Iron is one of the most important resources in 7 Days To Die. Iron is used for crafting all sorts of items. It is also a core component needed to craft forged iron and steel. While iron can be found all over the place, it often feels like an impossible job to gather enough iron to keep things running smoothly.
7 Days To Die: Best Materials To Farm In The Early Game
By the time players hit the mid-game of 7 Days To Die, they'll have already missed their chance to stockpile these essential survival materials.
Thankfully, there are a few things that players can do to boost how much iron they collect and mine. From consumables to armor sets, players can make gathering iron much more efficient. This guide will go through all there is to know about obtaining iron.
Find Iron While Exploring
As you make your way around the map, you'll loot houses, stores, and other buildings for resources. One of the resources that you can commonly find while looting is iron. You'll find iron in two different forms, scrap iron and items that can be broken down into scrap iron.
I tems like cooking pots, cooking grills, and torches can be broken down into iron. While it's not the most efficient way of gathering iron, it can be pretty helpful. Since the amount you can carry in your inventory is limited, breaking down items like cooking pots into iron will help to prevent you from becoming encumbered.
As for finding scrap iron, you'll find this in random loot containers. That said, places like Pas 'N Gas and Working Stiff Tools tend to have more scrap iron lying around. You can also take things like Eye Candy to increase your loot bonus. While this will affect the quality of items you find, it can also give a slight boost to the amount of scrap iron you find inside containers.
Use A Wrench To Break Things Down
Using something like a wrench or an impact driver when breaking down electrical items and vehicles can be a nice way to net some extra iron. While it's not the best way of farming iron, most players will need to farm for things like mechanical parts, headlights, and engines. So, the iron that they pick up while farming vehicle components is a welcome bonus.
If you want to make lots of dukes while obtaining iron, then taking down vehicles is a pretty good way to do it. But it is nowhere near as efficient as going mining. You may also be able to purchase iron from traders, but this isn't really worth it as they tend not to have a lot. It's also overpriced, so it's probably best to avoid purchasing iron scrap from traders.
Mine Iron Efficiently
Grabbing a pick and heading out to do some mining is by far the most efficient method of gathering large quantities of iron quickly. To start, you can open up your map to find iron deposits. They will appear as small brown dots on your map. They are typically pretty easy to spot. When you find an iron deposit above ground, mine it and then mine straight down. You'll find that there are large ore veins that stretch in all directions. A single surface-level deposit can lead to a whole heap of ore underground.
One thing that's worth keeping in mind while mining is that you may attract screamers. Screamers are attracted by heat. Mining generates heat. To reduce the amount of heat you generate while mining, you can mine in a crouched position for a 50% reduction in heat generation. This will also reduce the amount of noise you make, which can attract nearby zombies and creatures.
Before you head out to start mining, there are a few things you should do to make mining more efficient and a lot safer:
Investing Points Into Mining Perks
There are two main perks that impact your mining; Miner 69'er and Mother Lode. Miner 69'er affects how much damage you inflict on blocks while using tools. This perk also makes you find more tools and parts while looting. Mother Lode increases the amount of resources you'll get per swing. You'll also cause more damage to enemies using tools with each rank, and your attacks and power attack stamina costs are reduced.
Also, the strength attribute directly determines how much damage you inflict on blocks. While it doesn't offer the biggest bonus, it is required to level up Miner 69'er and Mother Lode. The bonuses that you'll receive for using Miner 69'er and Mother Lode can be seen below:
|
Perk |
Bonus |
Level 1/2/3/4/5 |
|
Miner 69'er |
Increased Block Damage |
30% | 60% | 90% | 120% | 150% |
|
Miner 69'er |
Increased Tool Damage |
10% | 20% | 30% | 40% | 50% |
|
Miner 69'er |
Reduced Stamina Cost For Regular Attack |
8% | 15% | 20% | 25% | N/A |
|
Miner 69'er |
Reduced Stamina Cost For Power Attack |
15% | 30% | 40% | 50% | N/A |
|
Mother Lode |
Harvest More Ore |
20% | 40% | 60% | 80% | 100% |
Use The Best Mining Tools
In the early stages, you'll probably only have access to the regular stone axe. While this will get the job done, using pickaxes will allow you to cause much more block damage. However, iron pickaxes cost more stamina to use than stone axes, and steel pickaxes cost even more stamina to use than an iron pickaxe.
If you have invested enough points in Miner 69'er, then you'll have no problems using a steel pickaxe. But if your stamina is relatively low, then it may be more efficient to use a stone axe or an iron pickaxe. While mining, if you run out of stamina, then you may find yourself in a dangerous position. Should a horde of zombies turn up while you are out of stamina, then the chances of you surviving aren't very good. So, keep an eye on your stamina bar and use a tool that is best suited to your perks.
As for the auger, this has been nerfed in version 1.0. While it is still very good, it isn't as good as it used to be. Add that to its fuel consumption, and it can end up costing quite a bit to run. In the latter stages of the game, an auger can be very handy. But during mid-game, it may be best to stick to using an axe.
Mining Mods
There are a few mods that can be attached to an axe to make mining more efficient. These mods are fairly easy to come by. Most players will have picked up a couple of these mods within the first week or so. The mods that will help you with mining can be seen below:
- Bunker Buster Mod: 25% More Damage Against Stone
- Iron Breaker Mods: 15% More Damage Against Iron
- Grave Differ Mod: 25% More Damage Against Dirt
There are also some armor mods that can make mining more lucrative. Items like the Cigar, the Strength Mod, and the Treasure Hunter's Mod can help the player get a little bit more from mining.
You can also pick up some Rock Busters. While it's not a mod, this snack will increase your mining yield by 20% for 6 minutes. This can be very useful, especially if the player has a few Dukes to spare. These can sometimes be purchased from traders. But, for the most part, you'll find them for sale inside vending machines.
Wear The Mining Set
With version 1.0, the way that clothing works is different. You can now find and craft various armor sets. Every armor piece will offer a unique boost. If you wear a full set of matching armor, then you'll receive an extra boost. The miner pieces and boosts can be seen below:
|
Piece |
Bonus |
Level1/2/3/4/5/6 |
|
Helmet |
Ore Harvest Bonus |
5% | 10% | 15% | 20% | 25% | 30% |
|
Outfit |
Mining Tool Stamina Cost |
-5% | -10% | -15% | -20% | -25% | -30% |
|
Gloves |
Ore Block Damage |
5% | 10% | 15% | 20% | 25% | 30% |
|
Boots |
Safe Fall Distance |
+1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +6 |
|
Set Bonus |
Reduces Degradation Of Mining Tools By % |
10% | 15% | 20% | 25% | 30% | 35% |
It's important to note that the set bonus percentage is decided on your lowest-level piece. For example, if you are wearing level 6 boots, helmet, and gloves, but only a level 1 outfit, you'll receive a 10% set bonus. But even if you can only obtain a level 1 set, it will still do a great job at allowing you to mine for longer, cause more block damage, and obtain more ore with every swing.
7 Days to Die
- Released
- June 28, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- The Fun Pimps
- Publisher(s)
- Telltale Games
- Engine
- Unity
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer, Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Number of Players
- 8 (PC), 4 (Consoles)
- Platform(s)
- Linux, macOS, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One
- How Long To Beat
- N/A
- File Size Xbox Series
- 3 GB (November 2023)
