Overview
This guide will ensure new players can survive and prepares the player to develop in the game. It includes information about the interface, equipment etc and a Walkthrough.
Introduction
I certainly found that some guidance and some practice was found or else you can soon die. This guide goes through the absolute basics of the game, from knowing nothing to being able to survive for as long as you like (as long as you don’t pick a fight with a creature bigger than you!). I will go through some of the detail and then a ‘walkthrough’ to get you through the early stage of the game. I hope my guidance helps you, its my first one, please Rate It if it helps you and I may do another one!
Characters
Firstly let me explain that if your character dies it will be permanent unless you have built and set up a Pike of Resurrection, which can be built early in the game and I will cover a little later. Each character you create will be a new game. If you create a character named Bert when you respawn you will re-join the game as Bert. So if you are playing the game as a practice, when you feel that you are ready to start properly start a game with a new character name.
When you are Respawned you will have no items with you, but there will be a marker showing where your dead body is so you can go and pick up the items you were holding when you dies. You are very vulnerable at this time, you need to get to your clothing and weapons etc before you die of the cold or are killed.
Tip: When you have sufficient slots carry 3 skulls and a log with you and when you are far from your base (which should have a Resurrection Pike) build a Resurrection Pike and activate it, that way if you are killed you will respawn nearer you dead body and gear.
Keys
W,S,A,D, To move, can also use mouse for direction
E Action / pick up an item
G Drop item
I Go to Inventory
J Go to Journal
K Craft and cook
Esc Main menu
L Shift Run
L Ctrl Walk slowly
Enter Chat (multiplayer)
Tab Push to talk (multiplayer)
LMB Use item
RMB Hold Bow
MMB (scroll) Scroll (quick items in your hand)
Spacebar Jump
Journal (J)
Your journal is entered using the ‘J’ key. It does not actually contain a journal!
Build
In this section you can select structures which you can build if you are carrying the appropriate items. Click on the structure then click on the ground where you wish to place it, when the plan is green you can proceed if it is red you need to move it elsewhere but maybe only a tiny bit.
Structure Logs Stone Other materials Purpose
Campfire 1 6 2 Flint, Supplies Warmth
Pike of Resurrection 1 0 3 Skulls Respawn location when die
Lean-to 4 0 10 Woodsticks Supplies some Warmth
Wooden Shack 35 0 20 Woodsticks Supplies some Warmth and protection
Wooden House 60 35 Supplies Warmth and protection
Stone House 25 30 Supplies Warmth and protection
Town Hall 500 100 Supplies maximum Warmth and protection
Blacksmith 20 55 5 Coal, 10 LQ Ore, 15 MQ Ore Supplies Warmth and protection and a Forge which is essential to craft most equipment
Survival Check List
This is the list of suggested primary actions. You don’t have to do them in any particular order or time. If you are following a guide like mine then you can ignore the Check List, you will get it all done anyway.
Bestiary
Lists all the animals and creatures that you will encounter.
No danger Basic equipment required All animals not listed below
Least dangerous Basic equipment required Boar, Lone Dire Wolf, Lone Hill Stalker Defiled Skeleton
Medium danger Good equipment is required Packs of wolves, Plague Wolf, Spirit Wolf, Dire Bear Tortured Skeleton, Undead Fury, Dreamar, Ragnok, Lycor
Most dangerous Best equipment is required Forest Giant, Dragon
Equipment and items
As you unlock items information will become available.
Recipes
This should really be labelled Repairs. The equipment which you carry that can be repaired is listed here. If an item is highlighted then it is damaged and can be repaired. Click on the item to see what materials are required to make the repair.
Survival
To survive you need to keep an eye on the three coloured bars on the left: Warmth, Health and Hunger. Once Warmth or Hunger runs out you will quite quickly also run out of Health, and die. So you need to concentrate on how to replace these requirements, this is basic survival.
Warmth:
All the time you are outside a building your Warmth will decrease, when it gets to zero your Health will deteriorate until you die.
Clothing will help you to stay warm for longer and it gives you some protection against attack but such items will not be available during the very early part of the game. Items of clothing may be found in buildings, taken from creatures that you kill or crafted using items which you have obtained.
Buildings, whole ones, will keep you warm. Buildings are also good at keeping you safe and for storing excess items.
