Basic strategies for new players

[Asparagus]

1. Get grass and twigs (at least 15-20 each)
2. get 2 flint and DONT make an axe, make a PICKAXE
3. find boulders (preferably gold-veined ones)
4. get flint, rocks, and gold
5. make an axe. chop trees
6. DO NOT PICK UP FLOWERS. Punch Butterflies that spawn from them (butterfly wings make a good food source as well as a healing item and you have a chance to get Butter)
7. PICK UP SEEDS for emergency food (they take a very long time to spoil and cooking one will give cooked seeds good for 5 hunger and 1 health)
8. make a science machine
   1. Backpack
   2. Shovel
   3. Rope
      1. Log suit
      2. Spear

These are the primary essentials, if you can manage these, you can do anything. Proceed with making an alchemy engine and just don't forget to feed yourself. That is basically it. You can do a nomadic style or base-up. As long as you have food, weapons, and armor, you'll live.

[CaptainChaotica]

Basically, I just don't like people telling me I'm not "allowed" to give advice because I'm not perfect.  I made it to Day 570. Therefore my way of playing is just as legit as yours.  You can be just as snotty and dismissive as you want; it won't change the fact that I made it that long in a world with harsh winters AND mostly by myself.  And _that does count for something_.

(God dammit. Been playing that world for SEVERAL MONTHS and you won't even let me have _that_ one. tiny.  bit of triumph.)

Why are so many people obsessed with the way new players learn, anyway?  They're not bonsai trees you have to trim exactly right from the get-go, they're _people_!  People have different brains!  I really, really resent being not only told that the way I play is wrong, but that it's even more wrong for me to give advice to noobies.

NEWS FLASH:  I run a public server and I've _already done that quite a lot_.  Another NEWS FLASH: There _is_ no right or wrong path as long as it leads to you not starving and also playing/behaving like a decent human being (unless we're talking PvP).  Also also, this is not a serious enough subject to yell and make people miserable about.

Just...stop trying to control the way people learn, play and talk about playing.  Thank you.

As for actual advice I've done that in other threads...around.  I forget where they are.  Topics like this come up fairly often though.

...Notorious

[JohnWatson]

You might have come across a set piece with loads of reeds and tentacles before. That set piece is called a Reed Trap. You must prioritise killing all of the tentacles there because they might be the cause of your death later. There is a very easy way to clear the tentacles from a Reed Trap setpiece. The best way is to just set fire to the reeds which damages and kills the tentacles in the process.

I've made it to day 600 so I don't want anybody telling me my advice is bad. Who should bother with how new players learn anyway? I just have a different line of thinking.

So go on and burn those tentacles for me.

[Starlogy]

27 minutes ago, JohnWatson said:

The best way is to just set fire to the reeds which damages and kills the tentacles in the process.

As a Wickerbottom main, this hurts to think about.

Instead of dismissing the Reed Trap entirely, why not try to get usage from it? If you manage to clear out the tentacles, you have a gigantic clump of normally spaced out and scarce reeds. And if you're Wickerbottom, the Reed trap gets even better, as you can abuse Applied Horiculture to basically FILL your inventory with reeds. This make it extremely easy to mass produce books, in addition to mass producing Blow Darts (you can end up making Blow Darts your main weapon at that point). Papyrus can also be used for Nightmare Armor, as well as a lot of other things. The Reed Trap is an extremely useful setpiece, and wasting it like that is just something I can't think of doing.

But there's your question: how do you get the tentacles out?

Deerclops can get through a chunk of Tentacles, but his attacks don't cover that much and he'll eventually die. Bearger is ideal for clearing it out as his AoE attack cuts through them like a lawnmower, however, he will eat all of the Monster Meat that the tentacles drop, as well as probably being in decent condition to still fight you. Hounds can clear them out eventually, however, one fire hound and your hopes and dreams are over. Spiders, pigs, and bunnymen are decent to crowd around the Reed Trap, as, sooner or later, they'll clear out the tentacles.

