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Sons Of The Forest tips: How to survive your first day and nightA simple beginner’s guide to surviving in Sons Of The Forest
A simple beginner’s guide to surviving in Sons Of The Forest
What should you do on your first day of Sons Of The Forest?Sons Of The Forestis an intimdating game that, like its 2014 predecessorThe Forest, is filled to the brim with interesting ideas and horrific dangers. There are ever-present cannibals and mutants looking to feast on your flesh from your first day, and you’ll also need to grapple with the diegetic user interfaces and building system.
If you’re struggling to get a handle on what’s going on and what you should be doing when you first start a new game, you’re not alone. The good news is that we’ve already been through that process a number of times, and we can tell you exactly what you should prioritise learning and doing in order to make the most of your first hour, day, and week.
In this beginner’s guide to Sons Of The Forest we’ll walk you through 15 top tips to bear in mind from the very start, to help ensure you survive your first day and night and get off to a roaring start when it comes to long-term survival.
Sons of the Forest: How To Survive The First Few Days | Ultimate Beginner’s GuideLooking for ways to survive your first few days in Sons of the Forest? Watch the video above for 15 essential tips.Watch on YouTube
Sons of the Forest: How To Survive The First Few Days | Ultimate Beginner’s Guide
So without further ado, here are our top tips for surviving your first day in Sons Of The Forest:
1. Loot every container at the crash site
When you first awaken after the crash at the beginning of Sons Of The Forest, the very first thing you should do is pick up just about everything you possibly can from around the crash site. There are various travel cases and crates scattered around your spawn point - open them up and take everything inside.
You’ll find some very useful starting items in these containers, fromropeto energy bars, meds, and a can opener so you can live off tins of cat food until you find a slightly more human diet. Only once every container is opened and every item taken should you start to explore your surroundings.
2. Use hotkeys to access items quickly
At launch,Sons of the Forestforced players to use their backpack whenever they wanted to swap items. There was a fast way of doing this - holding the “I” key brings up a quick inventory - but you can now also assign hotkeys to your items.
This means you can rapidly swap to a melee weapon, such as theMachete,Katana, orStun Baton, if you run into a cannibal while exploring. If you see enemies far off in the distance, you can have thePistol,Stun Gun,Slingshot, or any other ranged weapon primed on one of your number keys so that you can hit them from afar.
To assign a hotkey, simply hover over an item in your inventory. Then, hit the number key that you’d like to assign as a hotkey for that item. Then, you can press the same number key while exploring to pull out that item without fumbling around in your backpack.
Of course, there are other important hotkeys that you’ll also need to learn, since Sons of the Forest is rather unwilling to explain anything in Early Access. Here are some example hotkeys that you’ll want to remember:
3. Set up your first base near a river
There are several reasons why it’s a very good idea to set up camp near a river. Most importantly, it’s an easy and limitless supply of fresh water that you can use to slake your thirst. For more information, check out our guide onhow to get water in Sons Of The Forest. Another reason why water is your friend is thatenemies cannot swimin deep water, whereas you can.
Once you’re there, you can start to place down all the basic camping gear, like a fire (learn how with our guide onhow to make a fire in Sons Of The Forest) and a shelter of some sort. Speaking of which…
4. Make a Tent to save your game
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Endnight Games
There’s no autosave feature, so if you want tosave your progress in Sons Of The Forestyou need to do it manually using a resting area of some sort. The easiest resting area you can create is aShelter Tent, which is made from nothing more than a Tarp and a Stick. The former you’ll have found in one of the containers at the crash site (if you paid attention to tip #1, that is!), while the latter can be found anywhere where there are trees or bushes.
If you’re inmultiplayer, make sure to have everyone set up their own bed, as you can’t share rest spots. It’s best to build a base with that in mind so that it’s big enough to fit everyone in when night rolls around.
5. Tell Kelvin to gather food and other materials
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Endnight Games
Don’t neglect your companions in Sons Of The Forest.Virginiamay take a while to warm to you, butKelvinis there from the very beginning, and he’s as loyal as a dog. After rescuing a deaf and brain-damaged Kelvin from writhing in agony at the crash site, you’ll be able to write messages on your notepad to give him orders. These orders range from gathering sticks, logs, or food to clearing areas ready for building, hiding if there’s an enemy around, and more.
