also always use starberry pies. Durability be darned I just wanna mine quickly, ahhhhhh
For T6 lately I kinda like the rubies, dmg lvl 7/10, +50 speed, 3x3, with mega strength brew and goooooooooooooo
I also sell saph T7 hammers for 12k BTW @FireAngelDth …
Some quirks aren’t that bad, some can even be useful, what I dislike with a passion is the huge animated stuff that happens when you switch to a tool with a quirk. Once they tone it down I might use them, until then I just won’t
There’s only a select handful that actually do an animation, which is any of them that apply a buff or debuff to your character, things such as random noises, slow-mo, that sinking feeling, etc.
The really good ones for tools (reduced energy cost, increased action speed) do not animate as they apply the buff to the tool instead.
I have always been quite the quirk advocate and they do most certainly have their places… and places they do not belong. I make slow mo loot totems for extra run speed and of course the sinking feeling totems are popular. But I would never put a quirk that animates on a grapple because that FPS lag could make the difference between life and death for instance.
For hammers though… again I’ve just found not worth the trouble as they are far too unreliable to control. When mass forging batch after batch, it’s best just to eliminate as many sources of RNG as possible right.
but we all have our own styles of mining.
I’d rather deal with forging them myself 
over paying that and you know how much I hate crafting or forging