The swamp: two crypts cover a cuirass and an axe, put the portal on a mound, not in the water

Do not enter a crypt without poison resistance and a pickaxe. Two crypts get you the cuirass and the axe. You do not need to clear the whole biome on the first visit.

Put the portal on a mound. After a storm the anchor gets dragged out of the water, and then you search for an hour.