Upgrading gold mines not worth it?

I'm currently TVL 6. While I understand the waiting around is a big complaint in this game, is it just me or is the way the gold mine upgrading set up make it almost worthless after a while?

With troop and defense upgrades, you see a somewhat consistent percentage increase (@20%) in their abilities even as you go higher.

However, the gold mines (elixir pumps too) stay at only 300 per hour increase which gets you diminishing returns. For example.....If I look at upgrading a lvl 9 gold mine it will increase production from 2200 to 2500 per hour. This will take a builder 4 days to complete. So, I'm out of production for 4 days x 24 hours x 2200. Once completed, it will take me 29.33 days at the new production rate just to catch up!!!

either I failed math or that just seems ridiculous to me. I'm sure this has been mentioned before so my apologies but I couldn't find a thread on it. Thanks.

Its actually 3.5 days.

4 days * 24 hours* 2200 all divided by 2500*24 hours.

(4*24*2200)/(24*2500)=3.52

I'm confused very confused......

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Originally Posted by jukebox

Its actually 3.5 days.

4 days * 24 hours* 2200 all divided by 2500*24 hours.

(4*24*2200)/(24*2500)=3.52

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No genius. It's the difference between the old rate and the new rate that is relevant for calculating time to profitability. Since if you didn't upgrade you'd still be making gold at the old rate.

The OP is right. It takes 29 days 8 hours to make a profit from upgrading from level 9 to 10.

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Originally Posted by MrLedgend

I'm confused very confused......

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When you upgrade a mine or a pump it doesn't produce while it is being upgraded. That means you have to wait a certain amount of time before the upgraded mine or pump makes the amount you would have had if you didn't have it out of commission.

In this case when you upgrade from level 9 to 10 you have to wait 4d. That means you lose 4 days x 24 hours per day x 2200 per hour = 211200.

The new rate is 2500 an hour. Since you would've been making 2200 an hour before, you have to take the difference of the two rates and divide the amount you lost by it to see how long you will take to profit.

So...That's 211200/(2500-2200) = 704 hours = 29 days 8 hours.

Just do them don't worry about it

Upgrading your mines & pumps are DEFINITELY worth it! :D

I lose on average 100k of each resource every time I get attacked - you win some, you lose some - but with 6 lvl 9 mines and 6 lvl 9 elixir pumps, I get it all back when I log back on 12 hours later. Which means I always have enough to raise an army. It's a drag to upgrade, but once it's done, it's done.

BB

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Originally Posted by tssd888

However, the gold mines (elixir pumps too) stay at only 300 per hour increase which gets you diminishing returns. For example.....If I look at upgrading a lvl 9 gold mine it will increase production from 2200 to 2500 per hour. This will take a builder 4 days to complete. So, I'm out of production for 4 days x 24 hours x 2200. Once completed, it will take me 29.33 days at the new production rate just to catch up!!!

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So I guess you are saying that you don't intend an playing this game for more than 29.33 days? I have been playing this game for 3 months and even now I know that I will be playing for at least 3 more months (unless Supercell continues on this path it's on, where they are making the game impossible to play without gems).
So unless you plan on quitting before 29.3 days then your post is pointless!

Eventually it's worth it, but the time-scales are ridiculous!

You build a new one from scratch to now lvl 11 and it takes a total of 22641 minutes, or getting on for 16 days.
It then takes 91 days to become profitable.

That's for a single mine or pump!

You equate builders into that by that you'd probably only be using one on mines/pumps whilst other(s) did def or other buildings, and we're talking 16*6 = 96 days total build time, The time til profit would be less than 91 * 6, because you'd already have the previous ones producing, but we're still talking best part of a year!

That's one hell of a commitment!

It should be scaled, so that each upgrade adds a bit extra each time..seeing as they are costing more.
So instead of an increase of 300 each time, it should be 300 for one, 350 for the next, 400 etc...

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Originally Posted by Icekool17

Eventually it's worth it, but the time-scales are ridiculous!

