Outbound Guide: Where to Find and Farm Clay
Navigate the Canyons and Stockpile Clay for Essential Camper Van Upgrades
Quick Answer: Clay is exclusively found in the third biome, known as the canyons. You need to take a vehicle lift down to the very bottom of the canyon floor and mine the pale brown and white rocks. Each rock yields one piece of clay, and you can force them to respawn by sleeping or briefly traveling back to the coastal biome.
The game absolutely loves to taunt you. Long before you even reach the right map, your crafting menu will start demanding Casings. You will tear your hair out looking for the raw materials in the starting zones, but you are wasting your time. Clay is strictly a mid-to-late game resource, and getting your hands on it requires a road trip to the third major biome.
Here is exactly how to navigate the canyons and stockpile enough clay to keep your camper van rolling.
Navigating to the Clay Spawns
Once you finally breach the third biome—the canyons—you will notice a massive gorge splitting the map in half. The clay you need is sitting all the way down at the bottom.
Do not try to Skyrim-horse your way down the cliffs. Instead, follow the main roads either east or west from the biome’s entrance. Both paths eventually lead to heavy-duty vehicle lifts. Drive your van onto the platform and ride it down to the canyon floor.
If you are getting tired of making these long, tedious farming runs alone, you might want to bring a friend along. Check out our guide on how to get a dog companion to secure a furry co-pilot who also provides some much-needed extra inventory space.
Spotting the Right Ore
When you reach the bottom, start driving slowly. You are looking for very specific rock formations. The clay nodes look like pale brown and white chunks of ore sticking out of the dirt.
You have to manually hop out of your van to mine each one, which gets repetitive fast. Do it anyway. Each node only drops a single piece of clay, meaning you need to clear out the entire canyon floor to get a decent haul.
Why You Need to Stockpile Clay
Do not just grab a handful of clay and leave. You are going to need a massive supply to progress through this biome.
Here is exactly what you will be spending your hard-earned clay on:
| Crafting Goal | Why You Need It |
| Second Engine Upgrade | The terrain in the northern canyons is incredibly steep. Without this upgrade, your van simply will not make it up the hills. |
| Casings | Each Casing costs two pieces of clay. You need a stack of these to repair the broken ferry motor over at the dry dock. |
How to Farm Clay Efficiently
Since you only get one piece of clay per rock, a single trip through the canyon is never enough. You have to force the map to respawn the resources. I highly recommend grinding out three or four full trips back-to-back so you do not have to backtrack later in your playthrough.
Here is the fastest way to reset the canyon:
- Clear the Route: Drive from one end of the canyon floor to the other, mining every pale rock you see.
- Catch Some Sleep: Park your van, hop into bed, and sleep until the next day. This usually forces the nodes to reappear.
- Zone Out: If sleeping fails to trigger a map reset, simply drive your van back into the previous coastal biome. The moment you load into the coast, turn right around and re-enter the canyons. The clay will be completely restocked.
If you want to master every aspect of your campervan adventure, be sure to check out all of our other guides at Novus Vektra.
