So... what's good or fun to do in the iron age besides making better tools?

[Vexxvididu]

HI!  New to these forms and pretty new to Vintage story still.

 

I just last night mined a ton of iron and have the ability to smelt it soon.  Of course I'll make better tools with it but I'm at a bit of a loss about what else to do that sounds exciting.  I'm of course aware that steel making exists, and will likely do that eventually, but was looking for suggestions about what to do just for fun.

 

I should also mention I know it will be winter eventually (it's mid August at the moment) so I suspect socking away food for the winter should probably take priority over further progression at the moment.  I'm also looking for tips about how to do that best in the first year.  I've had horrible luck finding grain or vegetables in my world so far.  I do have a decent cellar.

Edited October 28, 2025 by Vexxvididu
Grammar

[Facethief]

The beehive kiln is available in the iron age.

[Brick]

There are only 3 things I can think of to do with metal progression. 1. The main one. The better the tools the faster you can gather materials for creative builds.
2. Equip some nice gear and go fight some enemies for fun.
3. Create a structure out of metal blocks as a monument of your progress (needs insane amounts of metal per block - 12 ingots, so you'd need not only a lot of metal, but also a good smithy to mass produce plates)

Basically metal progressions can improve things, but the fun in the game doesn't really rely on metal progression, cause all of the features are basically available from copper age, and better metal only enhances them a bit instead of bringing something new.

[LadyWYT]

Welcome to the forums!

3 hours ago, Vexxvididu said:

I just last night mined a ton of iron and have the ability to smelt it soon.  Of course I'll make better tools with it but I'm at a bit of a loss about what else to do that sounds exciting.  I'm of course aware that steel making exists, and will likely do that eventually, but was looking for suggestions about what to do just for fun.

The answer to this question depends on what you find fun. Bronze is what starts to really open the game's world up, but iron pushes that even further. If you aren't playing the Homo Sapiens gamemode, I highly recommend starting the main story, if you haven't yet. Iron is plenty sufficient for what story is currently available, and you can start the story events by talking to a treasure hunter and completing a special quest.

 

1 hour ago, Facethief said:

The beehive kiln is available in the iron age.

This is a very good investment, even if you're not really interested in the colored ceramics. The beehive kiln can be made from firebrick, is quite durable, and will come in handy for firing refractory bricks as it's overall more efficient than pit kilns.

Additionally, you might consider caving, or braving the temporal storms for extra gears/Jonas parts. Iron equipment will keep you well-protected from most of the spooks you'll run across, though it still pays to be somewhat cautious.

[Vexxvididu]

Thank you for the thoughtful replies so far!

I will look into a beehive kiln and maybe also a windmill?  I will also try to find a finding a treasure hunter to start the main story.  I am playing in mostly default survival, so the story should be active.  I just hadn't figured out how to start it yet.

[Alonso7]

If you are in the Iron Age, now is the perfect time to take a break and start preping: building farms, windmills and greenhouses, improving your house, breeding animals and preparing for a comfortable winter so you can progress to the Steel Age. If it's August, I don't think you'll have time for any of that (depending on your latitude). Collect mushrooms, carrots, turnips and any other food you can find, as well as tons of wood. Winter is brutal, there is no food and you freeze to death outside 

[Galdor_Mithr]

i like to fight wolfs and go in to caves to look for lore bits when I'm not hunting for resources I'm very new to the game and the forums too but iv found its really fun to throw food in sealed crocks and put some apples and bread in a bag some basic tools and weapons and walk. on the way out i like collecting more seeds when ever i see them and marking down fruit trees and on the way back harvesting animals and any food or resource on the way back depending on how much lore stuff i have.

Edited October 28, 2025 by Galdor_Mithr

[Professor Dragon]

9 hours ago, Vexxvididu said:

I just last night mined a ton of iron and have the ability to smelt it soon. 
.
.
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I'm also looking for tips about how to do that best in the first year.  I've had horrible luck finding grain or vegetables in my world so far.  I do have a decent cellar.

We must play at opposite ends of the spectrum.  I began by building farms and my house, and only in-game YEARS later did I find iron. (Like, year 8 or something?).

But finding iron was what really opened up BUILDING for me. I practically jumped straight to steel, having already established the infrastructure.

