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Mining Knuckledrill
April 20, 2026 at 03:55 PM
Added specific Mining Mastery refinement percentages at levels 6 and 10
The Mining Knuckledrill is a unique one-handed weapon in Crimson Desert that doubles as a mining tool. It belongs to the one-handed weapons category and has 16 attack power alongside a passive ability called Mining Mastery, which gives a 10% chance to mine additional ores every time you harvest a mining node. With five core slots (more than any other one-handed weapon), the Knuckledrill is both a capable combat weapon and the best resource-gathering tool for miners.
The weapon is obtained by defeating a hidden boss at Marni's Excavation in Karin Quarry. It is not craftable, not sold by merchants, and cannot be obtained any other way. Players who invest in mining and gathering will find the Knuckledrill to be one of the most valuable items in the game for its dual-purpose functionality.
Stat | Value |
|---|---|
Attack Power | 16 |
Critical Hit Chance | Lv. 1 |
Passive | Mining Mastery: 10% chance to mine additional ores |
Core Slots | 5 |
10 | |
Sell Price | 1.57 Silver |
Five core slots is exceptional for a one-handed weapon. Most weapons in this category have only three. The extra slots allow for more Abyss Gear customization, letting you stack mining-related bonuses or build it purely for combat with additional passive effects.
The Mining Mastery passive provides a flat 10% chance to yield bonus ores from every mining node you harvest while the Knuckledrill is equipped. This effect applies to all ore types, from common Iron Ore to rare Bloodstone and Diamond deposits. Over time, the extra ore adds up significantly, reducing the grind for refinement materials and crafting resources.
The Mining Mastery bonus is passive and does not require activation. Simply having the Mining Knuckledrill in your active weapon slot when you mine is enough to trigger it. You do not need to actually swing the Knuckledrill at the node; using your regular pickaxe while the weapon is equipped still counts.
The Mining Knuckledrill drops from a hidden boss encounter at Marni's Excavation, located within Karin Quarry. The boss appears wearing a heavy diving suit with spinning drill arms and deals massive damage if you stand too close for too long. Key tips for the fight:
Watch for the spinning drill arm attacks. They have wide hitboxes but predictable patterns. Dodge to the side rather than backward
Land your attacks during the boss's recovery frames after it finishes a combo. The openings are short but consistent
Bring healing items. The fight is a test of attrition, and the boss can punish even small mistakes with heavy hits
The Mining Knuckledrill is awarded automatically after the boss is defeated. Check your inventory after the victory screen
With 16 attack power and a crit bonus, the Mining Knuckledrill is a solid combat weapon in its own right. Do not think of it as just a utility item
The five core slots give it more Abyss Gear capacity than any other one-handed weapon. You can build it as a serious DPS weapon with the right gear installed
Keep the Knuckledrill equipped when traveling between objectives. If you pass a mining node on the road, you automatically benefit from Mining Mastery without having to swap gear
The drill aesthetic matches well with Oongka's brawler playstyle if you unlock him later in the game
The Mining Knuckledrill is. It is classified as a one-handed weapon and can be equipped in the secondary weapon slot. While its raw attack power is modest compared to dedicated combat weapons, its real value lies in the Mining Mastery passive and its faster drilling speed when gathering ore.
Stat | Value |
|---|---|
Type | One-Handed Weapon |
Attack | 15 |
Normal | |
Weight | 4 |
Core Slots | 5 |
Critical Chance | +1 |
Special Effect | Mining Mastery (10% chance to mine additional ores) |
Refinement Cap | 10 |
Slot | Secondary Weapon |
The five Abyss Core slots give you room to socket cores that complement your playstyle. Since the Knuckledrill is primarily a utility tool, consider equipping cores that boost gathering speed or survivability rather than raw damage.
The Knuckledrill is a guaranteed reward for completing the Stolen Quarry quest, the final step in a short faction questline for House Roberts. This questline becomes available during Chapter 2 and takes place in the Hernand region.
You must complete the following quests in order. All three are part of the House Roberts Quests faction storyline.
Step | Quest | Summary |
|---|---|---|
1 | Introductory faction quest near Blummont Manor. Involves NPC interactions and learning about House Roberts. | |
2 | Short follow-up quest with dialogue inside Blummont Manor. Straightforward and quick to finish. | |
3 | Travel to Karin Quarry, clear Bleed Bandits, and defeat Marni's Excavatron. Rewards the Mining Knuckledrill and a Gold Vein Map. |
The boss arena is inside Karin Quarry, a mining site that has been occupied by the Bleed Bandits. To reach it, head northeast from the City of Hernand toward Goldenleaf Trading Post. From the trading post, go north up the hill into the quarry. You will encounter Bleed Bandit enemies along the way before arriving at the Excavatron's arena.
