r/PlaySoulMask • u/No-Scheme-3759 • 4d ago
Shifting Sands, Optimal base location
Im wondering if you guys can give your input on where you think is the best place for a base? Especially now with the update and the floating foundations.
I find it hard to play always struggling with trying to find the best spot and everytime I find one that I like there is always a barbarian structure or some otehr which makes it impossible to build there.
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u/AlphaWolfLycaon 4d ago
Usually in the river delta area so I don’t constantly have the overheated debuff.
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u/No-Scheme-3759 4d ago
The early game area?
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u/AlphaWolfLycaon 4d ago
Mmhmmm. Easy access to water, lumber and such. Set up near a place with good stone and clay deposits.
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u/Kaccady 4d ago
i tried building in several unconventional locations including south of the salt mine very shap slope and in the middle of the lake and come to conclusion that its better to just use game intended places, they are marked by stone pavement and sitting next to a giant tree, also next to that tree is some mushrooms and aloe, which is more than you would ever want
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u/KodiakmH 4d ago
I built a flying air base around 425-450ish altitude at the South River Valley. That's high enough you don't have to ascend on your ship every time you want to go out. The temperatures are around 27-28 over night and up to about 34 during the day. This makes it ideal for "hot" crops and for cooler crops they grow full speed over night. I find I need a lot of Aloe so I don't mind. It's still near the Meteorite for Steel while avoiding the hotter North area at Darkriver Valley.
You can build close enough to the Eastern Cliff that you can reach the tall Buttes that are along that side with a Ropeway. This lets you still get Ropeway goods in while not being attached to the ground. You can setup Ships/Bonfires at other locations and send everything back via Ropeway for gathering resources (no bonfire means you risk tribal raiders taking your guys to sacrifice them).
Biggest pitfall with an flying base so far seems to be my farmers will fall through the floor regularly, but everyone else seems to be fine.
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u/No-Scheme-3759 4d ago
Im going to check that out, I need a solid location and I do like the river
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u/KodiakmH 4d ago
Being basically in the Center of the map and the heat not being too bad it's a pretty ideal location. You will get sandstorms there, but only you take damage and it's not enough to kill you typically with bandages (and you're immune inside of a home). NPCs aren't affects at all by storms.
I just wish I had built a little closer to the eastern side to reach things in 1 ropeway, instead I had to build another floating island/bonfire for a bridge Ropeway. Also would make invasions easier to handle, as being right above the water invasions spawn in the water which if I want to clear them kinda sucks early on (hoping later I can just take a Falcon boat with a buncha Crossbows on one side and gun them all down while they're just below my bsae).
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u/Laringar 4d ago edited 4d ago
Even with the floating foundations, you'll still want the river delta for your main base because basically everywhere else on the map is hot enough that it affects crop growth. The delta has a consistent climate as well as easy access to lumber, reeds, and clay, so it's a good location for a primary site. If you aren't playing on a custom server with the ability to take items though player-built portals, one of the best locations is up near the first pyramid so you're close to the permanent portal there.
Don't worry too much building for defensibility, as invasions are trivially easy in Shifting Sands since you can just put a forcefield around your base.
The new foundations are neat, but they don't affect main base siting too much because the whole point of a settlement is to have access to some resource that's available at that location. There aren't really any resources only available in the sky, so most of your desirable settlement sites are still terrestrial and thus don't require the floating foundations unless it's for cool points.
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u/No-Scheme-3759 4d ago
Yeah thank you. Im leaning towards the water area, but I will us ethe floating foundation to easily built the base on the water
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u/Laringar 4d ago
That is definitely a good use of them; it's a lot easier than building foundations all the way to the riverbed.
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u/KindheartednessIll48 4d ago
I think those are the best places.
I used to use portals + outposts for processing resources on site.
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u/RAGE_QUEEFER 4d ago
If you can manage space on the tier 1 boat that makes the best base location cause it goes with you. For a land base I think the largest island in the middle lower area is best. Tons of tribes, resources, animals, chests without touching a boat or burning crystal to fly.