In my solo and multiplayer playthroughs I like to get silver items before killing bonemass. The main reason being wolf raids in the meadows after killing bonemass. Those wolf raids are kinda tough with just iron armor/weapons.

IMO it's a waste of time to explore mountains until you've gained the loot from Bonemass.

From what you wrote you are way over prepared for Bonemass (meaning it should be a walk-in-the-park) considering all you need is a banded shield, iron mace and poison resist potions to take it down.

Given how raids work I would personally not be using them as the primary criteria for deciding on my next action.

And as @Rhapsody mentions without the wishbone looking for silver becomes a bit more work (and it also makes you more of a target because of the extra noise) so you may end up retracing your steps in the Mountains once you do get the wishbone.

Also the block is what saves you not the parry when fighting Bonemass. You cannot stun it and although with no parry you lose some damage potential it is still easy enough to face tank down.

Originally posted by Rhapsody:

IMO it's a waste of time to explore mountains until you've gained the loot from Bonemass.

After pondering I agree more with Rhapsody especially if it is your first play through. This game actually has great replay-ability in my opinion mainly to try different tactics (boss/biome order, weapon builds.....etc). My first play through I did everything exactly as the devs intended and had a great time. After you get more comfortable and want to switch it up, skipping bosses(armor sets) can be alot of fun on a future playthrough.

Originally posted by Eightball:

Given how raids work I would personally not be using them as the primary criteria for deciding on my next action.

Yah, I haven't been raided since before I took down the Elder...which was a LOT of days-in-game ago. I dunno, maybe I just don't spend enough time at home or something. Though I haven't left my base in like 10 game days (was building a new base) and still not a single raid.
Thanks for saying that though, makes me be more sure I'm not being over-confident. That's bit me in the butt before.

Originally posted by Eightball:

And as @Rhapsody mentions without the wishbone looking for silver becomes a bit more work (and it also makes you more of a target because of the extra noise) so you may end up retracing your steps in the Mountains once you do get the wishbone.

Also the block is what saves you not the parry when fighting Bonemass. You cannot stun it and although with no parry you lose some damage potential it is still easy enough to face tank down.

Aright, I'm having lunch in a few minutes, but I will head to Bonemass after I return, based on your input. The block/parry thing in particular concerned me. I don't know why I can't get good at parrying in this game, I was excellent at it in Grounded.

Its up to you.
An hour in a mountain could get you multiple new foods, but you don't need it. Skipping forward and circling back trivializes the content too much if you do too much, but next tier food is a small leg up if you want that much more insurance against dying.

a half chest of iron ... hah, hah, hah...

I will offer a few things that work for me when fighting it:

-level the area around the skull a bit to get rid of as much standing water as you can (I usually do a circle around the skull so I can kite it around if need a breather while still getting some cover)

-clear out any enemies that might be in the area before you start the fight (don't need uninvited adds)

-pick up on its attack rhythm and don't get too greedy on trying for more hits; mine is something like; block,hit, hit, hit, block, hit, hit, hit, SPEW, kill adds, back up, repeat

-when it spews kill the adds then back out of the poison cloud (no reason to stand in it)

You will do fine, just take your time.

And @jonnin chuckled because later on you will come back for more iron (you use it in the Plains), but it will be so easy to get its a non issue; I would not hold up progressing just to stockpile iron, but that is me.

Originally posted by Eightball:

And @jonnin chuckled because later on you will come back for more iron (you use it in the Plains), but it will be so easy to get its a non issue; I would not hold up progressing just to stockpile iron, but that is me.

LOL, yah, I did not stockpile extra iron because I was planning ahead. It's just how much more I got than what I ended up needing in my last trip into the swamp.

It was enough extra that I upgraded all of my storage to reinforced chests and put bars in the windows of my crafting hall. The half-chest remaining is a reinforced chest and what was left after I did, literally, everything I could think of using iron. Good to know I'll need more later so it at least was not wasted time

Thanks for the additional tips, btw. I haven't read any guides or watched any videos. I sort of like going into the boss fights (mostly) blind, other than what I pick up reading threads here in the forums.

I took down bonemass last night. Good armor, blocking, poison resist and a level 4 mace (i had a level 4 bronze mace!) and he was pretty easy.

Well I am sure most of my suggestions you had already figured out by playing. I too prefer to go in blind and learn as I play so they are pretty much common knowledge to any swamp dweller.

Let us know how it goes and never forget that a retrograde operation is always a viable choice (run away if you have too!)

Haha, I'm very good at running away.

I'm at the island with the bonemass altar thingy now, trying to find a good place to put ashore. It looks like the swamp here is surrounded by Plains....not going in there. It's a relatively small island so I'm hoping to find at least a sliver of black forest for docking...I'm not a fan of bringing my ship to shore in the swamp itself.

There is more than one altar for every boss on a world although only one will be marked when you use the first knowledge stone. So if it looks really ugly where the altar is now just go explore more swamps and you will ultimately find another altar in an area you might prefer to fight in.

I'd only go to the mountains before if you want to cheese bone mass with frost arrows. Drakes are easy to hunt with a finewood bow.

No blocking needed for Bonemass, you cant stagger bosses anyways.

Poison res potion pretty much negates most of the damage, just get a mace and start swinging.

Originally posted by Rhapsody:

IMO it's a waste of time to explore mountains until you've gained the loot from Bonemass.

For first time playthrough yeah. But there are things he could find like seeds or caves. These are valuable regardless of progression. Also two good arrow type resources are in ample supply there.

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

I'm at the island with the bonemass altar thingy now, trying to find a good place to put ashore. It looks like the swamp here is surrounded by Plains....not going in there. It's a relatively small island so I'm hoping to find at least a sliver of black forest for docking...I'm not a fan of bringing my ship to shore in the swamp itself.

If you have root chest armor Plains are pretty ok to explore before finishing swamp... You can always make the mobs from different biomes fight each other to help clear things out (just dont get hit, and parry only with high max hp food).
But putting ship on plains while less dangerous than swamp can be a problem if you lure mobs to the ship itself, so make sure its not too far out so you can recover its materials in case of issues. And dont venture at night.

Along with what others have said, lead him around the skull in circles. He's pretty slow so you can decide when to attack and when to rest. You should have time to smack the adds and then get back behind the skull until you're ready to whack him a few more times. Slow and steady wins the race.