Sailing

[Blue Moth]

i personally find sailing to be a mixed bag. it's boring when you have just a boat and an oar, but get a few masts and it is a lot better. Im one of the few people who thinks malbatross is actually worth it, you get sails which lead to a much faster boat. however, i do dislike that the steering wheel turns so slowly, and it is very hard to avoid running in to sudden sea stacks.

However, I feel I must state that all of this ocean content is much more fun with a friend. it is less boring, the bosses are more fun, and overall it's a better time.

[MondayNight]

Sure Ocean atm doesn't offer a lot of interaction elements (packed together like with Shipwrecked). Or very enticing attractions/loot (Mabla loot, but most of it Crab King loot table is very lackluster).

Yet: Fishes (multiple types depending on RNG, ocean depths, seasons - with various loot) and Skittersquids spawn all the time around player/boat. Gnarwails, and Rockjaws have % chances to also spawn via fish-schools proximity - both give 4x Big Raw Fish and are not too hard to take-down. Salt Formations gen-pop all over Ocean, and Cookie Cutters are easy to dispose of: move boat close slowly, let Cutters jump on board and smash them with Ham Bat, Tentacle Spike or Dark Sword (I recommend Ham Bat) - they provide a lot of Monster Meat at minimal damage cost if any - just don't get overwhelmed by their numbers from going close too quick and, to be sure, have Boat Patches ready to use in your inventory. A ring of Bull Kelp around some stationary boat (with Anchor and Lighting Rod) plus 5-10 Lure Plants provide you with lots of fillers - be sure to visit such setup sometimes on your journey to resupply. Fish Ocean Debris spawned-around-boat on sea for nice lil bons. Have 1-3 Lure Plants on main sailing boat too - not only they provide constant Leafy Meats, but also in summer will be the only thing smoldering on your boat - thus you won't even need Flingo/Fire Pump/Luxury Fan/Ice Staff/Water Balloons, as it can be put-off manually (bonus if playing/having Willow on board). Treasure Hunts rely on gambling excitement and offer cute loot table (still I for one would desire some tweaks in this field, especially on Sea Fishing Rods dropping - perhaps make these rods burnable in Fire Pits, as they tend to pile up without any further use). Malbatross is quite easy to take down, more so if playing Wig/Wolf, having good weapon damage-wise and don't mind losing 1-2 sails (I use specialized boats without masts stationed close to Deep Bass Shoals), and its Winged Sails loot-based builds are quite good. And not to mention Lunar Isles (yes, they need more elements to them, especially on the "replayability"/revisiting field) or Hermit Island with their particular mechanics if one so chooses to go/base there.

Likewise mobile tidy-and-compact single-boat bases - big thumbs-up!

Spoiler

Yes, looks crammed but there are few hit-boxes to impede mobility - one can easily kite Shadows and Sharks there.

I repeat, compared to the (quite ADHD-ish) Shipwrecked, Return of Them Ocean and islands are modestly interesting. Am sure KLei will add a lot more over time, and I do hope loot tables (some mobs, and especially Crab King's) would be tweaked to better them and their interaction recurrency. Also we need more Islands (1-3 tops imo), Ocean biomes and, of course, dangers (fine dangers, good rewards).

 

In conclusion, yes, I for one do enjoy sailing even in current state - but obviously would fancy better in all its fields.

[AlternateMew]

I've been doing my first sailing in the last couple days. I lost 5 boats. 2 of them left with everything on them. I can't give much of an opinion yet but I like it so far. It's giving me a sense of accomplishment doing what is probably basic things, and it's fun that I know so little. I'm going to savor this wonder while it lasts.

