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[Mining] Smelting high end ore

Tuan

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
So over the years I've heard that smelting high end ore should be done in smaller batches. Does anyone know if the success rate for smelting really matters on the size of the ore pile?

Also, what different does extra mining make? Is it 'worth it' to get a pair of +5 mining gloves (I have +3s now), both for mining itself (will I get more colored ore per vein) and for smelting?

Thanks.
 

Barry Gibb

Of Saintly Patience
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Is it 'worth it' to get a pair of +5 mining gloves (I have +3s now), both for mining itself (will I get more colored ore per vein) and for smelting?
You can find the smelting success chance here: http://uo.stratics.com/content/skills/mining.php.

The +5 gloves will give you a better chance at smelting the top end ore, so they are worth it.

The success rate is only dependent on the following:
  • Your Adjusted Mining Skill (your skill + gloves)
  • The Type of Ore
  • If the All Powerful RNG Finds You Worthy of its Favor :bowdown:
The theory behind smelting in several smaller quantity piles versus a single large quantity pile has merit. It has to do primarily with the amount of ore you lose if you fail to smelt it. Every time you fail to smelt, you lose 50% of the ore. If you fail when smelting a single pile of large quantity, you lose a lot of ore at once. If you fail when smelting one (of the several) smaller quantity piles, you will still lose half of that pile, but you will have preserved the remaining piles of ore. The idiom "don't put all of your eggs in one basket" is applicable here. Smelting in several smaller quantity piles can help protect you against the moodiness of the RNG.

Personally, I find it easier to smelt the ore as I mine, instead of collecting large quantities of ore at the guild forge, to smelt later. In the past I tried to do the several smaller quantity pile method, but found it too tedious.

Stayin Alive,

BG
 

Tuan

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
What about using those talisman that are available from Vela.

Looks like the Valorite talisman is good for 750 ore (1500 ingots? or is it good for 750 ingots) and costs 500 points. So if you assume a 40% failure rate normally, it would seem like this talisman has a value of 1000 ingots. 1000 val ingots is no joke in value - currently on Chessy the going rate seems 1500 per. I tried one run in there, (fel) and I got 50something points. I assume I can improve on that a bit, so I assume I could accumulate 500 points in ~2-3 hours of effort. That seems somewhat reasonable...
 

popps

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
The +5 gloves will give you a better chance at smelting the top end ore, so they are worth it.

The success rate is only dependent on the following:
  • Your Adjusted Mining Skill (your skill + gloves)
  • The Type of Ore
  • If the All Powerful RNG Finds You Worthy of its Favor :bowdown:
What if one is already 100.0 real mining skill ?
Do the +5 mining skill gloves still count towards smelting chance even though the CAP for mining is 100.0 ?

And if so (i.e. the +5 mining gloves count in regards to a better smelting chance even though one is already at 100.0 real mining skill..., what if one has imbued the ring gloves to push the mining skill to +15 or is also using the Jacob's pickaxe which adds another +10 mining skill ?
Do these extra mining skill, even though one has already 100.0 real mining skill, make the smelting chance any better ?

Thanks.
 

Storm

UO Forum Moderator
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Awards
1
mining can go to 105 and you cannot imbue mining and yes it makes it easier to smelt
 

Storm

UO Forum Moderator
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Awards
1
Gloves of Mining (Smith BOD reward, come in +1, +3 and +5 versions, depending on the BOD turned in)

The one of the most useful additions for Miners are the three types of “Gloves of Mining“, which come as Blacksmith BOD rewards. They come in Leather (+1 skill), Studded Leather (+3 skill) and Ringmail (+5 skill). All of these come in the colors of the 9 ingot types, despite being made of their normal material, and retain that color when enhanced, regardless of the color of the material used to enhance them. The leather gloves do not interfere with meditation, but the other two types prevent meditation when worn. However, for maximum ingot return when smelting crafted/looted items, you need at least the +3 gloves (see below).

These gloves ignore the skill cap for mining (100 skill), increasing the ingot return and (if below 99 skill) allow you to mine ores normally out of your range when worn.

  • For smelting ore, each +1 of the Gloves is a 2% increase to the chance of success.
  • For smelting metal items, each +1 of skill appears to give an additional 0.66% to the ingot return. As the return for Grandmaster Mining is 66%, it requires either the +3 or +5 gloves to reach 66.67%, and get back the most ingots from items made with multiples of 3 ingots. Similarly, the way the numbers factor, one gets one more ingot with the +5 gloves when smelting 25-ingot items (plate tunics, chaos shields, order shields), than with +3 or lower gloves (69.3% vs. 67.97%, with 68% needed).
This is best seen in the use of the +5 gloves, where most items return 69.3% (or whatever whole ingot amount is closest yet less than this precentage). At Grandmaster real skill, There is a 1 ingot difference between +3 & +5 gloves when dealing with items requiring 25 or 28 ingots, which isn’t much an issue. However, there is 1 ingot difference between +1 gloves (or no gloves) & +3/+5 gloves, for most items, as a vast majority of items in the games require a multiple of 3 ingots to make, and 101 mining falls just short of the 66.67% target for 2/3 ingot return.