Eating cooked meat will also cause you to warm up a little. Meat will add about 10 points to your Warmth.
Health:
If Warmth or Hunger gets to zero you will lose Health until you die.
Being wounded during an attack will cause you to lose health, the amount varies greatly on what is doing the attacking! If attacked you can try running away or if you want to fight (if you can win its best to fight so you can collect items from the attacker) then attack the attacker with an axe or higher weapon while walking backwards.
Bandages will stop bleeding and give back some health. So collect Sundered Cotton and craft it into Cloth by using the ‘K’ key and selecting Cloth from the list. Then use the cloth to craft Bandage, you can then craft Fern Bandage which gives more Health back then Bandages do.
Eating most foods will give some Health back, about 10 to 20 points.
Frost Berries can also cure disease, and Red Apples and Sundered Nuts can also increase stamina.
Hunger:
You will constantly use up Hunger and when all gone your health will deteriorate until you die.
The only way to prevent starvation is to eat food stuffs: nuts from trees, berries from bushes and meat from animals including wolves (the meat must be cooked first). Cooked meat can add about 60 to your Hunger value.
Tip: Cooked meats are best overall, they give Warmth, Health and a lot of Hunger. Don’t eat rotten meat, you will get sick.
Items and Inventry (I)
To maintain your Warmth, Health and Hunger you will need items.
You start with a ‘quick use’ inventory which you will see as five empty slots at the bottom of the screen. You also have 8 other Inventory slots, this, and subsequent slots that you create can be viewed and used by using the ‘I’ key. The top 8 Inventory slots are the only places which you can place further bags and rucksacks. Other than these initial 8 slots, items can be placed and moved to and from any slot, including the ‘quick use’ slots. You can change the order of the bags by moving them like any other item.
You may find a small bag, especially along the coast, these will give you an additional 4 slots. As you collect items you will be able to craft larger bags adding many more slots. Simple bags can be made from pelts and sinew collected from animals, later in the game when you have pieces of dragon a bag holding 50 slots can be crafted. You can carry a maximum of 8 bags.
You can collect various items from the landscape, sometimes items are just lying around especially in or around structures, and you can get items by cutting down bushes and trees, from bashing rocks, by killing creatures and by crafting, including cooking at a fire and using a forge. For many items a Blacksmith building is required as they contain a Forge, you find Blacksmiths in derelict villages and they can be built by yourself mid game. I have found one early in the game in an abandoned wood structured village, and one in a stone structured abandoned village.
Items will be highlight with a red coloured border when they are available as an item for you to pick up. While the item is highlighted, click the ‘E’ key and the item will appear in your inventory. An item will not be picked up if you do not have space for it. You can move things around your inventory, the ‘quick use’ slots and the ground by holding the LMB on the item and sliding it to where you want it.
Items which can be gathered include (in order with most common listed first):
Ground: Stone, Flint, Frost Fern, Dragon Scale (rare), Nightbloom Flower (rare), and on the coast only: small bag, axe, and hammer)
Trees: Logs, Woodstick
Rock: Stone, Flint, Coal, Low Quality Ore, Medium Quality Ore, High Quality Ore, Amber, Radiant Gem Fragments,
Sundered Bush (small brown shrub with snow on): Woodstick, Sundered Cotton
Bracken (look like small fir trees): Woodsticks, Frost Berries
Leaf-less trees: Woodsticks, Sundered Nuts
Buildings: various clothing, Axe, Hammer, Bandage, and various other items occasionally
Animals: Meat, Hide, Pelts, Sinew, Animal Bone, Strong Sinew, Boars Tusk, Bear Claw,
Skeletons: Skull, Human Bone, Bone Dust, other items from more dangerous skeletons
Wolves: Meat, Wolf Pelt, Animal Bone, Strong Sinew and other items from more dangerous wolves
Other higher creatures: clothing, weapons, rare materials
The quantity of a single item which can be held in one Inventory slot varies, e.g.:
30 pieces Sundered Cotton
25 pieces Stone, LQ Ore, etc
20 pieces Flint, etc
10 pieces HQ Ore, Frost Fern, etc
5 pieces Meat, pelts, etc
2 pieces Logs
1 piece weapons clothing, etc
Equipment and Crafting (K)
To cook raw meat collected from animals stand by a fire, the letter K should appear indicating that crafting is available. Press the ‘k’ key and chose from your Inventory which meat you wish to cook. I have found no use for raw meat apart from making food so whenever you are by a fire cook all the meat that you have available.
