Quick Answer: Prioritize upgrading your Backpack first to reduce trips to the surface, followed by Shovel Hardness to penetrate compacted dirt and stone. Once available, purchase the Jetpack to bypass climbing ladders and double your mining speed.
Tool Upgrade Tiers
In A Game About Digging A Hole, upgrading your equipment is the key to penetrating deeper sub-layers:
1. Rusty Shovel (Tier 1)
- Starting Tool: Slowly breaks soft surface soil and organic garden loam.
- Limitation: Incapable of breaking dense clay or stony bedrock.
2. Steel Excavator (Tier 2)
- Early-Game Upgrade: Increases digging speed by 150% and allows mining sandstone and chalk layers.
- Cost: Affordable after 2-3 full backpack runs.
3. Diamond Drill & Jetpack (Late Game)
- Power Tools: Obliterates compacted granite and volcanic basalt effortlessly.
- Mobility: Jetpack propulsion lets you ascend hundreds of meters in seconds without building staircases.