I would set up shop near or in the Black Forest (even within sight of a swamp IF YOU DARE!) Start stock piling thistle man (and blueberries). You won't regret it. If you are a builder like me scout out a good spot for your next camp/base/fort/metropolis. Kill trolls and get that troll set for good sneak'n (stroll sets make good sets for corpse runs). Stock up on cores. Level that weapon and your bow. Level Block, level sneak. Make your Karve...become one with it. Use its storage to make full use of your trips. Explore coastlines to get a an idea of the lay of the land...

SNEAK... sneak... THEN SNEAK SOME MORE!

And don't punk/cheese the bosses... not necessary!

So you think I may be nearly ready to hit The Elder?

I did take down a troll once with a crude bow, but it was a tedious operation. How much faster will that work with an upgraded finewood bow? And which arrows should I use? I'm not sure I have the patience to repeat that several times to get enough trollhide for the armor slots.

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

So you think I may be nearly ready to hit The Elder?

I did take down a troll once with a crude bow, but it was a tedious operation. How much faster will that work with an upgraded finewood bow? And which arrows should I use? I'm not sure I have the patience to repeat that several times to get enough trollhide for the armor slots.

Make your first troll arrow strike his back with a crouched approach to get the sneak attack damage bonus (helps a lot - and staggers the troll to get you off to a good start). Flint head arrows should make the encounter satisfyingly shorter as long as you bow skills level isn't still too low.

In addition to everything already suggested..... Axe is for cutting trees. The mace is the best all around weapon if you play solo. Learn to parry with the shield. It's fun. Learn dodge roll skill. You'll need it.
Make cultivator and farm. Learn all the possible potions and foods. There's stuff to find in the forest.
You should be able to take down a troll with 10 or fewer arrows with the fine bow. I just use wood arrows, but you can use anything you want. It just takes a little practice. It's not that hard to kill them. Don't worry about finding them. They'll find you and you will kill them.

On my second character, second run through (first character is fully maxed out in armor and weapons) (4 man crew) . On my second run (solo) i'm up to maxed out bronze armor and weapons. And troll. Have found merchant, got belt, and created port. Have 2 other ports to nearby islands, one is right next to swamp in meadows. It's on a rock a bit off shore, but in an odd spot, not swamp unless i stand in the right spot. I get leeches and 1 drauger that spawn close but pose no danger. I've crafted poison resist mead, medium heal, frost resist, carrot soup, and royal jam, sausage is next. 5 bee hives raining liquid gold. Lvl 3 bronze mace, 2 axe, 3 buckler, 2 pick and lvl 4 finewood bow. Only boss i've defeated thus far it the reindeer.

next is to make sausage, see if I can survive in swamp enough to maybe get some turnip seeds , and set a port next to elder spawn.

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

I beat the first boss, and I've done a lot of exploring and building but I still don't feel ready to take on The Elder.

That caution will keep you alive. Trust it. Overconfidence has been responsible for most of my deaths. That and a lack of preparation, which stems from... well, guess.

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

I've set up forging, got my bronze axe, set up portals to get around, crafted a nice finewood bow with flaming arrows... so generally I can kill the critters I'm running into.

Flaming arrows are the Elder's weakness, so you're on the right track. Mêlée with him is doable, but I don't recommend it.

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

But I still struggle with skeleton archers and greydwarf shamans.

Once you get full, upgraded Bronze, you'll be a lot safer from all kinds of damage (except poison). Unpopular opinion here, but the movement penalty from Bronze is worth it - T4 Bronze has the same armour values as T1 Iron. As for poison, you'll want two health foods. Cooked Meat and Neck Tail are enough, believe it or not. Honey is the anti-poison food in early game - its heal over time is very strong and if you have enough beehives, you'll never run out of it.

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

I thought making some other bronze equipment would help but my flint spear strikes faster than a bronze sword so doesn't seem helpful, and I don't see any good armor in the tech tree (especially since mobility seems more important than defense in going after The Elder). So...

The only gear you need to bring him down are a Finewood Bow (try for T3 or T4), fire arrows (number will depend on bow skill and bow quality - 200 should be enough in any case) and some T2 Troll Hide. I recommend T3 Bronze to make his hits manageable for your first fight with him - yes, you lose mobility, but that's why you level the Running skill. It takes a bit of time, but it'll serve you well in all biomes. Remember to have the Rested buff up when mastering skills - it gives a +50% experience bonus.

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

I guess I'm just not sure what to do next. I can wander around aimlessly, get myself randomly killed by deathsquitos and other fun, or... ? Suggestions?

You don't have to do any of what I've suggested, of course. But I'd recommend against jumping into biomes beyond your gear level. The Swamp has archers that make the Skeleton ones look like fluffy kittens, the Mountain can drop you dead in seconds and the Plains... well, you've heard the stories. As for Bow skill, 50-60 is plenty for fighting the Elder - may even be overkill, depending on who you ask. I suspect it's doable with 40. The better your armour, the less bow skill you need.

