Salem

Ok, so I'm fairly new, just got the key a week ago. Didn't really know what to do, so I set up camp near Boston and levelled up some basic skills, meaning to go further to set up a permanent claim later. Got a shock this morning when I found my leanto was gone, I'm assuming it was just decay because it wasn't on a claim. (Does being on a claim slow down decay?)

Anyway, so I walked South a LONG way and got the message about arriving in the wilderness. Which was what I was aiming for. I wanted to set up somewhere just outside that. But after I went North again, there was no indication I'd left the wilderness, and going South didn't indicate that I was back in it again.

You can see personal claims and town claims. Is there any way to reliably tell where the darkness is?

I have set up a claim now, I think I'm quite a bit North of that now, lol, I got very frustrated looking for the 'perfect' spot. But I'd still like to know what the go is with the darkness. And yes, I know it's darker. But it seems to get gradually darker.

There is no current way to see if you enter / leave a darkness area
Best is to check for your humours for half a minute to see if they are dropping

Ok, thanks

First time you enter the darkness there's a tutorial message popup. I presume that means a 5 stat newbie character would get drained at that point, but I'm unsure. After that there's no warning.

Indeed only the first time you see a warning, the higher your humours the slower the drain. Darkness affects regen first before the drain pops in.

The drain isn't so fast that 5 stat newbies die suddenly. I walked into darkness in the NW and got the tutorial message popup. Stayed about 30 seconds before leaving.