Game Mechanics - Drills vs. Pickaxes: What's the Difference? (2024)

ThantosAraiun said:

What I'm confused about is if drills are slower currently, and are very noisy, what advantage do they have over pickaxes? Also while knockback won't keep enemies at bay forever it'll let you finish whatever you're mining at least.

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Thats exactly what this thread is trying to solve. I asked that exact same question to myself before posting this.

Some people here need to chill out a bit. Debate the point, not the person. Differing opinions about the topic should not only be allowed, they should be encouraged. As pointed out, this is a thread for

, not blind agreement to one side or the other. On the other hand, "discussion" shouldn't mean repeatedly shouting down each other with your own opinion.

Ronald Reagan said:

Lighten up, I tossed in a meaningless insult to no one in particular. If you haven't noticed I seem to be outnumbered in this thread and I'm almost always on the defensive here. I apologize if I offended you or anyone else.

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We don't tolerate insulting others on this forum, your backhanded apology notwithstanding. Please do not repeat this behavior. Being outnumbered is no excuse to be rude.

EVERYONE: I refer you to the rules regarding

in Suggestion threads:

http://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/player-suggestions-rules-guidelines.294/#criticism

I strongly suggest that everyone here read/review these and abide by them going forward.

MegaMage314 said:

See Also

Terraria: Drill vs. Pickaxe - Differences & Which Tool To Choose?Terraria: Drill vs. Pickaxe - Differences & Which Tool To Choose?| Technology articles from PurplepediaGame Mechanics - Drills vs. Pickaxes: What's the Difference?

Hmm... Maybe instead of digging faster with less range, the drills can get the same speed with slightly more range, as a trade-off for being useless to defend with.

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But that takes all logic away. I see what youre saying, but isnt a pickaxe longer than a drill? And wiuldntit be faster to drill something than to just hit it over and over?

stormconure said:

But that takes all logic away. I see what youre saying, but isnt a pickaxe shorter than a drill? And wiuldntit be faster to drill something than to just hit it over and over?

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The drill would have more range, and although drills would be faster IRL, having a 50% increase in speed might be a bit much

MegaMage314 said:

The drill would have more range, and although drills would be faster IRL, having a 50% increase in speed might be a bit much

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No, what im saying is the drill should have less range. What i posted earlier was a typo; didnt see that until just now. I meant drills were shorter.

stormconure said:

No, what im saying is the drill should have less range. What i posted earlier was a typo; didnt see that until just now. I meant drills were shorter.

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I thought it might be a better idea than giving drills a huge boost in speed, as that's what most people are getting upset about

stormconure said:

Hurts your brain? Are you serious, thats your main reason?

Here let me give you an analogy: the class system. Melee: you want to be able to keep attacking repeatedly, without worrying about when you have to stop. Mage: you want to have semi-powerful attack, trading the ability to attack constantly. Ranger: you want the most powerful attacks in the game, at the cost of having to keep on collecting items.

Drill: you want the ability to speedmine, at the cost of some enemy defense and mining range. Pickaxe: you are willing to go a little slower to reach places drills couldnt, and want to be abke to fend off enemies.

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See Also

Drills are better than pickaxes, change my mind.

Okay this is a terrible example, what you just told me is that melee has no downsides (and in some cases, it doesn't! Terra blade and flairon are all I could ask for in almost any situation!), and that ranger is still guaranteed to be better if you can find the ammo.

This is certainly not the way the classes are organized.

Of course I'm not serious, do you think anything I ever say is serious? I'm ing Ronald Reagan! That's on you.

Someone else said it above, drills and picks are meant to be vanity pairs. Same stats, different appearance. It would be ridiculous to think making them so drastically different would balance itself out.

I liked what someone else said about -4 mining range. I could agree with that; that would be a dandy balance.

TCRanch said:

... I give up. tired of trying to type my thoughts. How about this - 120% digging speed increase on drills -1 range. 100% speed on pickaxes, +1 range. prevents the drill from becoming to op and still be functional and useful.

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120% speed sounds reasonable. But how about instead of +1 range for picks its just -2 for drills? That way the HM picks follow the same linear path as the preHM ones.

stormconure said:

120% speed sounds reasonable. But how about instead of +1 range for picks its just -2 for drills? That way the HM picks follow the same linear path as the preHM ones.

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sounds reasonable. what does Ronald McDonald think?

TCRanch said:

sounds reasonable. what does Ronald McDonald think?

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...
If he doesnt agree with that, idk what to say. Im definately not changing this thread to his idea, especially since hes the only one who seems to think that way.

Milt69466 said:

And yet, on all my loot runs, I kill just about everything with a picksaw.

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But it have knowback, other drill don't have. It is kinda why it is more better than other drill.

And rather this http://forums.terraria.org/index.ph...ickaxe-axe-and-hammer-tools.4224/#post-101981 then this pickaxe vs drills.

For everyone who really wants the know the difference:

The pickaxes are slightly faster, can get speed modifiers, making them even faster, they have knockback, and they have a better range when it comes to fight enemies while mining. AND, if you use a flask of cursed flames / flask of ichor / fire gauntlet / magma stone / frost armor, they actually light up your path, making them WAY more useful than drills.

SkillMinerKevin said:

AND, if you use a flask of cursed flames / flask of ichor / fire gauntlet / magma stone / frost armor, they actually light up your path, making them WAY more useful than drills

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I think this last argument is incorrect, as I think drill sdo to. However, the rest of your post was very full of truth.
EDIT: I ninja'd TMB50

SkillMinerKevin said:

For everyone who really wants the know the difference:

The pickaxes are slightly faster, can get speed modifiers, making them even faster, they have knockback, and they have a better range when it comes to fight enemies while mining. AND, if you use a flask of cursed flames / flask of ichor / fire gauntlet / magma stone / frost armor, they actually light up your path, making them WAY more useful than drills.

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The drills are also affected by flasks and frost armor.

It would be cool it drills were better when mining hard materials and pickaxes were better when mining soft materials

But then you would need two mining tools, like... Minecraft.

No.