@JohnWatson I'm not saying your advice is bad, I'm just saying that you should take advantage of a rare setpiece like that. Wickerbottom is the best character to take advantage of the Reed Trap, so if you're not playing as her, then you could dismiss the Reed Trap.

[Destros09]

The single best tip I can give is know crockpot recipes and don't rely on any specific thing (beefalo, tentacles, pigs, and bunnies)

these 2 tips fit into most play styles, aren't overly complicated or a whole strategy these are true TIPS and the kind of things that should be shared on this thread, nothing is wrong about these play styles and I found out a lot from other people's play styles that are useful, everyone does everything different for example @Sketched_Philo Is usually insane in his screenshots as shadow creatures only spawn when sanity changes yet others may stay full sanity, it all depends on how you play, how you want to play, and how you have fun.

[BiddoBams]

Oh! I know I've gone on about this before butttt...

Make an Ice Staff as early as you can!

Seriously, people underestimate how useful that thing is. It's easy as hell to make and can be made as soon as you get a Prestihatitator! It's got so many uses that will definitely help out newer players in a pinch. And even more experienced players too! 

They can instantly stop fires and smouldering objects from a distance, saving you a lot of heartache. They can stop monsters from chasing you, giving you time to get away or set up a perfect counter-attack! (Seriously, countless times I've dodged death by a McTusk by freezing them with a Ice Staff) and they can be used to hunt small animals, like rabbits, gobblers and birds! 

Only 1 blue gem and 1 spear for 20 uses! What a steal!

[Luckcu13]

 

5 hours ago, CaptainChaotica said:

Basically, I just don't like people telling me I'm not "allowed" to give advice because I'm not perfect.  I made it to Day 570. Therefore my way of playing is just as legit as yours.

If you're giving advice such as "Camp near beefalo" or "No need to explore the map properly" and whatnot, then I'll myself say that you're not allowed to give advice. Giving optimal advice on what to do ensures the highest chance that the player will be able to proceed deeper into the game, rather than getting stuck in the game and quitting early out of frustration or boredom. Just because you can make it to day 570 doesn't mean a new player can using your techniques. Optimal strategies ensure that a new player can eventually get as far as you. So don't feed a new player suboptimal advice unless you want them to quit early.

I think a lot of players are also really frustrated by bad advice because the newb's actions can hurt other players too. There's a whole list of things that players badly advise new players to do, but can hurt them in the long run, including with other players. I'll list a few and why it's bad.

- Base ASAP: You can end up basing in a horrid spot that is far away from non-movable or essential resources if you settle down by day 2 or 3.

- Base by Beefalo: The Savanna's most important resources, grass, can be easily moved or found somewhere else. Rabbits have no use once you set up a Prehatstilator and a decent food source, and Beefalo encourage bad habits, don't have much use past winter, and can be moved if wanted.

- Pick up Flowers everywhere you go for +5 sanity: You're killing off the Butterflies for a good long while. Bad for everyone on the map. I don't care if you're getting rot, berries or even lightbulbs are better sources of that.

-Stay at base at night after you settle: Especially in the winter, you see players just camping at base and eatting all your food. No one appreciates whoever gave them that advice.

I'll end with this. If you've been playing for a long while now, with over 200 hours and know what you're doing, but feel like playing a different way. Perfectly fine with me. But don't go giving someone suboptimal advice and completely expect them to succeed, survive a year, get jerky, and get good enough to go down to the ruins and not get scared/slaughtered by all the nightmare monsters without their cuddly Beefies to run to,  and come back up with a Magiluminesence.

[Toros]

22 hours ago, CaptainChaotica said:

Well, I MEANT when you settle down, you should make traps blah blah.  Not immediately, of course!  I didn't mean those were a first priority.  But that they had use, like, at all.  At some point.  I do, in fact, sometimes take about a week or so to set up base at all.  It depends on how hungry I'm getting and how soon I find my first piece of gold--sometimes I plunk it down in a "good enough" spot after several days of wandering, 'cos I'm tired and want my damn crockpot.  : P  But I do look for someplace with access to more than one type of resource.