It should be scaled, so that each upgrade adds a bit extra each time..seeing as they are costing more.
So instead of an increase of 300 each time, it should be 300 for one, 350 for the next, 400 etc...

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yes, that is my point exactly. The diminishing returns is ridiculous. Eventually, what? to go from lvl 17 to 18 will take 2 weeks and get you a 2% increase? lol

If it scaled then I would be less inclined to buy gems.

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Originally Posted by hb808

If it scaled then I would be less inclined to buy gems.

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yeah, obviously it's all designed around SuperCell making $$, as any business should. However, even if it scaled, the cost of upgrades is scaling as well so you'd only be keeping pace and therefore should be just as incented to buy gems as you were before.

don't get me wrong, I've purchased my fair share of gems but there comes a point where it no longer makes sense because you get so little return on your $$. Of course, this is just me and everyone is different but my point is that as of now, I've stopped buying gems. I'd probably continue to buy some on a semi-regular basis if it gave me any return like they used to.

I dunno. If it scaled like people want it do then the only time I would buy gems is during a tournament to trophy rush my team. Only the top teams trophy rush so now millions of gamers would go un-monetized.

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Originally Posted by Icekool17

Eventually it's worth it, but the time-scales are ridiculous!

You build a new one from scratch to now lvl 11 and it takes a total of 22641 minutes, or getting on for 16 days.
It then takes 91 days to become profitable.

That's for a single mine or pump!

You equate builders into that by that you'd probably only be using one on mines/pumps whilst other(s) did def or other buildings, and we're talking 16*6 = 96 days total build time, The time til profit would be less than 91 * 6, because you'd already have the previous ones producing, but we're still talking best part of a year!

That's one hell of a commitment!

It should be scaled, so that each upgrade adds a bit extra each time..seeing as they are costing more.
So instead of an increase of 300 each time, it should be 300 for one, 350 for the next, 400 etc...

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Sure, the time-to-profitability is 91 days for one single mine/pump. However, it's not at all much more than that for all six units. Assuming you've decided to upgrade mines/pumps to a certain level, the optimal way is to use a round-robin scheme, i.e. always upgrade one of the lowest-leveled pumps/mines (naturally, it's better to wait N days for a total output increase of say 300/hour rather than > N days). Another key benefit is that we also get a maximum overlap of pumps/mines compensating for lost income simultaneously

For example, assume you can dedicate one builder to upgrade mines. Also, assume we start with all mines at lvl 7, this seems to be the level everyone agrees it's worthwhile upgrading to. If you then use a round-robin upgrade scheme to upgrade to lvl X and then stop, the following holds (simple calculations, easily verified):

1. If you're going to keep playing CoC for N <= 17 days, don't upgrade at all.
2. If you're going to keep playing CoC for 17 < N <= 42 days, upgrade all to lvl 8.
3. If you're going to keep playing CoC for 42 < N <= 73 days, upgrade all to lvl 9.
4. If you're going to keep playing CoC for 72 < N <= 96 days, upgrade all to lvl 10.
5. If you're going to keep playing CoC for N > 96 days, upgrade all to lvl 11.

See, it's not much worse than the time-to-profitability for a single pump/mine. Add a few days for building from scratch to lvl 7. Moreover, the reverse holds - if you did not upgrade but did play for more than 17 days, you were a fool not to upgrade, so the decisions you have to make are really the following:

1. Day 1: is it probable I'll still be playing 17 days from now? If so, upgrade to lvl 8.
2. Day 18: is it probable I'll still be playing 25 days from now? If so upgrade to lvl 9.
3. Day 43: is it probable I'll still be playing 30 days from now? If so upgrade to lvl 10.
4. Day 73: is it probable I'll still be playing 24 days from now? If so upgrade to lvl 11.

Another point that might be interesting is that the max deviation during the first 100 days starting from lvl 7 on the way to upgrading all to lvl 11 measured against the upgrade path that yields the max possible output to that day is -943k which happens on day 64. So, all this fuzz is really not about more than 1M gold/elixir. Not much downside risk there, imo. Occupying a builder for 84 days straight is probably much worse :).