Having steel was the gateway that opened creative building to me, as the tools support it. 

Each to their own, but it sounds like you need more supporting infrastructure - such as the crops you mentioned. A flax and reed farm in particular will be particularly important.

[Echo Weaver]

16 minutes ago, Professor Dragon said:

We must play at opposite ends of the spectrum.  I began by building farms and my house, and only in-game YEARS later did I find iron. (Like, year 8 or something?).

It didn't take me until year 8, but yeah I prefer to build my farm and especially my livestock. After all that's settled, I'm interested in ranging farther away to find resources :).

Going in to fall without much in the way of crops is ominous. I might suggest digging up a lot of tulle roots. They don't start to spoil until you cook them, so you can store them a long time. Cattail roots are the same, but since cattails are important resources, you don't want to dig them all up and leave yourself without reeds. Roots are not particularly great sources of nutrition. You can't cook them into meals. But they'll keep you from starving.

Then there's hunting. You'll have to work harder to find prey in the winter, but if you enjoy hunting you should be able to keep yourself in enough meat to get by.

If you have sheep you can breed, then there's a source of dairy. It's almost impossible to milk a wild ewe, but in the harshest part of winter, you can take a lot of time to try over and over again.

[Alonso7]

28 minutes ago, Professor Dragon said:

We must play at opposite ends of the spectrum.  I began by building farms and my house, and only in-game YEARS later did I find iron. (Like, year 8 or something?).

But finding iron was what really opened up BUILDING for me. I practically jumped straight to steel, having already established the infrastructure.

Having steel was the gateway that opened creative building to me, as the tools support it. 

Each to their own, but it sounds like you need more supporting infrastructure - such as the crops you mentioned. A flax and reed farm in particular will be particularly important.

That's what I love about Vintage Story, it’s all about infrastructure. Unlike in Minecraft, where a good set of armour, a crafting table and a furnace make you invincible. In Vintage Story, you need storage, food preservation, heating, smithing setups, kilns, farms, roads and proper shelter. Even with the best gear in the game, you won't survive long without proper infrastructure.

[Vexxvididu]

2 hours ago, Professor Dragon said:

 

Each to their own, but it sounds like you need more supporting infrastructure - such as the crops you mentioned. A flax and reed farm in particular will be particularly important.

Yeah.... I have seen ZERO grain in my main survival world.  And I know that's weird since my experimental creative world has grain and turnips everywhere!  haha.  I think it's just funky RNG.  I had iron semi close to my base, but I know I have a huge shortage of food to store for the winter.  I will try to fix that.

[Professor Dragon]

5 hours ago, Vexxvididu said:

 I have seen ZERO grain in my main survival world.

That is very unusual. See if  you can find an Agriculture Trader. They sell flax seeds and food, but you'll need a few gears.

[Vratislav]

9 hours ago, Vexxvididu said:

I have seen ZERO grain in my main survival world

I have started new gameplay recently and I have about ten seeds of flax planted in my field in half of August. Plenty of rye, on the other side. Agriculture trader (as @Professor Dragon suggests) will be helpful for me too, as without windmill, I am really lazy to do anything that requires metal plates, however, still not found one.

(I may blame modding, as I changed worldgen and added flora mods and vanilla cattails are also scarce, but crops were not extended or replaced, so I still consider it to be just a bad luck).

[Echo Weaver]

I have found three traders in my current game, and they were ALL Local Goods. That makes me a bit nervous about something screwing up RNG, but these stories of weirdness are comforting that way.

That said, I can buy lime, which is nice.

[Maelstrom]

On 10/28/2025 at 5:50 AM, Vexxvididu said:

looking for suggestions about what to do just for fun.

Get out.  See the world.   

Spelunk for ruins and translocators.  Stumble across resources, wanted or not.  Trip over things that go bump in the night.
Come sail away!  or run.   whatever *ahem* floats your boat.  Prospect for rare minerals like cinnabar (which unlocks reindeer herder clothing), meet the *ahem* locals, err.. traders and engage in capitalism.  Stumble across more resources you may or may not want.  Take photos of your travels and share with others.   Tell silly tales of your (mis)adventures in the Humorous Stories thread.  shameless plug.

