Biomes o’ Plenty Tools: Unleashing Gemstone Gear in Minecraft

If you’ve ever wandered through the vibrant biomes added by Biomes o’ Plenty, you’ve likely filled your inventory with beautiful but largely useless gemstones. Ruby, Topaz, Sapphire — they sparkle in your chests but do nothing. That’s where the Biomes o’ Plenty Tools mod steps in, turning those decorative ores into fully functional tools, weapons, and armor. While the mod is no longer actively developed, it remains a solid choice for players on Minecraft 1.12 and 1.11 who want to expand their crafting options without bloating their mod list.

At its core, this addon gives every gem from Biomes o’ Plenty a complete set of equipment, from pickaxes and swords to hammers and sickles. It also offers Tinkers Construct integration for those who prefer customizable tools, but only on versions 1.12 and 1.11 — the 1.10 version skips that feature. If you already run PlusTiC or ExtraTiC, those mods handle the same integration, so you can use this one as a lighter alternative or alongside them.

Gems That Become Tools

The mod recognizes all seven gem types from Biomes o’ Plenty via their Ore Dictionary names. Each gem brings its own stats and flavor to the crafting table:

• Ruby (gemRuby)
• Topaz (gemTopaz)
• Sapphire (gemSapphire)
• Malachite (gemMalachite)
• Peridot (gemPeridot)
• Tanzanite (gemTanzanite)
• Amber (gemAmber)

These aren’t just reskins. Every gem has unique durability, efficiency, damage, and enchantability values that affect the final tool or armor piece. The mod also leans heavily on CoFH Core’s expanded toolset, so you’ll need that library installed for everything to work. CoFH Core adds items like hammers, sickles, fishing rods, and shears, which this mod then reimagines in gemstone variants. If you’re assembling a modpack from scratch, a handy way to grab all dependencies without hunting across websites is through the foxygame.net launcher — it lets you download mods straight from its menu, making setup surprisingly painless.

Calculating Actual Tool Stats

The raw numbers in the mod’s code aren’t the final stats you’ll see in-game. A little math is required, especially for durability and damage, because the tool type applies multipliers or additions. Here’s how to convert the base values into real performance figures.

Durability Adjustments

Start with the gem’s base durability, then apply the modifier based on the tool:

• Axe, Shovel, Pickaxe, Sword, Hoe: no change
• Hammer, Sickle: multiply by 2
• Bow: add 325
• Fishing Rod: add 5
• Shears: subtract 12
• Shield: add 275
• Boots: multiply by 0.37
• Leggings: multiply by 0.43
• Chestplate: multiply by 0.46
• Helmet: multiply by 0.31

Damage Modifiers

For weapons, the base damage gets tweaked per tool:

• Axe: always 9
• Hammer: always 11
• Pickaxe: add 2
• Shovel: add 1
• Sickle: add 2.5
• Sword: add 3
• Bow (arrow damage multiplier): divide base damage by 4

Other Stat Conversions

Several less obvious stats also depend on base values:

• Arrow Speed: Base Efficiency / 20
• Bow Zoom: Base Efficiency / 30
• Sickle Radius: Base Harvest Level
• Fishing Luck: Base Harvest Level / 2
• Fishing Speed: floor(Base Efficiency / 3)
• Helmet Protection: Base Harvest Level
• Chestplate Protection: Base Harvest Level + 3
• Leggings Protection: Base Harvest Level + 2
• Boots Protection: Base Harvest Level
• Armor Toughness: Base Harvest Level

Enchantability, harvest level, and efficiency stay unchanged regardless of the tool shape, which makes comparing gems straightforward for those core attributes.

Tinkers Construct Integration

For players who love the modular tool system of Tinkers Construct, this mod assigns each gem a full set of part stats and a unique modifier. The head, handle, and extra components draw from the base numbers, and the modifier gives each material a distinct personality.

Amber

• Harvest Level: 2
• Durability: 250
• Efficiency: 4.5
• Damage: 2
• Enchantability: 20
• Tinkers Modifier: Ecological

Malachite

• Harvest Level: 2
• Durability: 600
• Efficiency: 7
• Damage: 2.5
• Enchantability: 12
• Tinkers Modifier: Depthdigger

Peridot

• Harvest Level: 2
• Durability: 500
• Efficiency: 6
• Damage: 2
• Enchantability: 13
• Tinkers Modifier: Insatiable

Ruby

• Harvest Level: 3
• Durability: 900
• Efficiency: 7.5
• Damage: 2.8
• Enchantability: 10
• Tinkers Modifier: Momentum

Sapphire

• Harvest Level: 3
• Durability: 1300
• Efficiency: 7.5
• Damage: 3
• Enchantability: 10
• Tinkers Modifier: Aquadynamic

Tanzanite

• Harvest Level: 2
• Durability: 600
• Efficiency: 6.5
• Damage: 2.3
• Enchantability: 15
• Tinkers Modifier: Unnatural

Topaz

• Harvest Level: 2
• Durability: 400
• Efficiency: 8
• Damage: 2.3
• Enchantability: 17
• Tinkers Modifier: Jagged

For Tinkers parts, the head durability is two-thirds of the base durability, efficiency matches the base, attack damage is the base damage, and harvest level carries over. The handle’s modifier multiplier comes from base enchantability divided by 15, and its durability is one-third of the base. Extra parts also use one-third of base durability.

Modpack Friendliness

You can freely include Biomes o’ Plenty Tools in any modpack. The creator simply asks for credit, which is a small gesture for a mod that fills such a specific niche. Just remember that CoFH Core is mandatory, and if you’re on 1.10, the Tinkers integration won’t be available. For newer versions, the mod may feel dated, but on 1.12.2 servers and packs it still holds up nicely.

Whether you’re crafting a full set of Ruby armor or experimenting with a Topaz hammer’s jagged modifier in Tinkers, this mod ensures every gem you mine has a purpose beyond decoration. The math behind the stats might look intimidating, but once you craft your first tool, the numbers become second nature — and the satisfaction of wielding a gemstone blade is well worth the effort.