Mining and Dwarves Beginner Tips
Auto versus Manual, hover Q, mixed crew, cooldown before duration, W on the orb, pies, and collapse.
Mining and Dwarves is already on Steam as a single-player incremental, and most of the pain in the first two hours is not a lack of clicks. It is a handful of habits that make the floor look busy while the deposit bar sits still. This page is that short list. The first-hour route is getting started. The keys are on abilities. The board is the skill tree. The shopping order is the upgrade-priority tool. How shards actually appear is how to get void shards.
Auto Click versus Manual Click
On boot you pick Auto Click or Manual Click. Auto rests the cursor on a rock and clicks for you. Manual is a higher-effort challenge mode with the same rocks, the same deposit, and the same two wallets. It is not a secret loot table. Steam Deck and trackpad players should live on Auto. You can switch later in settings if your wrist or your pride changes its mind.
The mistake is treating Manual as the real game and Auto as training wheels. Auto is the launch default because Super Auto Miner already bursts on top of whatever click style you picked. Manual will not mint extra void shards.
Hover Super Auto Miner or the burst is empty
Super Auto Miner is the Q key. It is not a floor-wide autoclicker. While it is active, the cursor clicks whatever sits under it. Early duration is about seven seconds. One playtest clocked roughly eight clicks per second during that window. Hover is required. If the cursor sits on empty dirt, the skill tree, or the UI, those clicks hit nothing and the cooldown still starts.
Early cooldown is about thirty-five seconds. Ranks that cut ten seconds off that wait are the real Super Auto Miner upgrades. Park over a cluster, press Q, sweep to the next cluster, then onto the special orb if one is up. A pretty cooldown spent on air is the most common Q mistake in the first hour.
Do not stack one dwarf role
Hire a mixed pair first: one Miner to break rocks, one Collector to haul ore into the central deposit. Three Collectors with zero Miners stand around full-health stones. Three Miners with zero Collectors paint the floor with ore nobody carries. Either stack stalls the bar that pays shards.
Steam lists five dwarf types. Named types here are Miner, Collector, Demolition Dwarf, and Foreman. The fifth name is unpublished; this wiki will not invent it. Foreman is a later specialist. Recruit a dwarf Foreman and nearby workers get a boost to speed, damage, and aura radius. That aura does not replace haul, and it does not replace the first Miner. Read the Foreman page when the node appears, not before the mixed pair exists.
Rock unlocks seen in videos include tin, copper, coal, and basilian. New rocks change how long a stone lives. They do not fix a one-role crew. Unlocking basilian while ore already carpets the floor is clutter.
Cooldown before duration, Multi Ore on the orb
Put cooldown ahead of duration on Super Auto Miner. The ability starts as a short hover burst on a long wait. A minus-ten cooldown rank is a new burst every cycle. A plus-one duration rank is not. Duration nodes that cap a stub and open nothing are dead-end leaves. There is no prestige refund. Leave those leaves until the branch is done.
Multi Ore is the W key. A Steam review tip is worth following: it is strongest on the special orb, not on a leftover pebble. Hover Q onto the orb, then fire W while the hits land. Extra ore on the payday is extra gold and a fatter shard drop. Extra ore on brown rock number one is a shrug. Gold is a separate wallet from shards; W on the orb feeds both, W on a pebble feeds neither well.
Pies, collapse auto-hide, and not spraying the tree
Pies spawn in the mine. Click them to enhance skills, then spend the buffed key on the orb or a dense cluster. Do not chase a pie while the deposit bar is one haul from full. The bar pays shards. The pie pays a buff. Click the pie on the way to the orb, not as a side quest.
Playtests include a collapse event. Dwarves auto-hide during collapse. Do not panic-hire because the floor looks empty for a few seconds. Wait it out, then check whether Miners are damaging and Collectors are walking. Collapse is a pause, not a wipe, and it is not a reason to spray cheap nodes.
Do not spray the tree. Because progression is persistent, a bad early cluster is still there next month. Buy the mixed pair, then worker speed or carry, then Super Auto Miner, then cooldown. Skip duration crumbs. Skip a second copy of one role. Skip Foreman until the pair is online. Skip decorative leaves that open nothing. If a buy does not help rocks die, ore move, or the orb burst, leave it. Your cursor still has to hover. The crew still has to mix. The bar still has to fill.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
Should I pick Auto Click or Manual Click?
Auto Click. Manual is a harder click mode with the same rocks and the same wallets, not extra loot. First-hour setup is in getting started.
Why did Super Auto Miner do nothing?
Q only clicks under the cursor for about seven seconds. Hover a cluster or the orb. Key rules sit on the abilities page.
Can I hire three Miners and skip Collectors?
No. Mix Miner and Collector first. Foreman is a later aura specialist, not a haul replacement; details are on the Foreman page.
Is Super Auto Miner duration worth buying early?
No. Early cooldown is about thirty-five seconds; minus-ten ranks beat plus-one duration. Pathing notes are on the skill tree.
Where should I use Multi Ore?
On the special orb after the deposit fills. That payday is also how you get void shards.
What should I buy instead of spraying the tree?
Mixed pair, speed or carry, Super Auto Miner, then cooldown. Use the upgrade-priority tool when several nodes are affordable.