And yeah, bacon and eggs, etc. but I kind of like to be able to make jerky that isn't still poisonous.  Without having to go on long hunts and possibly stir up vargs all the time.

I dunno, just...this bugs me, 'cos every single time these threads come up, it seems like so MANY of the ways _I_ happen to play are tossed out as "amateur" "noobie traps" and "inefficient".  (mocking singsong voice)  Don't use rabbits.  Don't rely on beefalo (I don't, but I do _use_ them from time to time).  Learn how to fight everything yourself.  Don't make traps.  Don't build walls.  Blah blah blah it just gets to me after a while...

People, I may not be playing exactly The Correct Way, BUUUTT...

...in a world with 40-day winters followed by 50-day springs.  Every year.

(drops the mike)

(Oh, and don't EVEN give me "Wigfrid is easy mode".  She just happens to be the character I picked on what happened to end up as my longest-running server.  I could probably do the same thing with Willow--and intend to, at some point.  Yes, that's Warly's crockpot. The server does have mods.  None of them are very big or cheaty.  A Warly died to the Dragonfly long, long ago and I went out to the desert to rescue his stuff.  I do have to sort of apologise for the kabobs--I didn't have enough filler to make proper meatballs. But I DID have sticks.)

Not recordbreaking, I know...but it DOES prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that I know what I'm doing.  Even if I AM doing it in a way some might not approve of.

...Notorious

Pretty much everything you've said in this thread, particularly in this post, shows just how much you don't know what you're doing.

 

Not to mention that in your screenshot I can count a number of things that make no sense at all for someone who is 570 days in.

 

You don't need to be very good at this game to simply survive.  That's the simple truth of it.  In fact, basic surviving really only requires that you have a stable food source and can beat bearger and deerclops in a fight  (in your server, literally just deerclops).

 

Most skilled players would be in a better position than you're in after 20 days than you are at 570 days.  Spring/Winter servers are not hard, because eyebrella trivializes spring.

 

Play how you want, enjoy how you play, but frankly a newbie that uses you as an example or follows your advice might take longer to become skilled at this game than if you weren't involved at all.  Giving poor and suboptimal advice isn't doing them a service, nor is recommending crutches like basing near beefalo which allows a new player to not learn the essential skill of learning how to fight.

 

After the first year you should be drowning in food if you're skilled.  Kebabs at day 570 in winter with filler literally everywhere?

[Bunions]

@Luckcu13 forgot to mention that Beefalo will turn on you and become dangerous during mating season too.

[56933043043]

2 hours ago, StarmanNess said:

As a Wickerbottom main, this hurts to think about.

Instead of dismissing the Reed Trap entirely, why not try to get usage from it? If you manage to clear out the tentacles, you have a gigantic clump of normally spaced out and scarce reeds. And if you're Wickerbottom, the Reed trap gets even better, as you can abuse Applied Horiculture to basically FILL your inventory with reeds. This make it extremely easy to mass produce books, in addition to mass producing Blow Darts (you can end up making Blow Darts your main weapon at that point). Papyrus can also be used for Nightmare Armor, as well as a lot of other things. The Reed Trap is an extremely useful setpiece, and wasting it like that is just something I can't think of doing.

But there's your question: how do you get the tentacles out?

Deerclops can get through a chunk of Tentacles, but his attacks don't cover that much and he'll eventually die. Bearger is ideal for clearing it out as his AoE attack cuts through them like a lawnmower, however, he will eat all of the Monster Meat that the tentacles drop, as well as probably being in decent condition to still fight you. Hounds can clear them out eventually, however, one fire hound and your hopes and dreams are over. Spiders, pigs, and bunnymen are decent to crowd around the Reed Trap, as, sooner or later, they'll clear out the tentacles.

@JohnWatson I'm not saying your advice is bad, I'm just saying that you should take advantage of a rare setpiece like that. Wickerbottom is the best character to take advantage of the Reed Trap, so if you're not playing as her, then you could dismiss the Reed Trap.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think @JohnWatson's post was a sarcastic jab at the post above his, not a piece of serious advice.

