Mining and Dwarves Abilities

Mining and Dwarves gives you eight unique player abilities in the full 27 August 2026 build. The June demo only unlocked four of them. They all sit on the same loop of rocks, deposit, orb, gold, and shards. Rankings live on the ability tier list. This page is when to press the key and where to point the cursor. If you have not hired a miner and a collector yet, do that first. The getting started hour is cheaper than any hotbar node.

Super Auto Miner (Q)

Super Auto Miner is the Q key. While it is active, your cursor auto clicks rocks under it. Early duration is about seven seconds. You must hover. If the cursor sits in empty space, the ability ticks and rocks do not die. Park over a cluster, press Q, then sweep to the next cluster before the duration ends.

Q is not the same thing as Auto Click. Auto Click is the launch option recommended for Steam Deck, an always on click style. Super Auto Miner is a burst on top of that style. Use Auto Click for the commute between orbs. Use Q when several rocks share one hover or when the orb is up. Cooldown starts long. Nodes that cut Super Auto Miner cooldown are worth more than plus one second of duration.

Dex plays Mining and Dwarves demo

Multi Ore (W) and the Q plus W combo

Multi Ore is the W key. It is a chance for extra ore when you mine. The good use is the Steam review tip: use Multi Ore on the orb. The orb is the dense payday after the deposit bar fills. Extra ore there is extra gold and a fatter shard payout. Extra ore on a leftover pebble is a shrug.

Q plus W is the combo reviewers mention because the timings nest. Hover a cluster or the orb, pop Super Auto Miner so the target is actually taking hits, then fire Multi Ore while those hits are landing. W without Q on a thick orb wastes the chance on a slow click rate. Spend W on the object that is about to reset the floor, not on the whole field.

Ore Vacuum

Ore Vacuum yanks drops toward collection instead of waiting for boots. Use it when the floor is already glittering and the deposit bar is stalling. That stall is a haul problem, not a damage problem. Vacuum recovers a jammed cycle without hiring a third collector you cannot tell apart from the first two. After you vacuum, look at the bar. If it still is not climbing, you needed miners, not another suck.

Refresher

Refresher resets cooldowns. It is a chain tool, not a first purchase. If Q and W are still locked, Refresher has nothing worth resetting. If they are up and the orb just appeared, Refresher is how you get a second Super Auto Miner and a second Multi Ore inside the same payday. Double the orb window, then go back to walking the field. Buy it when you already know which two keys you will press twice.

Strike the Earth, Big Rock, Reactive Rocks, Enhancer

The remaining four abilities are the full game kit that demo players did not live with for long, or at all.

Strike the Earth makes workers more effective and has a chance to spawn a ruby gem. Press it when dwarves are on task so the gem roll is not wasted. If a ruby appears, treat it as a high value click, then get back to the deposit.

Big Rock is a board shaping ability. Fire it when you want a high value rock in the current cycle, not when the camera is already packed. Pair it with Super Auto Miner so the extra mass converts into drops. If collectors are already late, Vacuum first or skip the press.

Reactive Rocks puts lasers on a special rock in two directions. Line those directions through other rocks, not into empty margin. A laser that clips two rocks is the point. Hover Super Auto Miner on the reactive rock after it spawns.

Enhancer is the payoff key for a bar that already works. It pushes Q, W, and the rest rather than replacing them. If your cooldowns are still huge and your crew is still a single collector, Enhancer will not save the cycle. Unlock it after Super Auto Miner, Multi Ore, and a drain tool so there is something worth enhancing.

Pies

Pies can be clicked to enhance skills. Click a pie before the next Q or W, then spend the buffed key on the orb, not a leftover pebble. Do not chase pies while the deposit bar is one haul from full. The bar pays shards; the pie pays a buff.

What to unlock first

Order matters more than owning eight keys. Unlock Super Auto Miner, then Multi Ore, then a drain or reset tool, then the rest. Spend void shards on cooldown cuts for Q before duration, on W before Refresher, and on workers before board shaping keys. The skill tree guide maps those nodes. The upgrade-priority tool is the short version. The walkthrough is the long version.

Reviews are mixed to mostly positive. Use the eight abilities to drain the cycle, not to decorate it. If a press does not help rocks die, ore move, or the orb burst, save the cooldown.