[Well-met]

On 9/6/2020 at 3:15 AM, Shosuko said:

I wouldn't use either of those as a primary fire deterant.  You'll be using them about every 1-2 minutes on a boat during the long summer days which will quickly burn through your supplies.  Those are better secondary fire deterants like if you base in oasis, or are in an autumn base and a fire hound accidentally sets flame to an area without flingo protection.

just extinguish smolders with your hands bro

[Yuuko]

8 hours ago, Well-met said:

just extinguish smolders with your hands bro

If you're Willow sure, if you're anyone else you're sufferering a continual drop in health.  Its only a little each time but wildfires can trigger very often through summer and it does add up.

[Choosechee]

4 hours ago, Shosuko said:

If you're Willow sure, if you're anyone else you're sufferering a continual drop in health.  Its only a little each time but wildfires can trigger very often through summer and it does add up.

https://dontstarve.fandom.com/wiki/Fire_Pump

[Pinkamena11FazP]

Honestly I didn't really like the crab king, he seems a bit too overpowered and half baked for a good boss idea. It was very underwhelming the big battle you get and junk rewards. Even the altar which doesn't do junk except be an easier lunar crafty thingy.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

12 hours ago, Shosuko said:

If you're Willow sure, if you're anyone else you're sufferering a continual drop in health.  Its only a little each time but wildfires can trigger very often through summer and it does add up.

Then use ice staffs, are almost free

7 hours ago, Pinkamena11FazP said:

Honestly I didn't really like the crab king, he seems a bit too overpowered and half baked for a good boss idea. It was very underwhelming the big battle you get and junk rewards. Even the altar which doesn't do junk except be an easier lunar crafty thingy.

The tribute crafting table isnt complete yet...

[Yuuko]

7 hours ago, ArubaroBeefalo said:

Then use ice staffs, are almost free

 

y'all keep saying this stupid stuff like idk how to put out a fire.  I know all the ways to put out a fire - my point is flingos suck at it because you have to stop the boat, and burning ice staves, lux fans, water baloons, ect don't answer the problem of flingos sucking on boats.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

1 minute ago, Shosuko said:

y'all keep saying this stupid stuff like idk how to put out a fire.  I know all the ways to put out a fire - my point is flingos suck at it because you have to stop the boat, and burning ice staves, lux fans, water baloons, ect don't answer the problem of flingos sucking on boats.

and for that i use fan or ice staffs, you said it, there is many ways to put out a fire

[Choosechee]

23 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

y'all keep saying this stupid stuff like idk how to put out a fire.  I know all the ways to put out a fire - my point is flingos suck at it because you have to stop the boat, and burning ice staves, lux fans, water baloons, ect don't answer the problem of flingos sucking on boats.

Fire pumps are a thing

[Well-met]

plus most crockpot foods always give a tiny bit of health even those that are never used for healing. You can outheal summer smolders with just basic hunger maintenance.

[Choosechee]

Why is everyone ignoring me? Is it something with the quotes? Fire pumps are made specifically for extinguishing fires on boats. You use them, and they make water bubbles that puts out fires. No flingomatic shenanigans, no consumable items, no damage to you, no durability, and not even fuel! The only downside is it can only used on boats, but that's what we're talking about huh? Sorry this is a little rude, but I don't like being ignored.

[Well-met]

Nobody is ignoring you. I'm adding on to your post because it is quite correct.

[Rinkusan]

On 9/5/2020 at 10:06 PM, Shosuko said:

I voted Other for what I don't like about sailing:

I don't like how much investment it takes to get a boat going, and how much it is constantly at risk of becoming totally wrecked.  I think they gotta pick to either make a boat cheaper or more durable, because right now I feel its too risky to dump that much into a boat.

The flingo sucks at putting fires out during summer without stopping the boat too, and wildfires can happen almost every minute :\ such a chore.

 

Imo even the most decked out boats are roughly as much of a time investment as a standard land base with a berry bush farm, fire pit, furnace, alch engine, kitchen, etc. If you forget your repair kits before setting sail, you can minimize risk of your boat dying by bringing some logs or keeping some twigs in your inv to keep the boat's HP up while you kill bees for stingers. I don't recommend having a flingo on the boat now that the water pump is a thing; saves so much valuable space. 

