What the #@&! is “thumping”?!
I’m so glad you asked! Thumping is the primary means in Firefall of gathering crafting resouces, i.e., minerals. The basic process is to find a mineral deposit by using the scan hammer, calling down your thumper (see immediately below), fighting off all the bugs that become annoyed with your thumping, and sending the thumper back before said angry bugs destroy it.
Click here if you are looking for information on meld thumping.
Calling down a Thumper
- Press C on the keyboard to open the Calldowns menu.
- Scroll to the Resource Gathering sub-menu and left click it.
- Select the type of thumper you want to call down and left click it to load it into your 4-key ability slot.
- Aim at the spot where you want to drop the thumper and press 4 on the keyboard.
Types of Thumpers
There are 3 types of player-summonable thumpers in Firefall; Standard, Improved, and Advanced. Each holds increasingly more minerals as well as summoning more and more difficult bugs to kill.
Standard Thumper
The Standard Thumper is the smallest thumper of the three. It is given as a quest reward during the introductory quests. It is a one to two man thumper, has 10,000 hit points, and holds 250 mineral units. It takes about 3 minutes to fill a stock thumper.
Improved Thumper
The Improved Thumper is the middle thumper of the three. It has to be crafted using minerals at a printer. It is a two to four man thumper, has 12,500 hit points, and holds 1,500 mineral units. It takes about 4 minutes to fill an improved thumper.
Advanced Thumper
The Advanced Thumper is the largest thumper of the three. It has to be crafted using quite a bit of minerals at a printer. It is a four to five man thumper, has 15,000 hit points, and hold 4,500 mineral units. It takes about 5 minutes to fill an improved thumper.
Thumping FAQ
Q: How do I find minerals?
A: By using the scan hammer.
Q: What minerals are good?
A: This is a loaded question, but keep reading and I will try to explain it.
Mineral Quality
Minerals come in the following varieties, following standard MMO item quality colors; grey, white, green, blue, purple, and orange (I haven’t seen any orange quality minerals yet, but I have heard of them). Grey is the lowest quality of mineral and orange is the highest. The better quality the mineral, the higher their principle characteristics; usually two of the following four: conductivity, density, malleability, reactivity, and resistance.
Mineral Quantity
The next issue is the density of a mineral find. After using the scan hammer, the results are show briefly on-screen. The percentage is the ratio of mineral to unusable soil. In the second screenshot below in the visual guide to thumping, you can see that it is a find of Bismuth 716, a purple quality mineral. The ratio of mineral to dirt is 58.89%. That means that for every 10 units mined, almost 6 will be Bismuth 716 and the other 4 will just be dirt.
So, if you can put those two things together; mineral quality and mineral quantity, that should give you a sense of what a good find is. However, minerals are used for all sorts of crafting and sometimes it is better to use grey or white quality minerals to craft items that don’t have stats, like healthpacks. Mineral can also be refined into crystite, the in-game currency. So, it is generally accepted that using grey or white minerals is better for refining crystite (i.e., money) than it is to use higher quality minerals. Those minerals; green, blue, purple, and orange, are best reserved for crafting weapons, armor, and ability modules, where their characteristics will enhance the item being crafted.
Q: Ok, I’ve found some minerals. How do I call down a thumper?
A: See calling down a thumper at the start of this post!
Q: How do I send a thumper back?
A: Just stand near it and press and hold the E key on your keyboard.
Q: Can I send a thumper back before it is finished?
A: Yes. In fact, if there are too many bugs around and your thumper is at 30% health and falling, it is always a good rule of thumb to send it back.
Q: Can other people send my thumper back?
A: Only if they are in your squad. If they are not, then they will not be given the option to interact with your thumper. Likewise, you cannot interact with someone else’s thumper unless you are in their squad.
Q: Ok, I found some minerals, called down a thumper, fought off the bugs, and sent it back. Where did my minerals go?
A: They are in your inventory. Press the I key on the keyboard and click the My Resources tab. All of your minerals are displayed there. Hover over a mineral to display its stats.
Q: Ok, I have bunch of minerals now. What do I do with them?
A: Visit a printer and start crafting!
Q: What can I find a printer?
A: There are currently 4 in-game during the beta. There is one in Copacabana, one in Trans-hub, one in Sunken Harbor, and one in Thump Dump.
Q: How do I use the printer?
A: Walk up to it, press E, click Load, select a pattern, click the empty mineral box, select a mineral, and then click whatever that last button is, Build or some such.
Q: How do I-
A: You know, we’re really getting off-topic here. How about you take a look at the pretty pictures below? Go on, click one. That’s it. Oh, pretty, right?
Thumping: A Visual Guide
Here are some screenshots that demonstrate the thumping process from start to finish:
