Overview
This guide does not contain any big SPOILERS and it just tells you some tips and ”hidden mechanics” without searching throught loads of Wikipedia pages. Many of the useful stuff can be located here in a single place.Keep in mind that this might change every now and then either by adding something or by rewriting certain parts.- This is an upgraded version of my guide on the Markiplier’s video with over 2.7K likes on my comment found here I ALSO LOVE SPACE… | Darkwood – Part 4
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Added section 27 – The Well and 28 – The Oven.
1 – Bike Man
Bike Man will drink all the Alcohol when moving your items from hideout to hideout with the exception of the last Swamp Hideout. (You can’t call him there). Take the Alcohol with you or you’ll end up with Empty Bottles.
= To “summon“ Bike Man you have to use a Bike Bell.
2 – Corpse
You can’t loot a Corpse saying OPEN because it will explode and it will deal poison damage.
= You can disarm them from a safe distance by throwing a Rock on them. The same can be done with Poisonous Mushrooms.
3 – Don’t Make Noise!
Try not to make too much noise, so stay still. Noise gets the attention of the enemies and they will want to investigate the source of any sound.
You don’t have to be too scared when you walk a little to get to the other lamp or something. I am not trying to make you into a pillar during the night.
= Actually, movement is required / recommended in later Hideouts.
4 – Essence
Red Egg and Dead Rat will give you Essence. Embryo also gives Essence but when eaten in Hard Difficulty it will grant you 1 extra life.
= With every Hideout you get more essence from the Oven for every item, so safe mentioned items if you want because they won’t rot.
5 – Night
Nightfall starts at 19;30 and Night at 20;00. Turn the Generator on at around 19;45 for you to set up all the barricades or if you have everything ready then 19:55 is also a good amount of time.
6 – Knock Knock!
When you hear knocking open the door or stay near it if it’s barricaded. It is a Wedding Invitation. However for it to be an Invitation you need to be in the first / Dry Meadow Hideout or a second / Silent Forest Hideout. If the knocks slowly start to get louder and louder and you don’t hear any grunting or growling behind the door it is random loot.
7 – Quest
Stuff like a Steering Wheel, Battery or a Wheel is for a quest. You can keep it thrown on the floor and it will not despawn or disappear.
8 – Traps
Empty Bottles can be thrown and used as a trap that you can walk on without taking any damage and it can stack on top of a Bear/Chain Trap for extra damage to an enemy.
= They will disappear when enemy walks on them. You can place them somewhat strategically to find out where the enemies go throught at Night or if they tried to go around your barricade.
9 – Healing
Pills (capsules) is the best healing item. It heals almost instantly. Stock up on those because they are really useful in a fight when there is no time to slowly regenerate.
= It is better to use Bandages when enemies are not around because it’s very easy to craft them.
10 – Armor / Defense
Shell obtained from a Huge Bug is used for crafting Light Armor so it’s useful to kill those ‘little’ buggers.
11 – Odd Meat
You can kill a Rabbit for Odd Meat. They can be killed with a Rock so you can save durability and ammo.
12 – Elk Killer
Killing an Elk is not worth it and it’s a waste of resources and time because it only gives you his Antlers that cost only 100 Reputation which you can get easily with other methods.
= Yes, you can kill it sort of easily by luring it into a Bear Trap or by using a Sickle but do that at your own risk.
13 – Crows
When you see flying Crows during the day that means there is a lootable Corpse somewhere in the direction they flew away from. When you see them during night you are in danger because a Banshee spawned somewhere near the hideout.
14 – Listen!
Listen carefully for muffled grunts around Mushroom Fields (big area consisting of Poisonous Mushrooms). If you hear any, proceed with caution or walk around it. The same goes for when you see bubbles in the water of the Swamp.
15 – Single Shots
Single Shot Shotgun only shoots 1 Shotgun Shell with each reload unlike a Single Shot Pistol which breaks upon use.
16 – Controls
Many people have no idea that you can Dodge by pressing CTRL and do a Secondary/Quick Attack by pressing F or MMB (Middle Mouse Button) Also using Q you can activate a Skill Menu. These controls are not obvious at first unless you look into the Settings or you can easily miss them.
= Secondary/Quick Attack uses alot of Stamina and does less Damage because it would be too easy to spam.
