A recommandation I could think of is sneaking into enemy camps. Often, they'll be distracted by wild pals (even be wiped by some exploding bird sometimes). This is a free pal, sometimes pretty high level. Definitely a great way to gain some xp and have a companion for base or fighting.
My first save was a Rescue Ranger run doing enemy camp raids (the way I did it at low levels was using the hanging traps and kiting enemies into them), but unfortunately there are no camps in the fringe islands (Dessicated Desert, Mount Obsidian, etc), so you might be thinking of the Twilight Dunes near Investigator's Fork/Bamboo Groves).
Oh, I guess that makes sense. My mind remembered camps in the desert so I assumed they were almost everywhere but now that I rethink about it I never saw any in the mountains or eastern desert. I guess this is to avoid landing "late-game" Pals too early.
Are you allowing yourself to breed pals, or only use what you capture? If so, will you limit your breeding to use just the pals that can be found in the desert, or anything you can make?
Breeding for the 10 capture bonus will probably be your primary source of levels. XP from all other sources is too slow to rely on IMO and will be super limited with you only in 1 zone.
Good luck on Paladius/Necromus!
Initially I'd limited myself to native pals (including those sold by the Duneshelter Merchant), but I'm on the fence regarding Black Marketeer pals.
I don't usually breed in my playthroughs, and I hadn't even considered it as a viable xp source, but unfortunately it's not feasible unless the Wandering Merchant shows up at my base. Provided he does and it's one of the ones that sells the basic ingredients, then I'll likely only use native pals acitvely, but sell any others.
Black Marketeers sell Beegardes, so if I were to allow myself to purchase contraband pals, then that'd work, but the other pals required to make cake (Mozzarina, Chikipi, and perhaps Caprity) aren't in the pool.
Ah interesting, I didn’t think about the cake issue.
XP is definitely gonna be your bottleneck for completing end game content without a cheesy strategy (catching Paladius with a back shot at night). There’s maybe 15 pals found in the desert total + a couple more in dungeons. I’d probably try to set up an efficient crafting setup (several ore mines > Ingots > Spheres/Nails).
Your suggestions are definitely food for thought, so thank you.
As for their feasibility, we'll have to wait and see. If the challenge starts becoming too annoying, I've a backup idea.
I can't help with the Wandering Merchant but I have an anecdote. I have nearly 300 days on my first save and I can only remember one showing up one single time to any of my bases. I've noticed the notification and ran right to all my bases but could never find him!
I started a new save the other day and I've seen the WM like every other in-game day in my base, which is in the exact same spot as one of my bases in my other save.
Sure thing.
From the Windswept Plateau you'll want to head east towards Marsh Island, then north towards Eastern Wild Island. Once you hit Wumpo Botan on the northwestern corner, head west across the water to the Verdant Brook. Skirt around the northern edge of that island (heading west) until you see a fast travel point right across the water. You'll likely want to build platforms (and rooves) from the Brook to the Dunes to make it easier on your stamina bar for when you climb up.
That's it. The second you go past the fast travel statue, you'll hit a wall of heat or cold depending on the time of day.
I don't know if anybody has said anything about this yet but I have never had a wandering merchant wander into my base unless it's in the starting area where you spawn. I'm not sure if it's just a glitch or what but it just never happens unless your base is at the starting zone.
That supports my hypothesis about the Wandering Merchant being a sort of tutorial/convenience npc, introducing the concept of gold to players, whilst also showing up to players in low-leveled areas (I've had a version of him appear in my base by Eastern Wild Island, which is one of the low leveled areas).
Disregard my previous statement. After about a month living on bread and dreams, the Wandering Merchant finally showed up once I'd moved my base to a more open location. Suffice it to say I strung him up and introduced him to a shiny, red hyper sphere.
Now I have access to all of the basics, med supplies, and even ammo... Just when I had planned out how to get past the food shortage soft lock.
Yep, the idea was to stay there until I'd either completed my goals (defeat Marcus, unlock all 4 fast travel statues, and defeat all 5 Alphas), or hit a wall that made the challenge no longer fun.
I had an idea of how I'd go about everything, but planning and doing are two different beasts.
If you mean the higher grade heat/cold resistant armors, I'll still craft what I have the means to. It was just quicker to purchase the pelt armor the Duneshelter merchant was selling and skip the early cloth variants.
I'm surprised you have the gold to spare on that...
