The sound of heavy breath escapes your lungs, betraying your exhaustion to Puck, who hovers peacefully before you. The white-masked creature in its long green vestments smiles down upon you, with its thick white and golden lips forming shapes. “You must oblige your inner essence and choose the landscape that beckons you.” Puck says. You wipe sweat dripping from the creases on your forehead, contemplating what the creature said. Thoughts spiral around your head, as you weigh up whether to make the woodland, the swamp, or the desert your home. So, what starting biome should you choose in Nightingale? If you need a quick summary of the benefits of each one, then we’ll help you along the way.

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Puck asks you what you like to imagine. Each biome has pros and cons, which should help you decide the best biome to start in Nightingale.

Best Starting Abeyance Realm in Nightingale¶

After completing all of Puck’s tutorial quests in Nightingale, you get a prompt to return to Puck. At the end of the dialogue, Puck will ask you to imagine a biome, either the Forest, Desert or Swamp. Depending on your chosen choice, you’ll lock in your starting biome in Nightingale to create your base world. When you select one, you will be given an Abeyance card, alongside a biome card of what you selected. This, in turn, will create your starting world, where you are tasked with clearing a few dungeons, getting some quests, and create a starting base.

Mostly, which starting biome you select for your Abeyance world in Nightingale won’t matter too much. However, there are a few pros and cons to consider.

Best Base Locations - Forest, Desert, Swamp?¶

The best biome to pick from Puck is the Forest realm. It has the most access to plant fiber, stone and lumber you need for your early game crafts and base building. Ore is somewhat rarer, but you can still find it in caves and around certain mountainy regions. You’ll find you will easily set up a base location, and have access to all the basics you need to get you started. Although, it does have its downsides: Rain and hail will halt you until you get an umbrella, and the wolves and the hostile boars are plentiful present. You won’t have many issues if you don’t build a base directly next to boar and wolf spawns. Just make sure you’re ready for a scrap or have the stamina to flee when you do encounter them. The other downside is that Forest biomes tend to have some verticality to them. It makes them somewhat awkward to navigate as you explore for POIs and find the dungeons you need to clear for quests. It’s not totally annoying, but things are much more hidden because of tree coverage and an uneven topography.

Meanwhile, the Swamp and the Desert are flatter than the Forest land, making them better to explore. However, the weather effects of the biomes present issues. Both will need Umbrellas to explore properly, as glide dashing over diseased water is the best way to avoid the challenges of that biome. Get a good umbrella and then dash using the skinning knife or sickle, and you can easily fly over these hazards. It is harder to do in the early game, but mid to late-game exploration will be easy. Meanwhile, the hot weather of the desert can catch you out quickly, making it somewhat hard in the very early game. The benefits of these zones come with unique resources, making them more lucrative than forests, but, as you an see, there are other tribulations to consider.

Hopefully, this assists you with all the basics of what starting biome and Abeyance to select in Nightingale. TL;DR: The forest is the best as it has the most accessible starting resources you need, with weaker and fewer hazards to deal with. But that’s not to say it won’t challenge you in other areas.

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