The Gold
The Gold is a biome that is not usually accessible during the normal gameplay loop. It is an entire chunk made out of gold powder- more than enough to both swim and drown in. Two spawn in each world, with duplicates appearing in exactly the same place in every Parallel World, with the offset of the chunks being more and more extreme the further you go out.
Each Gold chunk contains approximately 256,000 , which should be enough for any prospecting players.
Location
You will need a way to dig through Extremely Dense Rock to reach either of the Golds. The Eastern one is much easier to get to in the earlier stages of the game, and can be dug to with a few carefully placed shots of Black Hole.
To the East
The first Gold can be found embedded in the eastern wall, past the Desert. An easy method of locating it is to position yourself in the top-right corner of the cave containing the Essence of Earth facing West, point your wand at the top-left corner of the screen, and then dig.
If you have the patience, this Gold can also be reached before you even set foot undergound, allowing you to (eventually) start your run with plenty of gold. See the section about the Tanna Silmä method below for details.
To the West
(West)
The other Gold can be found directly below the Essence of Spirits, which in turn is at the bottom of the West Lake. There aren't many easy ways to get to it, as not only is it covered entirely by Extremely Dense Rock, but also lava.
Assuming you can get there without suffocating, a tunnel straight down from the bottom of the lake involves a minimum of EDR digging, and has the benefit of quenching said lava with the lake water. (Don't worry about the lake all draining away - only the area immediately surrounding you is simulated most of the time.)
Alternatively, leave this one until you've descended the main path (and found a reliable way to dig and move through lava). It's a nice bit of spending money for a shopping spree in the nearby shops.
Trivia
- You are entirely capable of drowning in the gold, so be sure to either move around like a madman, levitate upwards to breathe, or have the Breathless perk. You can also find yourself unable to move from time to time, so don't go crazy in there.
- It is definitely worth visiting, especially very early in a run. Frivolous spending privileges are worth it!
- Swimming around in the gold is not only great fun, but will also collect it more quickly than standing still.
- It is also a good thing to note that this will sate most of the greed you will feel for at least a considerable time, and that greed is the number 1 killer of runs.
Tanna Silmä Method
A method of getting to the first The Gold before one even goes into the first level, known as the Tanna Silmä Method, is as follows:
- Go to the far right, collect the Essence of Earth, which will require the use of the starting bomb wand, and kill the Essence Eater, obtaining a Tannerkivi
- Go back to the left, and scale the Giant Tree. The Tannerkivi will make the side of the tree more coarse and therefore climbable without any other tool required, though the Wiggling Eggs found in the nests in the tree will break open and hatch when they come within the radius of you if you are holding the Tannerkivi, so be careful.
- You can skip the previous steps with Mud, tablet flying, a teleporting wand, or Levitatium.
- After scaling the Giant Tree, venture left until you find the Paha Silmä in the Snowy Wasteland, and pick it up.
- Venture back to the far right (this process is vastly improved with some Acceleratium), fly up from the platform that you obtained the Essence of Earth from, equip the Tannerkivi, and fly up to the Extremely Dense Rock.
- The Tannerkivi will turn this to Soil, and you can drill through Soil effectively with the Paha Silmä. Carve out a platform in the area above the platform, land on it, and begin drilling north-west at a 45 degree angle, by equipping the Tannerkivi, moving up and down the dug tunnel a bit, and carving out a path with the Paha Silmä.
- If you go directly north-west from the ceiling of Extremely Dense Rock above the Essence of Earth's cage, you will intersect with The Gold, and all of the gold needed for much of your run can be obtained without killing a single enemy.
- Be cautious of
- Turning too much of The Gold's Gold into Soil, which shouldn't be an issue if you drill carefully.
- Kicking, which has a good chance of killing you due to the earthquakes made by the Tannerkivi. If you do, however, you can sometimes make it out by keeping it held, turning the Collapsed Concrete back into harmless soil.
- Tossing the Paha Silmä, which has a plasma beam that can and will delete you at base Hp, especially in the tight corridors created by your tunneling.
- Digging all the way out until you breach the other side of the wall.