6. Chop trees efficiently with your axe
In most survival and crafting games, all you need to do to chop down a tree is to point at it and start chopping. In Sons Of The Forest, your axe actually cuts through the tree trunk at the point where you aim it. If you don’t bother moving then it’ll end up taking a very long time to cut down a tree even with the upgradedSons Of The Forest Modern AxeorFirefighter Axe, because you’ll effectively be chopping the empty space which you’d long ago ridden of tree trunk.
To chop down a tree efficiently, circle around the tree once you’ve made a dent in one area, and then start chopping from a different angle. This way you can cut down even the girthiest tree in seconds.
7. Head to the 3D printer as soon as possible
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Endnight Games
One of the most important sites to seek out and explore early on in Sons Of The Forest is the3D Printer. This device can be found in one of the cave systems marked on your GPS map, and it uses a resource called Resin to craft items that you can’t get any other way.
The essential item to craft early on with the 3D Printer is the Mask, which can help you pacify the more dangerous cannibals that will approach you after your first day or two. But there are various extremely useful items that you can obtain using the 3D Printer, such as theSledor tech mesh (which you can use toget Tech Armor in Sons of the Forest) so make it a priority to get there in your first couple of days.
8. Steer clear of enemies unless they attack
If you do attack mutants, they’ll immediately become more aggressive, and they’ll try to defend their fellows. In larger numbers, they can be a handful for a new player, so be very careful, and heal up if you need to. Learn how with our guide onhow to heal in Sons Of The Forest.
Of course, there are cannibal camps scattered around that you’re bound to wander through eventually. If you do find yourself near a cannibal camp, consider placing aGPS locatorso that you can mark the location on your map. That way, you’ll be able to steer clear in the future.
9. Increase your attack damage with manual labour
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Endnight Games
See the icons above your minimap in the bottom-right corner of the screen? The hunger, thirst, and tiredness icons are fairly easy to understand, but what does that muscled arm icon mean?
This is your strength meter, and as you do more physical activities like chopping trees and hauling logs, this meter will fill up. The higher it is, the more damage you will deal with your melee attacks. So exercise pays off in Sons Of The Forest.
10. Scroll through the Guide Book to see what you can build
You can also switch the mode from right-handed to left-handed, which is very important. When held in your right hand, the book gives basic how-to guides for simple structures like walls, floors, stairs, fires, and so on. In your left hand, it operates more like the Guide Book in the original game, showing you a variety of more complex builds which you can click on and then place down into the world as a template which you then fill with the required materials to build.
11. Spend some time building your own custom base
There’s a very interesting and immersive building system in place in Sons Of The Forest, one that’s much more flexible and ambitious than in The Forest. While it might be tempting to go for the easier approach and use the templates in the Guide Book to make building easier for you, I’d strongly urge you to quickly move on to freeform building.
12. Conserve ammunition as much as possible
You’re unlikely to come across much ammunition (much less a way to use it) in your first day, but it’s worth bearing in mind from the very beginning that ammo is a precious resource, and you shouldn’t spend it without good reason.
Whether it’s arrows for yourCompound Bow, bullets for yourRevolver, or slugs for yourShotgun, hold onto them until you absolutely need the maximum amount of firepower.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Endnight Games
When you’ve got a decent starter base set up, your next step in Sons Of The Forest should be to open up your GPS and see what all those markers on the map are about. The green markers are story bits, so if you want to get on with your quest to find the missing billionaire, then these markers should become your priority.
14. Stockpile resources ready for winter
Because of this, you should set yourself a loose goal to stockpile food and other resources, including logs and other building materials, so that when winter arrives you can wait it out with a sturdy, well-protected base and a surplus of food.
We’d also recommend exploring as much of the map as possible before Winter hits, as it’s harder to travel when you’re cold. For example, head to each of theSons of the Forest Purple Markersbefore the snow settles and exploration becomes much more difficult.
15. Don’t wear the Golden Armor until you’re ready to beat the game
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Endnight Games
