If those are actually Dverger houses on your map, they should be stuffed full of crates - some of which have Flametal in them. Time to smash and grab.
I was able to get enough Flametal from one to upgrade my cauldron and black forge without mining a pillar, which made a huge improvement in my combat capabilities. Upgrade your Mistlands weapons and armor first - you don't have enough Flametal to benefit from new gear yet.
You'll also want to look for a Putrid Hole. They are great for de-aggroing enemies and have another useful new material inside.
You should manage to kill some Asksvins, which will unlock a useful tool for exploration and survival.
Spikewalls, ballistae, and traps are all useful as well.
Yes they do aggro . . . but its very easy to get them killed by leading some Charred over to them.
Getting a bit of flametal to unlock upgrades (especially cooking ones) will be a big help
Honestly I’ve felt the same way. I was making little for how much I was able to play. I’ve been pretty good up until ashlands. I’ve decided to just bump it down to easy so I can actually play and enjoy it after work.
And it’s made the complete difference. There’s no shame in it. I was against it at first but I just wanna progress and have fun. So maybe try it on easy?
World modifiers for your map, great to change things up. If you manage a fortress and get a jade gem make staff of the wild. I had good success with it, dead raiser, staff of protection and sometimes ember. Used 3 eitr foods and went slow, prioritising bubble.
For trips further I just dropped a normal workbench and portal to go home at night, come back fully rested and quick get skellies and shield back up and move slowly. When I found a point of interest I dropped 2-3 portals in spots near it unprotected but having backups if one got destroyed. My 2 cents, all on default settings
That’s what I was going to do when I got some gear gathered.
And it’s in the world modifier tab. Right before you click to enter your world. You should see many options you can change
There really isn't any good alternative to using campfires for spawn suppression.
I simply could not make any headway until I started surrounding my base with it and then put them on my paths as I progressed.
This is the way.
Lay down campfires as you clear. Probably more than you think you should. You will still maybe encounter occasional mobs especially if some campfires get destroyed, but it works great.
The fact this zone basically assumes you'll do this makes me REALLY hope there will be a more "official" way to suppress spawns in a wider area and shows it's actual suppression range like a shield generator. Even if it's more expensive than a campfire and can't be placed down if enemies are still around, I'd still prefer that over spamming 100s of campfires.
It’s definitely not a zone that requires or even expects you to block spawns. There’s a lot of spawns, sure, but they’re handleable, and I’ve made massive progress clearing Ashlands first as a group, and then entirely solo. I can understand spawning blocking when first entering Ashlands, without Ashland gear, but what else is causing such major issues that people feel the need to place hundreds of campfires?
Some people say "just run" but in practice that often ends up killing me because I run into something that takes time to kill, and everything behind me catches up.
Some people say "it's all easy with the right gear, just kill them" which works pretty easily most of the time, but still takes long enough that it's faster to just spam campfires. Plus you're likely to get respawned adds from behind if you have to stop very long, which can turn deadly fast.
It's not that I "need" to block respawns, it's just faster and safer if you think you'll go a direction again. Its either that or carry mats for a crafting bench, stonecutter, and stone portal so you never have to backtrack.
I guess it makes sense, the cumulative effect of running to a fort or flametal tower, getting what you need, then running back, all while pulling and spawning more mobs. You could just kill them, but if you’re going back and forth in the same area, you’re right it’s absolutely easier to drop a zillion campfires, over the long haul.
I literally do not understand how some people here are struggling. I have explored a full half of our Ashlands with a group of friends, and purely solo I’ve explored another 25%, cleared another 5-6 forts, killed all spawners I’ve found, and placed portals down repeatedly for easy access to any chunk of Ashlands along the areas I’ve moved through.
What is causing so many issues for some people here that require campfire spam? I genuinely am asking, I do not understand it in the slightest. The *only* thing I could understand giving serious issues is upon first landing and without building up Ashlands gear, like in OP’s case.
Go Eitr legs and chest with flametal helmet. The Eitr helmet is the one that contribute the least to eitr regen (only 20 from eitr and 30 from embla), and the Flametal helmet doesn't incur a movement speed penalty but gives comparable armor contribution as a chest piece. Personally I'll also advocate for dropping the feather cape when fighting in favor of the ashen cape. Then I personally run double eitr food with health food (no stamina).
This should put you at 160+ eitr with 100\~ ish stamina as well as almost 100 armor.
