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Building a Good Miner

ekudram edited this page Aug 15, 2026 · 1 revision

Building a Good Miner Pawn (Dirtmole)

Viewer helper — plan a colonist who digs, not one who crafts or fights as a main job. Xenotypes from Biotech; traits from vanilla Core only.

Mining feeds steel, components (compacted machinery), jade, gold, and mountain bases. Skill + work speed decide how fast the mountain opens.

Trait budgets: 4 default · 6 RICS luxury.


Quick picks

Slot Pick Why
Xenotype Dirtmole Remarkable Mining, dark vision, cave dweller
1 Industrious +35% work speed at the vein
2 Fast learner Mining 20 faster
3 Undergrounder Happy indoors / dark; pairs with Dirtmole cave genes
4 Tough Cave-ins, insects, and raids still hit miners

Passions: Burning Mining. Minor Construction if they also cut overhead mountain and rebuild.

Luxury 6: Great memory, Quick sleeper, Hard worker (if Industrious unavailable), Body modder (bionic arms help mine speed via manipulation).


Dirtmole xenotype (Biotech)

Tunnel specialists. Excellent underground, poor in the open.

Gene Effect
Remarkable mining Large Mining aptitude
Dark vision No darkness work penalty
Cave dweller Comfortable confined / underground
Fast wound healing Recovers from cave-ins better than average
Strong melee Can fight insects up close if needed
Intense UV sensitivity Sunlight hurts — keep them inside or night-only outside
Nearsighted Bad at long-range shooting
Slow move Do not make them the hauler / kiter

Do not use Dirtmole as your animal handler or open-field farmer. Do use them in a mountain or deep-drill colony.

Baseliner miner: same traits; you must supply Mining aptitude with skill + burning passion instead of the gene.


Vanilla traits

Take: Industrious / Hard worker, Fast learner, Undergrounder, Tough, Great memory, Quick sleeper, Body modder.

Avoid: Lazy / Slothful, Slow learner, Body purist (if you want bionic arms), Jogger is nice but not a miner trait — speed is for combat pages.

Undergrounder is unhappy outdoors. That is a feature on a mountain miner and a problem if the map is all open plains.


Skills and RICS passions

Mining skill raises mine speed and (with other stats) how useful they are at the drill.

!passion list
!passion mining 200

See Passion Command. Crit fail can strip the passion — do not all-in on a tiny wallet.

Set !mypawn work Mining 1, Construction 2, Plant Cut if they clear overhead.


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