I made the mistake of giving BeefBoss an upgraded pick and axe in Dry Valley. He kept breaking my stairs while I farmed amber. He tried to help, but stayed too low on the stairs, hitting the stairs instead.
I started late but I’m enjoying the game. I picked a bad spot to start my village in my first world so I’m considering starting over now that I know more about what I’m doing.
I kept making the mistake early on of breaking the chests I would find in the wilderness and caves, thinking that you would get the materials for that chest, and be able to use it to relocate the chest. That doesn't seem to be the case though.
You probably are talking about a small cave. I have found many large caves that I usually run through about 12-15 pickaxes and maybe 6 or so axes completely mining out, and usually fill about 4 or 5 chests with marble, 1 whole chest of knotroot, and a chest of granite and wood (could do more, but I usually only get some) and another couple chests full of various things from the chests in the caves.
