How much woodworking do I need for the shovel blueprint?

[Typical_Name]

I'm currently trying to level up my woodworking in order to be able to build a shovel - all I know is that it needs more woodworking skill than I have now. I'm at a bottleneck where I can't get mud and clay since I don't have anything to dig it with. (... Well, actually, I'm pretty sure I technically could dig it with my hands, but would YOU want to touch mud with your bare hands?? I can't do that to my character! :P)

Oddly, I couldn't find the information in a guide anywhere. I may have simply failed a spot check.

[Typical_Name]

Damn, that's a lot. I accidentally got spoiled on the fact that apparently there's a Dry Season that comes in about 30 days from where I am now, and my woodworking skill is only 18! Might have to get my hands dirty after all if I want to get a permanent shelter and potentially a cistern underway. :(

[Philtre]

Originally posted by Typical_Name:

Damn, that's a lot. I accidentally got spoiled on the fact that apparently there's a Dry Season that comes in about 30 days from where I am now, and my woodworking skill is only 18! Might have to get my hands dirty after all if I want to get a permanent shelter and potentially a cistern underway. :(

If you are that close to the dry season, I would prioritize a couple of reservoirs over both of those things if you haven't already built some. They are the cheapest of the large-scale water storage solutions. Once you have those, a cistern is a nice add-on, but you will definitely need a shovel for that (the blueprint requires it). You can get the mud to make bricks for the reservoirs with your bare hands. To live in over the medium term, a shed is enough; a mud hut is nicer and can be upgraded, but it's a lot of work and a lot of bricks that should go towards water storage first.

[Typical_Name]

Originally posted by Philtre:

Originally posted by Typical_Name:

Damn, that's a lot. I accidentally got spoiled on the fact that apparently there's a Dry Season that comes in about 30 days from where I am now, and my woodworking skill is only 18! Might have to get my hands dirty after all if I want to get a permanent shelter and potentially a cistern underway. :(

If you are that close to the dry season, I would prioritize a couple of reservoirs over both of those things if you haven't already built some. They are the cheapest of the large-scale water storage solutions. Once you have those, a cistern is a nice add-on, but you will definitely need a shovel for that (the blueprint requires it). You can get the mud to make bricks for the reservoirs with your bare hands. To live in over the medium term, a shed is enough; a mud hut is nicer and can be upgraded, but it's a lot of work and a lot of bricks that should go towards water storage first.

Well, right now I kind of need shelter, because apparently the current season is the Storms Blow All Your Stuff Away And Freeze You season. I didn't expect freezing to death on a tropical island :o

Where is a good place to set up base? Previously I was camped out on the Bay but I'm starting to get the impression that it's not a good place to be for the Storms Blow All Your Stuff Away And Freeze You season. I've moved a lot of my stuff over to this dark cave I found, which helps with the storm, but it's dark, doesn't have a readily available food source, and is full of bugs.

[Philtre]

Originally posted by Typical_Name:

Where is a good place to set up base? Previously I was camped out on the Bay but I'm starting to get the impression that it's not a good place to be for the Storms Blow All Your Stuff Away And Freeze You season. I've moved a lot of my stuff over to this dark cave I found, which helps with the storm, but it's dark, doesn't have a readily available food source, and is full of bugs.

The Shed which I mentioned earlier is cheap early housing if a Mud Hut looks like too big a project for the immediate future.

If you are playing the Hunter (who is immune to serious diseases), the Jungle is a good place to live. If you are playing a custom character, and didn't pick the Immune perk, I like the Jungle Outskirts. The pros and cons:

- Jungle is inland, so your stuff won't blow away in storms, and has deep soil, so you can build cisterns, wells, and cellars; Outskirts is functionally coastal (although it is wooded), and has shallow soil
- Outskirts has fewer bugs and almost no macaque / boar visits unless you leave food and other theft targets out in the open
- Outskirts has easy access to the Beach (3 min walk even without building paths, can be traversed on a clear night without a light source). The Beach is a safe place to dive (the Bay has sharks), and is connected to the Rocks, which is a good place to fish and has tidal pools to forage for seafood, and is also a good place to find flint.
- Jungle is closer to the Wetlands, where you will get most of your clay/dirt
- There are also minor differences in which crops grow well in each of these two locations, but not so much as to be a major consideration

[Typical_Name]

Originally posted by Philtre:

Originally posted by Typical_Name:

Where is a good place to set up base? Previously I was camped out on the Bay but I'm starting to get the impression that it's not a good place to be for the Storms Blow All Your Stuff Away And Freeze You season. I've moved a lot of my stuff over to this dark cave I found, which helps with the storm, but it's dark, doesn't have a readily available food source, and is full of bugs.

