Fallout 76 coal still matters: smelt it with acid, farm Gauley or Ash Heap mines, or run a CAMP extractor for steady ore, then craft water filters, PA mods, and Scaly Skin serums for caps.
Coal's one of those Fallout 76 materials you don't think about until the game slaps you for it. You'll be cruising along, then suddenly you're short for a recipe you actually care about—filters early on, mutation serums later, even random camp projects when you're trying to tidy up your crafting loop. I've learned to keep a little buffer so I'm not forced into a panic run, and if I'm already trading serums or ammo, it's nice to have options—same reason I'll sometimes top up supplies through U4GM when I'd rather be playing events than farming one more resource.
Gear Up Before You Mine
If you're going to mine coal the old-fashioned way, don't half-do it. Get Excavator Power Armor first. The Miner Miracles quest at Garrahan Mining HQ isn't hard, and the payoff is huge: more carry weight so you're not waddling out of a tunnel, plus better ore yield per vein so your time isn't wasted. Then do the boring stuff people skip—clear a bit of stash space, bring some RadAway, and pack a decent headlamp or weapon light. Mines look fine until you're stuck squinting at a ceiling node while something chews on your legs.
Reliable Mine Routes That Don't Feel Awful
For a quick, low-stress run, Gauley Mine in the Forest is hard to beat. It's close, it's straightforward, and the coal nodes are all over the walls if you actually look up. Run in, tap the veins, dump the junk, done. When you want a bigger haul, head to the Ash Heap and hit locations like the Burning Mine. You'll get more coal, sure, but it's darker, the fights are messier, and it's easier to miss nodes unless you slow down. I usually treat it like a "once in a while" trip, not my daily routine.
Passive Coal While You Do Everything Else
If you hate route-running, build your camp around it. Find a coal deposit and drop an extractor right on top—set it, go do Public Events, come back and empty it. The extractor fills up fast, so check it whenever you swing by to repair gear or scrap weapons. A Collectron helps too; it won't replace mining, but it'll quietly add coal to the pile often enough that you notice. It's the easiest way to avoid that annoying moment where you're one craft short and have to abandon what you were doing.
Smelting, Acid, and Keeping the Profit Rolling
The real limiter is usually acid, not coal. Smelting ore eats acid fast, so plan around it: farm acid sources when you see them, and always slot Super Duper before you craft so you've got a chance at free extra output. Holiday Scorched gifts can also flood you with coal, which is perfect if you're stocking up for serums. Once you're selling, coal stops feeling like "junk" and starts feeling like margin, especially when customers are throwing caps around for quick buys like Fallout 76 Bottle Caps during a busy weekend run.
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