Where do you put beacons?

[Tolf]

I tossed one on each island and that should help my navigation around, but what other places of note do you put them at?

[Aracanthus]

Entrance to Lost River, Lava Zone, remote bases, etc.

[Xautos]

best to place them at locations leading down to certain places, in the deep great reef zone, there is a way down to the lost river from there. having a beacon at that entrance gives you a reference point from which you don't need to remember exactly where and you can follow it down again for example.

it can be useful for seabases far from your escape pod, like buildign a seabase out in the koosh zone.

[Cougarific]

Your mom's house.

[Wenchbane]

everything really. To mark wrecks and caves. Marking entrances to other biomes, ie grand reef > lost river or kelp forest > jellyshroom caves. And of course all the base sites and thermal vents.

[Lethann]

It's handy to beacon a cave entrance so yo know roughly where it is. Beacons will be soo much better when the next patch hits stable. Not only can you see the distance to each beacon but there's a new tab in the PDA that lets you change their color and turn their visability on and off.

I try to keep at least 3 beacons going at once so I can sorta triagulate my current position and know roughly where I am.

[OverwatchJunky]

Grand Reef, Dunes, Mushroom biomes. Those are the hard ones to get to because of the depth/distance you need to travel to get there.

And definitely place one near your new base once you make it.

I would avoid placing them at wrecks though. At least, place it then take it with you when you have cleared it out. That way you dont waste materials on so many beacons.

Edit: Oh and when you are exploring deep caves, I find it useful to add a "breadcrumb trail" to follow back. Not with beacons though. I use the occasional foundation to mark my path. Also works well as a temporary docking platform for the Prawn when you need to change power cells or grab the item from the prawn inventory.

[Khardinal]

I have one Temp beacon for when I find a spot with many resources or a wreck that I want to harvest empty, but I take the beacon with me again afterwards.

Since resources don't respawn there is not much reason to go back to a looted place.

Not many beacons needed.

Other than the ones mentioned before:
- Lost river entrance
- Lost river > Lava zone entrance
- Bases
- Maybe Jelly Shroom cave entrance too

[Bort]

I have a revolving beacon store. Some are left by wrecks, to later be picked up once that wreck is empty of fragments. Others are permanently attached to my bases, usually tucked under something. Others are, as has already been mentioned, used to indicate the way down to other places.

[Tim Timsen]

This was taken some months ago (oh wait, almost a year ago, geez...) and the save file doesn't exist anymore:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=611430016

[OverwatchJunky]

Publicado originalmente por Tim Timsen:

This was taken some months ago and the save file doesn't exist anymore.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=611430016

Yeah thats a few too many beacons for me >.< I just make mental notes of what is in what direction from the lifepods and use those as beacons and what ever else is near where that I frequent for farming.

[Tim Timsen]

Publicado originalmente por OverwatchJunky:

Publicado originalmente por Tim Timsen:

This was taken some months ago and the save file doesn't exist anymore.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=611430016

Yeah thats a few too many beacons for me >.< I just make mental notes of what is in what direction from the lifepods and use those as beacons and what ever else is near where that I frequent for farming.

I'd prefer coloring the text or toggling between distances so the nearest/farthest beacons wouldn't be displayed on screen. Also, distance to the beacons next to their names.

[OverwatchJunky]

Publicado originalmente por Tim Timsen:

Publicado originalmente por OverwatchJunky:

Yeah thats a few too many beacons for me >.< I just make mental notes of what is in what direction from the lifepods and use those as beacons and what ever else is near where that I frequent for farming.

I'd prefer coloring the text or toggling between distances so the nearest/farthest beacons wouldn't be displayed on screen. Also, distance to the beacons next to their names.

Well that seems unnecesary. Just place fewer beacons. They will always overlap if they are too close together.


There are much easier ways to keep track of where stuff is. Find natural landmarks.

[Tim Timsen]

Publicado originalmente por OverwatchJunky:

Publicado originalmente por Tim Timsen:

I'd prefer coloring the text or toggling between distances so the nearest/farthest beacons wouldn't be displayed on screen. Also, distance to the beacons next to their names.

Well that seems unnecesary. Just place fewer beacons. They will always overlap if they are too close together.


There are much easier ways to keep track of where stuff is. Find natural landmarks.

I haven't used beacons since that save file, the compass is all I need now, hence the "months ago".

[Seph64]

I use Beacons to mark my bases (unless it's near my lifepod), I also use beacons to mark my waterproof lockers to make sure I can find them again in case the lifepod wanders away from where it should be.

Now I will also use beacons when I explore large underground biomes just in case I get lost by placing them at the opening.

[AltheaWolf]

I use them to mark places I want to go back to - as well as bases and key entrance points but playing experimental so you can toggle them on and off (thanks, Devs - brilliant inclusion!)