Gold Panning

📖 Overview

Gold panning is the most accessible extraction job on the frontier. No license, no prior experience, and no fixed location required — all you need is a gold pan and access to running water. Wade into streams, swirl the silt, and hope the current has left you something valuable.

Results are luck-based, but the odds are in your favour more often than not. Find gold nuggets, salt, and even rare gemstones if fortune smiles on you. Upgrade to a gold cradle stand to dramatically improve your yield.

🚀 Getting Started

1. Obtain a Gold Pan

   You need a Gold Pan (goldpan) item in your inventory. Purchase one from a general store or trader. Like all tools, it has durability — it will degrade with use and eventually break if not maintained.

2. Find a water source

   Panning spots are found at rivers, streams, and shorelines across the territory. Approach the water and look for the on-screen interaction prompt — not every point along a bank is a valid panning spot, so move along the shore until the prompt appears.

3. Pan the spot

   Activate the prompt to begin panning. Your character plays a crouching pan animation. After a short time (~4 seconds) you'll either find something or come up empty. A spot has a cooldown of 2 minutes before it can be worked again by anyone.

4. Sell your finds

   Gold nuggets and gems can be sold to traders, jewellers, or crafters. Sell points vary — explore towns for the best rate. Nuggets are a reliable earner; gems are rare but highly valuable.

🫗 Using the Gold Pan

The gold pan is your entry-level tool. Here's what to know:

• Success chance: ~40% per attempt. You'll come up with rocks or nothing on a bad swing; gold nuggets on a good one.
• You can receive up to a random number of nuggets per successful pan — not just one.
• Panning near the sea in Guarma yields salt instead of gold nuggets — different sell route, still worthwhile.
• Each spot has a 2-minute cooldown (shared with other players). Work a stretch of river in rotation rather than hammering one spot.
• Your pan degrades with use. A worn-out pan becomes less effective and eventually breaks. Carry a repair item.

🪣 Gold Cradle Stand

The gold cradle stand (goldcraddlestand) is an advanced version of the gold pan that offers higher success rates and the possibility of finding rare gemstones. It requires setup but pays off significantly for serious prospectors.

How to use it

1. Place the cradle stand

   Find a valid water location and use the cradle stand item to place it. Your character takes about 8 seconds to set it up. Once placed, you'll receive a notice to haul water.

2. Fill with water

   You need an empty watering can / bucket (wateringcan_empty) to fill the cradle. Approach a nearby water source and fill the required number of buckets, then pour them into the stand using the Pour Water prompt.

3. Pan for gold

   Once the stand is filled, use the Pan for Gold prompt to search it. Success chance is 50% — higher than the basic pan. You can receive multiple nuggets per find.

4. Pack up

   Use the Pick Up Stand prompt to recover your cradle stand when you're done. Takes ~3 seconds. Don't leave it behind — it has limited durability and you'll want it for your next session.

💎 What You Can Find

The basic gold pan yields nuggets or rocks. The cradle stand opens up a wider loot pool — including some finds that are worth far more than gold:

🔧 Equipment Maintenance

Both the gold pan and cradle stand degrade with use:

• The gold pan starts with 100 durability and loses points each use. When it breaks, you'll see: "Seems yer gold pan's completely rusted — time for a new one."
• The cradle stand starts with 100 durability and loses a fixed amount per use. The current durability is displayed as metadata on the item.
• Carry repair materials in your satchel during a long prospecting session.
• A broken pan means no panning. A broken cradle stand means no cradle work. Neither can be improvised in the field without the right item.

💡 Tips & Strategy

• Work multiple spots along a river in rotation — 2-minute cooldowns mean you can loop back before the first spot resets.
• The cradle stand gives a 50% success rate vs. the pan's 40%. If you're prospecting seriously, always set up the cradle.
• Bring buckets. Forgetting your watering can means you can't fill the cradle stand, wasting the setup time.
• Sell gold nuggets to crafters or jewellers for better rates than generic sell points. Gunsmiths and jewellery crafters often pay above market.
• Don't get so focused on the river that you ignore your surroundings — remote prospecting spots are quiet and isolated, making them attractive for robberies.
• Gems from the cradle stand are rare but can transform a mediocre session into an excellent one. Don't quit too early if you haven't tried the cradle yet.