2 hours ago, Destros09 said:

The single best tip I can give is know crockpot recipes and don't rely on any specific thing (beefalo, tentacles, pigs, and bunnies)

these 2 tips fit into most play styles, aren't overly complicated or a whole strategy these are true TIPS and the kind of things that should be shared on this thread, nothing is wrong about these play styles and I found out a lot from other people's play styles that are useful, everyone does everything different for example @Sketched_Philo Is usually insane in his screenshots as shadow creatures only spawn when sanity changes yet others may stay full sanity, it all depends on how you play, how you want to play, and how you have fun.

*checks all the screenshots/GIFS I've posted on the forums*

So I post a single screenshot where I'm insane from a ghost and from a long trip to the ruins, and you infer that I spend all of my time insane?  T  R  I  G  G  E  R   E  D

Really though, I just drop sanity management entirely while I'm in the caves. Nightmare fuel is what I need to keep that sweet magiluminesce going, after all.

I don't like being insane too long though, because this game has pretty visuals and being insane doesn't let me appreciate them HGGGGGGGN

 

[Maslak]

I mean, you do this. You are insane most of the time ;_;

[Donke60]

3 hours ago, Toros said:

Yes, that's Warly's crockpot. The server does have mods.  None of them are very big or cheaty. 

But warly's crockpot is really good though

 

3 hours ago, Toros said:

Ok so I haven't made it a full year as my main in anygame but I still think this picture is awful kind of makes you seem less skilled I understand this isn't your base but showing what you had at base would of been better then a high day count especially in DST

As I can just hit the rollback button if I have enough patience I'll reach that high day count.

Point is showing this picture makes you seem very unskilled High day count means really nothing in DST
and if you show a picture that shows how good you are at the game or tries to prove your good at the game


THE LEAST MODS THE BETTER!

I know someone already pointed this out but it was really bugging me. Also you should tell us what mods are on the server .

[Toros]

27 minutes ago, Donke60 said:

But warly's crockpot is really good though

 

Ok so I haven't made it a full year as my main in anygame but I still think this picture is awful kind of makes you seem less skilled I understand this isn't your base but showing what you had at base would of been better then a high day count especially in DST

As I can just hit the rollback button if I have enough patience I'll reach that high day count.

Point is showing this picture makes you seem very unskilled High day count means really nothing in DST
and if you show a picture that shows how good you are at the game or tries to prove your good at the game


THE LEAST MODS THE BETTER!

I know someone already pointed this out but it was really bugging me. Also you should tell us what mods are on the server .

To be fair, if your goal is to be a nomad and never really have a proper base than Warly's crockpot has some definite advantages.  Where it falls short is that having a base with tons of beeboxes for honey is just much, much better as an overall strategy that it undercuts the benefits of a portable crockpot.

 

I personally don't use meat effigies either, not because they're not good but because touchstones early and amulets later cover all my needs.  Portable crockpot is kind of in the same place where earlygame foraging and lategame mass crockpot production doesn't really leave it much of a niche.

[Rellimarual]

It's entirely possible to say that you disagree with someone's point or that you have other preferences WITHOUT insulting or ridiculing them by saying they don't know what they're talking about. Several posts here impute to Capt. C statements or advice that they never offered (such as advising noobs to camp next to the beefalo). Others make a lot of assumptions based on a single screenshot. And don't kid yourselves that any objection to your chosen and unkind communication style is just being "illogical" or insufficiently "objective." This forum is a social activity and a community, so git gud at interacting with other human beings in a way that is not pointlessly mean spirited. It will serve you well elsewhere in life, believe me.

[Vixrotre]

In my opinion setting close to a beefalo herd (obviously not right next to them, just somewhat nearby) is good advice? Maybe because I always make a base somewhat close to them. 

1. You'll need wool from them for winter clothing. 

2. They produce manure you'll constantly use on your farms and bushes. 

3. If you have problems killing a giant, or hounds, or you just don't feel like losing precious time soloing, you can run straight to the beefalo and have the problem dealt with without losing any loot (as in meat).

