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Pickaxes are the primary tools in the game. They are used to mine dirt, stone, ores, and other blocks. Players are advised to upgrade their pickaxe whenever possible as they are one of the most used items in the game.

The player begins with a Copper Pickaxe. When standing still, it has a range of 4 feet (2 blocks) above/below the player, and when hugging a wall, the range is 8 feet (4 blocks) in the front. However, starting from Iron Pickaxe, the range gets improved (6 feet/3 blocks above and below, 10 feet/5 blocks up front). Pickaxes are crafted using an Iron Anvil.

Pickaxe	Damage	Pickaxe Power	Speed	Materials to craft	Can mine
Copper Pickaxe	4	35%	Fast	12 Copper Bars, 4 Wood	Everything up to Meteorite and Demonite
Iron Pickaxe	5	40%	Very Fast	12 Iron Bars, 4 Wood	Everything up to Meteorite and Demonite
Silver Pickaxe	6	45%	Very Fast	12 Silver Bars, 4 Wood	Everything up to Meteorite and Demonite
Gold Pickaxe	6	55%	Very Fast	12 Gold Bars, 4 Wood	Meteorite Ore, Demonite Ore
Nightmare Pickaxe	9	65%	Very Fast	12 Demonite Bars, 6 Shadow Scales	Hellstone, Obsidian, Ebonstone, Dungeon Brick
Molten Pickaxe	12	100%	Fast	35 Hellstone Bars	Cobalt Ore

As weapons, pickaxes can hit fast but deal relatively little damage. Pickaxes are not recommended for use against monsters unless the monster is weak and the pickaxe is a high tier. Pickaxes can be useful, however, for clearing away plants and vines.

Drills are effectively later tier pickaxes, they are faster and more efficient but it can be harder to stop projectiles like those of Fire Imps while mining.