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Gathering
Gathering encompasses the three core resource skills in Idleology: Mining, Fishing, and Woodcutting. These provide the raw and refined materials that fuel Settlement production, Black Market trades, Alchemy transmutations, construction, and many other systems.
Access the main hub with /gather (or the individual skill commands). Active minigames are available via /fish, /chop, and /delve (the mining expedition).
| Skill | Emoji | Tool | Primary Resources (in tier order) | Active Activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining | ⛏️ | Pickaxe | Iron Ore, Coal, Gold Ore, Platinum Ore, Idea Ore | Delve (expedition) |
| Fishing | 🎣 | Rod | Desiccated Bones → Titanium Bones | Fishing minigame |
| Woodcutting | 🪓 | Axe | Oak Logs → Idea Logs | Chop (forestry) |
Each skill has 5 tool tiers. Higher tiers unlock better (rarer) resources in both passive production and active sessions. Tools are upgraded in the /gather hub using gold + appropriate lower-tier resources.
The backbone of gathering is the hourly regeneration task (runs server-wide).
- Every hour, you receive a yield of resources based on your current tool tier.
- Base yields scale with tier (higher tiers give more and access rarer resources).
- Artisan Mastery (see below) applies powerful multipliers, signature resource bonuses, "Rich" events, "Never Empty" procs, and more.
- Resources accumulate (with some caps) and are collected automatically or via the hub.
This is purely passive — log in occasionally to benefit, or stay active for mastery gains.
After reaching BiS tools, gathering used to feel "solved." Artisan Mastery solves this with a deep, passive-first specialization system.
- Earned exclusively from the hourly passive ticks (rate scales with tool tier: 0.6/day at base → 1.8/day at BiS).
- Soft catch-up (up to 24 hours) on login or after absence.
- Points are per-skill and permanent (until respec).
Each skill has three branches (Yield / Quality / Synergy). Invest points to unlock nodes sequentially within a branch.
Common structure per skill:
- Yield (volume): Straight +% to passive resource output (8% → 16% → 26%, plus "Never Empty" 12% chance for +70% extra on a tick).
- Quality (specialization & events): Bonus to signature high-tier resource (Idea Ore / Titanium Bones / Idea Logs), below-tier chance for signature resources, Remnants, and Rich events.
- Synergy (cross-system power): Tool upgrade cost reduction (12%), improved Skiller boot procs, bonuses to Settlement converters (smelting/wood/essence), Alchemy ratios, and powerful capstones.
Rich Events (Quality investment):
- Chance per passive tick for 2.6× yield on everything that hour + guaranteed Remnants.
- Upgraded dramatically with higher Quality nodes.
Remnants (Quality 3pt unlock):
- Mining: Geode Cores
- Fishing: Tide Relics
- Woodcutting: Heartwood Shards
- Generated on Rich procs (higher on rich) and baseline small chance. Used to craft Rune of Nature.
Nature's Attunement (cross-skill tree):
- Unlocked only after heavy investment (20+ points in each skill's trees, including bonus points).
- 3 global nodes (5 points each): bonuses to Rune of Nature drops from Elemental encounters, Alchemy material efficiency, and tripled gathering ticks on prestige bosses.
Mastery Insight (post-max scaling):
- Every 5 excess points across all skills (after full trees + bonus investments) converts to 1 Insight.
- Gentle permanent global bonuses: +yield, +remnant chance on bosses, +Rune drop chance.
- Designed as long-term "number go up" for dedicated gatherers.
Prestige Capstones (Synergy 8pt):
- Unlock rare treasure bosses in combat (Meridian Golem for mining, Drowned Leviathan for fishing, Verdant Colossus for woodcutting).
- These drop high-value items and can grant tripled passive ticks.
Respecs:
- Rune of Nature is the respec currency (crafted from Remnants at high cost, or rare drop from Elemental of Elements boss).
- Allows resetting one skill (or all) so you can try different specializations.
Mastery is viewed and invested in from the /gather hub → Mastery button. The UI shows branch progress, investment, and next unlocks.
