Tip #1: Lava height:
Most lava pools underground on T3+ planets start at the height of 16. If you mine at that height or slightly higher, you should be pretty much safe from lava. But if you want more rare ores possibly at the cost of your life you could dig at the mantle height and get more rare ores.
Tip #2: Lucent heights:
Blink: 0-20
Rift: 20-50
Umbris: 120-150
You can determine the right spots for umbris by fossils. the less fossils spawning, the more umbris you should get. Blink is typically mined with rarer ores effective early-game and you can sell tools made from them to turn a profit from early game players. Rift is an AWESOME looking ore and is typically displayed. it is also an extreme damage dealing tool/weapon and with a good forge effect, is typically used by players past the gem wall.
Tip#3 recommended hammers used per tier:
Tier 1: 3x3 forged titanium hammer with low level damage
Tier 2: same as Tier 1:
Tier 3: since this is the first level with extra block HP bars, you need 3x3 forged gem hammer with low dmg boon.
Tier 4: not very rewarding but 3x3 forged gem hammer with medium dmg boon
Tier 5: 3x3 forged gem hammer with high Dmg
Tier 6: 3x3 forged gem hammer with super high dmg
Tier 7: 3x3 forged gem hammer with super high dmg with strength brew or speed brew.
Tier 8: (UNKNOWN, spot saved for release of T8 worlds)
7 points: Power Bonus 7
8+ points: Power Bonus 3+, Damage Epic
13 points: Power Bonus 8, Damage Epic
14-17: Power Bonus 8, Damage Epic, Hammer(Tool) mastery 1-4
18: Power Bonus 8, Damage Epic, Hammer(Tool) Epic
19-23: Power Bonus 8, Damage Epic, Hammer(Tool) Epic, Hammer(Tool) Mastery 1-5.
24+: Attributes Bonus
In summary, Damage Epic is the most point-efficient damage skill after reaching Power bonus 3, and Power bonus is the most efficient after attaining Damage Epic.
Don’t be afraid to mine below the altitude for lava. When you break through to it, mine directly below the lava. Due to the liquid mechanics it won’t overflow.
Use the damage calculator linked by Alwin to see how much damage you need on your gem hammer. No need to pay for max damage on a diamond hammer when 8/10 will do, for example.
When scouting for a good mining location be sure to check multiple resource types in the atlas. Even if a location has a lot of a rare resource it may not give as much value as a location with several.
If you aren’t saving certain blocks (rock, gravel, sand, etc) drop them from your inventory and separate the resources you do want to keep until all the available slots of your inventory are occupied. Then only the resources you want will fill up, the extra stays on the ground, and you can mine longer without sorting your inventory.
For T6 mining, mega fast brews and starberry pies are a great combo to mine through a lot of space quickly. And its really fun
The damage calculator Alwin linked above will let you figure out how many hits it takes to break a rock on a planet with the given skills, buffs, and forge effects. If you had max skills in mining, about 30 levels worth in hammer and damage skills, then it would take 4 hits to break rock on a t6 world with a plain iron hammer. So its doable but would take a lot longer. For comparison a plain diamond hammer would only take 1 hit to break them.
If you want to try out a diamond hammer I can give you one, but if you have enough levels to one-shot the rocks it is well worth investing in the more expensive gem hammers.