Also, this total focus on a single isolated variable (time-to-profitability) that keeps popping up in all threads is just weird. It's just a single parameter in the game. For example, as others have mentioned in this thread, why not focus more on the _throughput_ as well?

As an example, say you're trying to save up for a major upgrade but get 2-starred with ~1M saved in your storages and full loot stolen. You lose 180k from storages and 50% of what was in your producing units at the time of the attack. During the coming 12h shield, 6 lvl 11 producers would produce 216k, making up for the loss and _increasing_ your stash with at least +36k as long as you collect before the shield runs out. Otoh, 6 lvl 7 producers would only produce 115k during the shield, not making up for the loss. Therefore, another argument for upgrading is that due to the increase in _throughput_ which in turn is related to shield time you'll have a much easier time growing your gold/elixir bankroll even though you get thrashed.

Just upgrade. It's worth it, imho.

You have to factor in that your builder's time is better spent upgrading anything but mines/extractors as well. You make much more off battles than you do off of mines/extractors. To me it makes more sense to keep upgrading my offense and defense than to waste precious builder time on mines/extractors.

Not to mention that high level mines/extractors make it more likely that you'll get attacked.

~Jeff

It is definitely worth it, I have all my collectors at lvl 11 and they churn out resources like nobody's business!over night I get around 20k per collector so 120k both :D

Its definitely worth it! how can it not be? it's free gold! so what if it takes 28 days to get your investment back? have you ever played the game 'crime city' on ios? 28 days for return of investment is nothing, especially if you plan to keep on playing.

I have three builders. After the initial TH upgrade I focus on walls and getting the new defensive structures. After that, one mostly stays on defense upgrades, one mostly on offense upgrades, one mostly on resource upgrades. After EVERYTHING is maxed out for my TH level, the cycle starts again. So, yeah, I max out my collectors, but that's usually the last thing before the TH.

I stopped upgrading mine when they got to level six.

8 days total build time for lvl 6. Another 180 days total build time to get all of them to lvl 11.

I dont buy gems so with 3 builders I'd rather not waste 2 months of upgrading mines and collectors when I have other things to upgrade.

If you farm then mines are pointless upgrades. If you chase trophies then you probably need collectors for building armies.

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Originally Posted by stompy

I stopped upgrading mine when they got to level six.

8 days total build time for lvl 6. Another 180 days total build time to get all of them to lvl 11.

I dont buy gems so with 3 builders I'd rather not waste 2 months of upgrading mines and collectors when I have other things to upgrade.

If you farm then mines are pointless upgrades. If you chase trophies then you probably need collectors for building armies.

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the aim of farming is to gain coin/elixir. surely then upgrading mines/pumps only adds to that therefore not making it pointless.

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Originally Posted by dahimi

When you upgrade a mine or a pump it doesn't produce while it is being upgraded. That means you have to wait a certain amount of time before the upgraded mine or pump makes the amount you would have had if you didn't have it out of commission.

In this case when you upgrade from level 9 to 10 you have to wait 4d. That means you lose 4 days x 24 hours per day x 2200 per hour = 211200.

The new rate is 2500 an hour. Since you would've been making 2200 an hour before, you have to take the difference of the two rates and divide the amount you lost by it to see how long you will take to profit.

So...That's 211200/(2500-2200) = 704 hours = 29 days 8 hours.

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Responding to your quote to move collectors away from defenses... Why is that important?

If you don't upgrade your mines then you won't benefit from resource return when your shields are up.

/thread

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Originally Posted by hb808

If you don't upgrade your mines then you won't benefit from resource return when your shields are up.

/thread

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Who cares about shields? You make more in one battle by breaking your shield than you do from your collectors while the shield is up. I pop my shields every chance I get.

~Jeff

/thread

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Originally Posted by GameShaman

Who cares about shields? You make more in one battle by breaking your shield than you do from your collectors while the shield is up. I pop my shields every chance I get.

~Jeff

/thread

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So, you advice against upgrading collectors since it increases the probability of getting attacked, but "pop your shields every chance you get". Imho, that increases the probability of getting attacked more often a tad more than having high lvl collectors.