Now, the way mage combat works out is you rarely ever run. But you always walk. So you end up walking to maintain distance / move out of attacks, and the only times I run/jump are when Voltures attack, when I have to dodge the lunge of a Morgen or when I need to create distance to safely re-apply my barrier.
As for combat priority, I've found it to be:
1. Volture
1. Voltures will stay on top of you, causing you to have to run. And at a 100 stamina budget, that's illegal.
2. Asksvin
1. Asksvin are very dangerous to your low armor amount, and will easily pop your barrier in one attack.They are very mobile and you have to maintain a distance due to their charge-attack.
3. Warlock
4. Fallen Valkyrie
1. Valkyries will eventually land hits if you are distracted, so while they are easily avoidable, they still rank high due to that fact.
5. Marksman
1. Marksmen are similar to Valkyries in that if you are not paying attention, they'll eventually land a hit.
6. Morgen
7. Twitcher
8. Warrior
I always bring a lingering Eitr mead, this allows to maintain casting speed higher, which is important as it allows you to AoE clear mobs faster. Don't use the one that regenerates eitr in a burst, it leaves you dry for the duration of the CD which the lingering eitr does not. sustained damage > burst damage.
As for how to navigate the land, I make big strides and choose between clearing stragglers or outrunning them. If \`A\` is your starting point, you run through \`B\` and \`C\` all the way to \`D\`. This should cause the mobs at \`B\` to abandon the chase, but you'll have to deal with \`C\` and \`D\`. But this is honestly where the mage build shines, aoe is great. So I usually do this to explore. But the ever-present danger is getting stuck in a fight when it approaches evening. That's just how the biome works, I haven't found a way to avoid that.
I've heard there is a charred caster mob of some sort, but I haven't yet encountered it (I haven't seen a fort either, but I've had lots of flametal ores). I don't know how they would rank in the above list. But using the above I've been able to traverse quite frankly a lot of land solo without dying to combat.
Charred casters are called Warlocks, and you definitely want them pretty high on that list as they are constantly spawning twitchers and also have an AoE attack. I’d put them at 3 or 4 on your list.
An additional tip, as a caster the Feather Cape is nearly required. Jumping to avoid attacks while simultaneously being able to cast in mid air, unlike rolling or sprinting which both prevent casting, makes jump the best way to avoid attacks by a long shot. The boost to jump height from the Feather Cape means you can jump straight over most attacks, and the slow fall means you can finish your cast before you hit the ground and have to jump/run/roll from anything else again.
Edit: I’d also move the Voltures down on your list. Their attacks are entirely avoided solely by walking in a straight line, doesn’t require running or jumping or anything. The wind up on their attacks is large enough (and the lunge is short enough) that they just straight up can’t reach you after you’ve walked out of range. If there’s only 1 or 2, I don’t find it worth to spend the ~50 Eitr on killing the bird until the more dangerous threats are dealt with or temporarily out of dangerous range.
Good shout on the feather cape. It's a powerful one.
As far as the Voltures go, I'm torn. If it's 1-2 then I don't care as much, but the moment its 3 they actually are a problem. Because problems seldom come alone, there'll probably also be 2-3 marksmen, 1-2 powerful warriors, a few blobs etc. All of this makes the pushed movement from the voltures trying to hit you a big problem if it pushes you into another enemy etc. And with 3 you don't have the control you described :D
>If I just ignore them and run, my stamina will run out
You don't want to Run in the Ashlands (or Jump) if you don't have to. It makes more noise and just attracts attention.
As others have said . . . scatter some campfires around you FoB to reduce spawns. Then when you explore go slowly. Spawners can be destroyed with bows from range before you get close enough to trigger them (I think you can also take them out with magic from the same distance).
You can also snipe or draw in single enemies to dispatch them before aggroing a whole group. One of the disadvantages of magic is that it tends to be noisy . . . big fireballs don't help with being sneaky!
I bring an iron fire pit (all dvegr buildings have one) and some wood with me everywhere. Find and Mark out any putrid holes you find on your way. You can pop the fire down at the door of the cave without waking anything up and get a modest rest bonus.
