Scavenge

*If you've got the **sense** to sort the shit from the diamonds, and the **endurance** to keep at it for a few hours, then you can scavenge with the best of 'em.*

## Uses

Scavenge is useful for any build in the game in some way or another. Here's a listing of common uses:

* **Cutting parts from corpses.** Most new players discover quickly that they can cut dicks from orphan corpses. Other more useful interactions include cutting parts from mobs that are used to fulfil jobs; the earliest example of this is cutting chudmeat from chuds for the sewer butcher job.
	+ Consistent body part cutting requires about 17 scavenge, though it's higher on certain mobs, like Gulfhounds and Nullianacs.
	+ Success chance of cutting a body part is increased by having a sonic scalpel, butcher's knife or cutting knife in one's inventory.
	+ The butcher command cuts all body parts up at once. Otherwise cut part from corpse seeks out specific parts. cut from corpse will list everything that is a possible cutting target.
	+ Players with Silicone Skin can never have body parts cut.
* **Cutting implants from corpses.** This is usually used to salvage dead corpmates' implants or loot people after PvP; if their corpse rots, they're guaranteed to be damaged, but with good scavenge, you're likely to pull them out undamaged.
	+ Players aren't supposed to be able to butcher their own corpses (though this rule has tons of loopholes) so usually it'll be someone else cutting them.
	+ Players with Silicone Skin can never have implants cut.
* **Finding hidden exits.** Some tiles have secret exits, often indicated with a message mentioning a hunch that something is hidden nearby. Find these with a search. The difficulty depends on the exit.
* **Finding geocaches.** Some areas have hidden caches that you can track down for XP! To find them, you'll need to search the right tile.
* **Finding items.** Many tiles in HellMOO can be searched to grab items from their scavenge table. This is the most complex scavenge interaction; there are more details below.
* **Stashing items.** stash item uses your scavenge skill to hide the selected item on your current tile. Certain tiles are more stashable than others, and certain items are harder to hide than others.
	+ This command is mostly used as a security measure against robbery; sometimes robbers forget to check for stashed items, and searching stuff up is a big time-waster.
	+ Low scavenge skill produces weak stashing ability. Top scavengers can hide items so well that hardly anyone can find them.
	+ Recovering stashed items is a lot harder than finding them again, so be careful that you don't accidentally stash your stuff so well that even you can't find it.
* **Junkrat's sniff**. See the mutation page for more information.
* **Breaking stuff down.** break item will attempt to break an item down into its constituent parts. This has a chance to fail, and will likely destroy the item in the process. The better the success, the more items will be produced.
	+ Breaking is helped by being in a room with the workbench used to craft that thing. Breaking a gun, for example, is assisted by being in a room with a gunsmith's bench.
	+ Breaking is helped by having the schematic for the item that's being broken, either inside one's inventory or a nearby workbench.
* **Mining**. Mining is more complex than other interactions; see the section below.
* **Quest interactions.** Many journals require the use of scavenge to complete.

## Finding Hidden Items

Scavenge can be used to find hidden items on a tile depending on the zone.

* Most any tile can be searched, but not every tile has a scavenge table.
* Every time you search and succeed in your scavenge roll, you'll get an item from that tile's table, after which that item will be temporarily removed from the table until the tile resets a few minutes later.
* You get about four searches of a tile before it "locks" - at this point, you'll get a message telling you you've searched enough and must come back later. At that point, the tile won't give you anything until it is given time to recharge.

At around 24+ scavenge, you will start to get double finds, like so:

```
You find a gold nugget hidden away in a corner.
Oh hey, you found a chunk of rutile too.

```

This becomes consistent around 28-30 scavenge, and is very good: the second item in the "Oh hey" line is *not* removed from the scavenge table, so you can search again and possibly find it several times.

## Mining

Mining is pulling minerals and precious stones out of the ground. To mine, you'll need a pickaxe and probably a light source. You may also want Jooky to help with muscle strain.

To start mining, go to a mine-able tile and type mine. Mining is both influenced by your scavenge skill and your fightstyle. Berserker and aggressive mine at 100%, normal at 75% and cautious/pacifist at 50% speed; fight berserk to hit max speed, for example. This will inflict increasing muscle strain, so time to rest must be allowed between mining sessions.

Tunnels can collapse, which deals beat damage to everyone on the tile. They get more and more prone to collapse as time goes on, and reset after being left alone for a time. app here will tell you how likely a mine-able zone is to collapse. Support beams can be repaired in some areas to stop collapses, but people rarely bother.

There are several mines in the game:

* Panopticon Prison has an iron mine, which drops iron exclusively.
* The Underground Mine has several different mining zones.
* The Aphotic Grotto has two mining zones, and is notable for dropping Rutile (used to make titanium parts).
* Pangu Island has a mine that drops the same stuff as parts of the Underground mine, but is much harder to reach. This is the least-used mine in the game.
* Macero is rumored to have a hidden mineral deposit, but who knows!
* Ashen Valley's Screaming Chasm and Borehole are huge, and the most dangerous mines in the game by far, visited for exotic and esoteric minerals.

## Buffs

The scavenge skill can be buffed with the following items:

* Functional metal detector: +1.
* Belt bag: +2. Max out the miner Job.
* Excavation utility helmet: +2. Reward for a journal that involves a bit of boating.
* Soda: +1. Drink 3 cans of soda.
* Peyote: +1. This is from ≥4mg or two bites.
* Horny: +1.

Crack, Cocaine and Psilocybin work too, but are too risky for the average new player. While Frenzy gives +4 Senses, your Scavenge total will actually drop.