Skip to content

Beginner Guide

Your first job is to make the basic loop stable: break mountain, collect ore before it is reclaimed, spend gold, open dens, then turn mithril and PP into progress that survives longer.

Quick Start

Opening Focus	Do This First	Stop When
Do this first	Buy Miners until mountains are dying at a steady pace, then unlock Runners.	Ore reaches storage instead of piling up on the ground.
Then stabilize	Add Underground Housing and one focused damage branch instead of buying every unlocked building.	You can afford the next building without starving damage or hauling.
Then branch	Move into dens, mithril, Spelunkers, and The Great Forge.	The current wall is rare currency, artifacts, or a special mountain instead of basic clears.

First Run Priorities

Phase	Do This	What It Fixes
Start	Buy Miners and keep their damage moving.	Miners are the earliest reliable mountain damage and ore source.
Hauling	Unlock Runners through The Great Maw.	Ore that sits on the ground can be reclaimed, so damage without hauling wastes value.
Workforce	Build Underground Housing when dwarf costs start blocking buildings.	More dwarves means more staffed systems and fewer dead ends.
Dens	Clear dens as soon as you can kill them without stalling the mountain.	Dens are the cleanest early source of artifacts, mithril, and extra loot.
Permanent progress	Spend PP on early prestige that helps the next run start faster.	Prestige should reduce the part of the loop that keeps slowing you down.

Read Your Bottleneck

If This Is Happening	Likely Fix	Pages To Use
Mountains take too long to break.	For the first runs, keep buying Miner damage. If Demolition is open, add 1-2 Demodwarves for burst. Only branch into harpoons, fire, cannons, or lasers once that building is actually funded.	Best Upgrades · Dwarf and Weapon Stats
Ore disappears before it is collected.	Buy runner speed, carrying capacity, dodge, anti-rock defense, or Maw reclaim tools.	Ore Reclaim Pressure · The Great Maw
Mithril costs stop progress.	Prioritize dens, mithril-luck, spelunking, and guaranteed mithril sources.	How to Get Mithril · Mithril Drops
Artifact choices feel random.	Kill higher-value dens and improve artifact/drop support before chasing rare late artifacts.	Dens and Artifacts · Artifact Selection
Runs reset without much improvement.	Move PP into start-speed, miner damage, runner speed, den rewards, or mithril-luck.	Best Prestige Upgrades · Prestige Upgrades

New Player FAQ

Question	Answer
How do I prestige?	Open the crown menu, hold the prestige button, spend PP, then begin the next run.
What should I unlock first?	Runners, one damage branch, dens, and the first mithril routes. Use Unlock Order when an upgrade disappears behind a requirement.
Should I keep playing a slow run?	If the next useful PP, artifact, mithril, or special gate is not close, prestige and spend permanent upgrades.
What if a timed boss appears?	Switch from broad economy into burst damage and use Bosses and Special Mountains to check the reward path.

Rules Worth Knowing

Rule	What To Do With It
Mountain health ramps up every level.	If a mountain suddenly takes much longer, stop spreading gold and push the damage branch already carrying the run.
Mithril drops build through progress, not a simple flat chance.	When mithril feels dry, improve mithril-luck, dens, and spelunking instead of waiting on random damage drops alone.
Later mountains can spawn more dens.	Clear dens when they do not delay the main mountain; they are your early bridge into artifacts and mithril.
Artifact choices exclude things you already own.	If choices feel repetitive, improve artifact volume or check whether the missing item comes from a boss, gate, or Alchemy instead.