Finding the trader for the first time is usually hard, once it pops up you'll see how easy it could be in the future when you get good at sailing.

Originally posted by us271934-Слава Україн:

If my memory is still current there will be 6 potential locations for Haldor. However, once you 'discover' one the other 5 locations poof into nothing.

Three possible location on each map. Once you come within 500 meters of one of them, it becomes THE trader location and the other two are discarded.

From the wiki: "Haldor has 10 possible spawn locations that are located in Black Forests which are at least 1500 meters away from the center of the world.

Approaching any of these locations will permanently place Haldor there. This can happen from 320 - 453 meters away (about twice of the default minimap range) when the related zone is generated. When discovered, his bag icon will appear on the world map."

Thanks everyone! Very helpful!

fyi, this is what i have searched so far. I feel like i'm getting too far from my home base. I will probably head back and make a boat and get some cores for a portal or two

https://steamcommunity.com/id/jmt_steam/screenshots/?appid=892970&sort=newestfirst&browsefilter=myfiles&view=imagewall&privacy=30

On my island world seed I had to travel half way to the north from the central spawn point to find a trader. I gonna actually try and reach the north lands from there out.

Originally posted by Fzanco:

Just curious, you are exploring new black forest , not just going back and forth through already explored areas?

I am exploring new Black Forest.

Originally posted by magilla666:

I think there are more than 6 potential locations, but I'm not sure exactly how many. Also, to jint_steam, you don't need to be running around through every inch of Black Forest territory. The popup is pretty long range. In my experience (8-10 full playthroughs plus several that were aborted) the merchant's bag will pop up just from sailing along the shorelines. Good luck!

I am basically just running through the Forest to get the map visible. I did try sailing for part of it, but I'm not a very good sailor yet. Figured I'd just run a while. I tend to run along the shore for a bit and then go inland until I hit a mountain or a place I've already explored, and then run back to shore opening up the map. I am getting tired of looking, so I may take a break if I don't find it soon. I probably need to take some time to practice my sailing and try that again.

Originally posted by blprice61:

On some maps the possible Trader locations will be at or near the max range which puts them out past (or mixed with) Plains biomes. Those maps *may* have a problem with the upcoming Mistlands update because in exploring that far to find a Trader you will cause the current temporary Mistlands biome to be generated - preventing it from being updated later.

If you haven't found it after doing a search from boat along nearby Black Forest shorelines, you might want to have someone verify your world seed's Trader locations using the World Generator web site.

I may end up doing this, but want to wait. I'd really prefer to find it if possible :-)

I think there are more than 6 potential locations, but I'm not sure exactly how many. Also, to jint_steam, you don't need to be running around through every inch of Black Forest territory. The popup is pretty long range. In my experience (8-10 full playthroughs plus several that were aborted) the merchant's bag will pop up just from sailing along the shorelines. Good luck!

On some maps the possible Trader locations will be at or near the max range which puts them out past (or mixed with) Plains biomes. Those maps *may* have a problem with the upcoming Mistlands update because in exploring that far to find a Trader you will cause the current temporary Mistlands biome to be generated - preventing it from being updated later.

If you haven't found it after doing a search from boat along nearby Black Forest shorelines, you might want to have someone verify your world seed's Trader locations using the World Generator web site.

Originally posted by magilla666:

I think there are more than 6 potential locations, but I'm not sure exactly how many. Also, to jint_steam, you don't need to be running around through every inch of Black Forest territory. The popup is pretty long range. In my experience (8-10 full playthroughs plus several that were aborted) the merchant's bag will pop up just from sailing along the shorelines. Good luck!

Yeah, it looks like there are 10 possible Trader spots. I guess my wife is right and I'm always thinking about six.

Just curious, you are exploring new black forest , not just going back and forth through already explored areas?

If my memory is still current there will be 6 potential locations for Haldor. However, once you 'discover' one the other 5 locations poof into nothing.

Once you discover the location it will stay on the map even if you didn't get close to Haldor's camp.

that's great, thanks!