Upgraded Pickaxes in Core Keeper: Is Soul Seeker the Best?

Upgraded (Lv.20) pickaxes and their mining damage

Sorted by mining damage after upgrading to Lv.20 at the Upgrade Station. "+ reinforced" is an estimate with effect values raised by about 15%, and the last column is the total Ancient Coins needed to reach Lv.20 (material breakdown in the upgrade cost table).

Rank	Pickaxe / tool	Base Lv	Base value	Lv.20 (upgraded)	Lv.20 + reinforced	Ancient Coins to Lv.20
1	Iron Pickaxe	6	180	1,386	1,594	4,531
2	Copper Pickaxe	2	42	1,366	1,571	4,838
3	Scarlet Hand Drill	9	327	1,315	1,512	4,059
4	Hand Drill	4	85	1,167	1,342	4,725
5	Scarlet Pickaxe	9	289	1,163	1,337	4,059
6	Soul Seeker	16	769	1,150	1,150	1,944
7	Tin Pickaxe	4	83	1,144	1,316	4,725
8	Ancient Pickaxe	11	385	1,106	1,272	3,608
9	Solarite Pickaxe	16	735	1,099	1,264	1,944
10	Galaxite Pickaxe	14	576	1,093	1,257	2,707
11	Octarine Pickaxe	12	417	1,034	1,189	3,339
12	Wood Pickaxe	1	15	900	1,035	4,869
13	Iron Sledge Hammer	6	110	849	976	4,531
14	Galaxite Sledge Hammer	14	437	828	952	2,707
15	Scarlet Sledge Hammer	9	201	808	929	4,059
16	Octarine Sledge Hammer	12	318	787	905	3,339
17	Copper Sledge Hammer	2	23	746	858	4,838
18	Tin Sledge Hammer	4	48	657	756	4,725

Is Soul Seeker the best pickaxe? Comparing upgraded mining damage

The legendary pickaxe Soul Seeker next to the pickaxes with the highest upgraded mining damage.

Pickaxe	Mining damage (base)	Mining damage (Lv.20)	Mining speed (Lv.20)	Durability	Ancient Coins to Lv.20
Soul Seeker	769	1,150	+11.6%	Infinite	1,944
Iron Pickaxe	180	1,386	—	800	4,531
Copper Pickaxe	42	1,366	—	400	4,838
Scarlet Pickaxe	289	1,163	—	800	4,059
Solarite Pickaxe	735	1,099	—	800	1,944

• Some pickaxes beat Soul Seeker in upgraded mining damage (per hit). Soul Seeker starts at Lv.16, so upgrading only adds 4 levels up to Lv.20. Pickaxes with a lower base level grow more, and at Lv.20 Iron Pickaxe (1,386) comes out on top.
• Soul Seeker's strengths are elsewhere. It has no durability, so it never breaks and never needs repair (but it cannot be reinforced either). It has +11.6% mining speed (Lv.20), and its special attack (right-click), charged by landing hits, damages walls and enemies within a 2.8-tile radius at once.
• Soul Seeker is cheaper to upgrade. Lv.16 → 20 is only 4 upgrades, costing 1,944 Ancient Coins (bringing Iron Pickaxe to Lv.20 costs 4,531).
• Bottom line: for maximum mining damage per hit, use an upgraded Iron Pickaxe; if you value never breaking and mining a wide area, use Soul Seeker.

How to craft Soul Seeker and its special attack →

Upgraded pickaxe mining damage by level (Lv.1–20)

Mining damage at each level when upgraded. The highest value at each level is in bold. Blank cells mean the pickaxe is not available at that level (below its base level).

Lv	Wood Pickaxe	Copper Pickaxe	Tin Pickaxe	Iron Pickaxe	Scarlet Pickaxe	Ancient Pickaxe	Octarine Pickaxe	Galaxite Pickaxe	Soul Seeker	Solarite Pickaxe
1	15
2	28	42
3	45	68
4	65	99	83
5	89	136	114
6	117	178	149	180
7	149	226	189	230
8	185	280	235	284
9	224	339	284	344	289
10	266	404	338	410	344
11	313	475	398	482	405	385
12	363	551	462	560	470	447	417
13	417	633	530	643	539	513	479
14	475	721	604	731	614	584	545	576
15	537	814	682	826	694	659	616	651
16	602	913	765	927	778	740	691	731	769	735
17	671	1,018	853	1,033	867	824	771	814	857	819
18	743	1,128	945	1,144	961	913	854	902	949	907
19	820	1,244	1,042	1,262	1,060	1,008	942	995	1,047	1,001
20	900	1,366	1,144	1,386	1,163	1,106	1,034	1,093	1,150	1,099

Highlighted cells show each pickaxe's value right after you get it (its base level).

Should you upgrade the Iron Pickaxe or the Solarite Pickaxe?

• For mining damage alone, upgrading Iron pays off. Solarite starts at Lv.16 and can only gain 4 levels (to Lv.20). Iron grows 14 levels from Lv.6, so it overtakes Solarite at max level.
• But Iron costs more. The total to Lv.20 is in the table above. Upgrades from Lv.15 to 18 also need Solarite Bars, so you end up collecting Solarite ore even when upgrading the Iron Pickaxe.
• Right after you get it, Solarite is much stronger. Base mining damage is 735 vs. 180. Until you have the upgrade materials, Solarite digs faster. Both have 800 durability, which doubles when reinforced.

Gear other than pickaxes that raises mining damage (upgraded, max per slot)

Some armor and accessories have a "+ mining damage" (flat) effect. These are the #1 items per slot.

Slot	Gear with the max value	Lv.20	Lv.20 + reinforced
Helm	Adventurer's Hat	154	177
Chest armor	Larva Chest	135	155
Pants	Miner's Worker Pants	131	151
Necklace	Tower Shell Necklace	253	253
Ring (1)	Ring of Stone	276	276
Ring (2)	Ancient Gem Ring	133	133
Off-hand	Core Iris	92	92
Total (#1 in every slot)		1,174	1,237

Gear bonuses are added to the pickaxe's own mining damage. Mining skill talents and food (mining damage, mining speed) raise it further.

How to read these tables (upgraded and reinforced values)

• Upgraded (Lv.20): the value after upgrading to Lv.20 at the Upgrade Station. How to upgrade and the costs are covered in upgrading and reinforcing gear.
• + reinforced: reinforcing at the Salvage and Repair Station raises gear effect values by about 15%. The tables multiply effect values by 1.15 as an estimate (it only applies while durability is above the original maximum). Whether reinforcing raises a weapon's base damage could not be confirmed from the data, so weapon DPS only scales the effects.
• Expected DPS: weapon damage × (attacks per second), multiplied by endgame gear and the weapon's effects (damage %, attack speed, criticals, triple damage) (damage formula). Special attacks and enemy defense are not included.