Lithembia Posted Monday at 02:07 PM Report Posted Monday at 02:07 PM I was mining at high rift activity quite deep (around 0.25). I figured it was safe because I just got there so my stability was high, I was right at the mine shaft, and the room I'd dug out was lit up. My stability had dropped some but it was still near the top and I wasn't getting the creepy sound effects you start getting. I turned around and was shocked to see a tainted drifter. I bolted for the ladder and went up but had half a dozen drifters popping out of nowhere around me. I am the most cowardly wimp ever, so have avoided mining if it's not calm since (especially that mine since it's near the tier 4 spawn boundary), but wanted to see if anyone had more information because this doesn't seem well documented. I've been mining when my stability is so low the screen starts jumping, but nothing spawns. I believe that has been calm and low rift activity times. If it's apocalyptic out do you get drifters appearing in fully lit areas if your stability drops just a little?
PoisonedPawn777 Posted Monday at 03:14 PM Report Posted Monday at 03:14 PM Based on what I understand, and my experience from many hours underground mining. The rift activity does have an effect on global spawns, so yes you will get more spawns underground with higher rift activity. That being said, spawns from low stability should start at a fixed point regardless of rift activity (25% if I'm not mistaken). Best guess is you had an area that wasn't properly lit but avoided previous encounters due to calm rift activity. Rusties will spawn underground even at calm rift activity, just lower rates.
Zane Mordien Posted Monday at 04:11 PM Report Posted Monday at 04:11 PM 1 hour ago, Lithembia said: If it's apocalyptic out do you get drifters appearing in fully lit areas if your stability drops just a little? No, The lighting rules are the same for all rift activity levels. The odds are much higher though of drifters and friends spawning at that rift activity so if one little area isn't perfectly lit up you are more likely to get a spawn. 2 hours ago, Lithembia said: I bolted for the ladder and went up but had half a dozen drifters popping out of nowhere around me. How did they pop on you as you climbed the ladder? Did you have multiple side shafts? If so I recommend always closing off your side shafts when not in use. A saw blade locust can spawn in a 1x1x1 area. This has happened to me before when I was in a mine shaft and I had small side shafts mined out for prospecting.
LadyWYT Posted Monday at 05:50 PM Report Posted Monday at 05:50 PM 3 hours ago, Lithembia said: I figured it was safe because I just got there so my stability was high, I was right at the mine shaft, and the room I'd dug out was lit up. What did you light the area up with? Oil lamps will provide enough light for the player to see what's going on and are cheap to make, but won't provide enough light to curb many spawns. Torches are better in that regard, but not as effective as lanterns and will need replacing if not placed in torch holders. 3 hours ago, Lithembia said: I was mining at high rift activity quite deep (around 0.25). I'm guessing what happened is you ventured into a more unstable area underground, where monsters are more likely to spawn. Or perhaps ventured far enough away from an area that they could spawn in, that let them start spawning as a result. While rift activity does influence underground spawns to some extent, it's also safe to assume that the deeper you delve the more likely you are to encounter monsters, especially in more open areas rather than narrow mine tunnels. When mining that deep and traveling light regarding equipment, it's a good idea to pause every now and then to have a look around so nothing sneaks up on you, as well as check the rift weather to see if it's increased at all. When rift activity kicks up or stuff otherwise starts to spawn you might consider leaving and coming back with better equipment or on a quieter day.
Lithembia Posted Monday at 05:54 PM Author Report Posted Monday at 05:54 PM Thanks, I will add more lights! 1 hour ago, Zane Mordien said: How did they pop on you as you climbed the ladder? Did you have multiple side shafts? If so I recommend always closing off your side shafts when not in use. A saw blade locust can spawn in a 1x1x1 area. This has happened to me before when I was in a mine shaft and I had small side shafts mined out for prospecting. Since I was mining iron a block thick I didn't have it all cleared out two high. I had to take a windy way back to the ladder and some more spawned on the way, so I ended up with several on the bottom level. I climbed up the ladder and a couple came out of a side tunnel the next level up and hit me. I have most side tunnels blocked off but I was looking for copper on that level and guess it's not 100% lit up either. I usually don't block all the side tunnels if they aren't very deep because if I mine by day they seem pretty lit up even a few blocks in. I think I'll start dropping a wattle fence in each one. That should keep them enclosed I think?
Lithembia Posted Monday at 05:58 PM Author Report Posted Monday at 05:58 PM 8 minutes ago, LadyWYT said: What did you light the area up with? Oil lamps will provide enough light for the player to see what's going on and are cheap to make, but won't provide enough light to curb many spawns. Torches are better in that regard, but not as effective as lanterns and will need replacing if not placed in torch holders. I had a couple lanterns but three or four oil lamps. I mined out a pretty large area so I guess it was just too dark in some places. I didn't realize oil lamps were so subpar!
Zane Mordien Posted Monday at 06:03 PM Report Posted Monday at 06:03 PM 10 minutes ago, LadyWYT said: Torches are better in that regard Amen, I spam torches when mining. I can always make more later. 6 minutes ago, Lithembia said: That should keep them enclosed I think? Probably, but I prefer to have direct access to my iron mine to avoid such problems. I would have probably mined back up to the surface from the ore vein and closed off the tunnel. I try to mine everything out in 3-4 days, replacing torches everyday, and abandon the mine after that. I might have to skip a day becuase of a temporal storm so I always make sure to refresh the torches before I go.
LadyWYT Posted Monday at 06:06 PM Report Posted Monday at 06:06 PM 6 minutes ago, Lithembia said: I had a couple lanterns but three or four oil lamps. I mined out a pretty large area so I guess it was just too dark in some places. I didn't realize oil lamps were so subpar! To be fair, I prefer oil lamps for lighting up caves/mines because they are cheap and allow me to spot threats easily, without me being concerned about picking them up after I leave or otherwise needing to replace them. So I wouldn't call them entirely useless, as much as I would call them a bad choice if you want to actually minimize spawns.
Professor Dragon Posted Tuesday at 12:22 AM Report Posted Tuesday at 12:22 AM 6 hours ago, Lithembia said: I had a couple lanterns but three or four oil lamps. I mined out a pretty large area so I guess it was just too dark in some places. I didn't realize oil lamps were so subpar! If you really want to be sure, use a light level mod like one of these: https://mods.vintagestory.at/easylightlevels I haven't tried this one, but it is updated to the current version (although the above also still works): https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/32420 Professor Dragon.
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