Swamp is a tough biome due to the stamina regen rate and so many poison dealing mobs. Its probably the best designed biome out there though, and initially it is scary but you will get to grips with it.
To avoid the water you can build a causeway to the crypt, a raised wood platform is easy or hoe it upwards. Yes it takes a lot of effort to make a causeway, but it makes movement easier. Avoid the leeches and blobs, just run away.

Always try to come with a nice rested buff and good food. At least carrot soup+jam and some meat. Bonus points if you bring a portal link back to base with you, so you dont leave anything behind. Theres a lot of stuff to be looted in the swamp.
Upgraded troll armor can work but it falls short if you face starred draugr and elites. Try to bring your bronze armor and a proper shield. You can time the draugr arrowshots and stun them for extra dmg as well.
I personally dont bring the hoe to the swamp, but I can see its use can have some advantages. I just sprint and hop between fallen treetrunks and stuff. Theres always a route to avoid swimming through the puddles. I prefer modifying the route a bit rather than modifying the land itself, depending on the length of the trip and the amount of obstacles sometimes it isnt worth it. Im forced to swim on very few occasions, so the leeches dont really catch me unless Im being careless.

I would recommend find a crypt close to shore and grab whatever iron is inside. Take it back to base and use it to upgrade the forge, so you can lvl 4 your bronze armor.
Tip to explore the crypts a bit more safely; bring a 2h hammer like the stagbreaker. With its aoe attack you can kill most of whats waiting for you at the other side of the door without them having a chance to reach you, saving you from a lot of risky situations (and poison mead). If you cant reach right away, mine a bit of the muddy pile so you can get closer, or get enough angle to squeeze some arrows inside.

Originally posted by scootytheclown:

Any advice for Draugrs?

The Copper Mace hits well but these guys pack a massive hit and with slow Stamina they are a pain. I assume the Healing Mead for this? I was using Fire Arrows to clear Draugr Villages in the surrounding Meadows but the Crypts sound like close-quarter fighting.

I'm not that proficient with Shield and Dodge yet. I have a max-level Wood Shield. Should I use a Copper Buckler?

Try timing your blocks right(for a parry), it will stagger them. And you maybe need better food and/or a Bronze Buckler. In the crypts just cheese them by mining away the top part of a pile so they can't reach you, so you can just shoot them with arrows.

The Elder is not that hard, hide behind the pillars when he casts his tendrils and move away from the roots. Keep plugging him with fire arrows (or even normal arrows work) till hes dead. Bring a health potion or 2 for if you mess up a bit.

oh and clear the area around him of greydwarves first so they dont fight you while youre running around like a madman XD

Originally posted by scootytheclown:

Just starting into the Swamp. Everything seems so much disproportionately over-powered compared to the Black Forest. Can't find any Iron before I'm getting low on Fire Arrows and the Max-Level Troll Armour has taken a beating.

How can I proceed with any chance at exploring this place?

Poison Resistance Mead I know of and have, and will be using it as I can't stay out of the water between land patches and the Leeches pack quite a poisonous punch.

Don't use fire arrows. Most of their damage is damage-over-time, which doesn't stack. You're better off using flint, and switching to the occasional fire arrow for harder opponents like the Elder (to keep him ablaze). A bronze buckler and bronze mace are need if you have to melee (you will). The wooden shield and club are not good enough for the swamp. Far more enemies can just power through your block if you're just using a wood shield. Also, block just before they swing to trigger a stagger. If you hit them on a stagger you to bonus damage.

Bronze armour is good if you want to invest the time, if not troll armour and a bow is ok. Just use a finewood bow and not the crude one (will need a bronze axe to harvest the birch/oak). You CAN do the crypts with troll and bow ... just mine shooting slits into the room entrances. Only enter the swamp with the Rested buff. You can even place a camp fire inside the crypts to get the bonus.

Poison and starred enemies are the two most dangerous things in the swamp, so poison resist and good armour/weapons/food are a must.

find crypts, small stone buildings with two torches and an iron gate, that's where all the scrap iron is. Jump on top and place a travel portal to base. use that portal to return home when need to repair, drop off non-ore/ingot stuff, and rest. run the scrap back to your boat. once done with a crypt tear down the portal and move to the next one. once boat is full, take it all home.
You should be using a mace in the swamp. Most things are resistant to piercing damage, but all things in the swamp take normal damage or are weak to bashing, this includes the boss.
Take things slow since stamina and health recovery is constantly thwarted by being wet.