On 9/6/2020 at 7:12 AM, Blue Moth said:

i personally find sailing to be a mixed bag. it's boring when you have just a boat and an oar, but get a few masts and it is a lot better. Im one of the few people who thinks malbatross is actually worth it, you get sails which lead to a much faster boat. however, i do dislike that the steering wheel turns so slowly, and it is very hard to avoid running in to sudden sea stacks.

However, I feel I must state that all of this ocean content is much more fun with a friend. it is less boring, the bosses are more fun, and overall it's a better time.

I view the malbatross sail as a turbo booster to help you speedrun through areas of the water you've already explored on your map, not so much a fast sail for actual exploration when you'd normally crash into sea stacks. After all, you normally encounter the Malbatross well after you've explored a good chunk of the sea looking for deep bass shoals.

[gaymime]

22 hours ago, Shosuko said:

y'all keep saying this stupid stuff like idk how to put out a fire.  I know all the ways to put out a fire - my point is flingos suck at it because you have to stop the boat, and burning ice staves, lux fans, water baloons, ect don't answer the problem of flingos sucking on boats.

maybe some people are just confused why you keep going on about flingos when there are other more viable methods of removing fire that are easily and readily available in game? i think simply by virtue of there being a firepump in the game someone at the top understood flingos were not boat-appropriate and invested in making sure there was a better alternative. it feels kind of like if you were farm basing and complaining that meatballs were not good at improving health while soundly ignoring cooked pumpkin

or more concisely; it is clear you aren't supposed to use flingos on boats. maybe instead of fussing that flingos should be viable for boats you could use one of the many options that already are

[Obviousclone]

I'm not a fan of sailing in it's current state. It's very boring and feels very slow for very little payoff for how many resources you need to gather. The ocean still feels very empty.

The ship moves very slowly unless you double mast, and rowing feels very non-impactful.

Typically on a server people will group up and try sail as a group on a boat using the standard minimalist 1 sail ship (because 8 silk is kind of a lot) which feels bad because the ship moves very slowly with 1 sail, rowing doesn't improve the player speed, and only 1 person gets to do anything during the entire ride (the person steering the ship). Everyone else kind of just sits there and waits.

Deep Ocean Fishing was implemented I guess to try and alleviate passenger boredom and to provide a food source while on the seas but it doesn't work in a helpful way that the players would want it to. The ship is typically in constant motion which is an issue because the only way to practically catch fish, is for the ship to fully stop (which means the steerer/captain has to stop) and the fish spawns are randomized in way that makes it so typically you won't actually catch fish by being patient; instead you go around trying to find schools of fish to stop and fish at until they're all gone (which clashes with the classic fishing identity of waiting out an afternoon on a boat with your friends with your hooks in the water). This makes fishing impractical as a food source; Most players I see just craft a fridge on the boat and carry meatballs/meaty stews and completely ignore ocean fishing as a food source. Also unlike other indie ocean survival games like Raft or Sea of Thieves you can't even use the rod as a grappling hook to grab and pull floating items towards the ship (which means grabbing that grass/seed/kelp/bottles all up to the ship driver).

The ocean also still feels largely empty. DS shipwrecked had a lot of tidal waves you'd navigate around when sailing through the ocean and lots of interactive creatures like jellyfish or suspicious bubble hunts or those stinkrays or the sunken ships (that were sometimes guarded by swordfish) or message in a bottles that lead you to distant islands you've never found that have (trapped) treasure chests when you dig them up. DST's ocean is currently is just sea stacks (and salt stacks). Which you mostly just sail around to avoid crashing. And message in a bottles that lead you to Pearl's Island. And all the bottles lead to pearl's island. I don't think everything from shipwrecked should be pulled and obviously things like the tidal waves wouldn't really work as the boats in DST are much slower and harder to control, but the seas largely feel empty and I think there could be more done to what's in it to make it feel like there really is "plenty of fish in the sea".

