Most favored biome for a large base...

[Virrixia]

I'm just trying to get ideas here about what biome to call home when I start a new game. Usually I just build my main base in the shallows, and build outposts randomly across the world, but it is becoming perfunctory doing it the shallows everytime. What biomes do y'all prefer to spend most of your time in? Which one(s) seem to provide the best show in regards to the fauna interacting with other fauna? Which biome(s) have the best lighting effects during the day and during the night? I don't care so much about which biomes contain the best resources, traveling around in a Cyclopse to those areas is fine...gives me something to do.

[404_Not_Found]

I usually just build in the shallows because it looks the nicest IMO.

I would've liked to build on the floater island but there appears to be no room, I might try the mountain island though, have some sunlight, outdoor farms, etc.

I also personally like the grand reef but because it's so deep underwater you'd need some reinforcement as well as a decent power source. There are a few thermal vents down there you could use, assuming you can find the space to build.

There's a lot of room in the sparse reef too but there's not much else around there...

There's also the dunes, which has a lot of space, but, well, you wouldn't have very friendly neighbors, plus it's always pitch dark.

I've tried building in the mushroom forest before as well but lack of room makes it a bit difficult.

I'd advise against the koosh zone or grassy plateau. You'd probably find less hell on whatever planet you're stranded on in the dunes, quite frankly.

Edit: Oh yeah, one of my friends built in the jelly caves once. Apparently nuclear power sources have a lot of longevity...but I wouldn't personally use anything that wasn't a renewable power source for security's sake.

There's a map on the wiki that can tell yu where most everything in the game is, I often use it to locate thermal vents. If you want I can link it but I don't want to ive out spoilers to someone who isn't asking.

[Virrixia]

Hmm...the mushroom forest could be interesting. I had this idea about it in the past... making some multi-purpose rooms on some of the tree tops and linking them together with the glass corridors. I guess it'd end up being some kinda screwed up, underwater tree house... like the Ewok village, but underwater and high-tech. Yup...going to give this a go in a bit.

[Team Vladof]

The lava castle is currently vacant. If you prefer a challenge.. build your main base there.

Hardly any resources, lava leeches draining power, and it takes forever to get to and from it. What's not to like?

/sarcasm

:)

[Stellavoid]

I feel like the crevasse/ravine bloodkelp is good place for an mid-late game base if you dont care about a lust, life filled, colorful atmosphere. Though it is deep and requires a good amount of reinforcements, I say its well worth it. It contain a vass amount of quarts and uranite, great for nuclear reactors. It mostly contains nice, flat ground and connects to the grassy platues, the sparse reef, the dunes, and of course the lost river. So you have easy and quick access to some of the most important resources in the game. However, the atmosphere is rather bland, dark, and creepy, which can be seen as a good thing.

[or0b0ur0s]

I was always impressed by the big, fancy-looking cliffside bases I used to see on YouTube in the Underwater Islands. Very photogenic. Unfortunately you have to play on Creative to do it because of endless Boneshark attacks. Note that you don't see any in those YouTube videos, probably because he or she killed them all before starting their base, something you all but can't do without cheating or having superhuman patience. Otherwise you'd be eaten alive trying to build there.

[Miral]

If you don't want to start over as the game updates, building in the shallows or other nearby biomes is the best bet. Avoid areas under active development such as the LZs, the islands, and the Aurora. Or at least only put things there that you don't mind losing, just in case.

Ultimately, though, build your bases wherever you like. Some people prefer putting them in scenic locations; others prefer putting them in locations convenient to resources or frequently-visited biomes.

[Von_Reese]

Honestly? I like looking at the trees and the beach so I put my main base on land.

[Down with Orrix]

i always start shallow and move deeper as i go. So far my deepest base is the mushroom forest. There's more than one forest and i found one that has this kind of open area down the middle and its the perfect place to locate a base. the only downside is when going between the forest and the plateau nearby i can hear reaper screams and i went off course once and ran into one -.-

[static]

I like building my early outpost in the areas where safe shallows, grassy plateaus and kelp forest intersect. Lots of beautiful scenery, abundant wildlife and basic resources. Generally about 50-100m deep.

For a more permanent base, I tend to build a bit closer to the reefs, for access to the deep biomes and caves around those parts.

[Stelar Seven]

I don't like the mushroom forest, to hard to get a cyclops in am out of.

So far my favorite base was on the mountain island, but with the new terrain that base may now be unplayable. It had a Cliffside base with my work room, a cafeteria and lots of solar and thermal power.

Two hilltop bases added additional space and big stacked alien containment facilities.

My current base is on the edge of the shadows over looking a kelp forrest near the red grass planes. These days I try to build with cyclops docking in mind.

[Virrixia]

This is all good input, thanks y'all. Haha, totally not up for the lava castle...though it sounds like a nice place to visit. I havn't run across it yet. I think this round I'm going for the floating island as the location for my large base. There is something ominous about the place, and it does have some nice scenery. I have a plan for the sandsharks... shouldn't be too complicate, as long as they only come at me one at a time. Well...back to the resource grind.

[nephilimnexus]

Head south from pod until you cross a kelp ravine, the turn southwest until you come upon a abandoned pod and a lava vent. Now move just east of that a bit and you will find an area ideal for building a small base in shallows dunes that overlooks vast kelp beds. The interesting thing about this final kelp field is that there are no Stalkers in it (probably becuase it's so close to the Aurora).

I've found this to be an ideal location because:

1) Lava vents nearby eventually become the best power source in the game.
2) Shallow dunes are easy to build on.
3) Expanding moon pool into kelp makes docking easier, especially once you've cut down most of the kelp.
4) Moving vehicle bay into kelp makes building and parking Cyclops easier.

Only downside is that you'll need a radiation suit because it's close to the Aurora.

Oh, and if you go straight east from that lava vent until you hit the red reef shark zone, the moment you hit that transition space look down. You'll see an opening that leads directly into the jellyshroom caves and puts you right over the abanded base inside there.

[pbandjeremy1994]

Grassy Plateaus are probably best for building a base very early in the game, normally due to it being very spacious, allowing for bigger Seabases. If you build the foundations on top of a hill, the space underneath the hill will allow enough room for any vehicles to drop from your moon pool(s) without colliding with the sea floor. If you build it at a spot that's near a Kelp Forest or a Volcanic Vent, then finding power for your Bioreactor or heat for your Thermal Reactors will be more conveniant.

[Komi]

I just built one where the safe shallows and a safe area of kelp forest for mine. So far it has worked quite well with no threats! Also interesting thing I found out, lithium is VERY common in the koosh zone.

[Amazing Mezmer]

One of my favorite spots is in the northeast mushroom forest just next to the grass pleute on the cliff leading down from the crash zone. this is proably one of the best spots in the entire game because

1. your far away from the reaper that lurks in the biome
2. the seinery is AMAZING
3. its not that deep so you don't have to have 10 millon renforcements and you can rely on solar for power
4. its very resorce rich: you have the lithum from the mushroom biome, titanum from the crash zone and silver and other things from the grassy pleue
5. few predtors I nearly ever see bonesharks there
6. theres a spot nearby with no mushroom trees which is perfict for a cyclops dock
7. theres an ILZ entrace nearby

so if you don't mind lots of ladders or your bace floating (stupid no teraforming) its proably THE BEST bace spot in the entire game