17 – Random Landmark Traps
When you see random Bear Traps in a forest do not Disarm them unless you really need the Scrap Metal (by disarming them you won’t get the trap). These traps can be used for luring an enemy in them. Just remember where they are. That way they can also be used as a landmark of some sort (scattered Crates can serve as a landmark too).
= If you are sure that you won’t be coming back to that trap or the area around, then Disarm it.
18 – Gasoline
This might be obvious but you can combine Gasoline just by dragging them together in an inventory. It basically puts the Gasoline from one container to another one and you can save space.
= The thing is that the Gasoline containers do not stack automatically like other items so you have to do it manually.
You can also pour the Gasoline on the ground and light it with a throw of a Matchatick.
= Pour with Right Mouse Button (RMB) and then Left Mouse Button (LMB) when holding the Gasoline just like you do it for the Generator. The same controls are for throwing a Matchstick.
19 – Storage
You probably already noticed the shoes near the front doors or a pile of clothes thrown on the floor in a hideout. It can be used as a safe storage. The same goes for a dog house, cart and a tractor near the hideout as well as a pile of wood and a Table Saw.
= All the stuff placed in those places can still be transfered by a Bike Man.
20 – Weapon Test
I recommend trying all the melee weapons and guns in the game. This is just something you should do to find your playstyle because some weapons, like a Sickle for example, has a very different attack pattern.
21 – Hotbar
All the items in your Hotbar will not ever disappear. If you care about something or you are always using it and don’t want to loose it just keep it there.
= Items like a Lantern will work when it’s in your Hotbar. If you are going to dark places and you need a light but also a way to defend yourself with a weapon, use it.
22 – Food
Pretty much all the food will give you stamina boost so you can run longer. It’s handy when you have some but it’s also not really necessary.
= You can eat food and quickly run to the Hideout when it’s getting late or when you see an enemy that you don’t really want to fight with.
23 – Holes
There are different types of holes and all of them can somewhat benefit you BUT there is a danger to them as well.
1) Location on the map
If you find it at some point and there is an option to jump in, don’t be afraid to do so. At first I was afraid of doing it because I thought that I might die but I actually just regreted that I didn’t do it sooner.
2) Bug holes
If these appear at night, be ready to swing at whatever comes out. It’s really annoying to clean the mess after it’s late.
3) Centepide holes
I am not telling when and where these appear and what is a Centepide but when you see a singular hole (unlike Bug hole which has 3 openings) stay away if you hear noises and if there are small insects crawling around it. If there is nothing it should be save to aproach and you can pick up Odd Meat from it.
24 – Shiny Stones
Shiny Stones can be found if you are close to them or when you are holding a source of light, flashlight being the best for it, which is easier. They will (obviously) shine and you can pick them up. The only purpose is selling. They cost 100 reputation each and they are just scattered around across the map.
= If you see them in a dream it’s usually a good thing to follow their path so you won’t get lost.
Where there are Shiny Stones there is safety ahead. It’s a good thing to remember when you come to a crossroad 😉
25 – Save Your Progress
If you get paranoid about your progress, that the game may or may not have saved, you can easily just check the Oven or you can speak to any NPC. After that, you can safely exit the game.
However, you can also use this to choose a different dialog option if you are curious. The game will save AFTER you’re done speaking with an NPC so you can exit to main menu, return to the NPC and choose something different.
26 – Reloading
When reloading a gun that you shot only ONCE you will lose the remaining ammunition. So be very careful with that R.
The same applies to a Flashlight that can be ”reloaded” (with R) when you have a 9V Battery in your inventory, except you obviously won’t lose any ammunition, but you will lose the charge that the 9V Battery had left in that Flashlight.
27 – The Well
When you get the chance to repair the Well, do it immediately. Repairing it should be one of the priorities when moving to a new Hideout because drinking the water from it once per day will fully heal you.
The use of it should be mainly for healing the damage you’ve taken during the day before the Night starts. Reason is that the Well will refill after it ends but when you use it in the morning, you have a full day without it so you cannot even drink from it in an emergency.
28 – The Oven
If you turn the Oven ON in one Hideout, the Oven will turn OFF in the previous one.
Don’t forget to check the Oven when you change Hideouts frequently. The character will also warn you once the Nightfall begins that it’s OFF.
= Having it turned ON is mandatory as it protects you at Night. It requires nothing to lit and to stay lit.
(Parts of the Oven functions were also mentioned in section 4 – Essence and section 25 – Save Your Progress)