Overview
This is a basic guide on how to consistently make it past day 4 and how to know if you are f*cked day 0 or not. This is for update 2, so if you are reading this in a future update, be aware there are likely better things you can be doing.I will cover the essentials:- Understanding what makes a good spawn good- Making a base- Obtaining resources- Killing enemies- Not dying- Making the most of your money- Defeating bossesRemember this guide won’t allow you to beat the boss on your first try. You will get better with each game you play, and this guide should help you along the way.
Spawn Location
First, you want to make sure you have a good spawn. Look out for birch, fir, and oak, which have their own colored leaves that can be spotted from afar. Look out for iron, mithril, and adamantite as well, as you need both the wood and the ore to upgrade. If you are missing at least fir or mithril in the near vicinity, it is not likely you will be able to survive. This is even more dire with iron and birch. Also be on the lookout for huts, as they save you a lot of resources and time, allowing you to gain a tool or a station early on.
Your Base
For a base, the essentials are just a workbench and a furnace, but to survive you will want a second furnace and a cauldron. Two furnaces allows for smelting to be done twice as fast, and you can cook food in the cauldron so you won’t run out of health or hunger. Make sure to place this base at a memorable location, the most useful being ponds, as you can easily memorise the location of the pond by looking at the map (press M to do this).
Resources
Once you have basic tools, you should immediately start collecting 22 iron and 25 birch. You will also need coal, so collect enough to smelt the 22 iron. Once you have 22 or more iron and 25 or more birch, put 11 iron ore in each furnace and put coal in as well. You should throw away any excess materials into the pond or anywhere you won’t pick it up again. Once you have the iron smelted, make an anvil and the tools. Repeat the process by getting 15 mithril and 25 fir wood, and then again with 15 adamantite and 25 oak wood. By the time you have adamantite, you should be fighting the boss, so make sure to craft the sword before the tools.
Enemies
During the night, you will encounter enemies. It is best to circle around enemies, using your sprint conservatively to avoid the attacks, and kill them with whatever you have. Stone golems are extra difficult to avoid, but jumping back and away from their boulders works most of the time, and hiding behind a tree works as well. You can also encounter enemies in small groups during the day, and you can fight boss enemies (not gronk or big chunk, at least yet) by challenging the totems, but make sure to only do what you are capable of doing.
Surviving
In order to not die, you need food and more health. You can cook meat in the cauldron, but cooking meat soup is better, and this is done by adding a bowl to the cauldron. You can also cook mushroom soup, so be sure to have red soup at the ready. Upgrades give you more health, so be sure to try and get them. These include dracula fangs (gives you 1 hp per kill including cows), lifesteal dagger (heals you with any damage including resources), broccoli (heals you over time), red pill (gives you 10 hp), and blue pill (gives you 10 shield). Getting dracula fangs and a lifesteal dagger/broccoli early on will ensure your survival.
Money and Chests
Chests will become your lifeline, so you need to manage your money. Early on, prices will be cheap, so make sure to spend most of your money during this time. Mining gold and making coins from the bars can be really useful, so if you can find a gold mine near spawn, be sure to do this. Challenging the totems allows you to gain money during the day by defeating the enemies, so do this as well. You want to open plenty of chests, but choose wisely. If you have plenty of money, open a gold chest, then open several normal chests. It is usually better to stay with the cheaper chests, as they can still give you good upgrades.
The Boss
Now, at night five, you will encounter gronk or big chunk. I find gronk to be the easier of the two, as gronk’s wave attack is easier to dodge. Now, for dodging, you will want jump upgrades including the froggy or jetpack. Either will work, but a combination of them is best, especially with big chunk. If you can not dodge successfully, then go to a forested area and let the trees absorb the damage. You will have to get close to the bosses to do damage, so be careful, specifically with gronk, who has a powerful close range attack. Regular enemies will spawn as well, so be sure to either get rid of them or avoid them while fighting the boss. Once you have defeated the boss, you can now move on to greater things. I might make a guide on becoming virtually invincible in the endgame.