Also, I don't know what level you're at. You're free to play the game any way you want, but relying on the assumption that you'll always be able to loot your way to all upgrades is nothing more than just an assumption, definetely not an axiom. Nothing is more annoying than all the whiners in the forums when "THERE IS NO LOOT TODAY", "I UPGRADED TO TH9 AND NOW THERE IS NO LOOOT, BUHUUU", "WHICH IS THE BEST TROPHY LEVEL FOR FARMING FOR TH8, CAN'T FIND LOOT" when they are sitting with lvl 6-7 collectors convinced they're entitled to looting their way to heaven.

Not bashing you Jeff, but the advice you're giving results in exactly this from the kiddos. I reasoned the same way until I hit TH7 or 8, thinking offense/defense was more important, but regretted at some tipping point that I hadn't had one builder working on collectors all the time, at least after I got my 3rd builder. Just makes life so much easier later on, and seriously, if you have 3-5 builders, as someone else wroter earlier in the thread, you won't be upgrading defensive structures with all of them, or? Because I'd really think _that_ would result in your base being attacked more often.

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Originally Posted by hankhager2

So, you advice against upgrading collectors since it increases the probability of getting attacked, but "pop your shields every chance you get". Imho, that increases the probability of getting attacked more often a tad more than having high lvl collectors.

Also, I don't know what level you're at. You're free to play the game any way you want, but relying on the assumption that you'll always be able to loot your way to all upgrades is nothing more than just an assumption, definetely not an axiom. Nothing is more annoying than all the whiners in the forums when "THERE IS NO LOOT TODAY", "I UPGRADED TO TH9 AND NOW THERE IS NO LOOOT, BUHUUU", "WHICH IS THE BEST TROPHY LEVEL FOR FARMING FOR TH8, CAN'T FIND LOOT" when they are sitting with lvl 6-7 collectors convinced they're entitled to looting their way to heaven.

Not bashing you Jeff, but the advice you're giving results in exactly this from the kiddos. I reasoned the same way until I hit TH7 or 8, thinking offense/defense was more important, but regretted at some tipping point that I hadn't had one builder working on collectors all the time, at least after I got my 3rd builder. Just makes life so much easier later on, and seriously, if you have 3-5 builders, as someone else wroter earlier in the thread, you won't be upgrading defensive structures with all of them, or? Because I'd really think _that_ would result in your base being attacked more often.

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I am level 57 right now and I have had 5 builders since week 1 that I started playing about 6-8 weeks ago (unsure exactly). Here are my building levels:

Town Hall: 8
Army Camps: 6, 6, 6, 6
Barracks: 10, 10, 9, 9*
Clan Hall: 4
Mortar: 5, 5, 5*
Wizard Tower: 4, 4*, 3
Archer Tower: 7, 7, 6, 6, 6
Canon: 8, 8, 8*, 7
Air Defense: 2, 2
Tesla: 2*, 1, 1
Walls: 58 - Level 7, 142 - Level 6
Gold Storage: 11, 11, 4
Elixir Storage: 11, 10, 4
Gold Mines: 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7
Elixir Collectors: 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6
Lab: 6
- Barbarian: 3
- Archer: 5*
- Goblin: 4
- Giant: 4
- Wall Breaker: 3
- Balloon: 2
- Wizard: 3
- Healer: 1
- Dragon: 2
- Pekka: 1
- All Spells: 1

*=Upgrade under way

Not sure where that puts me in your eyes, but I have no issues keeping my builders busy at all times. I also have my defense setup in a fashion where I rarely lose the primary resource I am defending (hanging out in the 800-1500 range) and only lose a little of the other. Once you hit TH8 you can defend yourself fairly well with 5 defensive items upgrading.

~Jeff

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Originally Posted by Blue

the aim of farming is to gain coin/elixir. surely then upgrading mines/pumps only adds to that therefore not making it pointless.

