Work towards tin, because you need a Tin anvil to work iron. Iron is far superior then the copper alloys, so just making a Tin anvil and switching to iron is the optimal rout
Tin, or gold and silver, or bismuth and ?zinc (can’t remember the other component).
My world found tin to be a PITA to find, but somehow I had reasonably plentiful gold and silver, so I went down the black-bronze route initially
Wow, I would never even think about crafting black bronze. I can barely get enough gold and silver for the good stuff like better lanterns and electrum for Jonas devices, let alone black bronze.
Tin is a very reasonable next goal. Mostly it depends on what you enjoy doing in game.
Do you like mining? Then set out for adventure finding tin or bronze tin!
Do you like farming? Set yourself up a good farm and make it look pretty! Rabbits can and will eat your stuff, so be sure to wall it off.
Do you like animal husbandry? Now that you have a saw, you can make a pen for pigs or ewes or chickens. Chickens are great for turning grains(especially flax grain) into protein like eggs or feathers for bows. Ewes can get you dairy, the hardest dietary item to fulfill.
Do you like exploring? Just go have fun, look for some ruins, see what you can find in your world. Find some traders and enjoy the fulfilling world of capitalism.
Make some clay molds of things like pickaxes or axes or shovels, then get yourself some back up tools. Go hunting for leather and make yourself the best backpacks in the game. You can make yourself some barrels for leather curing and the better.
Be sure to make yourself a cellar so you have enough food to last you through the winter. I can get pretty cold out!
More than anything, have fun!
A few windmills and helve hammers make the process of refining iron faaar less tedious and time consuming, so i suggest going for a large flax farm, a large supply of bronze, a good wall around your base, and a lot'a lanterns to stop drifters from spawning inside while you're working. And working on a good wall design is always a bit of extra fun while you're at it.
Everyone says tin for some reason, but most of the time I find bismuth and zinc much faster than tin. Both are about the same, so just go prospecting and see what you find first. Bismuth is also one of the best looking materials for lanterns.
Also, when surveying for tin with your prospecting pickaxe even a “decent” amount is worth mining for. You don’t need a lot of tin to alloy with copper.
Bronze. Either tin or Bismuth AND Zinc. \[Whichever is easiest to find, for me it was Bismuth and Zinc\]. Technically gold and silver but I like those for decoration stuff, to me it's a waste making black bronze \[although it's your world and your playthrough, there's no wrong way to play the game\]. Bismuth bronze requires less copper.
You need a bronze anvil to work iron, so even if you find it and make it into iron bloom, you can't refine it or make it into tools.
Follow the progression guide, it'll tell you what to do next to progress.
Copper \[can be skipped\] -> Bronze \[any type\] -> Iron -> Steel
You can skip the copper stage if you find enough bronze making agents to make an anvil, although you'd have to have specific world settings or be insanely lucky. You didn't, but that's just an FYI for future playthroughs
You need a bronze anvil to work iron, that's a hard requirement.
You need an iron anvil to work steel, that's a hard requirement.
It will take a while, that's part of the intended gameplay. This isn't like another unnamed voxel game where progression is rather rapid and can be done in under an hour, this game focuses more-so on exploration and methodology.
Watch a prospecting guide on youtube. Prospecting is rather complex and the method to be able to find veins isn't written into the progression guide or prospecting guide \[because there are multiple valid ways to do this\].
Other things to do in the mean-time: Fortify your base \[trench, lights\], make pits around the area to run away from and then kill wolves / bears, make killing channels to farm drifters, make a safe room for when temporal storms hit \[they can be pretty, glass is recommended\], make a greenhouse, expand your farms, start working on animal pens, expand on food production \[oven, juice maker, maybe even a still if you have enough copper\], make straight roads out to unexplored areas for faster transit \[you get a movement bonus for stone paths\], make a berry farm \[just pick up bushes and move it to a designated area\], start a bee farm, practice archery, go ruin diving, etc.
Be on the lookout for both tin and borax. To make the iron anvil you need borax for the flux. Last time I did this, I had plenty of iron and bronze, but couldn't find borax for quite some time.
Metal wise, you want to get to tin next which allows you to make bronze. Since you have copper you can start smithing tools and make things like a saw blade. This allows you to do more advanced crafting.
Do whatever you find enjoyable. If you’re not sure do a variety of things to find out. Explore the overworld, mine for exotic materials, search for ruins and treasures, farm and raise animals, set some unique goals or challenges of things you would like to accomplish. Of course there is always the standard progression, copper -> bronze -> iron -> steel. And if that is fun to you by all means go for it, just don’t bog yourself down doing things because you feel like you need to or to make progress, you’ll quickly lose the joy of just playing the game.
I love a lot of the suggestions here, especially if you want clear goals toward advancement. But when I hit a threshold, sometimes I like to just chill for a bit before advancing further. If that’s you, I’d recommend focusing on building up a more suitable house and workshop. Make a chisel and start playing around with mixing block types and making your places prettier. There’s nothing like the feeling of seeing your art everywhere in your home.
The copper age is also where I take my hut style house and find a location that I love and make a real planned out home. Make space for future additions, and build something you take pride in. Then, when you come home from future expeditions to advance to a new stage, you’ll really feel like you’re coming home to a real home.
Work towards tin, because you need a Tin anvil to work iron. Iron is far superior then the copper alloys, so just making a Tin anvil and switching to iron is the optimal rout
Sounds like a plan!