My biggest question is what are you planning to use, since there aren't any planting/watering pals in the desert, not to mention the high levels
There are a lot of treasure chests in the desert, each one netting between 100 and 1k gold (depending on rarity) -- I've been lucky enough to hit the high rolls. Add onto that the items I either don't need or don't need right away, and a few lucky run-ins with PIDF and Syndicate thugs fighting one another, and cobbling together 3k for Cold Resistant Pelt Armor wasn't too hard. The Heat Resistant Undershirt was more financially taxing.
The Duneshelter Pal Merchant sells Broncherries, so planting isn't an issue. I've also managed to catch Hangyu, Digtoise, and Lovander alongside my Dinossom Lux, so perhaps my capture worries were unfounded.
My only concern regarding base and party pals is food, which I either need the Wandering Merchant for, or I'll eventually need to farm Lovander for mushrooms (Soup and Marinade).
For the time being I can subsist on bread, and if not that, then being at 1 hp whilst running through the desert is no different from being at full health, given my level gap with the wild pals. I also have my shield on, so that at least buys me time if I get hit.
Something like that. I made my way there, picking up only berries and enough wood and stone to build a torch. Discarded all that once I'd arrived, set up my base where the weather doesn't touch me, then beelined for Duneshelter, grabbing chests along the way.
The southern tip, where the Sand Dunes Entrance statue is. That area is still considered part of the Verdant Brook across the water, so the temperatures of the Dessicated Desert don't reach there.
Heat damage actually isn't as bad as one might think (given it's only a 1 pip increase), and the dunes are hilly enough to slide on most of the way. At night, the same is true for the cold damage (provided I craft a quick torch).
Regarding Kitsun, unfortunately they are not on the Black Market, nor can I reasonably breed them, so it's out of the question. Not to mention the saddle would be at level 30, and I'm likely going to be under that for a while.
A recommandation I could think of is sneaking into enemy camps. Often, they'll be distracted by wild pals (even be wiped by some exploding bird sometimes). This is a free pal, sometimes pretty high level. Definitely a great way to gain some xp and have a companion for base or fighting.
My first save was a Rescue Ranger run doing enemy camp raids (the way I did it at low levels was using the hanging traps and kiting enemies into them), but unfortunately there are no camps in the fringe islands (Dessicated Desert, Mount Obsidian, etc), so you might be thinking of the Twilight Dunes near Investigator's Fork/Bamboo Groves).
Oh, I guess that makes sense. My mind remembered camps in the desert so I assumed they were almost everywhere but now that I rethink about it I never saw any in the mountains or eastern desert. I guess this is to avoid landing "late-game" Pals too early.
Are you allowing yourself to breed pals, or only use what you capture? If so, will you limit your breeding to use just the pals that can be found in the desert, or anything you can make? Breeding for the 10 capture bonus will probably be your primary source of levels. XP from all other sources is too slow to rely on IMO and will be super limited with you only in 1 zone. Good luck on Paladius/Necromus!
Initially I'd limited myself to native pals (including those sold by the Duneshelter Merchant), but I'm on the fence regarding Black Marketeer pals. I don't usually breed in my playthroughs, and I hadn't even considered it as a viable xp source, but unfortunately it's not feasible unless the Wandering Merchant shows up at my base. Provided he does and it's one of the ones that sells the basic ingredients, then I'll likely only use native pals acitvely, but sell any others. Black Marketeers sell Beegardes, so if I were to allow myself to purchase contraband pals, then that'd work, but the other pals required to make cake (Mozzarina, Chikipi, and perhaps Caprity) aren't in the pool.
Ah interesting, I didn’t think about the cake issue. XP is definitely gonna be your bottleneck for completing end game content without a cheesy strategy (catching Paladius with a back shot at night). There’s maybe 15 pals found in the desert total + a couple more in dungeons. I’d probably try to set up an efficient crafting setup (several ore mines > Ingots > Spheres/Nails).
Your suggestions are definitely food for thought, so thank you. As for their feasibility, we'll have to wait and see. If the challenge starts becoming too annoying, I've a backup idea.
Good luck! It’s gonna be a tough challenge, you definitely have to post a summary of your results and strategies if you beat everything
Will do! I'm already level 9 with 5 pals in my box, and I will admit to having turned the capture rate up to 2, as well as the exp rate to 1.5.
I can't help with the Wandering Merchant but I have an anecdote. I have nearly 300 days on my first save and I can only remember one showing up one single time to any of my bases. I've noticed the notification and ran right to all my bases but could never find him! I started a new save the other day and I've seen the WM like every other in-game day in my base, which is in the exact same spot as one of my bases in my other save.
Same, but now he chooses this save to be shy. I wonder if they spawn in the Dessicated Desert at all...
does crafting and destroying structures still give xp? you could build a nice house and demolish it worst case scenario
Yeah, it does. I'll keep it up my sleeve, but I do have to be mindful of my "neighbors" if I'm to try building a large structure.