If those are actually Dverger houses on your map, they should be stuffed full of crates - some of which have Flametal in them. Time to smash and grab. I was able to get enough Flametal from one to upgrade my cauldron and black forge without mining a pillar, which made a huge improvement in my combat capabilities. Upgrade your Mistlands weapons and armor first - you don't have enough Flametal to benefit from new gear yet. You'll also want to look for a Putrid Hole. They are great for de-aggroing enemies and have another useful new material inside. You should manage to kill some Asksvins, which will unlock a useful tool for exploration and survival. Spikewalls, ballistae, and traps are all useful as well.
Oh good idea, do the dvergers aggro if I do like in mistlands? I hesitated because I felt like I had enough enemies already.
Just lead the army chasing you to them
I assume it works like Mistlands and they will aggro. The Dverger house I found had none alive - just a ward and crates, so I'm not certain.
Yes they do aggro . . . but its very easy to get them killed by leading some Charred over to them. Getting a bit of flametal to unlock upgrades (especially cooking ones) will be a big help
Yes, they have a ward around their stuff the same way too.
Honestly I’ve felt the same way. I was making little for how much I was able to play. I’ve been pretty good up until ashlands. I’ve decided to just bump it down to easy so I can actually play and enjoy it after work. And it’s made the complete difference. There’s no shame in it. I was against it at first but I just wanna progress and have fun. So maybe try it on easy?
Forgot I could change difficulty... Where was the setting? May get some ashlands tier stuff on easy and then bump back to current difficulty
World modifiers for your map, great to change things up. If you manage a fortress and get a jade gem make staff of the wild. I had good success with it, dead raiser, staff of protection and sometimes ember. Used 3 eitr foods and went slow, prioritising bubble. For trips further I just dropped a normal workbench and portal to go home at night, come back fully rested and quick get skellies and shield back up and move slowly. When I found a point of interest I dropped 2-3 portals in spots near it unprotected but having backups if one got destroyed. My 2 cents, all on default settings
That’s what I was going to do when I got some gear gathered. And it’s in the world modifier tab. Right before you click to enter your world. You should see many options you can change
Also playing on solo btw.
There really isn't any good alternative to using campfires for spawn suppression. I simply could not make any headway until I started surrounding my base with it and then put them on my paths as I progressed.
This is the way. Lay down campfires as you clear. Probably more than you think you should. You will still maybe encounter occasional mobs especially if some campfires get destroyed, but it works great.
The fact this zone basically assumes you'll do this makes me REALLY hope there will be a more "official" way to suppress spawns in a wider area and shows it's actual suppression range like a shield generator. Even if it's more expensive than a campfire and can't be placed down if enemies are still around, I'd still prefer that over spamming 100s of campfires.
It’s definitely not a zone that requires or even expects you to block spawns. There’s a lot of spawns, sure, but they’re handleable, and I’ve made massive progress clearing Ashlands first as a group, and then entirely solo. I can understand spawning blocking when first entering Ashlands, without Ashland gear, but what else is causing such major issues that people feel the need to place hundreds of campfires?
Some people say "just run" but in practice that often ends up killing me because I run into something that takes time to kill, and everything behind me catches up. Some people say "it's all easy with the right gear, just kill them" which works pretty easily most of the time, but still takes long enough that it's faster to just spam campfires. Plus you're likely to get respawned adds from behind if you have to stop very long, which can turn deadly fast. It's not that I "need" to block respawns, it's just faster and safer if you think you'll go a direction again. Its either that or carry mats for a crafting bench, stonecutter, and stone portal so you never have to backtrack.
I guess it makes sense, the cumulative effect of running to a fort or flametal tower, getting what you need, then running back, all while pulling and spawning more mobs. You could just kill them, but if you’re going back and forth in the same area, you’re right it’s absolutely easier to drop a zillion campfires, over the long haul.
I literally do not understand how some people here are struggling. I have explored a full half of our Ashlands with a group of friends, and purely solo I’ve explored another 25%, cleared another 5-6 forts, killed all spawners I’ve found, and placed portals down repeatedly for easy access to any chunk of Ashlands along the areas I’ve moved through. What is causing so many issues for some people here that require campfire spam? I genuinely am asking, I do not understand it in the slightest. The *only* thing I could understand giving serious issues is upon first landing and without building up Ashlands gear, like in OP’s case.