Some items and equipment can be crafted at any time using the ‘K’ key as long as you have the appropriate items in your Inventory. For other (normally better) items and equipment you will need to be standing next to a Forge, which are only found in Blacksmith structures.
When you have pressed ‘K’ you will have access to the list of items and equipment which can be crafted. If an item is highlighted you have all you need and can craft it now, if it is not highlighted then you need to have some additional items as ingredients before you can craft it. The list will become longer during the early stages of the game as you discover more items.
The most essential pieces of equipment are an axe and a hammer, with these to pieces of equipment you can collect, craft and kill, so always make sure you have one of each. I like the Metal Axe and the Stone Hammer, they are easily crafted and quick to use. With the Metal Axe you will also be able to kill animals (except bears), lower skeletons and lower wolves.
Then you need a supply of food. Berries from bushes are easiest but cooked meat is best as it helps with Warmth, Health and Hunger, it is readily available by killing deer etc.
I have some Flint, Stone and Logs available so I can always start a fire but as long as you have an axe and a hammer you can get any of these items in just a few minutes or even seconds.
I always have some Bandages in case harmed while being attacked.
When you can put on the best clothing available to reduce heat loss and to help protect you when attacked.
All your equipment will wear out with use and will need repairing or replacing. To repair or craft things use the K key, to repair go to the Recipe tab, items needing repair will be highlighted.
Tip: when you leave your base take some basic items with you to repair essential kit, if they can only be repaired with a Forge take spares.
Weapons and Armour
Your axe will do as a weapon until you can craft a more dangerous one. There is a Bow in the wooden dragon Village but I find melee attacks to mostly work better, though a Bow is good for shooting out from inside buildings.
Here is a list of the best weapons that can be crafted
Weapon Durability Damage Coal HQ Ore Other materials required:
Rage Bane 500 65 20 40 Dragon: 1 hide, 1 fire, 1 heart, 4 claws
Grey Reaver 400 45 30 15 1 ancient relic blade, 1 bear pelt, 5 rad gem, 3 nightbloom
Savage Ebon Steel Cleaver
380 40 30 20 1 bear pelt, 2 radiant gem fragment
Spirit Blade 320 38 18 0 1 Blackened Ebon Steel Sword, 10 Spirit Shards
Blackened Ebon Steel Sword
320 33 20 14 1 bear pelt, 2 amber
Reckless Edge 290 28 18 6 1 plague wolf skull, 1 animal bone, 3 hide, 3 strg sinew
Fleshbound Hammer
290 28 15 6 4 flesh, 1 bear claw. 2 human bone, 3 strong sinew
Wolfsbane 250 24 16 6 10 MQ Ore, 1 amber, 1 log
Tip: remember that whatever equipment you use will need repairing using the same ingredients.
Animals and Creatures
All animals can be found during the daytime, all can be cooked and eaten, and you will obtain useful items from them all. There’s nothing in the sea. Only two animals attack you, Boars and Bears. Boars and other animals except for Bears, can be killed with an axe. For most you will be able to walk right up behind them, some may take a few hits depending upon your weapon; they may run but not far.
Bears are very tough and dangerous, avoid them until you are well equipped and experienced. To kill a bear you need to keep out of its way so either stand inside a building firing arrows out or stand on top of something firing arrows. I think that their health as around 240.
Creatures are the horrible things that will try to kill you. Some creatures will roam during the daytime, these will be ones which are less dangerous and can be killed with an axe. At night the most dangerous ones come out!
More common skeletons and wolves can be killed with an axe; I tend to walk backwards while a wolf is chasing me, hitting it as I go. Wolves may be on their own or in packs of up to 5.
To defeat higher wolves (Plague Wolf with glowing eyes) and fully armoured skeletons you will need a proper weapon rather than an axe. Some wolves may give you a disease if they bite you; restore health and eat to get rid of the disease.
The most dangerous creature that I have fought is the skeleton that glows white, they hit hard but move slow, so keep moving and hitting.
