Returning player with questions (+ free story!)

[Rhakar]

I last played ~2 years ago, back in World 6, and I played for about 3 weeks.

More info about me (screenshots):

I played with my brother, who can only play a few hours a week, so for most purposes I'm on my own.
Back on W6 this was our first "home": http://puu.sh/92Y2C.png
Luckily someone came to educate us about the permeability of walls to projectiles within a week, which made us sad, because it cost him a few precious stones, and gained him nothing, but made us dead.
So, logically we proceeded to destroy our stuff: http://puu.sh/92Yjs.png, http://puu.sh/92YkD.png
Even the logs werent safe: http://puu.sh/92YlW.png
This made us feel better, and we decided to resettle somewhere else. We scouted the area for a few days, out settlement basically cosisting of a few crates, until we decided we liked it here, and prepared for building another palisade, this time around a larger area with a safety buffer: http://puu.sh/92YTS.jpg
We made two houses: http://puu.sh/92Z7M.png
Encountered and killed our first bear: http://puu.sh/92Z9C.png
Fitted out our houses optimally for storage, and filled the storage with delicious blueberries and pies: http://puu.sh/92Znp.png
I also dabbled in some farming: http://puu.sh/92ZiH.jpg (unfortunately I don't have an SS of all 7 circles fully planted, this was a SS of shortly before we quit again)
And mining, and making waypoints while moving (fun): http://puu.sh/92Zu8.png
And planted some trees: http://puu.sh/92Zvy.png
Smelted some ores: http://puu.sh/92Zxv.png
Raised some cattle: http://puu.sh/92Zz8.png
Died to mouflon: http://puu.sh/92ZCH.png
Died to dehydration: http://puu.sh/92ZH5.png (missing screenshot, basically I died to starvation after drinking water in reaction to my dehydration, which got me <50% hunger, which I didn't notice and went afk for far too long. Oh, and I hadn't healed up my HHP recently...)

And that's all the Screenshots I got, I hoped you enjoyed them.

Oh, we also made some friends, got killed by gankers once or twice, but luckily never came under siege.
We eventually quit mainly because of RL time constraints.

Now we'd like to play a bit more, and have a few questions, thanks for your time!

1) We don't really enjoy the PvP aspect, we'd prefer to just build, and PvE. I assume there still isn't an option for this? Has anything been announced?
2) We assume answer to #1 is no, so does anyone have some insight as to what we can do to discourage raiders? Does size of settlement matter, distance of walls to houses, etc.?
3) Any tips for where we should build our settlement? If I look at http://sabinati.com/HavenMap/ the new supergrids (that were added a month after seem comparatively unexplored, would this mean that we'd be more at peace out there?
4) How do I go about finding my location on the HavenMap?
5) I use the Apoc Lite client, from here, is this good, or is something else recommended instead?

Thanks for any and all answers!

[jumping1]

1) No
2) Stay small, and make sure you don't look like you have lots of cool stuff (+don't settle on a mountain)
3) Most likely no, because people are probably exploring them
4) Look for some landmarks, there's no proper real way to do it
5) I use the Apoc Lite client, and I think it is the best of the clients in The Wizards Tower

Also, you spelt 'mouflon' wrong, it's not moufflon.

[Rhakar]

Thanks

Is there a way to get pathfinding, so that the client avoids obstacles and walks around them?

[jumping1]

Not in Apoc Lite, but there are a few clients that have it, though I don't know any.
Use search function in the Wizards' Tower

[Amanda44]

Hi Rhakar,

Welcome back

Just to add to jumping1s reply.

2) + 3) - Try to find somewhere as far from any signs of life as possible and away from the river system, it's better to spend a few days scouting around than to settle and regret it later. If you can find an unoccupied cave and there are plenty still around, that is a good start, you can wall off a smaller area to start with and grow underground attracting less attention, with luck you will also find the metals needed for b/wall construction and then you can expand safely above ground, far enough out from the centre to hide the cave entrance. For maximum safety a b/wall is a must as quickly as possible.

As for the expansion grids - a lot of players rushed out there and resettled or found the high q nodes and built around them, I still meet new players who travel out to them in the hope of a quieter life but it's not guaranteed - out of the last three, one has settled, one got killed and quit and the other was raided twice and moved back to my area, the problem is too many players thinking the same thing.

4) Thickets and mountains are a good place to start, check out your area for those first and then check nearby lakes and river systems, it seems a daunting task at first but as there are less mountains and thickets than anything else that is the easiest way to start and it's not as difficult as it appears initially.

Have fun and good luck!

[jumping1]

4) Thickets and mountains are a good place to start, check out your area for those first and then check nearby lakes and river systems, it seems a daunting task at first but as there are less mountains and thickets than anything else that is the easiest way to start and it's not as difficult as it appears initially.

You sure about mountains?
I had to fight of a Dhelmer when I settled on one, and I had 10HHP left at the end.
Thickets I agree with, I live in one, but don't go too far into the centre or you will have to crawl to the exit to forage for stuff

[Amanda44]

4) Thickets and mountains are a good place to start, check out your area for those first and then check nearby lakes and river systems, it seems a daunting task at first but as there are less mountains and thickets than anything else that is the easiest way to start and it's not as difficult as it appears initially.

You sure about mountains?
I had to fight of a Dhelmer when I settled on one, and I had 10HHP left at the end.
Thickets I agree with, I live in one, but don't go too far into the centre or you will have to crawl to the exit to forage for stuff

4) How do I go about finding my location on the HavenMap?

[Rhakar]

About #4, I was able to find it by looking for a patch of mud or the greenish stuff, and then scouring the worldmap for that patch.

That it was phallic shaped was pure coincidence, I promise!

[jumping1]

4) Thickets and mountains are a good place to start, check out your area for those first and then check nearby lakes and river systems, it seems a daunting task at first but as there are less mountains and thickets than anything else that is the easiest way to start and it's not as difficult as it appears initially.

You sure about mountains?
I had to fight of a Dhelmer when I settled on one, and I had 10HHP left at the end.
Thickets I agree with, I live in one, but don't go too far into the centre or you will have to crawl to the exit to forage for stuff

4) How do I go about finding my location on the HavenMap?

Proof I am blind and lazy.

[Amanda44]

About #4, I was able to find it by looking for a patch of mud or the greenish stuff, and then scouring the worldmap for that patch.

That it was phallic shaped was pure coincidence, I promise!

- it wouldn't be hard to believe considering eveything is phallic shaped, even the stalagmites and though they sorta are in rl, I've yet to see any with a scrotum, lol.

Proof I am blind and lazy.

Lol, np.