4. They're easy to bait away from the herd (just feed them grass and they'll follow you) and not too hard to kill. They drop a good amount of meat and sometimes a horn, which can be used to craft a beefalo hat that not only will keep you warmer during winter, but also makes in-heat beefalo not attack you.

 

I don't think anyone said "Set up in the middle of a beefalo herd", that's obviously wrong, but if you set up 2 days of walking distance away from beefalo, especially if you're new to the game, that could be the death of you. Beefalo have all you need. Protection, food, materials to help you survive winter and get more food. What's not to like? 

[Destros09]

Keep in mind the location of the pig king when making a base, while not absolutely necessary for all characters you want to be able to get there in one day tops

[Luckcu13]

1 hour ago, Rellimarual said:

It's entirely possible to say that you disagree with someone's point or that you have other preferences WITHOUT insulting or ridiculing them by saying they don't know what they're talking about. Several posts here impute to Capt. C statements or advice that they never offered (such as advising noobs to camp next to the beefalo). Others make a lot of assumptions based on a single screenshot. And don't kid yourselves that any objection to your chosen and unkind communication style is just being "illogical" or insufficiently "objective." This forum is a social activity and a community, so git gud at interacting with other human beings in a way that is not pointlessly mean spirited. It will serve you well elsewhere in life, believe me.

You're talking about me, yes? I didn't intend to insult Captain C., I wanted to convey my belief that new players should be able to recieve optimal advice. I was being blunt, and if I have insulted him badly, my apologies. My point about not properly exploring still stands, however. 

^{Also you're calling me out for being insulting and "ridiculing" while you're insulting people by passively aggressively implying they're not good at social interaction. Dunno what to think of that.}

45 minutes ago, Vixrotre said:

In my opinion setting close to a beefalo herd (obviously not right next to them, just somewhat nearby) is good advice? Maybe because I always make a base somewhat close to them. 

Well, really depends on the circumstances. I usually advise people to not base near them because the biome they live has a lot of issues. The biggest issue is that the most important resource, grass, can be easily relocated, while the location of the biome itself is oftentimes far away from other important resources, such as the Pig King, the Swamp, Hound Mounds, Mactusk, the Bee Biome, and cactus.

The game's challenges, once harvesting the Beefalo for a Beefalo Hat, don't require Beefalo for anything else, even in winter. Their fur/manure on the campfire can be replaced by just burning a tree/twig and running in and out of it, their meat can be replaced by getting Bunnymen or Pigs to kill each other in a halarious all out war, and their fighting capability can be replaced with your hands rather easily. The farms, well, I'm not gonna start on that, but just know I'm not an advocate for farms, due to them being a less worthwhile source of food compared to other methods.

I understand one might be worried about dying away from Beefalo, but it's actually very easy to survive without them, and the sooner you do it, the more interesting the game can become. I'd actually recommend you and a new player try to survive far away from Beefalo, basing in maybe the desert instead.

[Toros]

1 hour ago, Rellimarual said:

It's entirely possible to say that you disagree with someone's point or that you have other preferences WITHOUT insulting or ridiculing them by saying they don't know what they're talking about. Several posts here impute to Capt. C statements or advice that they never offered (such as advising noobs to camp next to the beefalo). Others make a lot of assumptions based on a single screenshot. And don't kid yourselves that any objection to your chosen and unkind communication style is just being "illogical" or insufficiently "objective." This forum is a social activity and a community, so git gud at interacting with other human beings in a way that is not pointlessly mean spirited. It will serve you well elsewhere in life, believe me.

It looks like you need to understand the difference between facts, logical conclusions, logical rebuttals, and feelings.

 

Facts are objective, like "Wolfgang does more damage than Wes"

 

A logical conclusion could be "Wolfgang is better at fighting bosses than Wes, due to his higher damage, health, and speed"

A logical rebuttal could be "Wes can use his balloons to damage bosses indirectly.  With enough balloons he could instantly kill a boss."