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Well, with my lvl 6 mines and collectors I have TH8, 3 lvl 6 mortars, 3 lvl 5 wiz towers, 4 lvl 9 cannons, 5 lvl 8 archer towers, all troops except pekka and wizards are fully upgraded, and about 1/3 of my walls are skull, the other 2/3 are purple...

I'm constantly destroying elixir because my stores hit 6 mil and I cant loot any more.

I didn't farm at all until the last update, before that I used to chase trophies.

I often have multiple defensive buildings being upgraded, it still doesn't make it possible for people to get my loot most of the time.

That all says to me that mines and collector upgrades are not worth the time it takes to upgrade while I have defenses to build. Sure I lose out on 245k gold a day, but that's 1-2 raids max (i.e. 20-30 mins play time).

Your mileage may vary. I'm happy for others to upgrade mines, means more loot to raid :)

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Originally Posted by dahimi

No genius. It's the difference between the old rate and the new rate that is relevant for calculating time to profitability. Since if you didn't upgrade you'd still be making gold at the old rate.

The OP is right. It takes 29 days 8 hours to make a profit from upgrading from level 9 to 10.

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An upgrade from lvl10 to lvl11 takes 5 days. Production from 2.500 to 3.000 an hour. Therefore:
5 days x 24 hours x 2.500 = 1.5000.000 gold (missed out production)
It takes 1.500.000 / 500 (increased production) = 3.000 hours = 125 DAYS!! untill you benefit from the upgrade.

I like the game, but in 125 days I will for sure have another favorite!

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Originally Posted by nice

An upgrade from lvl10 to lvl11 takes 5 days. Production from 2.500 to 3.000 an hour. Therefore:
5 days x 24 hours x 2.500 = 1.5000.000 gold (missed out production)
It takes 1.500.000 / 500 (increased production) = 3.000 hours = 125 DAYS!! untill you benefit from the upgrade.

I like the game, but in 125 days I will for sure have another favorite!

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Your math is off.

5x24x2500 = 300000

300000/500 = 600 = 25 days

Alternatively you can check out the wiki where I've already done these calculations.
http://clashofclans.wikia.com/wiki/Gold_Mine

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nice

An upgrade from lvl10 to lvl11 takes 5 days. Production from 2.500 to 3.000 an hour. Therefore:
5 days x 24 hours x 2.500 = 1.5000.000 gold (missed out production)
It takes 1.500.000 / 500 (increased production) = 3.000 hours = 125 DAYS!! untill you benefit from the upgrade.

I like the game, but in 125 days I will for sure have another favorite!

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LOL

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Originally Posted by dahimi

Your math is off.

5x24x2500 = 300000

300000/500 = 600 = 25 days

Alternatively you can check out the wiki where I've already done these calculations.
http://clashofclans.wikia.com/wiki/Gold_Mine

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Stuff like these definitely can count on dahimi ;)

Btw, isn't the general term supposed to be 'Break Even Point' / BEP?

Also, if the cost of upgrade is calculated, it will take even longer to reach break even point
(although gold mines needs elixir to upgrade, and vice versa)

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Originally Posted by GameShaman

Who cares about shields? You make more in one battle by breaking your shield than you do from your collectors while the shield is up. I pop my shields every chance I get.

~Jeff

/thread

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You are my ideal target to farm. Keep popping them shields.

The math is clear about BEP, indifference point, point of return, whatever you call it.

The point about collection return within a shield, if you don't pop it, is also true...

But, ever find yourself in a mad rush to farm and suddenly find yourself low on elix and can't farm anymore? I did in my earlier days... and damn, was I glad that my pumps mined some elix so I could farm again. How do you price out that shorter waiting period? Like the Am Ex advertisement, "priceless"...

This is not relevant for me now, as my troops are all maxed out and I don't need elix anymore and my storage tanks are full... but I remember the younger days when I was TH8 in diapers, oh I was such a cute CoC baby...

Illustris the Grandfather

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Originally Posted by hb808

You are my ideal target to farm. Keep popping them shields.

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Someone without a shield? Wow, and here I thought you were farming people with shields, lol.

~Jeff

I think you guys are looking at this the wrong way. Instead of being selfish think about the playing community as a whole...

