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Part of: Idle Obelisk Miner main guide — Obelisk progression, gift code timing, and prestige loops.

Idle Obelisk Miner Charge Magnets: Use Them Early or Save Them?

Player question: When should I use Charge Magnets in Idle Obelisk Miner — bank them for later bomb/gem efficiency, or spend early for bomb cap — and does bulk-firing change the odds?

I like these games and play them myself. Complete guides are hard to find online, so while playing I collect community experience from Reddit, add a little of my own notes, and put this site together—hoping it helps. Thank you.

Quick answer

Community Knowledge Spend Charge Magnets early rather than holding them for late-game scaling. The community consensus is that saving magnets early slows overall progression, because rapid early gains provide exponential momentum. Most players prioritize using early charges to expand bomb cap[1][2].

Recommendation Hold them only when a big boost is close. The main exception players give is being right before a major upgrade or a goal, where saved charges are worth more once that upgrade lands[1].

Community Knowledge Bulk-firing reportedly keeps the same average and only lowers the swing. Players in the thread say the expected result is the same whether you fire one at a time or in bulk; bulk mainly makes the result less random. This is a community explanation, not a tested result[3].

Recommendation Check the fire multiplier before tapping. Several players report firing their whole stack by mistake because a higher fire setting was selected[3][4].

What most players do and why

Community Knowledge Most players say spend them early. Nearly every reply in the main thread recommends using Charge Magnets now rather than banking them[1][2]. The reasoning repeated by several players: the game scales steeply, so later bombs give more per magnet but upgrades also cost far more, and holding them slows you down by more than the later bonus makes back[1].

Recommendation The usual early target is bomb cap. Players most often name raising bomb cap as the best early use of magnets, ahead of chasing gems[1][2]. How bomb cap and the workshop fit together is covered in the Bomb Cap & Workshop Sequence guide.

When saving makes sense

Community Knowledge The case for saving is real, but most players think it is outweighed early. A smaller group points out that magnets do get more valuable as your bombs get stronger through later upgrades and new bomb types[1][4]. Most replies agree with that point but add that those upgrades are far off, so waiting for them costs more progress than it gains[1].

Recommendation Save them when you are close to a specific boost or goal. Players who suggest holding some back tie it to being near a major upgrade or a goal you are about to reach[1]. Others use a burst of magnets to finish a near goal faster, such as a statue or gem target (see World Statue Recommendations) or a few extra levels before a prestige (see Prestige & Artifact Tiers)[1][4].

Bulk-firing and the odds

Community Knowledge Player reports: same expected gain, less variance. Players report firing several hundred magnets at once[3][4][2]. In the thread about firing a whole stack at once, players say bulk-firing does not change the average bomb cap you should expect; it only changes how much the result can swing. Firing in bulk makes the outcome closer to the average, while firing a few at a time leaves more room for both bad and good luck[3]. This page does not test the odds itself.

Avoid accidental full fires: check the fire multiplier

Recommendation Check the fire setting before you tap. Two of the four threads are about firing an entire magnet stockpile by accident, and the cause in one was a higher fire multiplier still selected when the player meant to fire single shots[3][4]. Another player in those threads mentions often forgetting to check the count before firing[4].

If you are saving magnets for a boost, a quick look at the selected amount before each tap is the simplest way to keep them.

Scope and limits of this guide

Version-sensitive Synthesized from r/IdleObeliskMiner community discussions. Key operational limits:

← Back to Idle Obelisk Miner main guide · Related: Bomb Cap & Workshop · Prestige & Artifact Tiers · Challenges Guide

Community sources

  1. Question about the Charge Magnet Item. (opens Reddit) — Community consensus on spending Charge Magnets early to accelerate progression and raise bomb capacity rather than hoarding them for late-game scaling.

    u/SpeckledAntelope: “Don't save them too long, as eventually they won't be worth as much, when your bomb caps, bomb recharge, and gem income are all way higher. Use them earlier to get things jump started and enjoy the exponential growth later.” — comment p6kraz9

    u/Torebbjorn: “not using them now will probably slow your progress down enough that the extra you will gain in the future does not make up for the slowdown.” — comment p6evg62

    u/fweaks: “Some bombs give you more later... but due to inflation, the more they give you is really worth less.” — comment p6ek7vi

    u/dundiman: “Charge magnets gain more value as your bombs gets stronger (gem chance, d20 stacks) but those are so later in the game that you currently should just use them to increase your bomb cap.” — comment p6eittz

    u/jayburd13: “Yes, they’d become more efficient later, but you’ll also get to where you need to be all that much slower.” — comment p6ehs4z

    u/AdEnvironmental1632: “If you habe battery bomb and d20 unlocked id say use them and privatize bomb cap over gems unless your close to an upgrade” — comment p6qnvx3

  2. Magnets (opens Reddit) — Community discussion confirming Charge Magnets as an effective early source for raising bomb capacity.

    u/picabo123: “Magnets are a great early game source of bomb cap.” — comment ph5gvig

    u/tesat: “Yes, man. Keep using them. It's good stuff” — comment ph5dr6s

    u/Minecraftplayer9327: “I think the result of this quite good” — original post 1x7jdzu

  3. Oof, just used all my 400 charge magnets in one go! Was hoping to increase some bomb capacity! (opens Reddit) — Player report of using hundreds of Charge Magnets at once, with analysis of bulk-firing expected value and variance.

    u/FitAd9696: “The probabilities work out to where the expected (average) increase in bomb cap is the exact same. The only thing that bulk using items do is change the variance” — comment p7ukzwm

    u/picabo123: “The scenarios have the same EV but different "risk profiles".” — comment p7uv7bi

    u/picabo123: “Make sure to fire all, the odds end up slightly better than using the hold-to-fire option” — comment p7uire1

  4. Just accidentally fired all of my Magnet Charges smh (opens Reddit) — Accidental mass firing caused by multiplier settings, and targeting specific bombs with charge boosts.

    u/madcowrave: “Thought i was on single shot, wanted to fire 10 so 10 taps... apparently it was on x100” — original post 1wdn8rv

    u/ETherium007: “They became even more valuable when I unlocked veinmorpher bomb.” — comment p97p5mi

    u/madcowrave: “Yeah man, I was using them to speedrun some gem bombs and bomb of plenty/transmuters to finish up the first 9 statues” — comment p98cdf0

Classes used: Community Knowledge, Recommendation, Version-sensitive.