Iron Age Starting Suggestions?

[Anthreris]

I've finally acquired scrap iron enough for 11 ingots and already made 10 iron nails (so minus 1 ingot already). I found them in muddy scrap piles on a hillside while searching for turnips. The thing is I haven't even beaten the Elder yet... this is still my first playthrough of the game, what should I do?
Thanks for any responses, until I get access to more I'm unsure what to use it for.

1. Build a longboat so I can sail to the Elder's Island? (I've never sailed yet).

2. Build a stonecutter? Make a good castle, most of my bases are in mediocre spots and have minimal storage, if I do this I'll be able to make a "good" base before troll raids even occur. (Maybe build one close to the iron near the swamp?)

3. Or should I save it for later?

[Slynx Jewel]

build a pickaxe(must have to mine silver, you can do with antler pickaxes until then) and stonecutter first(needed for your bench upg and building stone stuff). then build upgrades for your benches(new crafting options are always nice). that's the top priority.

if necessary get armor(unless you're confident that you'll be able to survive without it, for example i prefer to have my lvl4 troll armor and bronze buckler and save resources instead).
you can still sail on a karve, so getting longboat is not a huge priority. and you don't need something better then bronze axe to chop any trees.

ps: don't forget that plains tier armor require iron to craft. so save some for the moment you'll get there

[Flare |UKCS|]

Take the Elder out, he is hard hitting but his spawn altar area is a mass of indestructable pillars, take a decent bow with a large supply of fire arrows and pepper him to death while using the 4 pillars as a shield.
I take him on with bronze stuff, even move in to melee him, if he hits he hurts but you will get the pattern quick.

Then you can move on to the next stage, the iron age... I wont spoil stuff but its a pretty intense area, so make sure you have a portal near, spare poison res potions, and spare food for the death run.

[redgreen999]

I prefer Karves over Longboats. Easier to turn and park. Until you have a harpoon.

Moats will take care of troll threat.

I wouldn't go for any armor until you have about 30 iron. tier 1 iron armor is same defense as fully upgraded bronze. Now if you are skipping bronze altogether. Then maybe its different.

I agree with Flare, pickaxe.

[AugustusKron]

the boat is definitely a great upgrade, and you're going to need it anyway. sail at night and into leechy waters without being afraid of losing it. really helps when you're trying to extend your range and go after the elder or look for good swamps

[Slynx Jewel]

Originally posted by AugustusKron:

the boat is definitely a great upgrade, and you're going to need it anyway. sail at night and into leechy waters without being afraid of losing it. really helps when you're trying to extend your range and go after the elder or look for good swamps

the only thing longboat gives you over carve is storage slots. but you don't need storage unless you're transporting large amounts of metal (which for only reaching iron age sounds quite unreallistic)

[GunsForBucks]

Stone cutter. This lets you make a grinding wheel you can upgrade your forge with.

My first priorities include the pickax so I can start to get silver and obsidian.

Longship isn't a bad choice but for me it would depend on logistics. If I still had to find the trader and a decent swamp with crypts I would probably opt for the longboat early. If I had a decent number of crypts I could get to easily I would wait.

[magilla666]

Originally posted by Slynx Jewel:

Originally posted by AugustusKron:

the boat is definitely a great upgrade, and you're going to need it anyway. sail at night and into leechy waters without being afraid of losing it. really helps when you're trying to extend your range and go after the elder or look for good swamps

the only thing longboat gives you over carve is storage slots. but you don't need storage unless you're transporting large amounts of metal (which for only reaching iron age sounds quite unreallistic)

I often get two serpents on my sailing trips, and twice I have bagged three in one night. That's without putting into shore to repair my longship. A karve would not survive that number of serpent encounters. It's also extremely rare for longships to take storm damage, while karves will get battered unless you drop down to 2/3 sailing speed.

[Slynx Jewel]

Originally posted by magilla666:

Originally posted by Slynx Jewel:

the only thing longboat gives you over carve is storage slots. but you don't need storage unless you're transporting large amounts of metal (which for only reaching iron age sounds quite unreallistic)

I often get two serpents on my sailing trips, and twice I have bagged three in one night. That's without putting into shore to repair my longship. A karve would not survive that number of serpent encounters. It's also extremely rare for longships to take storm damage, while karves will get battered unless you drop down to 2/3 sailing speed.

that largely depends on on a world you've got. and rng.
most of the times i almost never see serpents at all. and when i do it's cuz i was actively hunting them (sailing in a stormy night in the ocean)

[redgreen999]

Originally posted by magilla666:

Originally posted by Slynx Jewel:

the only thing longboat gives you over carve is storage slots. but you don't need storage unless you're transporting large amounts of metal (which for only reaching iron age sounds quite unreallistic)

I often get two serpents on my sailing trips, and twice I have bagged three in one night. That's without putting into shore to repair my longship. A karve would not survive that number of serpent encounters. It's also extremely rare for longships to take storm damage, while karves will get battered unless you drop down to 2/3 sailing speed.

Didn't you have a harpoon though. Cause I used arrows and when it got down to 1/2 strength it just swam away. I have not seen a Serpent while in a Karve. Everytime I go out in a Longboat I see a serpent. Its a serpent magnet. Could be programmed that way as its a bigger target. I don't have a harpoon yet.

I've only ever lost a boat to shore mobs overnight. Until I fenced them in always after that.

A Karve can do everything a longboat does except get scales, but that is endgame.

[Anthreris]

Thanks for all the responses, it sounds like I should focus on tools if I have enough iron. However I think I can get away with making a stonecutter and then dismantling it for whatever else I need.

At least until I slay the Elder and get more iron. I still haven't found turnips yet, can I feasibly beat the the Elder in Maxed Troll Hide, with Tier 3 Bronze Buckler, Bronze Sword, and Fine Bow(Fire Arrows)? Food would be Cooked Deer Meat, Boar Jerky, and Queens Jam.
Thanks again.

[Gnome d'War]

Don't dismantle the stonecutter, it lets you build with stone, which helps make a nice base.

[Knightframe]

Try to camp the swamp at night and try to get a extra iron from a big slime, so you have enogh iron for pickaxe, 2 for stone bench and maybe for a boat.

I would try to find a perfect location to setup a base 1.st (near swamp, plains, mountain and black forest) in meadows.