# Finders and equipment

> Choosing a finder, what depth and range actually buy you, excavators, and the equipment mistakes that quietly raise your cost per drop.

Source: https://www.entropiacentral.com/guides/mining/finders-and-equipment
Last updated: 2026-07-30

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Mining equipment is simpler than hunting equipment, and the choices matter just as much.

## The finder

The finder is the tool that searches for deposits. Its characteristics:

- **Range and depth**, determining how far it reaches and how deep. Deeper finders can locate resources that shallower ones cannot detect at all.
- **Decay per drop**, which is a fixed part of your cost every time you use it.
- **Profession level**, which gates its full effectiveness the same way weapon levels do.

The mistake to avoid is the same one hunters make: a finder above your profession level costs its full decay while performing below its potential. See [Professions and profession levels](https://www.entropiacentral.com/guides/avatar/professions-and-levels).

The [finders wiki](https://www.entropiacentral.com/wiki/finders) lists the tools with their stats.

## Probes and bombs

These are the consumables. Probes look for enmatter, bombs look for ore, and one is consumed per drop.

Two things worth knowing:

- **They can carry markup.** If you buy them above TT, that markup is part of your cost per drop and belongs in your arithmetic.
- **They are the majority of your per-drop cost** in most setups, which is why the price you pay for them matters more than it looks.

## Excavators

The excavator extracts a located claim. It decays as it works, so bigger claims cost more to extract, which is as it should be since they are worth more.

Excavators differ in extraction speed, which affects how much of your session is spent standing still. Over a long trip that is real time.

## Vehicles

Mining involves a lot of ground. A vehicle turns dead walking time into covered distance, which raises the number of drops you can make per hour.

Vehicles decay as they are used and take damage from terrain and creatures, so they are a running cost rather than a one-off purchase. For most miners they still pay for themselves in drops per hour.

## Depth and what it buys

More depth is not simply better. It reaches resources that shallower finders cannot find, which is valuable only if those resources are worth more than what you were already finding.

The considerations:

- **What resources are you actually after?** If the material you want sits within reach of a cheaper finder, the deeper one is spending money to find things you were not looking for.
- **Cost per drop rises** with more capable equipment, so the finds have to be correspondingly better.
- **Profession level gates it** regardless of what you can afford.



## The quiet cost mistakes

**Buying consumables at markup without noticing.** Probes and bombs are bought in bulk and the markup is easy to overlook. It is on every single drop.

**Running an oversized finder.** More decay per drop, for finds you may not be able to sell better.

**Extracting everything regardless of size.** Very small claims can cost more in excavator decay and time than they return. Knowing when to walk away is a real skill.



**Not counting the walking.** Cost per drop is only half the picture. Drops per hour is the other half, and it is where vehicles, spawn of hostile creatures, and terrain all show up.

## A sensible starting setup

For someone trying mining for the first time:

1. A basic finder at or below your profession level.
2. Probes or bombs bought at the best price you can find, in modest quantity.
3. An excavator that matches.
4. Somewhere reasonably safe to walk around.
5. A record of what it cost and what came out.

That is enough to find out whether you like the activity, which is the only question that first trip needs to answer.