Dome Keeper Beastmaster Class: Mining and Upgrade Guide

To play the Beastmaster class effectively in Dome Keeper, treat your pet companion as your primary drill while you handle scouting, tunnel routing, and resource hauling. Spending your initial iron on the pet's excavation stats rather than your personal drill allows your companion to chew through dense strata quickly, freeing you to ferry minerals back to the dome and prepare defenses before hostile waves arrive.

Core Pet Mechanics and Targeting

The Beastmaster replaces standard manual drilling with creature commands. Companions excavate breakable blocks according to keeper positioning, markers, and pathing rather than passive following.

• Targeting behavior: Pets prioritize adjacent unbroken blocks along horizontal corridors or downward shafts based on where you place pings or position the keeper.
• Hardness friction: Unupgraded pets slow down significantly against tier-two and tier-three rock layers.
• Idling risks: A companion that finishes a pocket and lacks an open path to new breakable blocks remains idle until you redirect it.

Keep your companion pointed toward unbroken walls to avoid wasted downtime between defensive waves.

Early-Game Upgrade Order

During the opening waves, investing iron into your personal drill creates redundant overhead. Direct early resources into your pet's digging capability first, then upgrade your own mobility to clear out the dislodged materials.

Spend your first 4 to 8 iron on the pet's initial digging tier. Once the creature clears standard rock within a few strikes, put subsequent iron into personal carrying capacity and flight speed to handle the volume of loose ore.

Tunneling Layout and Movement

Unstructured digging causes companions to carve erratic tunnels that slow transit. Use a structured ladder layout to keep routes clear:

1. Establish the main shaft: Dig a straight vertical drop directly beneath the dome.
2. Assign horizontal sweeps: At layer transitions, command the pet to hollow out a horizontal branch while you scout the opposite side.
3. Carve two-block-high paths: Direct your pet to dig corridors two blocks high so dislodged iron, cobalt, and water lie flat along the floor rather than bottlenecking in single-tile gaps.
4. Avoid unmonitored drop shafts: Do not send your pet down narrow vertical holes unless you follow immediately, as loose minerals can easily become wedged in tight corners.

Hauling Workflow and Wave Timing

Because an upgraded pet carves out veins faster than a standard keeper, loose materials quickly accumulate in deep shafts. Balance excavation and logistics using a consistent delivery cycle:

• Drop and drill: Leave your companion continuously mining an active vein while you carry harvested ore up to the dome.
• Group resources: Gather three to six items together using tether lines instead of hauling individual chunks.
• Mid-shaft staging: When digging in deep rock layers, collect minerals at central junctions before making a complete run to the surface.
• Combat cutoff: Stop hauling and begin your ascent 20 to 25 seconds before the attack meter hits zero. If your pet setup requires a manual recall command, trigger it before the combat siren sounds.

Once essential weapon upgrades are online, spend surplus cobalt on dome repairs to sustain hull integrity against escalating swarms.