The angry casual

[Hans_Lemurson]

When I first started out, I spawned in some cliff-tastic savannah and was frequently beset by snakes. I never had a problem foraging for more phlegm despite the lack of waxing toadstools. On a number of occasions I had to munch a huckleberry just to have enough phlegm to craft enough "berries on a straw" in order to be able to light a fire, but I managed.

If you leave an area for long enough (so that it un-loads) either by logging out, staying in a house, or chilling in Boston, then all the forageables and animals in the area will be reset. Bye-bye snakes, hello mushrooms!

[Champie4]

Why would you recommend building a turkey coop and/or eating cabbage when it is obvious the OP is a new player who is finding it difficult to manage his/her environment and humors as a NEW player?

To OP - staxjax gave an excellent suggestion. It seems to me that the best biome for new players is the Autumnal Forest (red, orange, yellow area). There are 3 major advantages to this area over the other biomes, in my opinion. First, there are waxing toadstools everywhere! Second, stray chestnuts are good food as well as an excellent inspirational for the early part of the game. Third, there are usually lots of wood piles that provide easy access to wood blocks. That mean less phlegm depletion and faster access to wood blocks. Wood blocks are a great resource for crafting, building, and they can be split with an axe and used as tinder AND as an inspirational. Oh, as a bonus, you will find many New World Gourds and Singing old logs. In addition, there will be many tree stumps to find dried rattler skins ( can be sold to NPC in Boston for 4 silver) and abandoned cobwebs.

There are downsides to Autumnal Forests, however. First, there is no grass in this biome. Secondly, you will not find several useful things, like Devil's Wort, Milkweed root, Lavender Bluets. Because of this, I found that finding a nice place on the border between grassland and autumnal forest to be a great way to move a new character forward. I prefer to "level" my characters the old fashioned way, each on their own without supplying tools, inspirationals, or food to them from a higher level alt, except in rare circumstances. I use my alts to roam the world creating maps for my own use and scavenging abandoned items while increasing proficiencies, buying skills, and raising humors. I love the "early game" of Salem.

It is only my recommendation. I hope others might encourage you similarly.

Regarding snakes - If you haven't already done so, I recommend that you consider using the Ender Client. Here is the thread where you can find information about the client: http://forum.salemthegame.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=50

THe radar in this client is superior to the radar in the default client. It indicates all creatures to help make it easier to avoid snakes and bears. There are many additional features of the Ender client that make it an excellent alternative to the default client. For some people (many people it seems) the defualt client is almost unacceptable compared to the Ender Client. I assume that all snakes are always dangerous and stay as far away from them as is reasonable. Unless you are equipped to counteract the effect of being poisoned, stay away from them and any items near them.

Good Luck and Welcome to Salem!

[bamump2k9]

ALRIGHT, alright- this is not a reply to anyones comment in this thread. Right now I am just getting angrier and angrier at these snakes. And with enders giving me issues my problems are not becoming less. I just want to ask the designers why poison sounded like a good idea. Why does a permanent status effect that requires a specific item sound like such a great idea? Why does it cost so much at the stalls, why- god i'm just so angry! This game is not casual friendly with these f*king snakes and i'm giving this game a looooong hiatus til I can just... i dunno. I just need to take a break. It has lots of potential and decent things that I like- I just can't seem to get to those parts with these snakes being the way they are.

I got a few ideas on this one- instead of making etterfang rare, make it uncommon. Because from what i found if you get hit by a snake you get poisened. If you can't get to your homestead, or you can't afford it you just take it. That's ridiculous, but also just my opinion.
And another thing, the poison is more expensive then seeds of cabbage- and I have to note that there are more timber rattlers then there are cabbage. Seriously, they spawn everywhere- coniferous, swamp, grasslands, the badlands, there's even a small chance to find one under old tree logs. It's madness.

[Wournos]

It seems you need to install Ender's client (unless you have already) and perhaps even change the RGB colour value of snakes to better see them on the mini map because they are not hard to spot at all with this client. You may feel it is cheating but getting upset about snakes is worse.

Besides, this is a permadeath game. That comes with much greater risks than your usual "spawn after 'death' and continue playing" games we're all used to. I used to get irritated in the beginning too, but you know what, you'll learn to adapt and figure out strategies to survive. If you don't then perhaps this game isn't for you.

[bamump2k9]

It seems you need to install Ender's client (unless you have already) and perhaps even change the RGB colour value of snakes to better see them on the mini map because they are not hard to spot at all with this client. You may feel it is cheating but getting upset about snakes is worse.

Besides, this is a permadeath game. That comes with much greater risks than your usual "spawn after 'death' and continue playing" games we're all used to. I used to get irritated in the beginning too, but you know what, you'll learn to adapt and figure out strategies to survive. If you don't then perhaps this game isn't for you.

