Perfect Place to Settle

[ezgoezit]

I have started a couple outposts, but haven’t found a place that I wanted to make my main settlement yet… I traveled west until I found the darkness and found I was mistaken in assuming the darkness was just a big wall and I wouldn't be able to head farther west. I traveled a few more hours northwest, not finding a place I thought would be perfect for a main settlement until finally I came upon a place I thought would be great. I began to search around for a good place to settle, but low and behold, what did I find sitting there in the middle of nowhere? Two kilns! After looking around for quite a while, I couldn't find any other evidence of other settlements. I haven’t seen any evidence of any other settlers for at least three hours’ worth of walking aside from these kilns in fact.

So, I have a couple questions about finding the perfect place to settle:

- Do you think those two kilns is a disqualifying factor for that location, or anywhere near it?
- What qualities do you look for in the perfect place to settle?

Regards,

Ez

[Bearcub]

May be its not about settle, but about finally find the owners of these kilns (if they left long ago, then its not that dangerous to settle around and use stuff they left on base). Another necessary factor that could be a key to a problem is a condition of kilns (if they are red it could say that someone is still around. If they are absolutely new- it might be saying that they've built once and forgotten).
Perfect place, I believe, is starts from a mine. Of course there're ppl who believe that mine atracts strangers (as the wholekeeper of your "gold"), but in fact having a mine near your home- is very nice thing, cause you don't have to spend time on walking with ore, or collecting it by your alt.
If you got the mine- be sure that you have lime pit around (size is not necessary if you know how to sustain it) cause lime is needed for smelting.
And finally- never settle close to lake or especially rivers (at least for a distance that is not showed if someone use the river to travel)- about 3minimaps from it. Water you can always gather in Boston, for beavers and stuff- just find a lake around.
Edit: you can find much more info here, if you have time to read

[Mereni]

I used to hunt for mines with 9 nails. 8 for the mine entrance and 1 for a sawbuck. I'd get all the materials I needed from the land around me, except the nails, and building kilns on a nearby clay deposit was part of that. You're probably not going to be able to find the entrance to confirm this, it might be a few screens away. But if two kilns is all you found, you probably don't have to worry too much.

I like a lime pit for smelting, and a river not too far away for fishing. But I'm also not that afraid of being found.

[nonsonogiucas]

(if they are red it could say that someone is still around. If they are absolutely new- it might be saying that they've built once and forgotten)

I thought that red meant "expiring"... that I would have interpreted as also "abandoned for quite some time"...
Unless maybe red also means "damaged by use"?

[Kreek]

nonsonogiucas you are correct, When buildings exist on unclaimed ground, there's a chance they receive a "decay tick" every so often. This decay translates into damage. Thus the red color represents damage and it can not be determined if the damage is from decay or a player attacking it.

[ezgoezit]

Thanks for the replies guys, that helps a lot. I decided to push on.

Turns out I must have been mistaken when I thought I was in the "darkness" before. Maybe it was a lag issue or video issue, I don't know, but at that time, as I was walking west, it looked like there was a darkness around my toon that was being pushed back as I moved on. Yesterday, I received a help window saying I was entering the Lumberwoods. I didn't notice a difference, so I kept walking. Turns out, there aren't a lot of great places to settle and I was pushing on until I found one. About three hours later I noticed my humors draining. This toon isn't high enough humor to be settling in a humor draining environment, so I spent hours heading back. What a pain.

Now I've spent hours, walking the border, or where I think the border is of the Lumberwood, trying to find a good place to settle. Not a lot of good places. Ironically, every time I do find a decent place, I find signs of other settlers. I've seen more signs of life in that area, then I have in all of the eight plus hours I spent getting there.

Any other settling tips are appreciated, thanks again.

Regards,

Ez

[Bearcub]

(if they are red it could say that someone is still around. If they are absolutely new- it might be saying that they've built once and forgotten)

I thought that red meant "expiring"... that I would have interpreted as also "abandoned for quite some time"...
Unless maybe red also means "damaged by use"?

Nothing decays on land that is not visited. That is what I meant

[Mereni]

Any other settling tips are appreciated, thanks again.

Either go back towards Boston a bit, or head further into darkness. Everyone assumes that the darkness border will be a good place to settle, unfrequented and shunned. But, in fact, it's probably one of the more populated areas.

[Kreek]

If you hit CTRL+D (I'm not sure if it works on the default client) you get a light meter window. There is a value (either d or b) that is equal to 62.75 when you are not in darkness. As this value decreases, the deeper into the darkness you are.

[ezgoezit]

Wow! That is a great tip. Thanks.

Looks like I set up my settlement in the darkness, though not deep enough to drain humors. Found a nice place with with a copper mine, an iron mine and lime nearby. Thanks again to those more experienced for the tips.

If you hit CTRL+D (I'm not sure if it works on the default client) you get a light meter window. There is a value (either d or b) that is equal to 62.75 when you are not in darkness. As this value decreases, the deeper into the darkness you are.