Salem

I am to the point where I need to actually think about laying down a claim and begin farming etc. What things should I be looking for in a settlement location?

A place with access to:
- forest (I prefer autumnal)
- grassland
- water
- lime

and far from other settlements.

I like living in the middle of a forest right next to lime, but far away from water or grassland. If you're not near the border of biomes or near water you'll get a lot less traffic through your site. As for getting water I just port to Boston with lots of buckets. For grassland resources I keep an alt on grassland (also on a game trail, it's great for crickets).

Then again you can always settle in a grassland and have a lime / forest alt. I just think living in a forest is more convenient because you have to haul the logs / wood less distance.

malaclypse wrote:A place with access to:
- forest (I prefer autumnal)
- grassland
- water
- lime
and far from other settlements.

I disagree with water. Once you have a leanto/claimstone you can teleport to the server city to get water there. No need to leave camp and risk your character just for a bucket of water.
The more terrain you have access to the more passers-by you will have. People mostly follow coastlines, rivers, terrain borders and game trail when exploring (I do).

As for lime - you could set up your primary camp in the middle of nowhere, away from most things, and set up a small humble mining camp next to a lime quarry elsewhere, and deliver to your main camp via the server city. Slightly more hassle but at least you will reduce the risk of your main camp being massacred by someone who also wants the lime.

With the introduction of canoes if you are anywhere within a body of water 1-2 minimap tiles you are a dead man.

Canoes are absurdly overpowered for raiders and you will be spotted in no time unless you are in the darkness.

With the addition of wells tonight you can now have a ready water source without being near a body of water.

I didn't think about the canoe raider scout... All of a sudden I am feeling exposed

Yourgrandmother wrote:With the introduction of canoes if you are anywhere within a body of water 1-2 minimap tiles you are a dead man.
Canoes are absurdly overpowered for raiders and you will be spotted in no time unless you are in the darkness.

Only if you live near water, yes? Or am I missing something?

About the well - I guess it depends on what the requirements are to find water. If it's connected to Settling, or shortly after, then it shouldn't be difficult to locate a water node to build your camp around. Otherwise I see a lot of camp abandoning in favour of possible purity water wells (I really don't want to move! *sigh*).

Finding a well site requires a Woo Woo Wand which requires Leather, which means you need to have 20-ish humors and a decent amount of player skill to kill deer or beaver, or 12-ish humors and fencing.

qbradq wrote:Finding a well site requires a Woo Woo Wand which requires Leather, which means you need to have 20-ish humors and a decent amount of player skill to kill deer or beaver, or 12-ish humors and fencing.

They can be traded right? So no actual making of the wand by the user.

Yea that's a good point. You can also buy leather.