How you spend your Diglets in Dig a Garden determines how fast you progress. This guide covers the optimal spending priorities to maximize your long-term Diglets earnings.
Diglets Spending Priority
| Priority | Item | Cost | Why First? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Next drill upgrade | Variable | Increases Diglets/hr |
| 2 | Fill empty plot slots | Variable | More drills = more earnings |
| 3 | Plot size expansion | Variable | More slots for more drills |
| 4 | Inventory expansion | Variable | Longer offline sessions |
| Last | Cosmetics/flex | Variable | No earnings impact |
Understanding why this hierarchy exists is crucial for your progression in Dig a Garden. Drill upgrades take the top spot because they directly multiply your core earning metric: Diglets per hour. A higher-tier drill not only digs faster but also reaches deeper strata where valuable items spawn.
Filling empty plot slots is second because of the principle of multiplicative scaling. If you have one Turbo Digger producing 500 Diglets/hr, placing a second one on an empty slot instantly doubles your income to 1,000 Diglets/hr. Plot expansion follows this same logic but sits at Priority 3 because unlocking the slot is only half the battle—you still need to purchase the drill to occupy it, making it a two-step investment.
Inventory expansion is a subtle but vital Priority 4. It does not increase your hourly rate, but it dictates how long your offline progression can run before capping. Without adequate inventory space, you log in after an 8-hour sleep to find your drills stopped earning after just 3 hours.
The Drill Upgrade Spending Path
Follow this exact order for optimal spending:
- Group Drill (free) — Join The Heap group
- Standard Borer (~5K) — First meaningful upgrade
- Turbo Digger (~20K) — Speed upgrade
- Deep Piercer (~50K) — Rare item upgrade
- Mega Borer (~100K) — End-game F2P upgrade
Each upgrade should be purchased as soon as you can afford it. Hoarding Diglets while using a slow drill wastes potential earnings.
Let's break down the math behind this path. When you start the game, you are given the Starter Drill (C-Tier). It generates a baseline income, but you should immediately open the menu and claim the Group Drill for free by joining the game's official Roblox community, The Heap. This instant A-Tier drill doubles your early earnings at zero cost.
From there, your goal is to replace your lowest-tier active drills. When you buy the Standard Borer, place it on a new slot if available; if not, replace the Starter Drill. The Standard Borer's moderate digging speed lets you hit the 5K Diglet milestone for the Turbo Digger much faster. The Turbo Digger is where the game's pace significantly shifts, as its rapid fire rate triggers item drops at an accelerated rate.
The Deep Piercer introduces a new mechanic: depth scaling. While its surface speed is comparable to the Turbo Digger, it maintains high efficiency at deeper soil levels, unlocking Scarce and Legendary item drops. Finally, the Mega Borer is the ultimate F2P goal. Its S-Tier stats dwarf everything before it, making the 100K Diglet price tag a trivial hurdle once you have two or three running simultaneously.
Drill Comparison Breakdown
To visualize why following the upgrade path is essential, compare the stats of available drills. Higher tiers yield exponentially better results, particularly when hunting for Legendary items.
| Drill Name | Tier | Cost (Diglets) | Dig Speed | Depth Efficiency | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Drill | C | 0 | Very Slow | Surface only | Default |
| Standard Borer | B | ~5,000 | Moderate | Shallow | Shop |
| Group Drill | A | Free | Fast | Moderate | The Heap Group |
| Turbo Digger | A | ~20,000 | Very Fast | Moderate | Shop |
| Deep Piercer | A | ~50,000 | Fast | Deep | Shop |
| Mega Borer | S | ~100,000 | Extreme | Very Deep | Shop |
| Galaxy Drill | S | Premium | Extreme | Very Deep | Off-sale |
Notice the jump from B-Tier to A-Tier. The Standard Borer is a necessary stepping stone, but the leap to the Group Drill or Turbo Digger represents a massive shift in earning potential. Never settle for multiple B-Tier drills when you could be investing in A-Tier or S-Tier replacements.
Advanced Spending Strategies: The Inventory Cap Dilemma
One of the most overlooked mechanics in Dig a Garden is the inventory cap. Your drills dig items continuously, whether you are at your keyboard or offline. However, once your inventory hits its limit, your drills effectively shut down. Your Diglets-per-hour drops to zero until you sell.
This makes inventory upgrades a vital, albeit indirect, investment. The key is balancing inventory expansions with drill upgrades. Expanding your inventory too early drains Diglets that could have been spent on better drills; expanding too late means you lose thousands of Diglets overnight.