[Hornete]

6 minutes ago, Obviousclone said:

fishing

Do you not know about Deep Bass fish shoals? They have icons on the map and they spawn lots of deep bass very quickly. They dont move around so you can always find them in the same spot. I love fishing for deep bass and getting monster meat from cookie cutters nearby. 2 monster meat and 2 deep bass for a 60 health and 33 sanity food is wonderful!

[Well-met]

I don't understand why Klei insists on not making new set pieces? Even the land could use a new batch, but the sea needs them.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

12 minutes ago, Well-met said:

I don't understand why Klei insists on not making new set pieces? Even the land could use a new batch, but the sea needs them.

and caves. Atleast on single player we can find abandoned camps in the 1st floor of caves making worth exploration

[Yuuko]

On 9/9/2020 at 10:16 AM, gaymime said:

maybe some people are just confused why you keep going on about flingos when there are other more viable methods of removing fire that are easily and readily available in game? i think simply by virtue of there being a firepump in the game someone at the top understood flingos were not boat-appropriate and invested in making sure there was a better alternative. it feels kind of like if you were farm basing and complaining that meatballs were not good at improving health while soundly ignoring cooked pumpkin

or more concisely; it is clear you aren't supposed to use flingos on boats. maybe instead of fussing that flingos should be viable for boats you could use one of the many options that already are

Nope - firepump fails the same way flingo does.  When you're traveling on a boat you have to stop the boat or else the water or snowballs fail to put out the flame.  Worse the firepump is also flammable...

I get that you can use a water balloon or an ice staff to put out the fires too but in summer fires start about every minute.  That's a lot of resource drain for summer.

The flingo also doubles as a combat assist because playing solo you almost always get hounds once you set foot on land.  It really makes no sense to ditch the flingo for the firepump or water balloon.  Ice staff is the closest option, but its adding more sanity drain to sailing and Wavey is a pain in the ass to deal with.

It was bad to trust the pump might work and I've lost another boat.  Some people counter by saying that boats are a late game thing, for after I've switched to Woodie and cleared a few forests...  If I wait that long to go to the sea the rewards are all invalidated by existing game elements.  If you aren't going to the water early why are you bothering to go to the water?  And really that's a question for Klei, not for us.  Why do they insist on adding so many boat crushing obstacles, constantly putting our structures at risk in a way unmatched except by deerclops and bearger, with inadequate tools all for sub-par rewards?

[gaymime]

16 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

snip

fair enough!

[MondayNight]

5 hours ago, Shosuko said:

Worse the firepump is also flammable...

That reminds me of the "lucky" happening of a friend at sea: she was exploring the Ocean in summer and at some point I see in chat:

 

Friend: "Oh no! I failed to see the smoldering and now I have fire on my boat.."

Me: "Well, use your Fire Pump. You have one there.."

Friend: "That's what caught fire!"

Me: "Happy-ending tales from the Constant. Have Water Balloons, Ice Staff or some Luxury Fan?"

Friend: "No...."

Me: "Here's what you can do then: boldly dance-step while going down!" *insert troll-face*

Friend: "............."

 

Moral of the story: build a Flingo on boat next time. And also have alternatives/back-ups to put-out fires with. Or place a Lure Plant on said boat and pay close attention to it - will be only thing smoldering.

[BlueBaby701]

5 hours ago, Shosuko said:

That's a lot of snip

Fair, but no-one said you had to stop your boat

If your in a clear area, just get off the wheel, maybe lower the anchor, and just pump till it's gone

If you are in a cluttered area, you should be already be going extra slow, so you could easily get to the pump

Also have an ice staff or a couple water balloons in case you can't get to the fire pump or the fire pump caught fire

[ArubaroBeefalo]

6 hours ago, Shosuko said:

fires start about every minute

i think you had bad luck. I dont remember any time i had to stiguish fires every minute