Mining Guide : FFXI Submissions

First off, heres some mining rules.

1. DO NOT STEAL POINTS FROM SOMEONE ALREADY ON A POINT. This is the most important rule of mining. The only time u steal is if the person steals from you FIRST, is known to steal, or is a gil seller.

2. There is NO such thing as a Mining Skill. Its all luck. Field gear just increases that luck, and HQ version does NOT increase it more.

3. Mining is a game of Luck and Patience. Dont expect to talk into a mine and get 4 rare ores.

4. All Mines have Ores that are their "rare" ores. These ore are always good to sell. They will be what u get excited about.

5. Tin, Copper, Pebbles, and Flint stones are mining crap. Zinc is to an extent. Ores that are common that u will find are: Iron and Silver.

6. If you cant craft these common ores, u are going to get alot of them to sell. Irons are usually between 600-1k, while silver is around 500.

7. Clear your inventory before you go mining. The more room the better.

8. Gobbiebags are incredible to a miner. Especially if you cant craft. It makes extra room for your picks and mining gear. For Non crafters, 3-5 stacks of picks are plenty, but i suggest around 8 or so for a crafter with gobbiebags.

9. Mining can be a punk. Some days the mines just wont drop anything. and other u just get rare ores back to back. Be sure to zone after a long time mining so you can get better ores to drop. There are rumors that moon and days effect mining. I for one believe that Moon effects each mine differently, as well as day. However I have yet to figure out each mines strength. More on that in each mines description.

10. Last one. I have noticed that mines are Moody! The points around a mine are like your best friends. If you dont pay attention to all of them, then none of them will speak to you. Basically, all the points like attention. If you miss a point alot, all the others will stop spawning until u get that one. This is a theory of mine, but its strongly supported.


Mining Places and Recommended Level to Mine.


Zeruhn Mines
This is in bastok. This is the WORST place to mine. Darksteel is the rare ore for this mine. Yes it sells pretty well for new players, and its best for low lvl chars. Darksteel is hard to get here. As for the best to mine here? How can i say Never if you can lol.


Palborough Mines
This mines entrance is in North Gustaberg. This is a very good mid lvl mine. The rare ore is Platinum Ore. It is also one of the few places to get Mythril ore, which sells very very well. Platinum is good gil. I have noticed that mining is really unaffected by the moon in Pal. However I feel that Lightsday is the best day to mine in Palborough. I think u can run everywhere no aggro at lvl 35.


Yughott Grotto
This is a strange place indeed. This place has a HUGE amount of mining points. But they spawn really crazy. I have seen some points only spawn once every few days. Others that are there nearly every time u pass. The points are numerous, but usually not alot of ore from each point. Darksteel and Gold are the rare ores here. This place isnt quite as good as Gusgen, but a great alternative. This place, like Gusgen, seems to be weaker on New and Full moon, but best any other time. 35 u can run through the whole place with no aggro.


Gusgen Mines
Arguable the best place to mine. This place has rare ores of Gold and Darksteel. However it seems to drop them really fast. This place is ravaged by gil sellers for this very reason. Expect nearly every point u have in here to be stolen. I have noticed that a Full moon and New moon are bad in this place. Any other time is incredible, if u are lucky enough to be away from gil sellers. Lvl 50 or Higher only!


Oldton Movalpolos
This place is a good place to mine. The points here are really nutty. They will go away, and respawn in seconds sometimes. So when u finish a point dont just run off, wait a second. The rare ores for this place is Gold, Darksteel, and Platinum ore. This place is really strange. Its kinda random and does well sometimes. Its kinda fun. Its entrance is in gusgen mines. I havent noticed any better days or moon phases. Just doesnt drop as well as i figured it would, being such a high lvl place.


Ifrits Cauldron
As for lvl cap, dont worry. 75s get aggro here. That doesnt mean its impossible to mine... it just means u gotta be sneaky. This place is really spread out and really confusing. I dont recommend anyone just tyring this place. I died alot finding the points and a route around this place. This place drops the rarest ore in the game, Oricalcum ore. Was going for 300k last check! Moon effects this place greatly! New moon or Full moon mining only. Otherwise its a waste of a day. Adaman ore is obtained from here as well and this is the only place. However its not worth that much. Darksteel is available here also.


Newton Movalpolos
The other lvl 75 area. This place is harder than ifrits to navigate because of the gates. I dont recommend anyone going here less than lvl 70. Not even trying to sneak and invis. This is the only place in the game to get Aluminum Ore. That doesnt make it good. Aluminum is only used in a few recipes, so its not highly sought after. Platinum, Darksteel, and GOld are also gotten from here. Anytime is good here.

Heres a list of the known botters, gil sellers, and just dumb people that mine Gusgen on the valefor server...
Marryloon
Mikeloon
Mayloon
Coolrock (funnily enough, this guy accused me of being a chinese {gilfinder} once. What's the chinese word for "irony" and "hypocrisy"?)
Koyiti*
Emiko*
Mikelong
Kutani*

A simple "/sea Gusgen" (no quotes) should make it fairly easy to tell how packed the place is at any given time.

Anyone else should be seen as honest until they steal from you. Don't steal from anyone else until they steal from you.


any questions comments or other stuff, e-mail to darkwolf27@gmail.com