My current play through:

1) no portals
2) no world hopping
3) I'm gong to mark each death with a home made tombstone (in a "family plot") the time and date and circumstances of each death.

Going to go for as few deaths as possible (obviously) and use the homemade cemetery to keep track.

'Here lies Gunther, arrow-hearted. Fought a Draugr and got martyr'd.'

How's that?

Originally posted by Sinandur:

'Here lies Gunther, arrow-hearted. Fought a Draugr and got martyr'd.'

How's that?

perfect!

Originally posted by Sinandur:

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

I beat the first boss, and I've done a lot of exploring and building but I still don't feel ready to take on The Elder.

That caution will keep you alive. Trust it. Overconfidence has been responsible for most of my deaths. That and a lack of preparation, which stems from... well, guess.

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

I've set up forging, got my bronze axe, set up portals to get around, crafted a nice finewood bow with flaming arrows... so generally I can kill the critters I'm running into.

Flaming arrows are the Elder's weakness, so you're on the right track. Mêlée with him is doable, but I don't recommend it.

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

But I still struggle with skeleton archers and greydwarf shamans.

Once you get full, upgraded Bronze, you'll be a lot safer from all kinds of damage (except poison). Unpopular opinion here, but the movement penalty from Bronze is worth it - T4 Bronze has the same armour values as T1 Iron. As for poison, you'll want two health foods. Cooked Meat and Neck Tail are enough, believe it or not. Honey is the anti-poison food in early game - its heal over time is very strong and if you have enough beehives, you'll never run out of it.

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

I thought making some other bronze equipment would help but my flint spear strikes faster than a bronze sword so doesn't seem helpful, and I don't see any good armor in the tech tree (especially since mobility seems more important than defense in going after The Elder). So...

The only gear you need to bring him down are a Finewood Bow (try for T3 or T4), fire arrows (number will depend on bow skill and bow quality - 200 should be enough in any case) and some T2 Troll Hide. I recommend T3 Bronze to make his hits manageable for your first fight with him - yes, you lose mobility, but that's why you level the Running skill. It takes a bit of time, but it'll serve you well in all biomes. Remember to have the Rested buff up when mastering skills - it gives a +50% experience bonus.

Originally posted by MyUrp1:

I guess I'm just not sure what to do next. I can wander around aimlessly, get myself randomly killed by deathsquitos and other fun, or... ? Suggestions?

You don't have to do any of what I've suggested, of course. But I'd recommend against jumping into biomes beyond your gear level. The Swamp has archers that make the Skeleton ones look like fluffy kittens, the Mountain can drop you dead in seconds and the Plains... well, you've heard the stories. As for Bow skill, 50-60 is plenty for fighting the Elder - may even be overkill, depending on who you ask. I suspect it's doable with 40. The better your armour, the less bow skill you need.

The problem with bronze armor is also that it is expensive and bronze is hard to get. Coper drop rate is low and seems to have been nerfed.
So you need to grind quite alot for slight armor bonus, you don't even need.

50-60 bow skill for elder?
I never even got as much farming plains...

You need to grind alot and never die to get that much. Did you spend 100+ hours pre elder or something?!

20 bow skill is fine, can do less but will be less comfortable.

Elder is fairly easy boss, so 🤷‍♂️

On the other hand, there is no point killing elder if you can't survive in swamp yet.

Troll armor set or better is required.
Should be growing carrots before elder too.
A karve, maybe 2 is a priority build.

About the movement speed penalty: only weapons/shields and leg/torso armor has penalties. => Get the heaviest head piece you can get, always wear it.

OK, thanks for the encouragement and advice everyone, I'll give it a try! I'll hunt a few trolls first and see how that goes. It sounds like the Elder shouldn't be too much more difficult than they are.

One other question; it sounds like Swamps should be my text target, but I haven't found any yet on my map. Where should I be looking? I have found Mountains and Plains, but that's it. I did learn the hard way to stay out of the plains :)

I worked myself up about fighting elder and then steamrolled him. You'll be fine. Just bring the best bow available, fully upgraded, and a couple stacks of fire arrows. Pop Eikthyr power at the start. Use pillars as cover from his ranged attack and rotate around pillars to avoid his AOE ground effect.

As for finding swamps, they are always on shorelines so boat exploration is the ticket. Do permimeter runs around islands and you'll find some. I believe they will only generate a certain distance away from center but it doesn't seem to be that far.

Originally posted by Gunther Ultrabolt Novacrunch:

My current play through:

1) no portals
2) no world hopping
3) I'm gong to mark each death with a home made tombstone (in a "family plot") the time and date and circumstances of each death.

Going to go for as few deaths as possible (obviously) and use the homemade cemetery to keep track.

Ohhhh I love that idea!
I'm stealing it for my own gameplay.

Get some troll armor. Upgrade your finewood bow and go kill The Elder.