Stick to the edges and scout out for Turnip seeds and kill drauger for sausage materials. Avoid diving in deep right away. Level up your food first. Typically I will do this before I even beat the Elder.

Scout around and look for the crypts and mark them on your map. Once you find a crypt or two scout out the nearest Black Forest location for a Copper node to mine and turn into a crafting facility. Not all swamps have crypts.

Collect guck form trees as you can, you don't need a ton of it but you will want it later.

Don't go in at night unless actually in a crypt.
Normally I will mine all night long and run it out to the local facility during the day. You can put a portal on top of the crypts to get back fast and repair quick at night. Stay rested, you can put a fire inside a crypt for comfort.

Oh one more thing to watch for.... there are large stone places on the map with multiple spawn points. One Skeleton and two drauger. Make sure to clear those to make it much safer to get around.. you don't want a two star drauger archer nailing you. You can destroy them from a distance with arrows.

I usually build a quick base at the border or just inside the swamp. Having a roof, fire and bed make things easier. Once at the mini base make that bed your spawn point so you are not miles away if death happens.
When searching to find the crypts I use a pattern from the base. Head out along the right edge in as straight a line as possible the move left and return toward the base. Out and back until you've found crypts then mark them on the map.
Once entering a crypt make a fire, it's a good way to keep your rest up while in a damp, dark place fighting druagrs

bring a hoe to raise the land so the leeches cant get to you.

to get into the swamp crypts you need a key from the Elder boss

Any advice for Draugrs?

The Copper Mace hits well but these guys pack a massive hit and with slow Stamina they are a pain. I assume the Healing Mead for this? I was using Fire Arrows to clear Draugr Villages in the surrounding Meadows but the Crypts sound like close-quarter fighting.

I'm not that proficient with Shield and Dodge yet. I have a max-level Wood Shield. Should I use a Copper Buckler?

Never thought of using the Hoe !!! Great idea. Never thought I would ever say that

Have not faced the Elder Boss. Guess I have too then for the Key? Just don't want to deal with leveled up enemies at my Main Base. Was hoping to avoid that. Do all Bosses later on when I was Leveled-up was the idea I had.

Just make the iron mace ASAP. It'll have you covered all the way till you reach the Plains.

Slimes, skeletons and Bonemass itself are weak to mace/crushing damage.

Originally posted by scootytheclown:

Have not faced the Elder Boss. Guess I have too then for the Key? Just don't want to deal with leveled up enemies at my Main Base. Was hoping to avoid that. Do all Bosses later on when I was Leveled-up was the idea I had.

You'll need to kill the second boss for the swamp key to secure a supply of iron, the third for the wishbone to find silver deposits in the mountains, and the fourth to be able to make top-tier weapons and armor. The fifth and (presently) last is just the cherry on top; he does give you something, but we aren't quite sure what it is! It's not necessary for anything, yet.

If you don't mind playing a slow and methodical game, you can erect walls of spiked logs on both sides of your roads in the swamp and then only the occasional lucky blob and wraiths (at night) can touch you. This isn't a style of play that appeals to everyone, though.

Tip for the Elder: Dig a tunnel under his altar; it's a useful place to dodge his attacks. You can build yourself a whole base there, with exits on all four sides, using the altar flagstones as your roof.

Once you find some crypts and set up a close base and portals then kill the Elder.

Once you start with iron just make the shield, mace and pickax. Make frost resist mead and head to the mountains for Obsidian and Frost Glands to make freeze arrows.. they do extra damage to wet enemies so they pack a punch in the swamp.

Also make some nails for a longship and start serpent hunting for serpent stew.

With experience, or you may just get lucky, find some silver and start working on that stuff.

Once you get a feel for where to dig you won't even need to do the swamp boss

Edit add - the main advantage of going for silver right away is that if you kill bonemass first you enable the Event for Wolf Hunt.