Coal

[Emkazas]

Why coal is more rare than other ores. Like you have a 100 pieces of iron ore but only 40 coal. And preserves jar uses 8 coal per unit.
How do you guys get coal because I am lack of it so badly

 

[Ereo]

1. Pick the right profession for double coal
2. Check the minecarts and backpacks in the mine, sometimes they contain coal
3. Kill enough of the fluffy black balls to get the burglar ring. Then, kill more of them with the burglar ring
4. Plant a forest and produce your own coal
5. Buy it at Clint's

 

[Worblehat]

I had that problem to some extent in the earlier stages of the game. A charcoal kiln helps, since the supply of wood is effectively infinite (my farm is constantly overgrown with trees). And once you do Robin's Special Order for 1000 wood, well, by definition you've got a ridiculous amount of wood to use up.

Hitting the mine for Dust Sprites will also help. I really should do that more often, since they're one of the more useful Monster Eradication goals.

Skull Caverns seems to give a better ratio of coal to ores, but I don't have a large sample size to be sure of that.

But yeah, the coal cost for preserves jars and beehives is limiting. I only have four and two, respectively, while the keg count is 50+ and increasing as fast as the oak resin comes in (need to make more Tappers...). Your example of 100 ore to 40 coal is not bad, actually, you have enough to smelt it all with 20 coal to spare for other ores, a couple of preserves jars, or whatever.

Re: Ereo's suggestion of the Prospector profession probably won't help, from what I've seen. By the time you hit Mining 10 coal probably won't be a big deal anymore (I'm at 9, and considering how long going from 8 to 9 took I don't expect to see 10 for ages). I went with Geologist for level 5, and will probably take Excavator at 10.

 

[imnvs]

Re: Ereo's suggestion of the Prospector profession probably won't help, from what I've seen. By the time you hit Mining 10 coal probably won't be a big deal anymore (I'm at 9, and considering how long going from 8 to 9 took I don't expect to see 10 for ages). I went with Geologist for level 5, and will probably take Excavator at 10.

Geologist/Excavator isn't bad, but no... you'll still need lots and lots of coal as you proceed into the game. On my Beach Farm, I am a Prospector and still need to occasionally buy from Clint after I have a few dozen preserves jars and 50-ish bee houses. See, the issue is a problem of scale and timing. You can build parts of your infrastructure quite easily and quickly... but others have resources that are limiting, and if you haven't been saving them for a while, or you haven't had the time to save them for a while... well, you could come up short.

To illustrate, my Beach Farm, year 3, and I have 4 big sheds. One is my crafting shed, 2 are keg sheds (132 kegs each), and the last is 50/50 kegs and preserves jars (66 of each). Once you're producing lots and lots of berries, turning them into jams/jellies is big bucks, but you need a lot of preserves jars to keep up once salmonberry season comes around. (Blackberries are worth 120g if you have Bear's Knowledge and they are of iridium quality from being a Botanist, and if you are an Artisan the Blackberry jelly is worth 125g. Not worth the extra effort for 5g.) Then, once you've got iridium sprinklers and fields of berries to make into jellies, well, you'll need more than 4. (And because of the way the price formula works for jellies versus wines, something as cheap as salmonberries should absolutely be made into jelly worth 60g base value compared to wine worth 15g base value.)

 

[Salty1]

In addition to previous comments vouching for prospector, don't forget the relative value of luck.

Even if you don't want ladders, going on the mines on a good luck day might net a little more coal than usual. Going with luck boosts from food/ginger ale might also get more to appear while breaking up the basic rocks.

I also get coal while panning pretty regularly, but your mileage can vary a lot with that one, and not everyone likes carrying the pan/wearing it as a hat just in case.

 

[Worblehat]

you'll need more than 4

Depends on one's goals. I think I am following the way of the Lazy Farmer, probably closer to a Lew Zealand farm than yours. In the long term I don't expect to do much other than the greenhouse, so just a ton of kegs for the ancient fruit (and daily cherry, orange, peach, pomegranate, and apple) and a few preserves jars for the daily apricot.

Having seen a salmonberry season at high foraging skill, there's no way I'll turn those into jelly - way too many berries, too much effort!

But yes, good point, for farmers willing to put in the effort to use vast numbers of jars (and beehives), I can see coal being a major long term problem, even more than the early game problem I've experienced.

Edit: Here's a fun thought: what if Willy needed fuel for his boat, in addition to the hull repairs, anchor replacement, and ticket stand batteries? Bring him 200 coal! I am very glad that's not part of that quest...

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

Never stop cracking geodes. I see so many base geodes filled with 5-20 ,coal

 

[One More Day]

Here's a fun thought: what if Willy needed fuel for his boat, in addition to the hull repairs, anchor replacement, and ticket stand batteries? Bring him 200 coal! I am very glad that's not part of that quest...

Hi Clint, I'd like to buy 200 coal. Here's 30k, thanks, bye


Seriously, any other way of getting coal, and you're costing yourself more money in lost opportunity cost to do other things

 

[imnvs]

Seriously, any other way of getting coal, and you're costing yourself more money in lost opportunity cost to do other things

If you're already in the mine blowing stuff up? The choice is about what you'll get when you're there. Nobody is mining for coal, but if you're in the mine and you need coal...

Seriously, your argument can equally be applied to literally every mining profession. What's your point? I already said I buy coal. I want to not have to buy as much.

 

[LRangerR]

Hi Clint, I'd like to buy 200 coal. Here's 30k, thanks, bye


Seriously, any other way of getting coal, and you're costing yourself more money in lost opportunity cost to do other things

You're implying that everyone measures the game in money. In SDV, there comes a point when money has no affect on your choices any longer, so then what do you do?