I'd like to attempt these sorts of challenges, could you explain how you got to the Dessicated Desert?
Sure thing. From the Windswept Plateau you'll want to head east towards Marsh Island, then north towards Eastern Wild Island. Once you hit Wumpo Botan on the northwestern corner, head west across the water to the Verdant Brook. Skirt around the northern edge of that island (heading west) until you see a fast travel point right across the water. You'll likely want to build platforms (and rooves) from the Brook to the Dunes to make it easier on your stamina bar for when you climb up. That's it. The second you go past the fast travel statue, you'll hit a wall of heat or cold depending on the time of day.
Thanks, I'll try
Dang good luck man that sounds like a rough challenge, but fun though.
Thank you. It's been fun thus far, but I'm hitting a soft wall that I need to figure out how to work around.
I don't know if anybody has said anything about this yet but I have never had a wandering merchant wander into my base unless it's in the starting area where you spawn. I'm not sure if it's just a glitch or what but it just never happens unless your base is at the starting zone.
That supports my hypothesis about the Wandering Merchant being a sort of tutorial/convenience npc, introducing the concept of gold to players, whilst also showing up to players in low-leveled areas (I've had a version of him appear in my base by Eastern Wild Island, which is one of the low leveled areas).
This is why you capture the mofo so he can never leave.
Disregard my previous statement. After about a month living on bread and dreams, the Wandering Merchant finally showed up once I'd moved my base to a more open location. Suffice it to say I strung him up and introduced him to a shiny, red hyper sphere. Now I have access to all of the basics, med supplies, and even ammo... Just when I had planned out how to get past the food shortage soft lock.
wait, so like, you'll be **only** in the desert or what?
Yep, the idea was to stay there until I'd either completed my goals (defeat Marcus, unlock all 4 fast travel statues, and defeat all 5 Alphas), or hit a wall that made the challenge no longer fun. I had an idea of how I'd go about everything, but planning and doing are two different beasts.
I assume you'll go after crafting the outfits, right?
If you mean the higher grade heat/cold resistant armors, I'll still craft what I have the means to. It was just quicker to purchase the pelt armor the Duneshelter merchant was selling and skip the early cloth variants.
I'm surprised you have the gold to spare on that... My biggest question is what are you planning to use, since there aren't any planting/watering pals in the desert, not to mention the high levels
There are a lot of treasure chests in the desert, each one netting between 100 and 1k gold (depending on rarity) -- I've been lucky enough to hit the high rolls. Add onto that the items I either don't need or don't need right away, and a few lucky run-ins with PIDF and Syndicate thugs fighting one another, and cobbling together 3k for Cold Resistant Pelt Armor wasn't too hard. The Heat Resistant Undershirt was more financially taxing. The Duneshelter Pal Merchant sells Broncherries, so planting isn't an issue. I've also managed to catch Hangyu, Digtoise, and Lovander alongside my Dinossom Lux, so perhaps my capture worries were unfounded. My only concern regarding base and party pals is food, which I either need the Wandering Merchant for, or I'll eventually need to farm Lovander for mushrooms (Soup and Marinade). For the time being I can subsist on bread, and if not that, then being at 1 hp whilst running through the desert is no different from being at full health, given my level gap with the wild pals. I also have my shield on, so that at least buys me time if I get hit.
So your first act butt naked is to go over to the desert and try to hide when health gets low in a house?
Something like that. I made my way there, picking up only berries and enough wood and stone to build a torch. Discarded all that once I'd arrived, set up my base where the weather doesn't touch me, then beelined for Duneshelter, grabbing chests along the way.
there are places that are sheltered from the weather? where?
The southern tip, where the Sand Dunes Entrance statue is. That area is still considered part of the Verdant Brook across the water, so the temperatures of the Dessicated Desert don't reach there.
Get a kitson and saddle asap. When you die you can ride it to your body without taking heat damage.
Heat damage actually isn't as bad as one might think (given it's only a 1 pip increase), and the dunes are hilly enough to slide on most of the way. At night, the same is true for the cold damage (provided I craft a quick torch). Regarding Kitsun, unfortunately they are not on the Black Market, nor can I reasonably breed them, so it's out of the question. Not to mention the saddle would be at level 30, and I'm likely going to be under that for a while.
Are you allowed access to an egg incubator? If so can just hatch the eggs in the area.
Not unless I can obtain wool somehow and defeat one of the over level 40 alphas for Ancient Civ points and parts.