Edited October 29, 2025 by Maelstrom

[Vexxvididu]

13 hours ago, Professor Dragon said:

That is very unusual. See if  you can find an Agriculture Trader. They sell flax seeds and food, but you'll need a few gears.

 

I know it's weird.... and as I said, this was not an issue in some of the experimental worlds I made, so I think it's just freaky RNG.  No mods at all yet.

So yeah... doing what I can to try to get some food in the cellar before winter!  I may also try to find some salt to preserve meat at least.

[Professor Dragon]

4 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Tell silly tales of your (mis)adventures in the Humorous Stories thread.  shameless plug.

There's a what, now? Where?!?

That sounds like the thread I should be hanging out in full time.

EDIT
Found it!

TIP
Put a "Reaction" against threads you like, in areas of the forum that you don't frequent as often, and with the default Forum settings they'll pop up in your "Notifications" when there is a new post there.

Edited October 29, 2025 by Professor Dragon

[Echo Weaver]

6 hours ago, Professor Dragon said:

That sounds like the thread I should be hanging out in full time.

Please do. It is the BEST THREAD. It should be its own subforum 

[LadyWYT]

On 10/28/2025 at 5:05 PM, Alonso7 said:

Even with the best gear in the game, you won't survive long without proper infrastructure.

It's not just infrastructure--enemies will still flatten opponents who get too complacent. Better gear does help one survive longer in a fight, but it won't render them completely invulnerable.

 

25 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

Please do. It is the BEST THREAD. It should be its own subforum 

It really is one of the best threads of all time. 

[Vexxvididu]

UPDATE!  I finally found some rye!!! My first grain that I found in this cursed world.  It was far away from my base and guarded by a freaking bear, but I was thrilled to find it.  Makes me feel like that curse was broken, haha.

[Broccoli Clock]

I'd say after your first year (assuming you've survived the winter), the game becomes far more cottage core. You do things because you enjoy them or they look nice, whether that is falling down the rabbit hole of chiselling or going ruin hunting (with or without mods), not because you need to to survive. For me at least, I find it opens out to being more a creative experience you've settled, got some basic farming, and have resources near you, as opposed to the immediate survival needs you have at the beginning.

There is also the lore to chase down, with the Resonance Archives and other quests, I suppose you could look at those like the Ender Dragon in "the other block game", a task that is doable so long as you have some decent armour/weapons, but not essential for you to progress your character development.

Multiplayer too, although not really my thing (I generally dislike people! ) it would add a lot to the dynamic if you are used to playing solo.

[Michael Gates]

On 10/28/2025 at 4:56 PM, Vexxvididu said:

Yeah.... I have seen ZERO grain in my main survival world.  And I know that's weird since my experimental creative world has grain and turnips everywhere!  haha.  I think it's just funky RNG.  I had iron semi close to my base, but I know I have a huge shortage of food to store for the winter.  I will try to fix that.

Time for my usual advice: if you're short on food in the fall, RUN SOUTH. Gather up a full set of new hand tools and an anvil and GO. Once you reach about z=16-17k, winter doesn't freeze anymore so you can still forage berries and plant crops, also you don't need the fur coat and stuff. It's enough easier to survive down there that it's worth the four or so days of running. While you're on the way you can watch for peridotite and bauxite rocks, so that when you're ready for steel you'll know where to get refractory brick ingredients.

[Thorfinn]

On 10/29/2025 at 6:20 AM, Echo Weaver said:

I have found three traders in my current game, and they were ALL Local Goods.

Aren't all traders called "Local Traders"? Depending on what screen you are looking at?

[Echo Weaver]

6 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

Aren't all traders called "Local Traders"? Depending on what screen you are looking at?

Dur. I guess I mean Survival Goods? Now I have to go back and double-check what they were. I was pretty sure they were all the same. 

[Echo Weaver]

On 11/1/2025 at 4:38 PM, Thorfinn said:

Aren't all traders called "Local Traders"? Depending on what screen you are looking at?

Holy crap. You're right. It's not like I haven't interacted with dozens of traders. How did I not notice that they always say Local Traders on some mouseover? I guess I got the term "local trader" mixed up with "Survival Goods." The second one I went to check actually the Treasure Hunter. 

ETA: Two treasure hunters. TWO.

Edited November 3, 2025 by Echo Weaver