If you’re just starting your journey through Enshrouded’s post-apocalyptic fantasy world, you’ll quickly hit a wall where stone tools just don’t cut it anymore. Everything from better weapons to workbench upgrades requires copper, and figuring out how to mine copper in Enshrouded for the first time can feel confusing if you don’t know where to look or what tools you need. I’ve sunk over 120 hours into Enshrouded across three separate playthroughs, and I’ve made every possible mistake when it comes to copper farming, from using the wrong pickaxe to getting killed by shroud corruption mid-mine. This guide breaks down every step you need to follow to get all the copper you need fast, no guesswork required.
Pre-Requisites You Need Before Mining Copper
First thing’s first: you can’t mine copper with a basic stone pickaxe. I made this mistake my first hour of playing, whacking a copper vein for five minutes with a stone pickaxe before I realized I was dealing zero damage. Don’t waste your time like I did. You’ll need to craft or unlock a few key items before you start your first copper run, and none of them require a huge amount of resources to get.
Here’s the full list of what you need before you head out:
- Reinforced Pickaxe: Craft this at your basic workbench with 4 wood, 3 stone, and 2 rope. It’s the lowest tier pickaxe that can break copper veins, and it will take roughly 8 hits to break a full vein.
- 3+ empty inventory slots: Copper ore stacks to 20 per slot, but you’ll also pick up extra stone and occasional loot from nearby enemies, so extra space saves you from making unnecessary trips back to base.
- 1-2 healing items: Cooked berries or basic healing potions work fine. Most early copper spots have low-level enemies, but it’s better to be prepared if you run into a group of scavengers.
- Optional: Glider. A lot of early copper veins spawn on cliff sides, and a glider lets you reach them in seconds instead of climbing around for 10 minutes.
You don’t need any special armor or high-level skills to mine copper early on. As long as you have the reinforced pickaxe, you’re good to go. You can even skip the healing items if you stick to the low-risk locations we cover next.
Best Low-Risk Copper Locations for New Players
You don’t have to venture deep into the shroud or high-level enemy territory to get tons of copper early on. Most new players waste time wandering around the starting forest looking for veins, when there are clustered, low-risk spots just a short walk from the first fast travel point. All of these spots have no shroud coverage, so you don’t have to worry about your corruption meter running out while you mine.
The first spot I always hit for copper is the cliff sides north of Braelyn’s Rest, the first small settlement you unlock fast travel to after leaving the starting Cinder Vault. There are seven copper veins clustered within a 100-foot radius, only a handful of level 3 wolves that are easy to take out with a basic stone spear. I can farm 40 copper ore in less than 10 minutes here, even on my first playthrough of a new save. Veins respawn every 10 in-game minutes, so you can loop the same spot a few times if you need a huge batch of copper fast.
Another great spot is the abandoned small mine entrance east of the Farmer’s homestead, which you unlock as part of the main quest line. There are five copper veins inside the mine, plus two tin veins if you’re ready to start crafting bronze. The only enemies inside are two level 5 scavengers, which you can take out easily with a copper sword if you already have one, or a spear if you don’t. You can spot copper veins from 50 feet away thanks to their distinct orange-brown glint in sunlight, so you don’t have to run up to every rock to check if it’s copper.
How to Mine Copper in Enshrouded Efficiently to Cut Down Farm Time
Once you have the right tools and know where to go, there are a few small tricks that will let you farm copper 30% faster than the average player. Most new players miss these tips, and end up spending twice as long farming as they need to. None of these require special gear or upgrades, just small adjustments to how you mine.
First, always aim for the center of the copper vein when you hit it, not the edges. Hitting the center deals full damage to the vein every time, while hitting the edges only deals partial damage, making the vein take twice as long to break. I tested this myself: hitting the center of a vein takes 8 hits with a reinforced pickaxe, while hitting the edges takes 14 hits. That adds up fast if you’re farming a lot of ore.
Second, don’t stop mining a vein until it’s completely depleted. You get 3-5 copper ore per full vein, but if you stop halfway and walk away, you only get 1-2 ore, and the vein still takes the full 10 in-game minutes to respawn. That means you’re wasting half the potential ore from every vein you don’t finish. If you get attacked by an enemy mid-mine, kill the enemy first then go back to finishing the vein, don’t leave it half broken.
If you’re playing co-op, split up to hit different veins in the same cluster. All players in your party get the full ore drop from any vein a team member breaks, so you don’t have to fight over resources. That means you can get a full stack of 20 copper ore in two quick runs of the Braelyn’s Rest spot, instead of wasting half an hour wandering around looking for random scattered veins. If you’re mining near a base, place a small chest near the copper spot so you can dump extra ore without running all the way back to your main storage.
Smart Ways to Use Your Mined Copper
Once you have a stockpile of copper ore, you’ll first need to smelt it into copper bars at a smelter. It takes 2 copper ore to make 1 copper bar, so keep that in mind when you’re calculating how much ore you need for upgrades. Don’t rush to smelt all your ore at once though, you can sell raw copper ore to wandering traders for 5 gold per piece, which is a great way to make extra cash early game when you don’t have many valuable items to sell.
The first thing you should craft with copper bars is a full set of copper tools. A copper sword deals twice as much damage as a stone sword, a copper axe cuts trees 40% faster, and a copper pickaxe will break stone and ore veins 30% faster than the reinforced pickaxe. These upgrades make every part of the game easier, from fighting enemies to building your base.
You’ll also need copper to make copper wiring, which is required for almost all early electricity-based builds, including your first base lighting system, smelter upgrades, and workbench upgrades. Don’t waste your first batch of copper on decorative items like copper wall panels or fences, even if they look cool. You’ll need at least 80 copper ore to craft all the essential early game upgrades, so save at least that much before you start making cosmetic items. I learned this the hard way when I spent 30 ore on copper planters, then couldn’t upgrade my workbench for another two hours of farming.
Once you get the hang of how to mine copper in Enshrouded, you’ll wonder how you ever got by with stone tools. The spots and tips in this guide work for both solo and co-op play, and they’re all tested across dozens of hours of gameplay. Next time you’re short on copper, skip the deep shroud areas and hit the Braelyn’s Rest cliffs first – you’ll have all the ore you need before you know it. I still go back to that spot on every new save, it’s that reliable.