I have not yet fought the creature that look like a large tree or the dragon, but I expect that they will be the most difficult to kill.
Tip: If an animal or creature wants to attack you, to be completely safe get inside a building, they will circle the building for a while and then leave (or you could restart the game!)
Map
It is hilly and vegetation can be quite thick, add to this the dark and the weather and you can’t see very far.
There are a few things to help with navigation:
Compass: You may find a compass or you can craft one. I don’t find it as useful as it should be.
Dragon columns (with live dragons on!): I have found two of these. One close to the first wood village on top of a hill. It is useful because it is so high you can see it from some distance. The second I can’t really describe where it is but it is about 2000 from the first one and has a large rock arch built into it. Other tall stone / rock columns can be seen from further away also.
Other structures:
There is one abandoned wooden village which includes a Blacksmith, and one abandoned stone village with a Blacksmith.
There is what looks like a derelict stone place of worship with high quality rocks and black skeletons guarding it, but again, I could not say how to find it!
There are a number of abandoned wooden and stone huts scattered around the island.
Tip: You can follow a straight line out and back using a compass or chop down trees to create a line to follow back.
Tip: While you are flush with gear build Fireplaces at locations easier to see, such as Dragon Towers, large rocks and structures so that you will always have somewhere to get warm. Leave some flint and logs ready to relight it if you return there.
Walkthrough: In the beginning
At the start you are alone on the coast of an unknown place. You are a character who has nothing, not even clothes, but you are able to carry a number of items. The coast is safe from anything that would attack you, but when you go in land various creatures will attack you if they see you (more on that later), so for the first few minutes at least stay at the coast.
At this early stage of the game you need to collect items to start a fire and eat food.
You should find a fireplace on the coast, there are a few of them, in which case you will need just Flint and a few Logs. If you want, or need, to build a fire you will also need some stone. You can build or start a fire by having the appropriate items in your inventory, then using the ‘E’ action key which will transfer items automatically to the fire which will ignite. As logs burn you can top it up by using the ‘E’ key again adding more logs. If you need to build a fireplace, like building any structure on the land, you need to enter your journal by using the ‘J’ key, then click on what you want to build. This will cancel the Journal and show you a design of the item in the landscape. When the design is a green colour (not red) click to place it and then use the ‘E’ key to add the items automatically from your Inventory. A fire with 3 Logs will only keep lit for a part of a day.
Walk along the coast until you come across a Lean-To Shelter and a Fireplace, you can use this a base but I would suggest only for a very short time. All along the coast is safe but resources are very basic until you venture inland.
You start with limited Inventory slots, 5 ‘quick use’ slots which you see at the bottom of the screen, and 8 other slots which you get to by using the ‘I’ key.
As you are walking around pick up any item you can, you should see a few stones or flint and maybe a Fern Plant. Bash some Sundered bushes (you can do this with your bare hands it just takes longer than if you had a tool) to get the cotton (and Woodstick), when you have enough you can craft some Cloth and in turn craft some Bandage which will heal you if it is in your hand and activated with LMB. Bash some of the bracken bushes and collect the Frost Berries which will give you Health and Hunger points.
At the Lean-To shelter you will hopefully find an axe, hammer and a small bag. There are a few such items scattered along the coast at Fireplaces, or other structures.
You may find a Flint or two on the ground but if not bash a rock with you Hammer this will create a number of items. You can carry up to 20 pieces of flint in one slot. You only need a couple of pieces to begin with but you can also use Flint with Woodsticks to craft a simple axe.
To use an item, have it in your hand by having its slot highlighted, then jut use the LMB. To change what is in your hand you can easily use the MMB to scroll through what you have in the ‘quick use’ slots.
Now you need a few logs, you won’t find a log, to get logs you need to chop down trees. Use your axe when at a tree and chop it using LMB, it will eventually fall, then chop the fallen tree to get a few Logs.
You can now return to your base and get the fire going. Stand next to the Fireplace with the Logs and Flints in your inventory and click on the ‘E’ action key.
Now you can stay warm with the fire, eat berries and stay healthy by staying at the coast. You’re surviving! But you can only just survive like this and it’s no fun. You can wonder up and down the coast for a while, you may find a few more things especially near structures, but there’s not much about.