Marni's Excavatron is a mechanical mining machine that the Bleed Bandits have repurposed for their operations in Karin Quarry. It attacks using its twin drills and can burrow underground to pursue Kliff from below. The fight is not overly difficult if you understand its patterns, but carelessness can get you killed quickly.
Attack | Description | How to Counter |
|---|---|---|
The Excavatron winds up its drills and thrusts forward in a straight line. Deals heavy damage and drains significant stamina if blocked. | Sidestep rather than block. The charge travels in a straight path, so stepping laterally avoids it entirely. | |
Dig (Underground Phase) | Both drills light up before the boss burrows underground. It follows your position and stabs upward repeatedly, then resurfaces with a heavy slam. | Sprint to avoid the underground stabs, then dodge just before the final resurface attack. Force Palm or Blinding Flash can interrupt the dig entirely. |
Powered-Up Dig | When low on health, the Excavatron enters a powered-up state. Its underground phase now includes three stab sequences before it resurfaces. The damage is significantly higher and can one-shot unprepared players. | Dodge immediately after the second underground hit to avoid the lethal third strike. Keep your health topped off going into the later phase of the fight. |
Rapid Drill Swipes | Close-range flurry of drill strikes that can stun-lock you if the first hit connects. Comes out fast with little warning. | Maintain safe distance and only commit to melee during confirmed stagger windows. Use a shield to block if caught up close. |
The most reliable way to beat Marni's Excavatron is the Force Palm loop. Before attempting this fight, unlock Level 3 Force Palm and invest in the Force Palm Expertise node on the skill tree. This allows you to chain three consecutive Force Palms, and the third strike produces a distinct sound and staggers the Excavatron, opening a damage window.
Close the distance and land three consecutive Force Palm strikes. The third hit stuns the boss.
Execute a full melee combo while the Excavatron is staggered.
Retreat to a safe distance before it recovers.
Activate Focus to regenerate your Spirit, then repeat the cycle.
Each Force Palm costs 5 Spirit per use, so managing your Spirit bar is essential. The Focus ability provides on-demand Spirit regeneration between attack cycles.
If the Excavatron begins its Dig animation (both drills light up), you can activate Blinding Flash (L1 + R1 on controller) to short-circuit and stun the machine. This interrupts the underground phase entirely and creates a safe opening for damage. This technique is especially useful during the powered-up version of the Dig, which is the boss's most dangerous move.
Several Bleed Bandit enemies occupy the arena alongside the Excavatron. The optimal approach is to kill two of them and leave the third alive. The game spawns additional bandits when all of them are eliminated, so keeping one alive prevents reinforcement waves while keeping the threat level manageable. Focus your attention on the boss and only deal with bandits if they are directly interfering with your positioning.
Tip | Details |
|---|---|
Level 3 Force Palm | with the Expertise node unlocked (highly recommended). |
Sword and shield | equipped for blocking when caught in close quarters. |
ability unlocked for Spirit regeneration. | |
Upgrade your armor at a blacksmith before the fight to improve survivability. | -- |
Bring healing food items to sustain through the powered-up phase. | -- |
Defeating Marni's Excavatron completes the Stolen Quarry quest and grants two rewards.
Reward | Description |
|---|---|
Mining Knuckledrill | Dual-purpose one-handed weapon with Mining Mastery effect. Mines ore faster than a standard pickaxe and grants a 10% chance for bonus ore. |
Reveals the locations of gold ore caves on your map. Consuming the map marks these deposits, making it much easier to farm gold ore for crafting gold bars. |
The Knuckledrill's Mining Mastery effect is what sets it apart from a standard pickaxe. When mining ore nodes, the Knuckledrill works faster and gives a flat 10% chance to receive additional ore from each strike. Over the course of a long farming session, this bonus adds up significantly.
Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
Standard | Faster | |
Bonus Ore Chance | None | 10% (increases with refinement) |
Combat Use | None | Yes (one-handed weapon) |
How to Obtain | Rhett's Request (free) or shops | Stolen Quarry quest reward |
Weapon Slot | N/A | Secondary |
Because the Knuckledrill occupies the secondary weapon slot, you can keep your primary combat weapon equipped and switch to the Knuckledrill whenever you spot an ore deposit. There is no need to open your inventory to swap tools.
