Stone

Description
Stones are one of the two core building materials in the game. The harvesting and management of stone is fairly critical to a successful game.

New Game
At the start of a new map, the primary method for collecting Stone is to mark rocks for collection using the Harvest function in game (default: H key). The Laborers will dutifully collect any items you have manually marked for harvest.

NOTE: Setting an item to be constructed on top of a stone(s) will result in the Laborers first clearing the construction site before the builders get started. This can save time on construction as the Laborers will take the stone harvested in this manner and deposit it into the construction. This avoids the round trip of them hauling it to a Stockyard only to then bring it back to the construction's site.

Early Game
When resources and manpower are available, deploying one or more Work Camp is highly advised. These camps can be set to auto harvest any resources (trees & rocks) within the work camps targeted area.

NOTE: The Work Camp has settings allowing for the control of the ratio of resources harvested. As the resources in a targeted area are depleted, the targeting ring can be moved to a new area. The target area can be anywhere on the map, but be mindful of travel times.

Mid to Late Game
For certain map types (Lowland lakes), stone can be fairly limited. If playing on map with limited Stone resources, it should be used sparingly to ensure it does not run out.

Stone can also be purchased from traders in the Trading Post but this can get expensive when large quantities are needed.

NOTE: If stone is limited, focus on core building construction and wait to upgrade dirt roads to cobbled roads until sure of Stone supplies.

Also avoid running your inventory of Stone to zero. If walls or buildings that use stone are damaged, you will need stone to conduct repairs.

The developers at Crate are currently taking feedback from the player base regarding the scarcity of stone on some maps. A rebalance of this resource and or other mechanics surrounding it are anticipated.