The Shed which I mentioned earlier is cheap early housing if a Mud Hut looks like too big a project for the immediate future.

If you are playing the Hunter (who is immune to serious diseases), the Jungle is a good place to live. If you are playing a custom character, and didn't pick the Immune perk, I like the Jungle Outskirts. The pros and cons:

- Jungle is inland, so your stuff won't blow away in storms, and has deep soil, so you can build cisterns, wells, and cellars; Outskirts is functionally coastal (although it is wooded), and has shallow soil
- Outskirts has fewer bugs and almost no macaque / boar visits unless you leave food and other theft targets out in the open
- Outskirts has easy access to the Beach (3 min walk even without building paths, can be traversed on a clear night without a light source). The Beach is a safe place to dive (the Bay has sharks), and is connected to the Rocks, which is a good place to fish and has tidal pools to forage for seafood, and is also a good place to find flint.
- Jungle is closer to the Wetlands, where you will get most of your clay/dirt
- There are also minor differences in which crops grow well in each of these two locations, but not so much as to be a major consideration

Hrrm, okej, thanks.

Rocks sound promising. I've been wondering for a while now where to find flint, so it sounds like that's a place I need to go.

I like the sound of the outskirts, which also happens to be close to the Bay so I can go fishing more easily.

Currently a lot of my stuff is in the wetlands, since that's where my cave is. It seems basically the same as the jungle, are there any significant differences?

Why would I want to avoid the macaque visits? They and the seagulls seem to be free food - I don't think I've ever incurred injuries when spearing them (boars are another manner entirely, my first run ended when I tried to fight one, and I only just recently managed to kill one about 32 or so days in, and that was apparently a lucky kill since I tried to do it again and got beaten up badly enough that I reloaded the day). I even managed to make friends with a couple! They mostly just sit around eating my food and drinking my water while giving me bugs and poop, but I'm sure they'll come in handy later somehow.

[Philtre]

Originally posted by Typical_Name:

I like the sound of the outskirts, which also happens to be close to the Bay so I can go fishing more easily.

The Jungle is closer to the Bay. The Outskirts are closer to the Beach (which is fine for fishing, but the Rocks is better).

Currently a lot of my stuff is in the wetlands, since that's where my cave is. It seems basically the same as the jungle, are there any significant differences?

LOTS of bugs, further from the sea (so harder to go fishing, gather sand, or get seawater for cooling off), crop plants that dislike wet areas are more likely to get mold infections (lemongrass, for instance).

Why would I want to avoid the macaque visits? They and the seagulls seem to be free food - I don't think I've ever incurred injuries when spearing them

Sounds like you are playing the Hunter. He starts with good spearfighting skill. A custom character with zero skill can get fairly severe injuries trying to fight them.

I even managed to make friends with a couple! They mostly just sit around eating my food and drinking my water while giving me bugs and poop, but I'm sure they'll come in handy later somehow.

You can give them coconuts and almonds, and they will peel them instantly. You can also have them climb palm trees to get coconuts for you. And they help a lot with loneliness, which is very useful when playing custom characters that don't have mental stability perks.

[Typical_Name]

Neat, that's good to know, thank. I think I'll try and get a shed set up on the outskirts for now, assuming I survive all these storms.

[Typical_Name]

When does dry season start? I was under impression that it would start on day 60, but I've just gotten to day 60 and it's raining...

[Philtre]

Originally posted by Typical_Name:

When does dry season start? I was under impression that it would start on day 60, but I've just gotten to day 60 and it's raining...

There's a little bit of RNG in the weather; it can occasionally rain in dry season, and it can have dry days in rainy season. It sounds like the RNG gods in your game decided to start off the dry season with a little extra rain.