| Step | Required Item | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Talk to John | None (story trigger) | Begins main questline |
| Dig first sediment | Rusty Shovel | Your baseline digger |
| Pan first batch | Wooden Pan | Required for any panning |
| Finish tutorial | Collection journal | Logs all future finds |
The first hour flies by once you are panning, so resist the urge to leave the spawn area until the prompt "Tutorial Complete" appears in your chat log. Until that moment fires, several riverbed deposits near John are flagged as tutorial-only, and skipping them forfeits the bonus gold that John throws in for finishing cleanly.
The Trader's Three Starter Quests
Once the tutorial wraps, the next NPC on your route is the Trader, who runs a fixed three-quest chain. The Trader's quests are short on purpose, and the rewards are picked so that you can pivot into real panning almost immediately. This Prospecting what to do first section covers all three so you know what to expect before you accept.
Quest 1 — Deliver Three Pieces of Common Ore
The Trader asks for three pieces of Common Ore, which you can dig from the very same riverbed John points you to. The reward is your first meaningful cash infusion: roughly 50 gold plus a small XP tick. Sell any extras you find rather than hoarding them, because the goal of this quest is to seed your wallet for the very first tool upgrade.
Quest 2 — Pan and Sell Five Sediment Batches
This quest asks you to pan five batches of sediment and sell whatever the pan surfaces. The reward is a small bag of starter coins plus the Traveling Merchant notification, which lets you know when the rotating vendor appears. The point of the quest is muscle memory, so use it to get comfortable with the timing of the panning minigame.
Quest 3 — Turn In a Single Gem
The final Trader starter quest asks for any one gem, even a chipped one. The reward is your first real upgrade path, often a Better Pan or a small XP boost. Players who skip this quest because they want to save the gem lose out, because the Trader buys gems for more than the pan ever would, and the quest reward alone usually outpaces that markup.
| Trader Quest | Required Item | Reward | Pro Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Common Ore | 3x Common Ore | ~50 gold, XP | Sell extras for buffer cash |
| 2 — Pan and Sell | 5 panned batches | Cash, Traveling Merchant ping | Practice panning rhythm |
| 3 — Turn In a Gem | 1x any gem | Upgrade path unlock | Trader pays more than pan |
For a broader look at which pans to chase after these quests, the Pans Guide maps every pan tier to the dig sites where it actually pays off.
Dig Sites, Tools, and Where to Spend Your First Hour
The first hour is not about chasing rare drops, it is about learning the map layout and stacking small wins. There are three dig sites that any sensible Prospecting starter guide will point you to: the riverbed near John, the small cave behind the Trader, and the cliffside vein that runs along the path toward the Merchant. Each has a different toughness rating, which is the stat that decides whether your current shovel can break the deposit open.
Riverbed Near John (Toughness 1)
The riverbed accepts any shovel, including the Rusty Shovel John just gave you. The drops here lean toward Common Ore and Sand, with a low but non-zero chance of Uncut Gems. It is the safest place to grind the first Trader quest and to learn the panning timing without burning through your starting stamina.
Small Cave Behind the Trader (Toughness 1)
The cave behind the Trader is a step up in density. The walls here have a higher fossil spawn rate than the open river, which is why the first hour crowd tends to migrate here once the Trader quests are done. It still requires only a basic shovel, so it works for a fresh player.
Cliffside Vein Toward the Merchant (Toughness 2)
The cliffside vein is the first site that pushes your tool requirement. To dig it, you need at least a Stone Shovel, which is one of the first upgrades the Merchant sells. The vein drops more Rare Ore and a small chance at Fossils, which is what makes the upgrade worth chasing in the first hour.
| Dig Site | Toughness | Min Shovel | Common Drops | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverbed | 1 | Rusty Shovel | Common Ore, Sand | Trader quest 1 |
| Cave behind Trader | 1 | Rusty Shovel | Ore, low fossils | Panning practice |
| Cliffside Vein | 2 | Stone Shovel | Rare Ore, fossils | First upgrade push |
Building a Smooth First-Hour Routine
Most new players spread their first hour thin, dipping into a dig site, switching tools, and talking to every NPC they pass. A tighter routine gets you further with the same time. Treat the opening 60 minutes as three 20-minute blocks, each with a single focus, and use the Prospecting noob to pro mindset of stacking small, repeatable wins.
