Mining speed is an invisible statistic that determines how fast the player can mine. Its value shows the time per hit in 60th of second (a mining speed of 15 means that the pickaxe swings a hit every 15/60ths of a second). This value is determined only by the following:
- Tool mining speed
- Speed modifying prefix on the tool itself
- Buffs and items specifically increasing mining speed
The tool mining speed (or tool speed) is independent of the "speed" value that is displayed on the Pickaxes page. Best speed modifying prefix on a tool is "Light" which increases mining speed by 15%.
Mining speed can be furthermore improved by up to 70% using following buffs and items:
- Mining effect from Mining Potion adds 25%
- Set bonus of Mining armor adds 30%
- Celestial Stone adds 15%
- Sun Stone and Moon Stone add 15% during day and night respectively.
This increase is capped at 70%, even though all items together add 85%.
Useful prefixes
All pickaxes can be reforged, and the speed bonus will improve their mining speed. Useful prefixes in this regard are:
| Prefix | Damage | Speed | Critical Strike Chance | Size | Knockback | Tier | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light | - | +15% | - | - | -10% | - | +7.12% |
| Legendary | +15% | +10% | +5% | +10% | +15% | +2 | +209.85% |
| Deadly | +10% | +10% | - | - | - | +2 | +46.41% |
| Agile | - | +10% | +3% | - | - | +1 | +35.96% |
| Quick | - | +10% | - | - | - | +1 | +21.00% |
| Nasty | +5% | +10% | +2% | - | -10% | +1 | +16.87% |
| Murderous | +7% | +6% | +3% | - | - | +2 | +44.54% |
While the best prefix for mining in general is Light, certain pickaxes with a prefix with 10% speed bonus will produce the same speed due to rounding. Therefore it is much easier (and cheaper) to reforge such pickaxes, as there 6 more prefixes that will work (including Legendary). This is true for Candy Cane, Mythril, Orichalcum, Adamantite, Titanium, Chlorophyte, Spectre Pickaxes, Pickaxe Axe and Picksaw. Shroomite Digging Claw still requires Light prefix to dig faster. Mythril Pickaxe and Spectre Pickaxe also allow the Murderous prefix with only 6% speed increase.
Formula
Mining tool speed is improved by the prefix speed value, and then rounded to the nearest number. Then the bonus from items and buffs is applied, and the final value is rounded down.
Example: Light Shroomite Digging Claw has mining speed 3. When Mining (Buff) is active and Celestial Stone is worn, the mining speed is multiplied by 0.6 (40% better than 1.0), and we get mining speed of 1.8 which gets rounded down to 1. This tool will swing 60 hits per second (e.g. it will mine 60 dirt blocks per second).
Example: Light Bone Pickaxe has mining speed 9. With Mining (Buff) active and full Mining armor, the mining speed is multiplied by 0.45 (55% better than 1.0), and we get mining speed of 4.05 which gets rounded down to 4. This will be fastest pre-hardmode pickaxe for mining dirt, sand and other easy materials.