Once you have the Knuckledrill and the Gold Vein Map, prioritize visiting the gold ore caves it reveals. For standard materials, the best mining locations in the Hernand region include Karin Quarry itself (which you have already cleared of bandits), as well as various cave systems throughout the Hernand Highlands. Key ores to target include Iron Ore and Copper Ore, both of which are used in gear refinement at the blacksmith.
Ore nodes respawn after a few in-game days. If you want to speed up respawning, you can save your progress, exit to the main menu, and reload. The mining spots will be immediately available again.
The Knuckledrill's most underrated feature is its auto-pickup behavior inside Gold Mine caves. When you mine a deposit, most of the ore chunks that drop are collected automatically without requiring you to walk over each one. This compounds with the 10% bonus ore chance from Mining Mastery to dramatically speed up cave runs.
The auto-pickup does not catch every chunk. Some ores, particularly the pieces that bounce off rock faces or land in tight corners, still have to be picked up manually. After clearing a cluster of deposits, do a quick sweep of the area to grab any stragglers on the ground.
With a leveled-up Knuckledrill paired with ore-yield and material-yield Abyss Gears slotted into its five core slots, a single run through a cave like Anvil Hill Cave can net dozens of Gold Ore. That is enough raw material for multiple Gold Bar crafts at a Witch hideout once you have the Golden Apple or Silver Ore alchemy recipe. Prioritize full-gold nodes in the corners of each room and skip the half-stone, half-gold deposits, which yield less ore per strike.
While the Knuckledrill's attack power of 15 puts it behind most dedicated weapons in terms of raw damage, it has a unique combat moveset. Holding the basic attack button causes Kliff to thrust the Knuckledrill forward in a continuous drilling motion that hits the targeted enemy repeatedly. After several seconds of sustained contact, a finishing move triggers automatically, knocking the enemy backward.
This moveset works best against single, slower enemies where you can safely commit to the sustained drilling animation. Against groups or fast-moving opponents, you are better off switching to your primary weapon.
The Knuckledrill has an associated Special Equipment Challenge under the Mastery category. The challenge requires you to hit enemies with the explosion from the overheated Knuckledrill 5 times.
When you hold the basic attack with the Knuckledrill for an extended duration, the tool overheats and produces an explosive finishing move. The challenge tracks each time this explosion connects with an enemy. To complete it efficiently, find a group of weaker enemies (bandits work well) and hold the attack button until the finishing explosion triggers. Repeat five times total.
Reward | Quantity |
|---|---|
1 | |
Lightningward II | 1 |
Completing all 10 Special Equipment Challenges unlocks the Grand Collector of Arms achievement.
Like other equipment in Crimson Desert, the Mining Knuckledrill can be upgraded through the refinement system. Visit a blacksmith and select the Refinement option to improve the weapon's stats. Refinement increases the Knuckledrill's attack power and can improve its mining bonus at higher levels.
Category | |
|---|---|
Refinement Levels 1 to 4: | Require standard materials (Iron Ore, Copper Ore) and no special currency. |
Refinement Levels 5 and above: | Require Abyss Artifacts in addition to ore materials. Farm Abyss Artifacts from dungeons and sealed artifact puzzles. |
Maximum Refinement: | Level 10. Each level provides incremental stat boosts. |
For a full list of materials needed at each refinement tier, see the Refinement and Upgrade Materials article.
In addition to the House Roberts questline reward documented above, community testing has confirmed two alternative paths for acquiring the Mining Knuckledrill. These paths are especially relevant for players who skipped the House Roberts chain or want a second copy of the weapon.
After reaching Chapter 11 of the main story, the Dewhaven Keep research board unlocks. Dewhaven Keep hosts a wide set of late-game research projects, and one of its tracks includes the Mining Knuckledrill schematic. Once the research project is complete, a dispatch mission becomes available at the nearby Steel Spike Armory, which sits just north of Dewhaven Keep, and completing that dispatch produces a Mining Knuckledrill. This path is effectively hard-blocked behind the chapter 11 story gate, so plan to use the House Roberts questline route if you need the tool earlier in the game.
The boss inside Karin Quarry (referred to as Karin Quarry in other guides, both names are in use) has a chance to drop the Mining Knuckledrill on defeat, as described in the Marni's Excavatron section above. In addition, regular enemies inside the quarry that spawn with visible drill-arm attachments also have a small chance to drop the weapon. If you farm the area while clearing out the mining drill enemies, you can occasionally get a Mining Knuckledrill without triggering the boss encounter. The drop rate from trash mobs is far lower than the guaranteed boss reward, but it is useful for players who already defeated the boss and want to stockpile additional drills.
