I've been using a dragon pick for a while. I only heard the dragon pick was the best to use in LRC, but it seemed that people just went with what everyone else used. I decided to finally compare it to a rune pick and see if it's truly worth the extra 12M.
Mining level for both: 94
Where mining: living rock caverns (LRC)
Time: 61 minutes
Outfit worn: agile top and legs, Ardy 4 cape, ROW, glory, Fally shield 4 and boots of lightness
Lava titan used for both
I went for the gold deposits in the central and southern areas. When they were depleted, I went for the southern coal deposits.
Dragon pick 58,490 exp in 61 minutes
Rune pick: 55,195 exp in 61 minutes
Experience difference: 3,295
Costs: dragon 12.4M / rune 18.9k
Both tests were some of the best mining days I've had. At least one of the gold deposits was mineable for most of the hour.
For me, the dragon pick is just a show piece when using the LRC. The rune pick does just as well and costs a fraction. The only time I've seen a dragon pick be worth the high price is mining for runite.
You've left out something really important. At the end of the hour with the rune pickaxe, you had 55k xp. At the end of the hour with the dragon pickaxe, you had 58k xp AND a dragon pickaxe. You paid 12.4m to earn an extra 3k xp/hr, but you also paid for the ability to earn a free 12.4m, because you now have a dragon pickaxe that you can sell instantly on the GE for the same price you bought it.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, you get a free rebate. It actually costs closer to 0 gp. So...DEFINITELY worth it. I'd absolutely pay 0 gp for a free 5-10% xp boost.
Y U No wear Varrock Platebody for extra ores/extra experience?
ReplyDelete@Helm I think it would've skewed the data a little more than I wanted. Bad enough I had a lava titan out, but that was mostly for the timer so I'd know when to stop.
ReplyDelete@Troccid Wouldn't it be better phrased "free use of a dragon pick"? I still had to have 12.4M to begin with in order to get the pick. Selling it back would just recoup that money that certainly wasn't free to get. Selling the ores wouldn't cover the cost for a while. Also, there are still people playing who don't have 12M to throw around for shits and giggles.
Whatever you call it, fact is your analysis has a gaping 12m hole in it if you don't take into account the price of the dragon pickaxe.
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ReplyDeleteI do take the price into account. Unless a person has a friend willing to loan s/he a dragon pick, s/he has to come up with the initial 12M gold.
ReplyDeleteYou're the one insisting it's free.
Because the dragon pickaxe has an inherent, mostly static value that isn't lost when you buy it. It's extremely liquid. Barring an unexpected update that causes a fluctuation in its supply and/or demand, the pickaxe is worth 12m. Trading that same amount of gold for a dragon pickaxe isn't a loss, it's a break-even transaction. -12m cash, +Item that can be exchanged for 12m cash. No value is lost. Your 12m is still there.
ReplyDeleteCompare the scenario where you go out and fight chaos dwarves and spend 3m on supplies before getting a dragon pickaxe. Do you mark that down in your books as a loss? No, because the dragon pickaxe is worth more than 12m, so you made a net profit. Buying a dragon pickaxe for mining is the same scenario, except instead of relying on a random drop, you're 100% guaranteed to end up with exactly one dragon pickaxe drop to sell back.
The actual cost is that you tie up your cash in an item, which prevents you from investing it in something else, but this is only relevant if you're already savvy at merchanting, and if that's the case, you're probably not in a position where money is an issue.
Where does your initial 12M come from? Did you find it on the ground, in the party chest, a gift from a really nice friend?
ReplyDeleteThe gold to buy the pick has to come from somewhere, whether monster killing or general skilling. I did and do have the 12M to spend on a dragon pick, but earning that start-up cost wasn't free. I had to spend time and effort killing/skilling to get it.
"Compare the scenario where you go out and fight chaos dwarves and spend 3m on supplies before getting a dragon pickaxe. Do you mark that down in your books as a loss? No, because the dragon pickaxe is worth more than 12m, so you made a net profit."
Actually, I would count 3M spent a loss because it takes away from the 12M received by selling the pick.
There is not a guarantee that you will be able to sell the pick later for the same price. I bought mine for about 13M and they are closer to 10M now. For me it came down to: I had an extra 13M I was not using, so I might as well own the best tool. You get to decide whether it is worth doing what it takes (spending cash/skilling/fighting) to get the somewhat modest benefit over the cheaper tool that works fine.
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