I understand the permadeath mechanic, i'v played their previous pet project haven. Atm they only have one way to officially die, and that's if I was murdered by another player. Not even the bears can kill you, and I would rather tackle a bear then fight a snake. I have enders, and my issue is with the poison. You get bit once you get poisoned. Killing the snake is cheesecake, but it's not a smart or fun mechanic to say that the snake wins after it's dead. That is what the poison is, a permanent debuff that doesn't go away until you get ko'ed. Don't even mention the rattler serum because that is too expensive to care about. There is only one thing i hate about this game, and that is the structuring based on the snakes. Etterfang, an ingrediant used for rattler syrum is a rare drop. The rattler syrum costs 250 silver. It is mandatory to be able to one shot a snake if you even want to stay standing after an encounter with it. With a bear you can run into a house and wait til it despawns, you can do that with a snake but if you were hit once you are poisoned and it's just a slap in the face.
It boggles the mind how all of you can tolerate these snakes, they are not fun to encounter and it just makes my experience drop when one is around. I mean i would rather get murdered then to keep getting poisoned by a snake.

[FearTheAmish]

It seems you need to install Ender's client (unless you have already) and perhaps even change the RGB colour value of snakes to better see them on the mini map because they are not hard to spot at all with this client. You may feel it is cheating but getting upset about snakes is worse.

Besides, this is a permadeath game. That comes with much greater risks than your usual "spawn after 'death' and continue playing" games we're all used to. I used to get irritated in the beginning too, but you know what, you'll learn to adapt and figure out strategies to survive. If you don't then perhaps this game isn't for you.

I understand the permadeath mechanic, i'v played their previous pet project haven. Atm they only have one way to officially die, and that's if I was murdered by another player. Not even the bears can kill you, and I would rather tackle a bear then fight a snake. I have enders, and my issue is with the poison. You get bit once you get poisoned. Killing the snake is cheesecake, but it's not a smart or fun mechanic to say that the snake wins after it's dead. That is what the poison is, a permanent debuff that doesn't go away until you get ko'ed. Don't even mention the rattler serum because that is too expensive to care about. There is only one thing i hate about this game, and that is the structuring based on the snakes. Etterfang, an ingrediant used for rattler syrum is a rare drop. The rattler syrum costs 250 silver. It is mandatory to be able to one shot a snake if you even want to stay standing after an encounter with it. With a bear you can run into a house and wait til it despawns, you can do that with a snake but if you were hit once you are poisoned and it's just a slap in the face.
It boggles the mind how all of you can tolerate these snakes, they are not fun to encounter and it just makes my experience drop when one is around. I mean i would rather get murdered then to keep getting poisoned by a snake.

started playing a few weeks ago... Have killed enough snakes to make multiple snake jackets (16 skins kept failing the artifact slotting) have been poisoned 1 time. Thrust kills them in 1 shot you just need to be aware of your surroundings if you see a snake and don't wanna fight it... DON'T RUN AT IT!

[bamump2k9]

I call bs, one spawned right outside my homestead- which is in the plains, and it's just a matter of waiting til it f*ckers off, which again doesn't make the game fun. But i'm not gonna argue about it anymore- what I suggest (sorta angrilly demand) is that rattler serum drop in price to 50 silver. I would spend actual money to get rattler serum that only cost 50 silver.

[Hans_Lemurson]

All the suggestions for how to fight snakes are hilariously missing the point. New players can't one-hit snakes, and don't have enough phlegm (or knowledge of combat/maneuvering) to run away.

For a new player, snake aggro = KO.

[Champie]

All the suggestions for how to fight snakes are hilariously missing the point. New players can't one-hit snakes, and don't have enough phlegm (or knowledge of combat/maneuvering) to run away.

For a new player, snake aggro = KO.

Fine Point Hans!

I'd like to add, for the benefit of any new players reading this thread, that if you do aggro a snake you have a few options depending on where you are. First, if you are near shallow water you can run into the water to avoid the snake. Snakes will not move into water, so you are safe there! Second, if there are other animals nearby, you can run by them to hopefully lure the snake into attacking them. Crickets and rabbits may be your best allies in such a situation Third, and the least likely scenario for a new player, is to be near houses, mines or usable gates. Enter the structure and wait for the Combat debuff to end. You might also want to wait a couple minutes for the snake to move away from the structure. With the recent addition of Makeshift fences, new players can now easily build a fence and gate to provide some relief in the homesteaded area.

One last suggestion... If you do get poisoned, you have some time to do a few things. First, know where you are! Figure out quickly how you can get back to the exact spot where you are about to do the next thing - Put all you valuables in a container! Tree stumps, hollow logs, Myrtle oak bushes and any container that may be nearby. Stash you stuff and make note of your location however you can. If you are using Ender Client, then you can load your stored mini map tiles in the Salem Map Tool (a small but beneficial learning curve).
http://code.google.com/p/salem-map-tool/
In some cases, if you have 250 silver, but you didn't make the purchase earlier, and you are near your homestead (or near a vacant lean-to you can homestead), you can travel to Boston and spend the silver and save yourself further hassle. Obviously you would have to kill the snake before you can do this to remove the Combat debuff, so this isn't a new player suggestion, but a reminder to someone who just found themselves in a bad spot.

Salem Away!

[-Firestar-]

Personally, I'm pretty upset at how easy it was to fubar my character by using the only berries I could make as a newbie (berries and grass), using the gluttony system that the tutorial told me then spending hours still trying to use the gluttony system to raise other stats only to have it not work.

My blood sits at 14, while my other stats sit at 5. Do I seriously have to re-roll a character to fix this? I've been looking for hours to find one, found one and ate it only to find out that's not what I was supposed to do with it?