All ore types and where to find them in Core Keeper

As with many survival games before it, Core Keeper’s progression relies on the player discovering and gathering resources with increased strength and durability, which they can use to craft new gear. Where other mining games differ from Core Keeper’s take on this advancement, however, is that while its contemporaries hide the more valuable ores deeper beneath the game’s surface, Core Keeper doesn’t have a deeper level to venture into, but rather its map spread out in a flat sphere.

Because players can approach map progression in any direction, they tend to take many different paths from each other and venture into different biomes, regardless of how advanced those biomes await the player. This means players may collect scaled resources in the wrong order, or get into certain areas of the map only to hit a wall.

To clear up any confusion, we’ve outlined where to find the five main Core Warden ores and when players should ideally attempt to find them.

copper

Copper is the weakest and probably the first ore players will encounter in Core Keeper. It focuses primarily on The Underground, the earthly biome that surrounds the core of the map.

Copper is a particularly soft metal that can be mined by hand, making it an ideal starting target for brand new players who don’t even have a pickaxe to their name. As players work their way out of the core, their twinkle in the dark will likely draw the player’s attention.

Related: How to get a workbench in Core Keeper

tin

Large amounts of Tin can be found when players reach the Clay Caves biome where the earth is orange. For convenience, the game’s second most powerful metal randomly points to the biome of the game’s second boss, Ghorm the Devourer.

Tin can also be used with Copper Scraps to craft Bronze gear, another readily available upgrade tier for early players.

Related: How does crafting work in Core Keeper? Core Warden crafting guide

iron

Limited to the Forgotten Ruins, Iron Ore can be found in stone walls, where a better pickaxe is absolutely essential to gain significant mining progress.

Related: How to get a pickaxe in Core Keeper

gold

Gold is sparsely found in all biomes, but in small veins of just a block or two. Mid to late game gear upgrades require a certain amount of gold in addition to primary metals to produce gold ore, so players will gradually benefit from scattering gold ore between other ore veins as they make big strides up.

Related: How to make money fast in Core Keeper

scarlet

Scarlet is the rarest and most powerful metal in Core Keeper. While it’s incredibly valuable and its products are all best-in-slot items, it can also be incredibly difficult to get Scarlet.

After defeating the core’s three bosses, the player will be introduced to the Azeos Wilderness biome, where they can hunt for late-game gear in a very late-game location.

Related: How to get a drill in Core Keeper