Improvising items: How do you improvise? Also, extra uses

[WeedFather]

I'm just curious on how people manage to improvise certain things while playing the game, and what extra uses anyone has discovered for different things.

I read Flowerchild say in one post of his about how he manually grinds bones in a millstone with a hand crank to make bone meal to help get his hemp farms going.

I myself realized that since now it's not possible to get netherrack early in the game, it can be a bit difficult to get a fire going for a cauldron. However, I learned that due to the changes in the burn time for logs when they're on fire, that I can just place a log under the cauldron and set the log on fire to get the cauldron going instead of using netherrack or a hibachi.

I also noticed that Flowerchild DID implement the ability to do dynamite fishin'! :) I still can't find a use for dynamite in combat, though. Unless the hostile mobs are like right against a wall you're standing on.

Also, does anyone use snowballs as a form of self defense? Not just for fun, but just for pushing hostile mobs away from you. They're cheap and easy to get, and while they can't kill, they can help you get away, that's for sure. Actually, while I'm at it, does anyone use snowballs for anything else?

[dawnraider]

Snowballs are nice for killing blazes in a pinch, since they actually damage them.

[jorgebonafe]

In my current world, in the beginning, I didn't want to make a huge underground mushroom farm, cause digging a large area with stone picks just takes too long. So I planted a large and dense tree farm, and placed the mushrooms there under the trees... It worked pretty well.

[Gunnerman21]

I used a stone shovel to kill a skeleton instead of a stone axe. But it didn't do so well against the wolf that came after me right as the skeleton died...

[Blazara]

Using a stone shovel isn't exactly an improvisation, seeming as they had their damage specifically buffed to act as clubs...

[SpaceGuyR]

The change log mentions the wood shovel's damage being made equal to a wood pick, but I don't think the stone one was changed.

[Gilberreke]

The change log mentions the wood shovel's damage being made equal to a wood pick, but I don't think the stone one was changed.

Try fighting a zombie with an iron shovel :p

[WeedFather]

Wait, but isn't a stone axe more damage dealing than a stone shovel?

[Gilberreke]

Wait, but isn't a stone axe more damage dealing than a stone shovel?

Of course, which comes in handy if you have one :p

[FlowerChild]

Yeah, that's the thing: any tool will do in a pinch as an improvised weapon at times like when your axe breaks. It's far more effective than trying to punch a zombie to death. This is particularly true in BTW since your fist doesn't provide knockback, or when you're suffering status penalties and your fist wouldn't do any damage at all.

As a general rule: any weapon is better than no weapon.

[WeedFather]

Ah, I kind of thought so. A stone shovel is SO much less punishing to sacrifice than a stone axe. I know ONE thing that's no longer a good thing to use in place of actual food: rotten flesh. In vMC, you could practically live off the stuff. I even got a texture for it that made it look like tobacco.

[sin6il]

Ah, I kind of thought so. A stone shovel is SO much less punishing to sacrifice than a stone axe. I know ONE thing that's no longer a good thing to use in place of actual food: rotten flesh. In vMC, you could practically live off the stuff. I even got a texture for it that made it look like tobacco.

In 1.6 people do live off of it because of all of the damn zombies.

I make my mushroom farm in complete darkness so it can double as a bat farm. Every time I check it it has a few bats in it. Only downside is the mobs that spawn in there too, but shears and a sword take care of those easily. So far I haven't seen anyone else use this method of bat/mushroom farming

[Gilberreke]

So far I haven't seen anyone else use this method of bat/mushroom farming

Because everyone just builds their mushroom farms in the light, where it's safe? :p

[Six]

Not sure if this counts as improvising because quite a few people do it, but initially a handcrank can be used with bellows to stoke a fire by hand. You still need the windmill to power the saw to get the bellows, but this can work to get a few glue or something without a full turntable bellows setup.

The other classic improvising thing people picked up on post the torch / coal change, was to use surface lava carefully for free underground lighting.

[WeedFather]

I didn't know you could use the bellows like that! I wonder what other machines can be manually operated with a handcrank?

[Dr. Kylstein]

I didn't know you could use the bellows like that! I wonder what other machines can be manually operated with a handcrank?

Pulleys. With careful timing and lever for braking, you can operate a castle gate the old-fashioned way.

[DaveYanakov]

Ah, I kind of thought so. A stone shovel is SO much less punishing to sacrifice than a stone axe.

Um, what? A stone shovel deals less damage, has less durability as a weapon and at the stage of the game where you're using stone tools, shafts are bloody expensive compared to adding one more cobble and getting a weapon capable of three times the mayhem. We're talking about shovels as a desperation measure instead of fists, not as a replacement for axes as main early game weapons.

[Gilberreke]

shafts are bloody expensive

Wait, what? I usually have about a stack of logs by end of day 3, then I start getting ready to cave. At that stage, hafts are cheap.

If hafts are expensive, cut down a tree...

[DaveYanakov]

...At that stage, hafts are cheap.

If hafts are expensive, cut down a tree.

let's spin this around and look at it from the other side then. To get equal damage, you can make three shovels, or you can make one axe and have an extra two picks while caving for the same wood cost. That means using the shovels as a primary weapon actually cost you 5 cobble during that caving expedition. Axes are also much easier to manage inventory around as you need to replace them much less often. You should absolutely make shovels but make them to use as a shovel first and a desperation weapon for when you get caught flat footed second.

This is ignoring the fact that it is often the case that trees can be scarce or that the only nearby source of them is either wolf infested or a jungle.

[Gilberreke]

let's spin this around and look at it from the other side then. To get equal damage, you can make three shovels, or you can make one axe and have an extra two picks while caving for the same wood cost. That means using the shovels as a primary weapon actually cost you 5 cobble during that caving expedition. Axes are also much easier to manage inventory around as you need to replace them much less often. You should absolutely make shovels but make them to use as a shovel first and a desperation weapon for when you get caught flat footed second.

This is ignoring the fact that it is often the case that trees can be scarce or that the only nearby source of them is either wolf infested or a jungle.

I think you're being too stingy on resources. By the end of night 1, I usually have 5 axes, 4 picks and 2 shovels. Sacrifice two of those shovels for wood and you've got enough shafts to keep a members only party.

[WeedFather]

No, no. I see what he means. I forgot to take into consideration the number of times you would need a stone axe, and the number of times you would need a stone shovel. I already knew that stone axes are better for combat from the get-go, but I misread some posts, and it just sort of made me second-guess and become unsure.