Looking for some tips, but avoiding spoilers where possible on finding ruins!

[MagpieOAO]

Do ruins largely only spawn on flat terrain? Seems to be my experience. 

And so far it seems to me that if a ruin doesn't have a basement (digging a level or 2 down to see if there's more there) then aside from maybe a pot or bony soil, there's not much else to them but a handful of cobblestone blocks. Is that about right?

Thanks!

[Mirveil]

Mostly on flat terrain, I would say yes...

About there being anything under the ruins, no.  Digging under them is pointless, but the cobblestone itself is an easy material that you can bring home to build walls with so that you're not just building a boring home with dirt. Though on the topic of building a beginner home, this video is wonderful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1czquphs7X4

If you dig down far enough, there is almost always a tunnel under those ruins, but, that's because there are tunnels nearly everywhere.

[Apocalypse_Andy]

Most of the vanilla ruins are small.  Usually you find a cracked vessel, some bony soil and maybe a torch holder.  The mod BetterRuins adds large ruins with lots of loot and with that comes some danger.  When digging under vanilla ruins I usually dig under the largest/tallest part of the structure, if there is going to be something 9/10 that's where it will be.  If there is a cracked vessel on the surface there will less likely be one underground.  These are all from personal experience, your milage may vary.

[Zane Mordien]

There are quite a few basements in ruins nowadays. Early on the aged torch holders and the a aged chest ( i think thats the name) can be found which are very useful. Dig down in corners is my advice. Just because there wasn't a basement in one corner it might be in the otherside instead. 

[dakko]

4 hours ago, Mirveil said:

..Though on the topic of building a beginner home, this video is wonderful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1czquphs7X4

Nice video! Thank you for the recommend, she looks like someone I'd enjoy watching!

[ifoz]

Most ruins like to spawn on flat land due to how they are constructed, yeah. The game checks where that specific ruin wants the general soil level to be and then won't spawn it if the terrain is too crazy.

Ruined 'villages' are also a thing, where surface ruins generate in a cluster formation, usually on flat land.

Ruins can also spawn underground, though sometimes the underground ruins will spawn in sheer cliff faces.
Underground ruins are more likely to have secret/hidden areas, so keep an eye out for any suspicious walls that look like they should be broken down!

[EDIT]: Oh, also! If you find 'drystone' when digging up ruins, that is a guaranteed presence of a basement area.

Edited June 2, 2025 by ifoz

[Zane Mordien]

15 hours ago, ifoz said:

Underground ruins are more likely to have secret/hidden areas, so keep an eye out for any suspicious walls that look like they should be broken down!
 

I was blown away when I found 30-40 gears in a vanilla ruin in a hidden chest. I've never found anything that good again.

[Maelstrom]

Once got my first lantern from the basement of a vanilla surface ruin.  I wasn't even in copper age yet to craft my own.

[Silrana]

I found my first halite by stripping out all the cobblestone walls in an underground ruin room.

[Moltrey]

Particularly with Better Ruins installed, I love this aspect of the game. It's such a huge world and you just don't know what you might find! That balanced against both your limited inventory and daylight are IMO a near-perfect combination to keep us playing (I see what you did there Tyron!).