The response would then be "It would take a player a significantly greater amount of time and resources to kill a boss with Wes and balloons vs with Wolfgang"

With perhaps a modified conclusion of "Wolfgang is more efficient at fighting bosses than Wes" which would be objectively true even if we considered balloon killing bosses not so inefficient to be a waste of time, because technically Wes could kill bosses faster.

 

Feelings are statements like "I like to fight bosses with Wes."  That's a feeling and has absolutely nothing to do with facts for the purposes of discussion.  It especially has nothing to do with giving useful advice to newbies (as measured by increased survival rate should they follow it.)

 

Cap C appears to have a low amount of game knowledge and uses feeling-based reasoning for their game strategy.  Now, this game is easy enough you don't need to be maximally mechanically efficient to survive, but someone who is playing optimally with Wolfgang will have an easier and more productive time than someone who is decorating their base with Wes balloons.  Recommending new players play Wes and freely decorate their base with balloons does not improve their survival rate, and thus is not useful advice for new players, who statistically have trouble playing this game at first without dying frequently.

 

You're right that his is a community, but someone who is confidently giving bad advice being pushed out a discussion meant to help new players is not a bad thing for the community at all.  In fact, I think that your sort of moral policing is far worse long term for a community than someone being called out for giving bad advice.

40 minutes ago, Vixrotre said:

In my opinion setting close to a beefalo herd (obviously not right next to them, just somewhat nearby) is good advice? Maybe because I always make a base somewhat close to them. 

1. You'll need wool from them for winter clothing. 

2. They produce manure you'll constantly use on your farms and bushes. 

3. If you have problems killing a giant, or hounds, or you just don't feel like losing precious time soloing, you can run straight to the beefalo and have the problem dealt with without losing any loot (as in meat).

4. They're easy to bait away from the herd (just feed them grass and they'll follow you) and not too hard to kill. They drop a good amount of meat and sometimes a horn, which can be used to craft a beefalo hat that not only will keep you warmer during winter, but also makes in-heat beefalo not attack you.

 

I don't think anyone said "Set up in the middle of a beefalo herd", that's obviously wrong, but if you set up 2 days of walking distance away from beefalo, especially if you're new to the game, that could be the death of you. Beefalo have all you need. Protection, food, materials to help you survive winter and get more food. What's not to like? 

Setting up even a few screens away from beefalo is useful for new and old players alike, for the reasons you mentioned.  I don't lead bosses into my beefalo herds because they tend to kill them off entirely and while the resources are nice I don't like full extinction as a personal, non-optimal preference.

 

However, I wouldn't want a new player to base around beefalo because long term it delays them practicing and learning how to kite the bosses properly.  It can easily become a crutch which ultimately is unhelpful.

 

Plus, new players tend to set up too close, and can't thin the herd (because they can't kite) so when the beefalo go into heat the player is forced out of their base.

[Asparagus]

The Bearger is your friend.

1. Make a base smack dab in the middle of the meteor fields. Free rocks. O__O (jk, somewhere around the mosaic biome or past the graveyards is where I like to base up since locations aren't that much of an issue since you can plant grass, saplings, trees, berry bushes and other things almost anywhere.)
2. When you hear the Bearger about to spawn (i.e. when you hear the roaring sound at the start of 2nd Autumn), go to the middle of the meteor fields and leave him there (let him spawn there). He'll roam around indefinitely and succeeding Autumns will not spawn another Bearger as it's already there). Come by occasionally and pick up any stray fur tufts he drops.
3. When 2nd Winter comes, go to the said Bearger and wait for the Deerclops to spawn and let them duke it out. Heck hounds won't be a problem when you have the Bearger around.
4. Boulders that the meteor fields provide can be easily mined by Bearger (as well as nearby trees). Simply place a disposable food item (as you probably have a surplus of by now, like 1 berry, or some red caps would do *shrugs*) in front of some boulders and let him casually walk over and destroy them.
5. Make a temporary or a small camp with the basics (firepit, 1-2 crocpots, about 2 chests, whatever,) near McTusk hunting grounds and when winter comes, you'll have easy access to McTusks as well as a fun way to kill the Deerclops. Simply let the giant spawn near the McTusks and have the ranged McTusk senior chew away at the Deerclops' heath, and if it's the one where there are tallbirds are in, you can lead the Deerclops to them as well, chances are, you'll survive this with a TON of meats as well as letting the Deerclops's heath get chipped away so you don't have to spend too much time killing it, but once you have a handle at kiting it, it'll take you about 2-5 min solo-ing it with a decent weapon. (you don't need to, it's more of a personal preference, I like some diversity in my playthroughs)
6. Practice with your world gen settings to

