I get that we want to limit the speed at which players progress by making certain crafting stations only use certain items for fuel, I get that but.
Can we please use coal for the dryer and tanner?
Have you ever seen coal burn, if you don’t get that fire really hot it just pumps out toxic smoke like crazy. Hell even fresh wood will pump out smoke if you are trying to burn it too soon after cutting it.
All I am saying is that only using bark as the only fuel in the tanner and dryer doesn’t really add up. I mean if you had a wood drying station that used coal/oil and putting fresh wood in resulted in bark and dry wood then sure it might make sense or if you could use resin as a fuel in the dry and tanner.
This wouldn’t make sense. We’re not burning the bark.
Bark contains a chemical called tannin that’s used for tanning hides. You extract the tannin and create a solution with it.
Bark can also be used to preserve foods. Again we’re not burning anything here, so wood and coal would not make sense.
If you’re having trouble getting enough bark, use an upgraded pick on dried trees in the desert. You can get hundreds very quickly in areas that have many of these trees. There’s one such place near The Black Galleon. The Den also has a lot of them and looting the NPCs and chests there will yield a lot. You could get several hundred from clearing the place.
Another option would be to make it so making shaped wood makes sawdust/bark to use that way it’s another reliable collection method and it also makes sense