kirion wrote:tip #2 would be to not settle too close to a large swamp. They're hotspots for big lazy villages to settle nearby, and 110% won't tolerate anyone in a 10km^2 radius.
Settling near a swamp can prevent it from refreshing forageables. Areas only refresh if no one's in them. Can't count the number of times I've seen an unaware player with high playtime has ruined a swamp for everyone in the area. Soon as they've got a little house built it's impossible to move 3 minimaps away.
Starting a tar pit literally day one for coal is meta for village development. With how long they take, you're likely ready to at least start metal if you're chugging along well by the time it pops. The tar for other uses is nice too.
Getting going on your credos early is useful too, especially the forager one if you're planning to take it.
To the "git gud bit"... yeah that's basically its own thread. But:
Clay and water can reasonably go up to Q60ish last world. I'm not sure this world, but Q70+ had 1 or 2 nodes the entire world in W11 I believe? Older iterations of the game had 1-2 Q90+ nodes, but with ways to improve them the general average has lowered. 50+ base well is something people will put quite a bit of time hunting for, especially in gud factions/villagers. After that, the kingdom XP generator is how they get the well higher than 2-3 boosts. You can spend kingdom authority to give a player experience, and that player takes the "hearth magic XP cost" reduction credo.
Q90 ballclay bricks come from burning good Q ball clay in a crazy high kiln with the crazy high fuel. Basically they can make gold out of otherwise almost worthless dirt lategame.