Spelunker Class

[PineReseen]

While there are 6 classes in Vintage Story, I've noticed that none of them really seem to be focusing on ore gathering, or the like. The only class that grants any mining buff is the Blackguard, but that one is ostensibly combat-focused. That's why I think adding a class that would focus on ore would be a good improvement to the game.

However, seeing as the current classes in the game are more specialized in more niche fields (Take the clockmaker, tailor, or malefactor for example), just adding a +20% mining speed buff would not do. So, I present the Spelunker!

Taken from rarehistoricalphotos.com

"The desperate mind does not care for the sources of gold. They leave great riches ownerless."
"Spelunkers are experts in panning and prospecting for valuable ore. However, a life of questionable actions leaves them troubled, and inexperienced in combat."

Claustrophilic (+10% ore drop rate, +10% mining speed)
Gravedigger (+10% valuables* drop rate from panning bony soil, +10% ore drop rate from panning)
Prospector (20% chance to not use durability on prospector pickaxe)
Panner (Exclusive craftable copper pan)
Troubled (-7.5% walk speed)
Nervous (-15% melee damage)

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The clothing of the spelunker would include overalls (Like the man in the picture) and high boots (To protect from the water). I'm not sure about the headgear, but there would probably be a face mask and some sort of hood with possibly a brimmed hat inside. Would amount to 7.5 degrees of additional heating.

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The copper pan would be 25% faster than a normal pan, and crafted with a copper plate and hammer (Would not use the hammer, only it's durability)

* - Would include gems, rusty and temporal gears, lore books, tuning cylinders, and jewelry.

Thanks for reading! What do y'all think about this? The stats would probably require tuning as it's either overpowered or worthless, but I hope he class is a good idea nevertheless.

Edit: Alternate traits found here:

 

Edited March 22, 2025 by PineReseen
Added alt traits comment

[C_Man]

Would be a nice addition, but I doubt that they will add a new class in the near future. If you want a more mining focused class, you could check out the different mods about classes in the mod DB, there are some great choices there.

This is a mod that adds the Miner class, maybe that's something for you: https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/15569

Edited March 21, 2025 by C_Man
Link to a mod

[LadyWYT]

Hmmm, I like this; it's well thought out. The only tweak I would suggest is boosting mining speed a bit(they should be better than Blackguards at that), as well as swap the melee penalty for some kind of ranged penalty. Miners are very strong and spend a lot of time underground, so I'd expect them to be able to hold their own well enough in a brawl, but have trouble when it comes to wide open spaces and ranged combat.

[Craftcoat]

4 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Hmmm, I like this; it's well thought out. The only tweak I would suggest is boosting mining speed a bit(they should be better than Blackguards at that), as well as swap the melee penalty for some kind of ranged penalty. Miners are very strong and spend a lot of time underground, so I'd expect them to be able to hold their own well enough in a brawl, but have trouble when it comes to wide open spaces and ranged combat.

Maybe spelunkers feel less safe in open spaces so they could gain a debuff without walls in their vicinity or a roof over their head

Edited March 21, 2025 by Craftcoat

[PineReseen]

12 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Hmmm, I like this; it's well thought out. The only tweak I would suggest is boosting mining speed a bit(they should be better than Blackguards at that), as well as swap the melee penalty for some kind of ranged penalty. Miners are very strong and spend a lot of time underground, so I'd expect them to be able to hold their own well enough in a brawl, but have trouble when it comes to wide open spaces and ranged combat.

Yeah, adding another +5% mining speed would probably be a good idea. Though, I'm not sure if swapping the melee damage penalty with a ranged one wouldn't make it overpowered. Maybe making it -7.5% melee damage and -10% ranged distance would be more balanced. I was thinking that this class would be more panner than miner, to make it more specialized.

[PineReseen]

Hmm, on second thought, maybe instead of adding another +5% mining speed, swapping it to be another +5% ore drop rate would be a better idea? It would fit the Spelunker not being a miner but rather a prospector/panner better, and it would also fit the Claustrophilic trait being an anti-Claustrophobic trait. I'm worried about it being too good though.

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, PineReseen said:

Hmm, on second thought, maybe instead of adding another +5% mining speed, swapping it to be another +5% ore drop rate would be a better idea? It would fit the Spelunker not being a miner but rather a prospector/panner better, and it would also fit the Claustrophilic trait being an anti-Claustrophobic trait. I'm worried about it being too good though.

Or let it be fairly strong in that particular niche, but add a bit more drawback to compensate for it. Though instead of just boosting the values of the negative traits you already gave the class, what about something like this:

Inexperienced: (-10% movement speed in armor; armor wears out 25% faster)

So they end up struggling a bit more in combat, and the lower armor life means that they'll end up using some of that extra ore for repairs. For singleplayer, I'd say the class ends up being a challenge class and not that popular. For multiplayer it would probably be more popular, as then the Spelunker can simply focus on their strengths and leave the fighting to someone else.

[PineReseen]

18 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

Or let it be fairly strong in that particular niche, but add a bit more drawback to compensate for it. Though instead of just boosting the values of the negative traits you already gave the class, what about something like this:

Inexperienced: (-10% movement speed in armor; armor wears out 25% faster)

So they end up struggling a bit more in combat, and the lower armor life means that they'll end up using some of that extra ore for repairs. For singleplayer, I'd say the class ends up being a challenge class and not that popular. For multiplayer it would probably be more popular, as then the Spelunker can simply focus on their strengths and leave the fighting to someone else.

That seems like a great idea! It reinforces the fact that the class is weak(er) in combat, and maybe this could substitute the -7.5% walking speed entirely? (Maybe with a -15% movement speed in armour.)

[PineReseen]

So it would look something like this?

Claustrophilic (+15% ore drop rate, +10% mining speed)
Gravedigger (+15% valuables* drop rate from panning bony soil, +10% ore drop rate from panning)
Prospector (25% chance to not use durability on prospector pickaxe)
Panner (Exclusive craftable copper pan)
Inexperienced (-15% movement speed in armor, armor wears out 25% faster)
Nervous (-15% melee damage)

Edited March 22, 2025 by PineReseen
Tweaked stats

[LadyWYT]

7 hours ago, PineReseen said:

So it would look something like this?

Claustrophilic (+15% ore drop rate, +10% mining speed)
Gravedigger (+15% valuables* drop rate from panning bony soil, +10% ore drop rate from panning)
Prospector (25% chance to not use durability on prospector pickaxe)
Panner (Exclusive craftable copper pan)
Inexperienced (-15% movement speed in armor, armor wears out 25% faster)
Nervous (-15% melee damage)

Yeah, I'd say that looks better, plus it's a bit more unique than just recycling pre-existing weaknesses.