A feature shared by the Mining Knuckledrill and the Demenissian Chainsaw is auto-collect. While gathering with either tool equipped, ore or wood that drops from the node is automatically picked up without requiring you to walk over each fragment. This stacks with the existing Mining Mastery bonus ore chance, and it dramatically reduces the time needed to clear a cave or grove. Auto-collect works for mineable and loggable nodes everywhere in Pywell, not just in the Karin Quarry area, so once you have the Knuckledrill, keep it slotted whenever you expect to pass mining nodes on the road.
On top of the standard refinement stat growth described in the Refinement and Upgrades section, the Mining Knuckledrill receives two percentage-based upgrades at specific refinement levels. At refinement level 6, the ore bonus chance increases beyond the base 10% passive, and at refinement level 10 it is boosted again to its maximum value. Reaching level 6 is by far the best early investment since the materials are relatively cheap, while level 10 is a long-term goal that unlocks the strongest possible version of the passive.
Tip | Details |
|---|---|
Get it early. | The House Roberts questline becomes available in Chapter 2. Completing it as soon as possible means you benefit from the Mining Mastery bonus for the rest of the game. |
Keep it in your secondary slot. | Since the Knuckledrill goes in the secondary weapon slot, there is no trade-off with your primary combat weapon. You can switch to it instantly whenever you spot mineable ore. |
Pair with the Gold Vein Map. | The map and the Knuckledrill come from the same quest. Use the map to locate gold ore caves, then mine them with the Knuckledrill for maximum gold yield. |
Use Focus before Force Palm cycles. | During the Excavatron fight, always top off your Spirit with Focus before going in for another Force Palm loop. Running out of Spirit mid-combo leaves you vulnerable. |
Do not kill all the Bleed Bandits. | In the boss arena, leave at least one bandit alive. Killing all of them triggers a reinforcement wave, which adds unnecessary pressure during the Excavatron fight. |
Save and reload for ore respawns. | After clearing a mining area, save your game, exit to the main menu, and reload. The ore nodes reset immediately, letting you farm continuously. |
Invest in refinement. | Even a few levels of refinement make a noticeable difference in attack power. Since the Knuckledrill's ore requirements are low-tier, upgrading it early is cost-effective. |
Recover a sold Knuckledrill. | If you accidentally sell the Knuckledrill, you may be able to buy it back from the vendor you sold it to. Alternatively, Bleed Bandit enemies in Karin Quarry have a small chance to drop one. |
The Refinement Milestone Bonuses section above notes that the Mining Mastery ore bonus jumps at refinement level 6 and again at level 10, but the specific percentages the tool scales to are not surfaced on the in-game refinement screen. Community testing at both milestone levels has confirmed the following values, which are also the values shared with Bernor's Pickaxe at its own maximum refinement.
Base (+0 to +5): 10% chance. The baseline passive that the tool carries from the moment the Stolen Quarry reward drops. Applies to every ore node in the game as long as the Knuckledrill is the tool actually used on the strike.
Refinement +6: 20% chance. The first milestone jump and the biggest single upgrade on the tool. Because the refinement materials through level 6 are standard ores plus a handful of Abyss Artifacts, this is the target every player should aim for as soon as the Abyss Artifact stockpile allows it. Doubling the bonus chance from 10% to 20% is the difference between a slow accumulating surplus and a farm route that fills the inventory by the second pass.
Refinement +10: 30% chance. The ceiling. Every third strike on average returns a bonus ore on top of the base yield. Reaching this tier is a long-term project because the refinement materials from +7 upward include rarer resources and additional Abyss Artifacts, but it is also the point at which the Knuckledrill matches the max-refinement ceiling of Bernor's Pickaxe exactly. Either tool at +10 gives the same 30% bonus-ore chance, which is why the practical decision between them comes down to the five Abyss Core slots built into the Knuckledrill (compared to zero on the pickaxe) rather than the passive percentage.
Because the Mining Mastery passive is a flat per-strike roll, the refinement jumps compound with any additional ore-yield sources the character is running at the same time. Slotting extra ore-yield Abyss Cores into the five built-in sockets on the Knuckledrill, pairing it with an armor piece that rolls a bonus-ore chance, or running the farming route while a Provisioner buff is active all stack multiplicatively with the base refinement percentage, so the real-world yield on a +10 Knuckledrill can climb well above the printed 30% during a full gearing pass.
The practical takeaway for a new player is that the +6 milestone is where the Knuckledrill's mining value becomes truly noticeable, while the +10 milestone is worth chasing for the exact same reason the final refinement level is worth chasing on any other weapon: the last handful of percentage points turn a good tool into the best-in-slot mining loadout for the rest of the playthrough.
