Hermit Tips

[GageKK]

So I personally enjoy playing as an above ground character. But I'm wondering if anyone has tips on general hermit life (safety, food gathering, staying hidden)?

[Ukhata]

be at the edge of the world as far away from the mass of people as possible.
get a palisade up asap/ get a village claim up asap.
thats about it

dont make a tempting target by putting all you valuables in sight.
built your smelters (iron and steel) underground except for 1 smelter (this will make you look less interesting)
dont hold massive amounts amounts of animals. and look a bit chaotic. chaotic looking villages tend to be poorer and as such less of a tempting target.

[ricky]

Just try to reduce as much tedium as you can. this includes:
keeping your farms as small as you need them. typically, a 10x10 plot for carrots, wheat, and flax and a 5x5 plot for everything else.
keep no/few animals. they need food, which means you have to farm even more. no fun. i had two horses, thats it.
keep an alt to do heavy labor. give him a spare key and keep him inside your base.
find any metal early on and make a set of all metal tools. generally speaking, quantity>quality for a hermit.
you want to be able to get more wood blocks from fewer trees, more dirt with less work, etc.
unless you truly want to dig to level 5 of the caverns, dont bother with mine holes. there's enough ore on level 1 of the mines.

and yeah, moving to the edge of the world help you significantly. I moved to the edge of the map and lived without a palisade or claim for two weeks. I finally set up a claim and a wall once i had some free time.

[MagicManICT]

I'd caution against being right at the edge. People tend to wander it looking to map it or otherwise raid or map it and then come raiding. With the last random seeding of people, it wasn't a huge issue settling near where you spawned, either as people were more or less randomly distributed across all of the map instead of X distance of center. It was more important to find out who your neighbors were going to be.

I'd honestly suggest finding a faction you can "ally" with and camp out on their wings as a part of their kingdom. This might mean you'd be subject to being raided by another faction, but that's going to happen either way given enough time, and at least you have someone to turn to close by for protection and trade.

ricky is right with the animals. As few as you can get by with as you get burned out trying to keep up with them fast. Keep them penned separately unless you want to breed them to prevent overpopulation. My last experience with large herds were the females were pregnant again almost immediately after birth. If you're going to take a break, separate them so they don't breed, cull it down to a breeding pair of each (no milk producing females), and load up a few dozen food troughs and you can take a week or two away and come back and still have animals that haven't starved.

I'd say quality for metal is better than quantity. You're going to be hard pressed to get high quality without trading, though, or doing a lot of searching. Save quality metal for things that need it: grinder, anvil & hammer, weapon, armor. If you can get a reasonable quantity, use it for curios and other disposables (like armor for hunting).

If you're up to it, live underground. Keep a bit of a farm on top as you have to, but no reason rest can't be hidden out of immediate view. It does create certain hassles, but nothing severe anymore.

Build a village totem. It doesn't have to be a large claim, but it does give you access to travel options and lets you extend your claim down below ground.

[loskierek]

around 5 maps away from edge, inland deep enough to not see waterbody from any side, some well planed milestones and you have perfect hermit camp ever.

[Enjoyment]

I'd caution against being right at the edge. People tend to wander it looking to map it or otherwise raid or map it and then come raiding. With the last random seeding of people, it wasn't a huge issue settling near where you spawned, either as people were more or less randomly distributed across all of the map instead of X distance of center. It was more important to find out who your neighbors were going to be.

The closer you to the world's corner - the less directions you should aware of. Isn't that right?

I'd honestly suggest finding a faction you can "ally" with and camp out on their wings as a part of their kingdom. This might mean you'd be subject to being raided by another faction, but that's going to happen either way given enough time, and at least you have someone to turn to close by for protection and trade.

Kinda doesn't fits "true hermitage" style, IMO...

ricky is right with the animals. As few as you can get by with as you get burned out trying to keep up with them fast. Keep them penned separately unless you want to breed them to prevent overpopulation. My last experience with large herds were the females were pregnant again almost immediately after birth. If you're going to take a break, separate them so they don't breed, cull it down to a breeding pair of each (no milk producing females), and load up a few dozen food troughs and you can take a week or two away and come back and still have animals that haven't starved.

Good timing with carrots could provide a pretty much "animal food" (really, wasn't able to recall the proper word for it for 10 mins). So, I should recommend add a couple of sheeps to taming area.

I'd say quality for metal is better than quantity. You're going to be hard pressed to get high quality without trading, though, or doing a lot of searching. Save quality metal for things that need it: grinder, anvil & hammer, weapon, armor. If you can get a reasonable quantity, use it for curios and other disposables (like armor for hunting).

Since ore boulders are gone for w10, the quantity of metals should be preferred about quality, IMO. Yes, for a truly hermitage it may be so, but for a real player - hermit have so many deals, so high-q tools are really easier to buy.

If you're up to it, live underground. Keep a bit of a farm on top as you have to, but no reason rest can't be hidden out of immediate view. It does create certain hassles, but nothing severe anymore.

Build a village totem. It doesn't have to be a large claim, but it does give you access to travel options and lets you extend your claim down below ground.

That's the part I agree absolutely.

Also. Kill all the chicks you see (I mean birds) - and spend your first bones on glue for study stand - it will raise your LP gain significantly.

Enjoyment. Solo-Hermit since w8.

[MagicManICT]

The closer you to the world's corner - the less directions you should aware of. Isn't that right?

In theory, yeah, but every faction has someone wandering the world making maps. You don't stay out of sight there for long. Maybe I've just had bad experience, but the few times I've pushed for the edge I've been raided, the few times I picked "a direction" and settled where it looked clear, I've had no issues.

Other thing to say is that when you cut off 3 quadrants, it's fewer directions to go foraging if one direction seems to be poor or a bit crowded.

around 5 maps away from edge, inland deep enough to not see waterbody from any side, some well planed milestones and you have perfect hermit camp ever.

This is probably a decent distance.

To each his/her own, though. This is one decision the player has to make on their own. Best we can do on this one is offer suggestions as there are a lot of things to consider when making a long-term base.

Since ore boulders are gone for w10,

I think I missed that in the stream. Good. Distribution just wasn't balanced.

Also. Kill all the chicks you see (I mean birds) - and spend your first bones on glue for study stand - it will raise your LP gain significantly.

Birds, squirrels, rabbits... definitely, and you'll need a few bone glue for a palisade, too. Get started on collecting bones as fast as you do on making leather.

One last thing I just remembered should be added: Make a "go bag" of seeds and a few important items you'll need to re-establish elsewhere if things go badly. Chances are fair someone nefarious will come along eventually. Maybe you can make a stand and keep going in that one spot, maybe you need to pick up and haul ass out of there. Best to be ready to go as soon as possible with some hidden away goodies. What exactly goes in there has been discussed a few times. Generally seeds you need--grain, carrots, fiber (flax or hemp), a couple metal bars for an anvil and hammer (forget how many off top of my head), and a spare quality tool or two, or materials to make them if they take up less space (saw, axe, maybe pick). Try to make sure it'll all fit in your pack and you have a bit of room to fit in water, food, and maybe a few curios you can pick up while on the road. You might lose a character, and you might even lose your base, but you don't have to lose all the work you've done.