I liked to have a metal axe and a stone hammer for most of the earlier part of the game. After berries, logs and flint, you will need stone so you can build a fireplace anywhere. Next you will need pieces from a dead animal but you have to go inland to see animals. To progress you need to be off the beach and a little in land, you should be ready for this within about 30 minutes of play.
You can also bash away with your hammer at rocks along the coast to pick up: stone, flint, ore and maybe a few rarer materials. One of the problems with staying at the safe coast is that there aren’t the materials to craft more and larger item bags so the amount you can collect and carry is very limited. So as soon as you are able to make a fire, find berries and bash rock, head inland, and do it well before nightfall!
Tip: You need to collect the basics, have stocked up on Warmth, Health and Hunger, then head straight in land as soon as possible with the goal to set up camp in a building before duck when dangerous creatures will be roaming!
Walkthrough: Head in-land
Don’t worry about the Dragon, it doesn’t seem to bother you at all, I wouldn’t go up its tower until you are good enough to kill it but you can safely walk around the tower, where you may pick up a Dragon Scale.
While you are looking for this site hunt deer, but don’t wonder off to far, the plan is to replenish Warmth etc at the village. You can walk right up to deer as long as you stay behind them, as soon as you are close whack them with your axe. They will run off, but not far. Follow them until they are dead which may take three or four hits with the most basic axe. The larger male deer take more to take down but there is greater reward. From the dead deer you get meat which you can cook by using the ‘K’ key when at a fire. You can also collect Sinews, which you will need to create items, bones are also collected but are much less useful.
Tip: Use cooked meat as you food source rather than Berries and Nuts, meat is readily available and gives much more Hunger, Health and Warmth.
Hopefully you have found the village, but if not any building will do if you need to replenish Warmth. Use the village or building as your new base. Build a fire, get warm and cook the meat. You may be able to build a spare axe and hammer or repair the one you have, remember that you must always have an axe and hammer to survive! Being inside a building will keep you warm, so you don’t need to build a fire unless you want to cook meat, a fire is also useful to see your base when you are foraging. If you have not yet found the village go out when it is daylight and search for it, you need a Blacksmiths to progress.
During the day you should wonder close to the village collecting items from animals, rocks and bushes etc. Store them in your base. You can create a Pine Boxes and place in your building, the box has space for 30 items.
The only animals that will attack you are Boars and Bears; Boars are easy to kill and bears are not found anywhere near this village. I suggest staying close to your building during your first nights. Creatures such as skeletons and wolves are quite common and will wonder right up to your building, but they never enter a building so hide in there for safety. Unarmed skeletons are easy to kill but others can be dangerous. The basic wolf is dangerous but can be killed with a fairly basic axe with about eight hits. Collect everything you can from anything that dies.
Tip: I spend time clearing a wide area around my base so that I can easily stalk animals without making a noise and, can see dangerous creatures easier and can see where the base is easier.
Once you do kill skeletons you can use the skull and bones to build a Resurrection Pike, place this at your base, if you are killed this is where you will start again. You can have as many Resurrection Pikes as you like but only one will be active. Like all structures which can be built, you need to get them from your Journal using the ‘J’ key then clicking on the item you want to build and then clicking on the ground where you want it to be built. Build the Respawn Pike as soon as you can and place it near to the Blacksmith in the village which you should use as your home for this part of the game.
Continue to collect resources and craft better items, you will need item bags, clothing and a decent weapon.
Once you are better equipped you can head deeper inland to discover more creatures, structures and items …
Happy hunting!
Beginners Summary
• For the first few minutes stay along the coast, there are things which will kill you inland!
• Pick up items from the ground especially an Axe and a Hammer, which are the most essential items to have.
• Bash bushes to gather Berries to eat and Sundered Cotton to craft into Bandage.
• Collect Flint from the ground and rocks, and Logs from cutting down trees, then light the fire.
• Find a Lean-to and Fireplace to use as a temporary base and recover Warmth, Health and Hunger.
• When full of Warmth, Health and Hunger, and you are full of supplies head inland.
• Find the village and use it as your new base.
• Hunt animals, cook meat, kill skeletons and wolves, bash rocks to collect Ore.
• Set us a Resurrection Pike.
• Craft better equipment before venturing further inland.