There are two ways to introduce resources into the game, using gems and mines/pumps. Upgrading your mines/pumps brings more resources into the game. Low level mines and pumps are a huge contributor to the lack of resources that has many players complaining about the state of the game.

If none of us upgraded past level 7 then there wouldn't be enough resources in the game for us all to keep our builders busy. Why else would the upgrade price for high level mines and pumps be so relatively low?

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Originally Posted by lonewolf

Its definitely worth it! how can it not be? it's free gold! so what if it takes 28 days to get your investment back? have you ever played the game 'crime city' on ios? 28 days for return of investment is nothing, especially if you plan to keep on playing.

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Haha great point, I am level 110+ on crime city and know all about that. Even with spending real money - I had to wait months to get the buildings I wanted because the level requirements are so high.

I would never consider not upgrading my resources - I bought 4 builders for the exact reason. Might as well get it out of the way at a low level and reap the rewards for the remainder of the time I play, which will probably be months.

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Originally Posted by Micc1313

I think you guys are looking at this the wrong way. Instead of being selfish think about the playing community as a whole...

There are two ways to introduce resources into the game, using gems and mines/pumps. Upgrading your mines/pumps brings more resources into the game. Low level mines and pumps are a huge contributor to the lack of resources that has many players complaining about the state of the game.

If none of us upgraded past level 7 then there wouldn't be enough resources in the game for us all to keep our builders busy. Why else would the upgrade price for high level mines and pumps be so relatively low?

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I agree totally with your point. To me, still, upgrading defenses and troops are my priorities.

To reply to the OP:
There are a few reasons to upgrade.
1. The long term production
2. The achievement rewards
3. The intangible sense of accomplishment
4. Most important: the resource sink. Would you rather another player take your gold/elixir or for you to have a shiny new mine? The IRS can take your cash, so spend it on cocaine and hookers while you still can.

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Originally Posted by dahimi

No genius. It's the difference between the old rate and the new rate that is relevant for calculating time to profitability. Since if you didn't upgrade you'd still be making gold at the old rate.

The OP is right. It takes 29 days 8 hours to make a profit from upgrading from level 9 to 10.

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Actually.... YOU ALL failed the math exams in high school. You have to take the 1.4 days worth of profit that you initially threw into upgrading the pump or mine in the first place. (84,000/2,500= 30.6 .... 30.6/24=1.4)

Thus, the time it takes to turn a profit on the upgrade, accurately and respectively, is 30.73 days. And if your complaining.... like everyone else said, stop playing..... just saying. Thank you all for your time and attention.

Why in the world has this ancient thread been revived?

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Originally Posted by Icekool17

Eventually it's worth it, but the time-scales are ridiculous!

You build a new one from scratch to now lvl 11 and it takes a total of 22641 minutes, or getting on for 16 days.
It then takes 91 days to become profitable.

That's for a single mine or pump!
.

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Whew...amateurs. Your numbers are correct, your analysis is flawed. The access to increased asset isn't factored in nor is the improvement to infrastructure time.

More production of cash means quicker accumulation of resources, especially replacing lost through raids. Shorter time saving the amount necessary to build improvements. If sone if that is spent on defense, less amount lost in raids and an even quicker investment turn time.

Easy example...you need 2,000,000 for a build. You have 1,500,000. You sign off for the night. A raid takes 200,000. If you max your productivity, when you log in, you replace the lost and have 500,000 to raid for. Same as when you logged off. Cost to raid that last half mil is the same.

Now...you aren't max'd in production and you log in able to replace 100,000 ' cause you're an idiot in not max'ing production. You never w have to raid for 600,000. On addition you use up additional costs for building another one or two armies...the lost gain is 100,000 PLUS cost of additional armies.

It costs more that just that for loss of potential raids the additional armies could have taken had they not been needed to replace the lost loot. You need one or two additional attacks to break even, and lose the extra loot you should gave garnered. A double loss.

