Okay, so back in the not so long ago days of 1.7.3, I was big on branch mining. I would make really long ones with tons of branches. Normal spelunking just never got me as many diamonds. Now, with the release of 1.8, we have caves that can seemingly go on forever. My question is, is spelunking now more efficient than branch mining?
A low density mine is probably still viable if you want to find diamonds and to some extent gold. If you are looking for everything else you should do spelunking.
I still do a combination of them both, but i always carry lava incase i get swarmed :smile.gif: I have better luck on finding gold and redstone by finding a deep cave, and nearly never find diamond either way. i have bad luck.
I do a mixture of both. Firstly i set up a mining base or whatever you want to call it, then i branch mine down into caves.
If you dont mind using MCEDIT once a while i would reccomend go checking out where the caves are in the program then return to minecraft to access them.
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But that's just my advice, because in the end you can do whatever the **** YOU WANNA DO!
i do a 2x2 tunnel to bedrock (spiral stairs) then 2x2 tunnel which so far has let me do pure diamond pick with profit of over 100 diamonds.+ 2 stacks of iron BLOCKS etcetera
Because of Ravines, Mineshafts and Stringholds, Spelinking has been expanded, especially with the increase in treasure chests. It has also made Spelunking quite dangerous and it is now very easy to get lost.
I prefer spelunking for iron coal gold and lapiz but you will need to branch mine at low levels sometime which is where you will get things like diamonds and redstone.
It really depends on preferences.
Most likely, people like to use branch mining, as oppose to strip mining and spelunking. People usually like the look of this, and it's a nice addition to your fortress.
On the other hand, some people are adventurous, and find spelunking fun to do.
Most likely, branch mining is best if you are look for things like redstone, and diamond. If you want to find a lot of iron and gold and coal, spelunking is the best.
Both of these mining techniques can go hand in hand.
By branch mining, you can actually find quite a lot of iron and coal (albeit not as much as spelunking), and you can run into caves that you can spelunk for more iron and coal.
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I am the bone of my sword
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood
I have created over a thousand blades
Unknown to death, Nor known to life
Have withstood pain to create many weapons
Yet, those hands will never hold anything
So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works
I used to go spelunking loads in 1.7.3, now I just dig underneath my house when I start a world and start branch mining. I dunno why, it's weird not returning to the surface with a full inventory though. Now farming is more important I just get the necessary resources for tools and do that instead.
I haven't dug out an entire chunk yet either, I'm in no hurry
I like spelunking, I've found HEAPS of diamonds this way. Particularly after the 1.8 update, which 'fixed caves spawning with too many dead ends' (see minecraft launcher). It's just that my general belief that caves have more exposed blocks, so it's easier to find ores. Most lava and dungeons are also linked to caves. Furthermore, there's less to dig.
Downsides to spelunking: it's dangerous (lava, getting lost, mobs, etc)
Downsides to branch mining: it's inefficient and generates way too much cobblestone
I just enjoy spelunking more, it's more fun, interesting and adventurous. :biggrin.gif:
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Branch mining will always expose more blocks than spelunking will.
With spelunking, the only blocks that are exposed are the ones that are there.
With branch mining you expose more blocks every time you mine one.
Spelunking is less effort but will always result in less ores, even less of the rare ones.
With a branch mine you can expose just about every single block at diamond level. This will greatly increase the number of possible diamonds you can find.
With spelunking, unless you dig into the sides of the walls, you only see what is exposed, thus leaving most of the chunks unexplored.
Branch mining is more work, but in the end it will always get you much more rewards.
Once an area is explored thru spelunking, you must then travel above ground to find the next cave system/ravine. With branch mining you can just make branch after branch in a never ending grid.
Which one you use is really up to the individual.
I personally prefer branch mining because I wish to get the maximum amount of ores as possible. Between the smooth stone and now the stone bricks, I see all the cobble generated as a plus.
Why waste your time sitting at a cobblestone generator when you can be branch mining and get cobble and ores?