Mining speed table
| Pickaxe | Made from | Pickaxe Power | Range | Mining Speed | Best Speed (Prefix needed) | Can mine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Copper Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×12 + Template:Linked icon×4 | 35% | -1 | 15 | 13 (Light) | Everything below Meteorite |
 Cactus Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×15 | 35% | 0 | 15 | 13 (Light) | Everything below Meteorite |
 Tin Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×12 + Template:Linked icon×4 | 35% | 0 | 14 | 12 (Light) | Everything below Meteorite |
 Iron Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×12 + Template:Linked icon×3 | 40% | 0 | 13 | 11 (Light) | Everything below Meteorite |
 Lead Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×12 + Template:Linked icon×3 | 43% | 0 | 12 | 10 (Light) | Everything below Meteorite |
 Silver Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×12 + Template:Linked icon×4 | 45% | 0 | 11 | 9 (Light) | Everything below Meteorite |
 Tungsten Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×12 + Template:Linked icon×4 | 50% | 0 | 19 | 16 (Light) | Meteorite |
 Bone Pickaxe |
N/A (Dropped by Undead Miner) | 50% | 0 | 11 | 9 (Light) | Meteorite |
 Gold Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×12 + Template:Linked icon×4 | 55% | 0 | 17 | 14 (Light) | Meteorite, Demonite, Crimtane |
 Candy Cane Pickaxe |
N/A (Dropped by Present) | 55% | 0 | 16 | 14 (Quick) | Meteorite, Demonite, Crimtane |
 Platinum Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×12 + Template:Linked icon×4 | 59% | 0 | 15 | 13 (Light) | Meteorite, Demonite, Crimtane |
 Nightmare Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×12 + Template:Linked icon×6 | 65% | 0 | 15 | 13 (Light) | Hellstone, Obsidian, Ebonstone/Crimstone, Dungeon Brick |
 Deathbringer Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×12 + Template:Linked icon×6 | 70% | 0 | 14 | 12 (Light) | Hellstone, Obsidian, Ebonstone/Crimstone, Dungeon Brick |
 Molten Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×20 | 100% | 0 | 25 | 21 (Light) | Cobalt, Palladium |
 Reaver Shark |
N/A (Obtained from fishing) | 100% | 0 | 18 | 15 (Light) | Cobalt, Palladium |
 Cobalt Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×15 | 110% | 0 | 13 | 11 (Light) | Mythril, Orichalcum |
 Palladium Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×15 | 130% | 0 | 11 | 9 (Light) | Mythril, Orichalcum |
 Mythril Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×15 | 150% | 0 | 10 | 9 (Murderous) | Adamantite, Titanium |
 Orichalcum Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×18 | 165% | 0 | 8 | 7 (Quick) | Adamantite, Titanium |
 Adamantite Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×18 | 180% | 0 | 7 | 6(Quick) | Adamantite, Titanium |
 Titanium Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×20 | 190% | 0 | 7 | 6(Quick) | Adamantite, Titanium |
 Chlorophyte Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×18 | 200% | +1 | 7 | 6(Quick) | Chlorophyte |
 Spectre Pickaxe |
Template:Linked icon×18 + Template:Linked icon×18 | 200% | +3 | 10 | 9 (Murderous) | Chlorophyte |
 Pickaxe Axe |
Template:Linked icon×18 + Template:Linked icon×1 + Template:Linked icon×1 + Template:Linked icon×1 | 200% | 0 | 7 | 6 (Quick) | Chlorophyte |
 Shroomite Digging Claw |
Template:Linked icon×18 | 200% | -1 | 4 | 3 (Light) | Chlorophyte |
 Picksaw |
N/A (Dropped by Golem 12.5%) | 210% | +1 | 6 | 5 (Quick) | Lihzahrd Brick |
Note: Legendary prefix can be applied to all pickaxes in place of Quick or Murderous in the table and the speed will stay the same.
Note: Drills Do Not have the same mining speed as pickaxes, which are faster, except for Orichalcum Drill which is slower than Orichalcum Pickaxe (Speed 10 instead of 8). Additionally the drills cannot be reforged to increase speed.
Fastest mining tools
Pre-hardmode the fastest digging tools are:
- Light Bone Pickaxe for Dirt, Mud, Sand, Snow and other easy blocks
- Template:Pc icon Light Reaver Shark for all blocks more difficult than Dirt (Stone, Meteorite, Obsidian, Ebonstone etc.)
- Template:Console iconTemplate:Mobile icon Light Molten Pickaxe for Stone blocks, Bricks, Meteorite, Obsidian, Ores; Light Deathbringer Pickaxe for Hellstone, Crimstone, Ebonstone, Pearlstone, Dungeon Bricks.
In hardmode, Light Shroomite Digging Claw is the fastest tool, but players can prefer also:
- Legendary / Quick / Deadly / Agile / Nasty / Light Adamantite Pickaxe or Titanium Pickaxe is accessible significantly sooner
- Legendary / Quick / Deadly / Agile / Nasty / Light Chlorophyte Pickaxe has extra range and should be obtained next
- Legendary / Quick / Deadly / Agile / Nasty / Light Picksaw is second fastest after the Shroomite Digging Claw and has much higher range
Drills cannot be reforged to increase speed and may be considered by some to be inferior to pickaxes.
- However, clicking "resets" the digging process, so clicking rapidly on a stronger block (such as Adamantite) can mine far quicker than a pickaxe with no modifiers, albeit with little more effort.
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