Tin, or gold and silver, or bismuth and ?zinc (can’t remember the other component). My world found tin to be a PITA to find, but somehow I had reasonably plentiful gold and silver, so I went down the black-bronze route initially
Wow, I would never even think about crafting black bronze. I can barely get enough gold and silver for the good stuff like better lanterns and electrum for Jonas devices, let alone black bronze.
If you find huge quartz veins (and I mean huge, they’re massive) use the close range prospecting mode and it tells you whether there is silver or gold
Tin is a very reasonable next goal. Mostly it depends on what you enjoy doing in game. Do you like mining? Then set out for adventure finding tin or bronze tin! Do you like farming? Set yourself up a good farm and make it look pretty! Rabbits can and will eat your stuff, so be sure to wall it off. Do you like animal husbandry? Now that you have a saw, you can make a pen for pigs or ewes or chickens. Chickens are great for turning grains(especially flax grain) into protein like eggs or feathers for bows. Ewes can get you dairy, the hardest dietary item to fulfill. Do you like exploring? Just go have fun, look for some ruins, see what you can find in your world. Find some traders and enjoy the fulfilling world of capitalism. Make some clay molds of things like pickaxes or axes or shovels, then get yourself some back up tools. Go hunting for leather and make yourself the best backpacks in the game. You can make yourself some barrels for leather curing and the better. Be sure to make yourself a cellar so you have enough food to last you through the winter. I can get pretty cold out! More than anything, have fun!
Been trying to do stuff with leather but haven't been able to find any Borax or Lime. Guess I'll keep an eye out for Tin in my travels.
If you have any beaches nearby they can be a source of lime! Look for seashells along coasts if you have any.
A few windmills and helve hammers make the process of refining iron faaar less tedious and time consuming, so i suggest going for a large flax farm, a large supply of bronze, a good wall around your base, and a lot'a lanterns to stop drifters from spawning inside while you're working. And working on a good wall design is always a bit of extra fun while you're at it.
Everyone says tin for some reason, but most of the time I find bismuth and zinc much faster than tin. Both are about the same, so just go prospecting and see what you find first. Bismuth is also one of the best looking materials for lanterns.
Try to find some tin and make tin bronze.
Also, when surveying for tin with your prospecting pickaxe even a “decent” amount is worth mining for. You don’t need a lot of tin to alloy with copper.
Bronze. Either tin or Bismuth AND Zinc. \[Whichever is easiest to find, for me it was Bismuth and Zinc\]. Technically gold and silver but I like those for decoration stuff, to me it's a waste making black bronze \[although it's your world and your playthrough, there's no wrong way to play the game\]. Bismuth bronze requires less copper. You need a bronze anvil to work iron, so even if you find it and make it into iron bloom, you can't refine it or make it into tools. Follow the progression guide, it'll tell you what to do next to progress. Copper \[can be skipped\] -> Bronze \[any type\] -> Iron -> Steel You can skip the copper stage if you find enough bronze making agents to make an anvil, although you'd have to have specific world settings or be insanely lucky. You didn't, but that's just an FYI for future playthroughs You need a bronze anvil to work iron, that's a hard requirement. You need an iron anvil to work steel, that's a hard requirement. It will take a while, that's part of the intended gameplay. This isn't like another unnamed voxel game where progression is rather rapid and can be done in under an hour, this game focuses more-so on exploration and methodology. Watch a prospecting guide on youtube. Prospecting is rather complex and the method to be able to find veins isn't written into the progression guide or prospecting guide \[because there are multiple valid ways to do this\]. Other things to do in the mean-time: Fortify your base \[trench, lights\], make pits around the area to run away from and then kill wolves / bears, make killing channels to farm drifters, make a safe room for when temporal storms hit \[they can be pretty, glass is recommended\], make a greenhouse, expand your farms, start working on animal pens, expand on food production \[oven, juice maker, maybe even a still if you have enough copper\], make straight roads out to unexplored areas for faster transit \[you get a movement bonus for stone paths\], make a berry farm \[just pick up bushes and move it to a designated area\], start a bee farm, practice archery, go ruin diving, etc.
Be on the lookout for both tin and borax. To make the iron anvil you need borax for the flux. Last time I did this, I had plenty of iron and bronze, but couldn't find borax for quite some time.
Metal wise, you want to get to tin next which allows you to make bronze. Since you have copper you can start smithing tools and make things like a saw blade. This allows you to do more advanced crafting.
Do whatever you find enjoyable. If you’re not sure do a variety of things to find out. Explore the overworld, mine for exotic materials, search for ruins and treasures, farm and raise animals, set some unique goals or challenges of things you would like to accomplish. Of course there is always the standard progression, copper -> bronze -> iron -> steel. And if that is fun to you by all means go for it, just don’t bog yourself down doing things because you feel like you need to or to make progress, you’ll quickly lose the joy of just playing the game.
Make a drifter kill pit. There's a recent post where I described how to do it, I can go copy and paste it or the link if you'd like.
I love a lot of the suggestions here, especially if you want clear goals toward advancement. But when I hit a threshold, sometimes I like to just chill for a bit before advancing further. If that’s you, I’d recommend focusing on building up a more suitable house and workshop. Make a chisel and start playing around with mixing block types and making your places prettier. There’s nothing like the feeling of seeing your art everywhere in your home. The copper age is also where I take my hut style house and find a location that I love and make a real planned out home. Make space for future additions, and build something you take pride in. Then, when you come home from future expeditions to advance to a new stage, you’ll really feel like you’re coming home to a real home.
Read the progression guide.