• Spoiler

  • More flowers (Practice punching butterflies instead of going on a mass flower-picking genosidal spree)
  • More mushrooms (Make yourselves familiar with what Red, Green and Blue mushrooms do)
  • More boons (optional)
  • Less Berry Bushes (At this point, you need to ween off of berry dependency)
  • More Wasp Hives (They'll spawn mostly on the sides of the roads, learn to use wasps/killer bees to your advantage and they make great sources of honey comb that you won't feel too guilty of destrying hives not like regular bee hives)
  • More Ponds (adds more options for food as well as good aesthetics to a base)
  • Less Trees (optional)
  • Less Beefalo (ween you off of beefalo dependency, also makes beefalo more precious since there'll be less of them at the start)
  • More Treeguards (practice kiting with these, also a good source of living logs to practice making magic items)
  • (This is not all of the world gen options I should be recommending but I'm away from my PC and can't check my saved custom presets)

Oh and for all you newbies, I'd like to recommend the god-send that is the Bush Hat -- wait out dangers like HUGE hound waves (practice on kiting hounds from the get go but when you're at that point where there's too many and you're all alone a fun option would be to let nature deal with them, or just kill them all; don't forget to wear armor when attempting combat)

[TheKingDedede]

12 hours ago, CaptainChaotica said:

Basically, I just don't like people telling me I'm not "allowed" to give advice because I'm not perfect.  I made it to Day 570. Therefore my way of playing is just as legit as yours.  You can be just as snotty and dismissive as you want; it won't change the fact that I made it that long in a world with harsh winters AND mostly by myself.  And _that does count for something_.

No one is restricting you from what you can and can't say. It just feels strange that at times, it sounds like you're being the dismissive one of others when they dole out their pieces of advice to newbies. Like when you say:

On 3/21/2017 at 11:54 AM, CaptainChaotica said:

(mocking singsong voice)  Don't use rabbits.  Don't rely on beefalo (I don't, but I do _use_ them from time to time).  Learn how to fight everything yourself.  Don't make traps.  Don't build walls.  Blah blah blah it just gets to me after a while...

If you want your bits of advice to be listened to, don't try and take jabs at other players. Everyone here simply wants beginners to have a good time and to build a healthy community for the forums. The last thing we'd want to do is push others away for how they play.

For the bits of advice that you say that gets to you after a while, here's what I've noticed in my time of gameplay:

- Rabbits usually don't provide much and most players aren't aware that you don't really need to build a trap to kill them. I like to use them as a last resort.

- It's not that we tell people not to rely on Beefalo, but most new players aren't aware that when Spring or Winter roll around, Beefalo can go into heat and can turn on anyone pretty fast. Personally, I like to shave them when they aren't in heat and use their wool as fuel. It's ridiculous how much wool you can get every few days. If I think the population is getting too high for my tastes, I wipe a few out and collect the resources.

- I think it's important that players learn to fight most of the creatures in this game. Not by yourself, mind you, but in Together, you should learn to fight creatures with other players as a team. When a boss rolls around and everyone knows what to do, it can be quite fun. I remember when the Deerclops once popped on a server I was playing on. With just me and 2 other friends, he ceased to be a problem after 2 minutes, and I loved the sense of teamwork that came from it.

- I say that traps are useful to a certain degree, but they shouldn't be relied on so heavily so as to make them your only source of food. I personally like to use traps in case a Frog Rain occurs and our Tooth Trap field is in terrible shape.

