Mining sits at the center of progression in The Forge, and the Critical Mining update is designed to cut down on that late-game slog. Instead of every swing doing flat damage, rocks and crystals can now take powerful critical hits if you strike precise weak spots while you mine.
What Critical Mining is in The Forge
Critical Mining is an interactive mining mechanic that lets you deal extra damage to rocks and crystals when you hit a specific point on their surface. When you are actively mining a node, a visual weak spot appears on it for a short time. Landing your next hit on that exact spot counts as a critical strike and deals significantly more damage than a normal swing.
There are two visual versions of this weak spot in the game:
- A white glowing spot, often referred to as the Critical Mining Hit Point.
- Shiny crack-like markings that stand out from the rest of the rock or crystal texture.
Both indicate the same thing: if your pickaxe connects with that area before it disappears, the game treats it as a critical mining hit.
How much damage Critical Mining adds
Critical hits are designed to feel meaningfully stronger than normal swings, so they are tied directly to your pickaxe damage and mining bonuses.
- Critical Mining typically deals around 2x your normal pickaxe hit on that node.
- On high-damage tools like the Dragon Head Pickaxe, a well-placed critical can add roughly 1500–2000 extra damage in one swing compared to a base hit.
- Any effect that increases your pickaxe’s mining damage also increases your critical hit values.
This scaling is important. Critical Mining is not a fixed flat bonus; it scales with your gear and buffs. As your tools get stronger, critical hits cut proportionally more time off each rock.
How to trigger a Critical Mining hit
The mechanic kicks in only while you are actively mining. Simply walking up to a rock will not show the critical point. You need to be hitting the node consistently so that the weak point can appear.
Step 1: Start mining any rock or crystal normally with your equipped pickaxe. Hit it a few times in a row without long pauses.
Step 2: Watch for the white glowing spot or shiny crack that appears on the rock’s surface once you are in a mining rhythm. This is the temporary Critical Mining weak point.
Step 3: Move your avatar so it is directly facing that weak point. Align your swing so the hitbox of your pickaxe connects with the glowing spot or crack, then attack again.
Step 4: If your hit lands on the weak point, the rock takes a critical hit for roughly double damage or more, depending on your pickaxe and bonuses.
The weak point is time-limited. It disappears if you stop hitting the rock for a couple of seconds, or if you swing and miss the spot. When that happens, you need to resume normal hits until a new weak point spawns.
There is no fixed limit on how many times you can trigger Critical Mining on a single node. As long as new weak points continue to appear and you keep hitting them accurately, you can chain multiple criticals on the same rock.
How the weak point behaves while you mine
The Critical Mining weak point is not static. It is meant to keep you moving and paying attention instead of holding one position and spamming swings.
- The hit point only starts appearing once you’ve already begun mining a rock or crystal.
- Each time you strike the node, the weak point can shift to a new location on its surface.
- The position is random rather than following a visible pattern, so you need to track it visually as you continue mining.
- If you miss the weak spot or pause for too long, that instance of the weak point disappears, and you revert to normal hits until another one appears.
Because the point keeps relocating, it feels like a small quick-time event layered on top of basic mining. You are rewarded for visually tracking the node and adjusting your positioning instead of playing on autopilot.
Why Critical Mining matters for progression
The new system exists to reduce the grind, especially in later islands where rocks have very high health values. When you consistently land critical hits, you:
- Reduce the number of swings per rock, which directly shortens mining sessions.
- Speed up ore farming loops, making it easier to gather materials for weapons, armor, and pickaxes.
- Make active play more worthwhile than AFK options for raw ore throughput, since careful aiming can outpace passive farming spots.
For players stuck on high-HP rocks in areas like Island 3, Critical Mining effectively trades attention and a bit of mechanical skill for faster progress. The more accurately you hit the weak points, the more noticeable the time savings become.
How gear and boosts affect Critical Mining damage
Critical Mining pulls from the same damage foundation as your normal mining hits. Changing your tool or buffs alters both normal and critical damage, with criticals amplifying whatever total you have built.
Key factors that influence your critical hit numbers include:
- Pickaxe base damage – High-end pickaxes like the Dragon Head Pickaxe and Heavenly Pickaxe produce the largest critical hits because their ordinary swings are already strong.
- Mining potions – Items such as Miner Potion I, Fungi Potion, or Christmas-themed mining potions give additional mining damage, which also scales your critical values upward.
- Runes on pickaxes – Damage-focused runes attached to your pickaxe raise your baseline mine power, indirectly making critical hits stronger. However, socketing and removing runes can be expensive, especially in mid-game.
- Mining-related skills – The Master Miner skill from the Achievements section can boost mine power at several tiers (5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 percent), and that bonus is reflected in your critical hits as well.
Races that increase mining power, such as Dwarf, also interact with your overall mining damage, but their exact impact on the critical multiplier is not fully defined. The important point is that any improvement to your mine power makes both standard swings and critical hits better.
Practical tips to land Critical Mining hits more often
Because the weak point jumps around, accuracy can feel inconsistent at first. A few positioning habits make it much easier to connect.
- Stand directly in front of the weak point. Critical hits only count if the pickaxe’s impact overlaps the glowing spot or crack. Side angles increase the chance you miss by a small margin.
- Use vertical positioning to your advantage. Jumping onto the top of some rocks makes it easier to hit weak points that appear higher on their surface. Players often find that standing on top of nodes dramatically increases the share of swings that land on the critical spot.
- Races with good mobility help. Angel and Archangel are particularly comfortable for hopping onto rocks and adjusting mid-air. Other races can still do this; it just may take a bit more movement effort.
- Keep your rhythm consistent. Rapid, steady swings keep weak points spawning and shorten the window between appearances. Long pauses give them time to disappear and slow down your progress.
When to invest in pickaxes, runes, and buffs for Critical Mining
Because Critical Mining scales from your tool, it becomes more valuable as your pickaxe improves. At the same time, some upgrades cost resources that might be better used on combat weapons or endgame items if you are not mining heavily.
For early and mid-game:
- Focus on reaching a strong pickaxe, such as Dragon Head or Heavenly, before spending heavily on rune socketing.
- Use affordable potions like Miner Potion I when you plan a long mining session, but do not burn rare items for short trips.
- Unlock and upgrade the Master Miner achievement skill as you go, since it benefits all mining, not just critical hits.
For late-game or heavy farming sessions:
- Fully commit to a top-tier pickaxe and then attach powerful damage runes to maximize both normal and critical mining damage.
- Stack multiple mining buffs at once – strong pickaxe, high-tier potions, Master Miner upgrades – then lean on Critical Mining for rapid clearing of high-health nodes.
- If you already have a luck-focused setup for rare ores, treat Critical Mining as a complementary system: it gets you to each drop faster, even though it does not change drop quality.
Critical Mining turns The Forge’s mining loop from a pure numbers grind into a more active system that rewards accuracy and planning. With a strong pickaxe, a few targeted buffs, and some practice lining up the glowing weak points, ore runs become shorter and more engaging without needing to rely solely on AFK farming.