Offline Earnings vs. Inventory Capacity
Use this table to determine when you should invest in inventory expansion based on your play schedule:
| Play Style | Average Offline Time | Recommended Inventory Cap | Upgrade Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcore (check every 2 hrs) | 1-2 hours | Base / Low | Rarely |
| Regular (school/work) | 6-8 hours | Medium | Every 2 drill tiers |
| Casual (once a day) | 12-24 hours | High / Max | Every tier |
| Weekend Warrior | 48+ hours | Maximum | Always prioritize |
If you are a "Regular" player who sleeps for 8 hours, calculate your total hourly output across all drills. If your drills produce 500 items per hour collectively, an inventory cap of 4,000 items will cap out in 8 hours—perfectly matching your sleep schedule. If your cap is only 2,000, you lose 4 hours of potential earnings every single night. Prioritize inventory upgrades right before you hit these offline milestones.
How to Optimize Your Plot Layout
Purchasing drills is only half the equation; placing them efficiently on your plot is the other. As you expand your plot size, you unlock more grid slots for drills. Proper layout ensures you aren't wasting space or creating bottlenecks.
Step-by-Step Plot Optimization Walkthrough
- Centralize High-Tier Drills: Place your S-Tier and A-Tier drills in the center of your plot. This keeps your most valuable assets protected and visually easy to monitor.
- Perimeter Placement for Low-Tier: If you still have B-Tier or C-Tier drills running, place them on the outer edges. When you upgrade them, you can easily swap them out without disrupting your core layout.
- Expand Symmetrically: When buying plot expansions, try to unlock slots in balanced rows. A symmetrical plot allows for even item distribution and makes it easier to calculate your total yield per square unit.
- The Replacement Rule: Never leave an empty slot if you have a lower-tier drill sitting in your inventory. Always fill the slot, even with a Starter Drill, until you can afford a better one. An empty slot earns exactly zero Diglets.
- Sell and Swap: When you buy a Mega Borer, immediately place it in the slot occupied by your weakest active drill. Sell the weak drill for the partial refund and reinvest that small amount toward your next goal.
Item Rarity and Sell Values
Understanding what your drills are actually digging up helps contextualize why better drills are worth the investment. Drills with higher depth efficiency can reach rarer items that sell for exponentially more Diglets.
| Rarity | Diglets Value | Drop Frequency | Best Drill to Find Them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common | Low | Very High | Starter Drill, Standard Borer |
| Unusual | Moderate | High | Group Drill, Turbo Digger |
| Scarce | High | Low | Deep Piercer |
| Legendary | Massive | Very Low | Mega Borer, Galaxy Drill |
As shown above, a Deep Piercer or Mega Borer doesn't just dig faster—it fundamentally changes the loot table. A player using Starter Drills might earn 1,000 Diglets an hour from a mountain of Common items, while a player with a Mega Borer earns 5,000 Diglets an hour from a handful of Scarce and Legendary drops. This disparity is why hoarding Diglets for top-tier drills is always superior to settling for low-tier convenience.
What NOT to Buy
- Cosmetic items — Zero impact on earnings. Wait until your plot is fully optimized with Mega Borers before buying that fancy skin.
- Extra of the same tier drill (before filling slots) — Better to fill slots with what you have first. Buying a second Standard Borer when you have empty slots is fine, but buying a third when you could be saving for a Turbo Digger is a trap.
- Removing drills — Partial refund, net loss. You spent hard-earned Diglets on that drill; selling it back to the shop for a fraction of the cost is strictly inefficient unless you are immediately using the funds to buy a direct upgrade.
- Early plot expansions without drills — Expanding your plot gives you potential, but potential doesn't earn Diglets. Only buy the expansion when you have the funds to immediately place a drill on the new slot.
FAQ
Q: Should I save Diglets or spend them? A: Always spend on drill upgrades. The only time to save is when you are within 10-20% of the next drill's cost.
Q: What if I have extra Diglets after maxing drills? A: Congratulations! At that point, spend on cosmetics, keep Legendary items, or enjoy your passive income.
Q: Is the Mega Borer the best Diglets investment? A: Yes. It is S-tier and provides the highest Diglets-per-hour among F2P drills, making it the best return on investment.
Q: How much should I keep as a Diglets reserve? A: Keep 10-20% of your next upgrade cost as a buffer. Never hoard large amounts — every Diglet not spent on upgrades is a wasted earning opportunity.
Q: How do offline earnings work with the inventory cap? A: When you log off, your drills continue to dig items based on their Diglets-per-hour rate. However, the moment your inventory fills up, all drills stop collecting. You will not lose existing items, but you will miss out on potential earnings until you log back in and sell.
Q: Is the Galaxy Drill worth it if it comes back on sale? A: If the Galaxy Drill returns to the premium shop, it is technically the best drill in the game alongside the Mega Borer. However, because it requires Robux (premium currency) rather than Diglets, it does not factor into the standard F2P spending path. If you have spare Robux and value maximum depth efficiency, it is a strong purchase.
Q: How does joining The Heap group give me a free drill? A: By joining the official Roblox group The Heap, the game automatically detects your membership and unlocks the Group Drill (A-Tier) in the shop for 0 Diglets. You can then place it on your plot immediately, giving you a massive day-one advantage without spending a single in-game currency.