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SteamWorld Dig 2 Best Farming Spot

Updated 31 Oct 2026 Source Measured farming rates posted by players comparing Dig 2 caves — Swam Swam Sway at 1,800 XP per 3-minute run from 12 turrets at 150 XP each, Leaky Lodge at 150 XP per 10-second cycle from the snail near the entrance below the acid swamp, Bushwack Beehive at 500 XP per 45 seconds by hookshotting flies, and Mushi Mushi Snuggery as a many-turret fast run — from the SteamWorld Dig 2 community farming thread; the Leaky Lodge blood stone worth 23 coins plus about 7 coins per kill producing roughly 70 coins per kill at 130% coin gain in a 10-second cycle, the mod that doubles blood stone drop chance, and the early-access caveat that the loop is only fast once skills are up from the GameFAQs post-game money thread; the level-scaled sell bonus, the instruction to wait until around level 15 before farming money, the Thrillseeker's Tale mod from the Yonker brother in Yarrow for XP, the backpack's final tier granting an extra 30% sell bonus, and the note that the richest resources sit at the bottom of Yarrow and the Temple of the Destroyer from the KosGames Impossible Dream achievement guide; the 15,000 gold wealth threshold from the same guide. Verified 31 October 2026. By Antewise Editorial
Data status: The facts on this page were checked against the source named above. Game values can still shift with a patch, so re-check anything that looks off.

Most farming guides for SteamWorld Dig 2 give you a list and leave you to guess which one is actually faster. The numbers are not close, and they point at the same cave for both currencies.

Leaky Lodge, in Yarrow. One snail. Ten seconds. It is simultaneously the best XP rate and the best gold rate in the game, and it is not a late-game luxury — you can walk in with a hookshot.

Here is the measured comparison, using the rates players have actually timed rather than impressions.

SpotCycleXPXP per secondGold
Leaky Lodge (snail)~10 sec150~15~70 per kill with coin bonuses
Bushwack Beehive (flies by hookshot)~45 sec500~11Low
Swam Swam Sway (12 turrets, underwater)~3 min1,800~10Low
Mushi Mushi Snuggery (many turrets)Fast runVariesCompetitiveLow

The turret rooms look generous because 1,800 XP is a big number. Divide by the three minutes of slow underwater movement and it is the worst of the three timed options. The snail wins by being boring.

Why the snail pays twice

The Leaky Lodge snail drops a blood stone worth 23 coins, plus about 7 coins of ordinary drops. With a 130% coin gain setup that comes to roughly 70 coins per kill. On a ten-second cycle that is about 420 coins per minute, or in the region of 25,000 an hour if you can hold the rhythm.

That is not a trick. It is the intended sink-hole for the endgame, and the reason the answer to “how do I afford the last jetpack tier” is the same cave people use for levelling.

Two mods change the maths, and they are mutually exclusive so you have to pick per session:

  • The blood stone drop doubler. This is what makes the gold rate reliable rather than lucky. Without it the loop is streaky.
  • Thrillseeker’s Tale, from a Yonker brother in Yarrow, which boosts XP from kills. Take this when you are levelling rather than banking.

Cogs are removable at no penalty, so there is no permanent cost to swapping between the two. Slot the gold mod, farm, pull it, slot the XP mod, farm again.

Farming before level 15 is a loss, and this is why

This is the part almost nobody says out loud.

Your sell bonus scales with Dorothy’s level. The backpack’s final tier adds a further 30% on top of every resource you sell. So the same snail, killed with the same mod, pays a materially different amount depending on when you do it.

Concretely: if you spend an hour on the snail loop at level 8 and then an hour at level 20 with a maxed backpack, you did not earn two equal hours. You earned one hour at a discount and one at full price — and the discounted one is gone.

The correct order is therefore:

  1. Play the story. Do not stop to farm.
  2. Take the richest natural resources first — the bottom of Yarrow and the Temple of the Destroyer, which are also the two best enemy-XP areas in the game, so one sweep covers both.
  3. Max the backpack, because its last tier is the 30% bonus.
  4. Reach at least level 15.
  5. Then start the snail loop for whatever is left.

A documented trophy route pushes this further: wait until you have found all the secrets and finished the story, then add up the cost of every remaining upgrade tier and farm exactly that amount. You never over-farm, and every coin is earned at the highest multiplier you will ever have.

The one exception to the rule

There is a legitimate reason to visit Leaky Lodge early: blood stones are also a resource, not just a coin. If you are short of the specific thing blood stones buy, the cave is worth a detour even at a low level.

But there is a catch that catches first-timers. The cave is reachable without the grenade launcher or the hookshot — but only once. If you go in under-equipped, you get one shot at the snail and then you have to come back properly equipped. Take both tools the first time, or you will be making a second trip for nothing.

The short version

  • Gold and XP: Leaky Lodge snail, ten-second loop. Everything else is slower.
  • Turret rooms are a trap — big XP numbers divided by long runs.
  • Do not farm before level 15 and a maxed backpack. The sell bonus is the multiplier on everything.
  • Sweep the bottom of Yarrow and the Temple of the Destroyer first — resource-rich and enemy-dense in one trip.
  • Bring a hookshot and the grenade launcher to Leaky Lodge the first time. You only get the free approach once.
  • Swap the blood stone doubler and Thrillseeker’s Tale freely. Cogs are not a commitment.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best farming spot in SteamWorld Dig 2?

Leaky Lodge in Yarrow. The snail just below the exit pays about 150 XP and a blood stone worth 23 coins plus roughly 7 coins of drops, on a ten-second respawn cycle. That is around 15 XP per second and about 70 gold per kill with coin bonuses, which beats every turret room.

Should I farm gold early in SteamWorld Dig 2?

No. Your sell bonus scales with Dorothy's level, and the backpack's final tier adds another 30%. Farming at level 8 pays noticeably less per kill than farming at level 15 or 20 for exactly the same snail, so early farming is a straight loss of time.

How do I get to Leaky Lodge?

It is a cave in the middle of Yarrow, reachable without the grenade launcher or hookshot — but only once, so bring both. It sits near the acid swamp, below the exit.

What is the fastest XP farm in SteamWorld Dig 2?

Leaky Lodge again, at roughly 15 XP per second. Bushwack Beehive is second at about 11 XP per second if you can hookshot the flies reliably, and Swam Swam Sway's 1,800 XP run works out to only about 10 per second because the underwater movement is slow.

What mod should I use for farming in SteamWorld Dig 2?

The one that doubles blood stone drop chance for gold, and Thrillseeker's Tale for XP — it comes from a Yonker brother in Yarrow. They are different mods for different goals, and cogs can be pulled and reslotted freely.

Where are the most valuable ores in SteamWorld Dig 2?

The bottom of Yarrow and the Temple of the Destroyer. Both are also the most efficient places to farm XP from enemies, which is why a single sweep of those two areas covers both needs before you start repeating a cave.

More SteamWorld guides

Sources

Figures and item data on this site are read from the game’s own reference wiki before publishing. Where a value could not be confirmed there, the page says so instead of filling the gap.