Block 1 — Tutorial + Trader Quest 1 (0-20 Minutes)
Spend the first twenty minutes on the tutorial and the first Trader quest. Dig only at the riverbed, pan every batch, and sell anything that is not a quest requirement. By the end of this block you should have your first 100 gold and your first gem sitting in storage. According to the Beginner Guide, this block also unlocks crafting paths that show up later as necklaces, charms, and rings.
Block 2 — Trader Quests 2 and 3 (20-40 Minutes)
Use the second block to finish the remaining two Trader quests. Run the cave behind the Trader for the panning practice quest, then spend the rest of the time chasing a single gem to turn in. By the end of this block, the Merchant notification should have fired at least once, which means you have a window to buy a Stone Shovel or a Better Pan if your gold is healthy.
Block 3 — Cliffside Vein + First Tool Upgrade (40-60 Minutes)
The last twenty minutes go to the cliffside vein and to the first real upgrade. If you picked up a Stone Shovel from the Merchant, you can start hitting the vein right away. If not, park yourself at the cave and bank ore until the Merchant returns. Either path leaves you with a tool tier, a wallet, and a real understanding of the panning timing that any Prospecting first hour guide would call a win.
| Block | Duration | Focus | End-State Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block 1 | 0-20 min | Tutorial + Trader Q1 | 100 gold, first gem |
| Block 2 | 20-40 min | Trader Q2 + Q3 | Merchant ping fired |
| Block 3 | 40-60 min | Cliffside + upgrade | Stone Shovel or better |
A useful side note: the wiki's Map Guide confirms that John and the Trader are deliberately placed near the river spawn, which is why the entire first hour can be completed without fast travel. That is by design, because the game wants you to learn the rhythm of dig, pan, sell before adding any map navigation on top.
Pitfalls That Eat the First Hour
Even with a clean routine, a few common habits quietly burn through the opening hour. The biggest is selling quest items before turning them in, which costs the bonus reward and the quest XP. The second is leaving panning early because the pan looks empty; the timing window for the bonus drop is in the last second of the minigame, and bailing early skips it. The third is over-investing in cosmetics or tool skins in the first hour, which feels rewarding but leaves you stuck at the riverbed for far longer than needed.
Players in the community often point out, based on community testing, that running the Codes redemption area once per session is the cheapest XP boost in the game. Codes rotate frequently, so checking the in-game board before you start your hour is a free multiplier. Pair that with the ring planning advice on the Gear Worth It Guide and the first hour starts to feel less like a tutorial and more like a deliberate, repeatable loop.
For more strategies and details, explore our Tips and Tricks Guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the very first thing to do in Prospecting?
Talk to John at the river spawn and finish the tutorial before doing anything else. The tutorial drops your first Rusty Shovel, Wooden Pan, and the Collection journal that tracks every mineral and fossil for the rest of the run. Skipping it forfeits the bonus gold John gives for a clean finish.
How long does the first hour of Prospecting take to set up?
A clean first hour runs about 60 minutes of real time: 10 minutes on John's tutorial, 25 minutes on the Trader's three starter quests, and 25 minutes on the cliffside vein after a first tool upgrade. Players who skip the tutorial or the Trader chain usually spend more time grinding later, not less.
Should I save gems or turn them into the Trader's third quest?
Turn one in for the quest reward. The Trader pays more per gem than the pan ever will, and the reward is a guaranteed upgrade path toward a better pan or shovel. Any extra gems you find after that can be hoarded for the Volcano dig sites, which require tougher tools and reward rare drops.
Where do I dig after the starter quests?
Head to the cliffside vein on the path toward the Merchant. It requires at least a Stone Shovel, which is one of the first upgrades the Merchant sells. The vein drops more Rare Ore and has a higher fossil rate than the riverbed, so it is the natural follow-up to any starter quest chain.
Is it worth chasing codes during the first hour?
Yes, redemption codes are a free XP and coin boost that stack on top of every quest reward. Community testing shows codes rotate regularly, so checking the board once per session is a cheap, reliable multiplier on the Prospecting first hour loop.