Originally posted by Chaoslink:

Fully upgraded iron armor is about as good as silver armor baseline and you should be able to handle plains mobs somewhat alright with that. If not, I’d recommend just heading up into mountains and searching mountain tops for silver. You won’t be able to find all the nodes, but it isn’t too hard to get silver without the wishbone. My buddy and I had close to 300 silver pre-bonemass and had two more nodes marked but not mined still to hit. We only searched three mountains.

Just skip him for a bit and get yourself some silver gear. The Frostner hammer is probably the best weapon for fighting bonemass anyway.

Originally posted by electricdawn:

I don't see that Bonemass is behind plains. You haven't explored that part yet. I'm pretty sure you can just waltz in with your boat and all is fine.

Remember: Swamps are always close to water.

Thanks for the responses. I'm playing leisurely so I know I'm not too aggressive. Quick death near plains coastline made me skittish and I've been avoiding them entirely.