Trying to get games written for windows to work on a Linux machine is like trying to put a diaper on an incontinent buffalo. Sure, you might get it all done, but you'll certainly be left with a huge mess, and it's very time consuming.
On an ores/time basis, you get far more spelunking than branch mining.
Think of it this way: mining you mine 2 blocks and see 8 new ones. Spelunking you walk one block and see 10-20 new ones (walls). Spelunking you don't have to mine through anything to get to ores.
While you can search more area mining than spelunking, it takes probably 30x or more time to do.
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- I branch mine at bedrock level. This yields the most diamonds and other rare resources.
- Strip mine at y=10.6, 3 high. Not as efficient as branch mining, but it creates a nice spawning ground for slimes.
- Spelunk at higher levels. With the new mine shafts, it is a great resource for wood, train tracks and string. When I spelunk I typically "shape" and light up the caverns I go through, minimizing the chance of getting lost or re-exploring an area I already went through.
The above combination seems to give me a good balance of resources for my projects.
If you dont mind using MCEDIT once a while i would reccomend go checking out where the caves are in the program then return to minecraft to access them.
But that's just my advice, because in the end you can do whatever the **** YOU WANNA DO!
What's that?
Most likely, people like to use branch mining, as oppose to strip mining and spelunking. People usually like the look of this, and it's a nice addition to your fortress.
On the other hand, some people are adventurous, and find spelunking fun to do.
Most likely, branch mining is best if you are look for things like redstone, and diamond. If you want to find a lot of iron and gold and coal, spelunking is the best.
Both of these mining techniques can go hand in hand.
By branch mining, you can actually find quite a lot of iron and coal (albeit not as much as spelunking), and you can run into caves that you can spelunk for more iron and coal.
I am the bone of my sword
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood
I have created over a thousand blades
Unknown to death, Nor known to life
Have withstood pain to create many weapons
Yet, those hands will never hold anything
So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works
I haven't dug out an entire chunk yet either, I'm in no hurry
Downsides to spelunking: it's dangerous (lava, getting lost, mobs, etc)
Downsides to branch mining: it's inefficient and generates way too much cobblestone
I just enjoy spelunking more, it's more fun, interesting and adventurous. :biggrin.gif:
Same here :smile.gif:
With spelunking, the only blocks that are exposed are the ones that are there.
With branch mining you expose more blocks every time you mine one.
Spelunking is less effort but will always result in less ores, even less of the rare ones.
With a branch mine you can expose just about every single block at diamond level. This will greatly increase the number of possible diamonds you can find.
With spelunking, unless you dig into the sides of the walls, you only see what is exposed, thus leaving most of the chunks unexplored.
Branch mining is more work, but in the end it will always get you much more rewards.
Once an area is explored thru spelunking, you must then travel above ground to find the next cave system/ravine. With branch mining you can just make branch after branch in a never ending grid.
Which one you use is really up to the individual.
I personally prefer branch mining because I wish to get the maximum amount of ores as possible. Between the smooth stone and now the stone bricks, I see all the cobble generated as a plus.
Why waste your time sitting at a cobblestone generator when you can be branch mining and get cobble and ores?
Think of it this way: mining you mine 2 blocks and see 8 new ones. Spelunking you walk one block and see 10-20 new ones (walls). Spelunking you don't have to mine through anything to get to ores.
While you can search more area mining than spelunking, it takes probably 30x or more time to do.
- I branch mine at bedrock level. This yields the most diamonds and other rare resources.
- Strip mine at y=10.6, 3 high. Not as efficient as branch mining, but it creates a nice spawning ground for slimes.
- Spelunk at higher levels. With the new mine shafts, it is a great resource for wood, train tracks and string. When I spelunk I typically "shape" and light up the caverns I go through, minimizing the chance of getting lost or re-exploring an area I already went through.
The above combination seems to give me a good balance of resources for my projects.
It basically means cave diving