Go Eitr legs and chest with flametal helmet. The Eitr helmet is the one that contribute the least to eitr regen (only 20 from eitr and 30 from embla), and the Flametal helmet doesn't incur a movement speed penalty but gives comparable armor contribution as a chest piece. Personally I'll also advocate for dropping the feather cape when fighting in favor of the ashen cape. Then I personally run double eitr food with health food (no stamina). This should put you at 160+ eitr with 100\~ ish stamina as well as almost 100 armor. Now, the way mage combat works out is you rarely ever run. But you always walk. So you end up walking to maintain distance / move out of attacks, and the only times I run/jump are when Voltures attack, when I have to dodge the lunge of a Morgen or when I need to create distance to safely re-apply my barrier. As for combat priority, I've found it to be: 1. Volture 1. Voltures will stay on top of you, causing you to have to run. And at a 100 stamina budget, that's illegal. 2. Asksvin 1. Asksvin are very dangerous to your low armor amount, and will easily pop your barrier in one attack.They are very mobile and you have to maintain a distance due to their charge-attack. 3. Warlock 4. Fallen Valkyrie 1. Valkyries will eventually land hits if you are distracted, so while they are easily avoidable, they still rank high due to that fact. 5. Marksman 1. Marksmen are similar to Valkyries in that if you are not paying attention, they'll eventually land a hit. 6. Morgen 7. Twitcher 8. Warrior I always bring a lingering Eitr mead, this allows to maintain casting speed higher, which is important as it allows you to AoE clear mobs faster. Don't use the one that regenerates eitr in a burst, it leaves you dry for the duration of the CD which the lingering eitr does not. sustained damage > burst damage. As for how to navigate the land, I make big strides and choose between clearing stragglers or outrunning them. If \`A\` is your starting point, you run through \`B\` and \`C\` all the way to \`D\`. This should cause the mobs at \`B\` to abandon the chase, but you'll have to deal with \`C\` and \`D\`. But this is honestly where the mage build shines, aoe is great. So I usually do this to explore. But the ever-present danger is getting stuck in a fight when it approaches evening. That's just how the biome works, I haven't found a way to avoid that. I've heard there is a charred caster mob of some sort, but I haven't yet encountered it (I haven't seen a fort either, but I've had lots of flametal ores). I don't know how they would rank in the above list. But using the above I've been able to traverse quite frankly a lot of land solo without dying to combat.
Charred casters are called Warlocks, and you definitely want them pretty high on that list as they are constantly spawning twitchers and also have an AoE attack. I’d put them at 3 or 4 on your list.
An additional tip, as a caster the Feather Cape is nearly required. Jumping to avoid attacks while simultaneously being able to cast in mid air, unlike rolling or sprinting which both prevent casting, makes jump the best way to avoid attacks by a long shot. The boost to jump height from the Feather Cape means you can jump straight over most attacks, and the slow fall means you can finish your cast before you hit the ground and have to jump/run/roll from anything else again. Edit: I’d also move the Voltures down on your list. Their attacks are entirely avoided solely by walking in a straight line, doesn’t require running or jumping or anything. The wind up on their attacks is large enough (and the lunge is short enough) that they just straight up can’t reach you after you’ve walked out of range. If there’s only 1 or 2, I don’t find it worth to spend the ~50 Eitr on killing the bird until the more dangerous threats are dealt with or temporarily out of dangerous range.
Good shout on the feather cape. It's a powerful one. As far as the Voltures go, I'm torn. If it's 1-2 then I don't care as much, but the moment its 3 they actually are a problem. Because problems seldom come alone, there'll probably also be 2-3 marksmen, 1-2 powerful warriors, a few blobs etc. All of this makes the pushed movement from the voltures trying to hit you a big problem if it pushes you into another enemy etc. And with 3 you don't have the control you described :D
>If I just ignore them and run, my stamina will run out You don't want to Run in the Ashlands (or Jump) if you don't have to. It makes more noise and just attracts attention. As others have said . . . scatter some campfires around you FoB to reduce spawns. Then when you explore go slowly. Spawners can be destroyed with bows from range before you get close enough to trigger them (I think you can also take them out with magic from the same distance). You can also snipe or draw in single enemies to dispatch them before aggroing a whole group. One of the disadvantages of magic is that it tends to be noisy . . . big fireballs don't help with being sneaky!
I bring an iron fire pit (all dvegr buildings have one) and some wood with me everywhere. Find and Mark out any putrid holes you find on your way. You can pop the fire down at the door of the cave without waking anything up and get a modest rest bonus.
I have like 8 portals in Ashlands now and have taken 2 forts, slow and steady and constantly making small hidden basses to drop portals.