While passive is the main progression driver, active play offers fun, quality-gated bonuses, and extra rewards.
- Pay gold for bait (scales with rod tier).
- Wait a random time (shorter with better rods).
- Reel with focus: build streak for session quality ("good/great/masterful").
- Higher quality → momentum toward familiarization gates + yield bonus on the catch.
- Rewards bones (used in Settlement Reliquary for essences).
- Pay for forestry pass.
- Click "Swing" repeatedly to fell a tree (fewer swings with better axes).
- Stay "in rhythm" (quick successive swings within ~45s window) for quality rating.
- Higher rhythm % = better quality → momentum + bonuses.
- Rewards logs (processed in Sawmill).
The premium active mining experience (paid expedition).
- Entry: Gold cost based on current fuel level (higher fuel = deeper potential but higher cost).
- Procedural layers with hazards:
- Safe (no damage)
- Gravel / Gas Pocket / Magma Flow (damage stability/fuel)
- Rare Ore Vein (bonus from depth 5+)
- Manage fuel (for depth) and stability (mitigated by pickaxe tier).
- Survey to reveal nearby layers (range improves with delve level).
- Reinforce or extract at veins.
- Rewards: ore (better with depth), Delve Shards (for pickaxe upgrades), curios.
- Delve has its own XP/leveling separate from main character (affects fuel, reinforce power, survey range).
- Quality sessions (high stability + depth) grant momentum for tool gates.
Delve is the "deep mining" fantasy — high risk/reward for dedicated players.
- 5 tiers per skill with increasing power and resource access.
- Upgrades cost gold + previous-tier resources (costs reducible via Mastery Synergy nodes).
- After purchasing certain mid tiers, a Familiarization Gate locks the next upgrade for a real-time period (24h, 48h, 120h depending on tier/skill).
- Momentum (banked from good-quality active sessions) reduces remaining gate time.
- This encourages mixing passive + active play and prevents instant BiS rushing after big resource hauls.
- Final "ideal/felling/titanium" tiers have no further gate.
Gathered materials are foundational:
- Settlement: Direct fuel for generators/converters (Logging Camp/Quarry produce more, but player gathering supplements; Sawmill/Foundry/Reliquary process your hauls). Black Market loves bulk gathering goods.
- Alchemy: Bones/essences and logs/planks feed transmutations.
- Construction & Upgrades: Timber, stone equivalents (via processed), special settler materials from high-end gathering.
- Combat & Partners: Skiller boots proc more/better with Mastery. Dispatch can interact indirectly.
- Endgame: Idea-tier resources are rare and valuable for high-tier crafts, runes, prestige sinks, and Uber-related materials.
- Remnants + Runes tie into Mastery respecs and minor economies.
- Prioritize tool upgrades early — they multiply everything.
- Mix passive (set and forget for points) with active minigames/Delve for quality momentum and extra resources.
- Invest Mastery thoughtfully: Yield for raw power, Quality for events/remnants/rich procs (and signature resources), Synergy for quality-of-life and cross-system power (especially Skiller boots and converters).
- Don't ignore familiarization gates — use active sessions to bank momentum.
- Stockpile lower-tier resources; they are always needed for upgrades and Settlement.
- Once you have strong Mastery, your passive ticks become a major resource engine. Check in regularly.
- Delve is excellent for targeted high-tier ore + shards/curios when you need them.
- Watch for Rich events — they are huge for both resources and remnant generation.
- The Elemental of Elements encounter (tied to gathering prestige) is a great source of Runes of Nature.
Gathering is the quiet engine behind Settlement's economy and many late-game loops. With Artisan Mastery, it transforms from a simple "upgrade tools and forget" system into a rich, long-term specialization path with meaningful choices and exciting offline/combat payoffs.
Mine deeper. Cast further. Fell stronger.
Last updated: May 2026 (sourced from cogs/skills.py, core/skills/mechanics.py, core/skills/mastery.py, core/skills/views/*, core/delve/mechanics.py, docs/design/gathering_mastery.md, docs/design/gathering_expansion.md, database skills repo, and cross-references in settlement/settlement constants, combat, and CLAUDE.md)