Max production... Always

*sigh* everyone freaks out about the clash economy and how ur losing loot. But I'm doing just fine and I have...lvl 8 pumps 😱😱😱 never have more than one free builder (for walls) been focusing on def not minor things like mines and pumps. But u do u :smirk:

Worried about upgrade time losses? Put in an extra attack. Problem solved.

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Originally Posted by stompy

That all says to me that mine upgrades are not worth the time it takes to upgrade while I have defenses to build. Sure I lose out on 245k gold a day, but that's 1-2 raids max (i.e. 20-30 mins play time).

Your mileage may vary. I'm happy for others to upgrade mines, means more loot to raid :)

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Actually, what your comments say is " I've got the brains of an aardvark! "

You lose out on close to 490K. That which your mines don't produce...and the additional 245 k you would have had if you didn't have to spend the time replacing it.

Of course, you play in the minor leagues, so your thinking is perfectly suited for staying in the lower minor leagues...

Its 504,000 gold/elixir a day for maxed collectors at th9.
Thats a free 15million in a month or 185million in a year.
Thats 46free zaps in a year or maxed th10 defenses if you came in maxed from th9. Its free loot everyday. It doesnt matter how much you raid, whoever maxed them will always be ahead if he raids the same. Not maxing them is just bad. A maxed archer tower costs a lot more to max than all the mines and still generates 0 loot, but you are willing to max 6 of them ...

Mines over lvl 10 is a waste of time.

Mines over defenses everyday. They were all done as soon as I maxed offensive buildings at TH9, before upgrading any defense to TH9 level.

AT,mortar,cannons,WT,AD never generate loot. Even when maxed, you can lose defenses, rendering them useless. But when you maxed collectors, you gain a free 500k each per day, compared to 360k at lvl 10.

A good farmer can farm 3mil each per day. If he maxed collectors, he'd be earning 3.5mil per day. An excellent farmer can do 7mil per day. If he maxed collectors, he'd be earning 7.5mil per day. What's there to lose?

I maxed my mines and collectors only now, near the end of TH10. The prices are so high I wasn't able to keep the builders busy so I used mines as a feeler.
Builder time is more precious than gold and I lost many millions on the way just because the was no free builder available.

Once you get to a certain point, the mines offer too little return on the investment. Not only are you spending millions to develop them, but 30 days each just to break even? Your arguments are all very valid on the return, and how the return is still "higher," but I will keep those builder days for something else.

Two scenarios:
You reach TH8 with a plan to build XYZ and move on to TH9. First you spend 60 builder days on the collectors and then add on the XYZ days.

You reach Th8 with a plan to build XYZ and move on to TH9. You have to loot one more time per day to offset the weaker collectors (72000 each), but you get through XYZ 60 days faster.

I can't tell you which path is smarter or better, I can only say that I prefer one over the other.

My collectors are lv 7-9, in which I "lose" aprox 100,000 each a day.
Meanwhile, I saved 180 builder days to compensate the lost of revenue.
In TH7 I averaged 1-2 Mil each per day
In TH8 I averaged 2-3 Mil each per day
So far in TH9 (18 days), I averaged 2-4 Mil each per day

Just remember boys and girls,

You plan to rush, I prefer to max,
I like builder days, you chose the mines.
you take your own path, I jog thru mine,
at the end of the day, we will all be fine.
is your way better? I beg to differ,
don't need to be mad, don't need to be bitter,
respect each other, and we will all be richer.

Thanks, I'll be here all week. Be sure to tip your waitress.

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Originally Posted by Mitchluijks

Upgrading your mines & pumps are DEFINITELY worth it! :D

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Especially to SUPERCELL!!!XD

Ahhh necro post... but I am curious how many people in this thread are still playing. And if they had upgraded how much loot they would be ajead by now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skydvr74

Ahhh necro post... but I am curious how many people in this thread are still playing. And if they had upgraded how much loot they would be ajead by now.

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I'm still playing, and max mines since Jan 2015 has generated around a third of all my lava walls, worth it

I've always wondered about this and those who brought out the math well broke it down, still I upgrade my pumps because they look sexy

Definetly upgrade them.