- From personal experiences, walls don't do too much to help players out. They take a lot of resources to make en masse, can't take much of a beating, and it's better to destroy them and rebuild them than pouring more materials onto existing broken walls. I like to to use walls in a decorative sense. They're pretty good at containing peaceful mobs and making zoos.

12 hours ago, CaptainChaotica said:

Why are so many people obsessed with the way new players learn, anyway?

Most users on the forums simply want newbies to do well and succeed in this game, as well as have fun and prosper. It's not that any of us are obsessed, I think, but it's more like that when threads like this pop up, many of us are trying to dish out our bits of advice all at the same time.

In the end, we can all learn something from each other, and we don't have to play at an "optimal" level. We should, as a community, help newbies out and tell them the best way to survive.

On 3/20/2017 at 10:02 PM, CaptainChaotica said:

Don't let perfect get in the way of good.

We shouldn't aim for perfection, but a sense of fun, teamwork, and community. Some people have fun playing at what they consider an "optimal" level, others roleplay, and others have just started to play the game for the first time. Let's give the newbies a helping hand, shall we?

[Starlogy]

I do have more advice to give to someone new: Don't be afraid of insanity. While that sounds like bad advice, trust me, it's better to not waste time and deal with the ambient and shadow creatures than waste a whole lot of time trying to get sanity back.

If you're sitting comfortably on resources and can afford some time, then its okay to take some time to boost it. But shadow creatures DO give something extremely valuable: Nightmare Fuel. Which is used to make the Shadow Manipulator, as well as Dark Swords, Night Armor, a whole lot of good stuff.

I'm not saying being insane is a great idea, I'm just letting you know that insanity is a good time to get Nightmare fuel.

Also I agree 100% with @TheKingDedede 

[Vixrotre]

1 hour ago, Luckcu13 said:

The game's challenges, once harvesting the Beefalo for a Beefalo Hat, don't require Beefalo for anything else, even in winter. Their fur/manure on the campfire can be replaced by just burning a tree/twig and running in and out of it, their meat can be replaced by getting Bunnymen or Pigs to kill each other in a halarious all out war, and their fighting capability can be replaced with your hands rather easily. The farms, well, I'm not gonna start on that, but just know I'm not an advocate for farms, due to them being a less worthwhile source of food compared to other methods.

I understand one might be worried about dying away from Beefalo, but it's actually very easy to survive without them, and the sooner you do it, the more interesting the game can become. I'd actually recommend you and a new player try to survive far away from Beefalo, basing in maybe the desert instead.

Honestly I wouldn't give up farms for the life of me, my wife is always dying laughing whenever she comes back home and we have another farm built xD We both like eating not-meatballs, so while yeah, we have a stack of 5-10 meatballs in the fridge at all times, but we like making different recipes for fun and it gives me and her a lot of joy.

It's not a tip btw, experimenting in the kitchen for newbies is a waste of resources, if you're struggling with starving- don't do it. You don't need muffins with butterflies on top. You need to LIVE.

 

We stopped settling on the beefalo biome and now we try to build our base in the most convienent place for our playstyle, which is usually sort of in the middle of all the good things (Bee Queen, Pig King, Swamp, Ponds and Beefalo are our main concerns and the world that my server generated now has blessed us with everything being in convenient distances). I still wouldn't make a base in the desert, but if we ever want to spice up our gameplay and live on the edge I'd give it a go.

 

Honestly I think someone should make a thread about "How to spice up your survival" since I see a lot of tips that'd fit that theme more than "Basic strategies for newbies" here lol

actually I'mma do it

[Asparagus]

1 minute ago, Vixrotre said:

Honestly I think someone should make a thread about "How to spice up your survival" since I see a lot of tips that'd fit that theme more than "Basic strategies for newbies" here lol

actually I'mma do it

My body is ready

[Maslak]

3 minutes ago, Vixrotre said:

How to spice up your survival

>Go to world gen
>Set everything on "lots"
>???
>CHAOS!

[Luckcu13]

Just now, Maslak said:

>Go to world gen
>Set everything on "lots"
>???
>CHAOS!

He said spicing up, not instantly give you virtual heart attack and diabetes.