Note that for the specialized mining tasks of mining stone, sand or gems (described later), one can wear gloves to reach the level required to learn those skills.
 

popps

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Gloves of Mining (Smith BOD reward, come in +1, +3 and +5 versions, depending on the BOD turned in)

The one of the most useful additions for Miners are the three types of “Gloves of Mining“, which come as Blacksmith BOD rewards. They come in Leather (+1 skill), Studded Leather (+3 skill) and Ringmail (+5 skill). All of these come in the colors of the 9 ingot types, despite being made of their normal material, and retain that color when enhanced, regardless of the color of the material used to enhance them. The leather gloves do not interfere with meditation, but the other two types prevent meditation when worn. However, for maximum ingot return when smelting crafted/looted items, you need at least the +3 gloves (see below).

These gloves ignore the skill cap for mining (100 skill), increasing the ingot return and (if below 99 skill) allow you to mine ores normally out of your range when worn.

  • For smelting ore, each +1 of the Gloves is a 2% increase to the chance of success.
  • For smelting metal items, each +1 of skill appears to give an additional 0.66% to the ingot return. As the return for Grandmaster Mining is 66%, it requires either the +3 or +5 gloves to reach 66.67%, and get back the most ingots from items made with multiples of 3 ingots. Similarly, the way the numbers factor, one gets one more ingot with the +5 gloves when smelting 25-ingot items (plate tunics, chaos shields, order shields), than with +3 or lower gloves (69.3% vs. 67.97%, with 68% needed).
This is best seen in the use of the +5 gloves, where most items return 69.3% (or whatever whole ingot amount is closest yet less than this precentage). At Grandmaster real skill, There is a 1 ingot difference between +3 & +5 gloves when dealing with items requiring 25 or 28 ingots, which isn’t much an issue. However, there is 1 ingot difference between +1 gloves (or no gloves) & +3/+5 gloves, for most items, as a vast majority of items in the games require a multiple of 3 ingots to make, and 101 mining falls just short of the 66.67% target for 2/3 ingot return.

Note that for the specialized mining tasks of mining stone, sand or gems (described later), one can wear gloves to reach the level required to learn those skills.
Thanks for the detailed explaination.

How about Jacob's Pickaxe then ? Does it also ignore the skill cap for mining (100 skill) like the gloves ?
 

Barry Gibb

Of Saintly Patience
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
How about Jacob's Pickaxe then ? Does it also ignore the skill cap for mining (100 skill) like the gloves ?
Jacob's Pickaxe does not raise your Mining skill above 100.0, like the mining gloves.

Stayin Alive,

BG
 

LetheGL

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
worthless
It depends on how you use the pickaxe. It's worthless for a GM miner, sure. If you are training mining you can equip it and mine colored ore two levels higher than normal. Pair that with +5 gloves and you mine three levels higher. Smelt the higher end ore one at a time and you'll see some nice gains in mining. If you are really ambitious and use jacob's axe, mining gloves, a prospector tool and a gargoyle pickaxe you are mining valorite ore @ 75 real skill.

They are handy for treasure hunters who use mining as well, the axe and gloves can cut 15 skill points out of their temp.

Use higher batches.
Include +5 mining gloves in your suit.
I'm with Corwin on this. Smelting 100 ore in piles of 2 gives you 50 chances to get a bad RNG roll ( and takes more time ). It looks less drastic losing 1 ore on a failed smelt but if you average it out I bet total ore loss is right on par with the loss of smelting a large pile. Now if you aren't a GM miner smelting ore 1 at a time will give more mining skill checks ( and more chance to gain skill ) vs smelting a whole pile.
 

Tuan

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
My current plan is to simply wait around until I have enough ore to make use of a talisman of 100% smelting and just use that. I did another coveteous run the other night, and gathered 106 reward points in ~10 minutes of battle before they broke the wall, and didn't have a whirlwind slayer for the battle.

Given that the valorite talisman costs 500 points, and can smelt 750 ore (1500 ingots) and that valorite has a success rate of 60% I calculate the value of the talisman to be... 1500 (num ingots) *.4 (amount lost) * 1500 (going price of val ingots) = 900k. That seems worth it for what amounts to maybe an hour worth of killing in there.

I also find there to be good value in the cauldrons of transmutation for some ingots, and basically all of them when you factor in the opportunity cost of my playing time.

Wow, that last statement really makes it sound like I don't enjoy the game, or I just finished an Econ 100 course at universtiy or something...
 
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