You can use this method to exchange information with guild mates, or to specify the locatin of spots more accurately then those pesky landmarks allow. It's also useful when you have run out of landmarks.All you need to do is specify the distance of the resource spot to three known markers that everyone would know about. For this, you should use the pre-defined landmarks on the in-game map. To make the location as accurate as possible, you should try to use at least two landmarks that are less than 1km away from the spot, the third one can be further. This is necessary because you can only read off the distance in meters if the landmark is less than 1km away, otherwise the distance is rounded to the nearest 100m.
A hypothetical example of how this would work:
I have found Supreme Lake Big Shell. I stand at the resource spot, open my map, right-click Fairhaven and select Compass Target. I read off the distance to Fairhaven from the compass. I then repeat this with Farley Farm and Avendale. I can then specify the location of the resource spot by something like:
Supreme Lake Big Shell located at
Fairhaven 573m, Farley Farm 238m, Avendale 1.3km
If possible, you should try and use three landmarks that are approximately located at the tips of an equilateral triangle. You won't always be able to do this, as there are too few landmarks pre-defined on the map. However, you can even set up your our own system of landmarks for this purpose, specifying the location of the landmarks themselves using this system.
With a bit of practice, it is fairly straightforward to find spots based on the distances.
[Note: the keen-eyed among you might wonder why do you need three landmarks and why aren't two enough. Once you are near the spot, you do indeed only need two distances to exactly home in on the spot. However, technically, there are in fact two totally different points in the land, both of which would have the exact same pair of distances to two landmarks, so the third landmark is necessary to choose between the two points. This is why it's sufficient for the third landmark to be known less accurately.]
With a bit of practice, it is fairly straightforward to find spots based on the distances. Here is how you should home in with the landmark distances without having to switch between the different landmarks many times.
First go to the general area where the spot is. Then set the compass to one target, and walk until you are at the desired distance. Now turn 90 degrees, set the compass to the second landmark, and start walking. Curve slightly, moving on an arc, so that you approximately maintain a constant distance to the first landmark. With a bit of practice, you will get the "feel" for how much you need to curve to roughly maintain the distance to the first target.
Once you are at the target, you can switch a few times between the landmarks to double-check things, but you shouldn't need to do it too much. A few meters of error won't matter, since you can use 20m range etc. to finally find the spot.
Comments on this method are welcome!
