Advice Needed for Finding Clay

[farscry 12]

Good morning fellow Wurmians!

 

Been having a relaxing time getting started over on Xanadu the past month or so, but have hit the point where I would really like to build a forge and oven for my house (campfires for smelting and cooking are just so slow!).

 

Problem is, I don't really know an effective way to search for clay (or tar for that matter) other than finding it underwater. However, without access to a dredge, there's no way to harvest underwater clay (and to get a dredge, I'll need tar and lead, neither of which I have access to). It's kind of a catch-22.

 

So how do you folks go about searching for clay above sea level? Is there a particular method that works well for this? I don't have any active neighbors where I'm at, so haven't been able to ask around to see if there's a local source people have been using to get their clay, tar, and/or lead.

[silakka 2,360]

Clay is next to water / underwater. Tar is little more difficult

Your best bet is to walk around shores and hope to find clay that doesn't happen to be underwater, and as far as I know xanadu does have good amount of clay.

 

Welcome to wurm

[Onyr 185]

Welcome to Wurm, Farscry.

 

Just wandering the shoreline is fairly effective.  If  you are at high elevation, looking for the distant gray color along water works well.  You should find some clay near a shoreline without too much searching.

[Brash_Endeavors 4,735]

  I don't have any active neighbors where I'm at, so haven't been able to ask around to see if there's a local source people have been using to get their clay, tar, and/or lead.

 

give your map location plus ask this in the xanadu subforum, and someone might be able to point you to a spot not too far. If you have a boat, its not hard to collect a 6 month supply at once (I am not sure how it fits in backpacks for small boats) so it does not need to be TOO close. Used to be the community maps would try to mark known clay deposits. (*** Looks like Xanadu is using a different map style now that does not include terrain information like tar/clay)

 

Another option is to see if anyone will sell you 200 units for 30c-50c delivered -- it might even be cheaper if it is priced similar to dirt. Ditto for the tar and lead. Though I prefer gathering my supplies myself and maybe you do, too.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Brash_Endeavors

[Wess 29]

I normally just hop on a boat and start sailing near shore until i locate some. It's pretty easy to spot. If you don't have a boat I suggest making that your next priority I personally find hauling clay on a boat much simpler than trying to cart it threw mobs etc. Best of luck sir.

[Tristanc 570]

Post on the Xanadu forum telling which part of Xanadu you're at (which spawn point is closest to you, too) is a good way to get some help finding nearby clay or tar.  Many players try to be helpful and will give you directions to a nearby 'public' source of either.  As others said, clay's just about only found at water's edge if not actually underwater.  Tar's visible as a tile with a black surface (not a mine entrance) and normally isn't rare so someone on your area of the Xanadu server should be able to guide you towards some.

 

Lead, on the other hand, can be more difficult to find except by prospecting surface rock tiles with your pickaxe in the hope of locating a possible area to mine to get to the vein if you don't have neighbors who might trade you some.

 

If you do see a group passing by in Local channel, try asking there then as they might have come across a nearby source of clay or tar in their travels.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Tristanc

[Hordern 2,177]

I'm a little confused about this:

(and to get a dredge, I'll need tar and lead, neither of which I have access to).

Quite why a dredge requires tar and lead, I'm not sure, unless you're referring to the boat for dredging. Having said that, tar can be obtained from a charcoal pile (this will obviously allow you to make steel for the dredge too), and an anchor is not compulsory for a boat as you can embark as a passenger to dredge and prevent the boat moving while in it. Obviously it's desirable, but if you have an on deed boat mine with a mine door, you can store your boat safely when not in use.

[vinius 1,495]

They say there is clay on top of a mountain....

[Hordern 2,177]

They say there is clay on top of a mountain....

For the purposes of avoiding confusion for newer players - Yes. But only 1, and not naturally. Rolf added it manually after a bugged mechanic that had been deemed a feature of wurm because no one could fix it, was suddenly fixed.

[Sharkin 1,319]

They say there is clay on top of a mountain....

 

[squirrels 32]

Clay and tar can be raised or do you have to have a certain digging level?

[Hordern 2,177]

Clay and tar can be raised or do you have to have a certain digging level?

Anyone can drop dirt/sand on them to raise them.

[Godryck 2]

I'm new-ish on Xanadu and found this thread from searching for "clay" in the assistance forum. I read the advice here, but can't find clay along the shoreline near my deed. I'm not above just buying some, it sounds like reading on the forum that there's a way to buy stuff and have it delivered via mail? I don't live near enough to a trader to safely cart things back from the market.

[Tristanc 570]

Arrange for someone with a boat (a rowing boat will do) to let you navigate with them along the coast from where you're at.  Most likely you'll be able to find some, dig up as much as you can haul to transport back in the boat, and you'll at least have some low quality clay to use for the near future.  The quality of the clay is maxed at your Digging skill, I believe.

 

I strongly recommend having a bulk storage bin built back at your home first, as clay decays fast when dug up and not in a bin or your personal inventory.

 

I know for certain there are clay deposits along the coast on Xanadu, but without knowing exactly where you are others can't really say where the nearest would be for you.

[Godryck 2]

Thank you for the tip about the bulk storage bin! I don't have one yet (just a large barrel), so I'll do that next.

 

My location is on an island in the middle of the big lake south of Greymead. I thought it looked like a fun place to settle, maybe eventually go sailing around the lake when I can build a nice boat. Plus I like being in the middle of the map for when I want to go sightseeing in the future!

 

I have some iron, but no idea so far if there's any other resource nearby.

[Brash_Endeavors 4,735]

This thread mentions a clay spot near ROME which sounds like the same general area? Just to your west a bit across the lake (if you have a boat)

 

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/106704-xanadu-map/page-38#entry1190456

 

Best source of info on local clay and tar is usually neighbors/locals as someone will usually point you to the closest one. Xanadu seems to have a high abundance of both clay and tar. 

 

[Godryck 2]

Thanks for the update; I have no boat yet, but I did luck out and find some clay in the water next to a marsh very near me that I didn't catch before.

[Klaa 4,872]

Pretty much as mentioned already: Clay is always along a waterline somewhere or underwater needing to be raised by dirt-dropping.

 

Pretty much follow a coastline till you find one, and as an important resource most players make note of them on maps.

 

Afaik theres only one example of clay existing anywhere significantly above the waterline and its one case on the Chaos server. That was a patch dev-created. I forget for what exactly... offhand think it was a reward for a bug report.

[Kyleshandra 205]

Godryk, if you head southwest to the next lake over, the is a lot of clay along that shoreline... it's a ways from you but might be better than nothing

Wave as you go by Tarsis