Village location tips?

[Steppa]

How close do you have to be to the ocean to allow the access for fishing and boat contstruction?

[☥ Docdra ☥]

You can set markers, so it doesn't really matter unless there are mobs between your base and the marker.

My suggestion, find the flattest area possible in a clearing, preferably near a cliff side or something impassible. Make sure there are young firs, edible plants, rocks, and a natural rain collector (or whatever they're called) nearby - then build up from there.

The reason I say build near a cliff though - just to cut down on the ways mobs can approach your base, because out in the open those pesky rabbit things will steal your food. They'll even eat the food out of your sleeping villagers inventory.

Keep in mind, you'll also want to be on the lookout for the cave stone, for iron later. However, due to the way raids work and trying to build up the number of villagers, I wouldn't spend a lot of time searching for one.

Finally, this may not be the best path, but it is working better than my previous attempts so far - on day 9 I already have my camp fenced in, a cottage up, an armed watchtower nearby, and THIS time I didn't feel like I was rushing everything to beat the next raid. You learn from failure...