How can you tell when prospecting is a waste of time?

[dmzdad]

I am trying prospecting now. I have dowsing rods with 1% purity.... I have spent about an hour walking around the area near my settlement (dont know the distance but at least 10-15 mini maps in all directions). I have yet to find a mine area. Is it just a matter of luck or should i assume there is no mine area near me?

[Sevenless]

You literally see the minehole on the ground. If you've covered everywhere near you, and the dowsing rod hasn't picked up a direction, you're going to have to walk further out to find a mine.

Just remember to be methodical about it so you don't miss one. Low P mines are common.

[dmzdad]

hmm.. well i will try to pace it out again.. Am i correct to assume the arrow is virtually useless until you are a few squares away from the mine node and at that point it will appear anyway?

[Nixman]

hmm.. well i will try to pace it out again.. Am i correct to assume the arrow is virtually useless until you are a few squares away from the mine node and at that point it will appear anyway?

Yep pretty much, and even then it sometimes lags behind for a minute or 3.

Best method is to zoom right out until you can see the trees loading in, that's the range of the mine detection so you can zoom out pretty far and cover a big area. Also the purity of the rod does make a big difference, there could be 50 mines all around you, but your rod will only detect those which are just a bit above the salt, mercury, sulphur and lead numbers of the rod your using.

[Kaol]

I dunno but whenever i've used them the arrow has been really useful from a long distance

[Darwoth]

easiest way to find a low purity mine is to just zoom out with prospecting on and walk in a straight line until you see a hole rather than trying to follow the arrow.

[LackofCertainty]

There's a very noticeable difference between when the arrow is randomly jumping around and when it's detecting a mine. Once it's detected a nearby mine, it points in one direction wavering slightly, and completely stops the random needle jumps as far as I could see. My advice is to look at a youtube tutorial for it and just watch for the arrow to lock on while you wander around.

Zooming way out doesn't help until after you've gotten a mine inside of the detection range, imo. (unless you have trouble keeping track of where you've been/where you're going without a zoom out?)

[Darwoth]

There's a very noticeable difference between when the arrow is randomly jumping around and when it's detecting a mine. Once it's detected a nearby mine, it points in one direction wavering slightly, and completely stops the random needle jumps as far as I could see. My advice is to look at a youtube tutorial for it and just watch for the arrow to lock on while you wander around.

Zooming way out doesn't help until after you've gotten a mine inside of the detection range, imo. (unless you have trouble keeping track of where you've been/where you're going without a zoom out?)

well for me to see the entire detection range i have to zoom out, i play in a larger resolution.

[ramuller]

A secondary question to this: if there is a mine in a given area, is the probability of detection 100% assuming the purity is correct, or is it likely a second pass through an area might find a mine the first pass missed (like forageables).

[Nixman]

No they are static, if your rod can detect it will always appear.