25 Best Sons Of The Forest: Tips And Tricks

By following my playthrough-tested tips and tricks explained in this guide, you will not have difficulty exploring the expansive map of Sons of the Forest to find the necessary items vital for surviving on the island.

Gameplay Tips & Tricks

First Base

Remember to build your first base near a river or water source. Any water source can be beneficial. Your first shelter can be a tent, which can be built using the quick build option. It will be enough for a few starting days.

A base or shelter is also essential to save your game because the game does not support an auto-save feature. Therefore, building a tent is among the best tips for starting a new game in single-player. However, in the case of multiplayer, each player needs to rest and make his bed as they cannot be shared.

Fall Damage

Fall damage is present in the game, so any jump from a high place or some cliff will deal significant damage to your character. You might want to watch your step near cliff edges.

Suitcases

Suitcases are important loot boxes present on the map. They may contain some essential loot that can help you craft useful items. A few of these include tape, arrows, medicine, and a lot more can be there. So, make sure to always look for them around the map. Many of these can be found near the mountain helicopter crash site.

Avoid Combat

One of the most crucial tips is to avoid combat as much as you can. The primary objective for the first few days should be gathering resources and exploring the map. You will encounter a lot of cannibals in the beginning, but they will not bother you.

Ignoring and avoiding them is the best practice on the first day. Once you get enough resources and weapons, you can engage in any combat you like to gather more stuff from the cannibals.

Food And Edible Items

Sons of the forest contain a lot of edible items. But be aware because not all of them are healthy for you. When you first encounter any eatable item, it will be marked by a question mark.

Its true nature will be revealed only when you eat it. However, when you see it again, it will be either marked as red or green. Red means it is unhealthy for you, while green means you can conveniently eat it without causing any harm to yourself.

Red Mask

The Red Mask is a unique and equally important item in Sons of the Forest because it will mark you as friendly to the cannibals. Crafting this item is not easy, and you require a 3D printer for this, but once you get your hands on it, you can explore any cave or cannibal camp without the fear of getting into any combat with them.

Dying For The First Time

From Cannibals

If you are new to the game, then it will not be a surprise that you die during the early days. However, don’t worry because when you die for the first time from the cannibals, you will be inside a cannibal camp. Most likely, they will imprison you and bind you in the ropes.

You must use your knife to cut the ropes and break free to flee from them. Afterward, you should loot the camp completely and run away immediately. The early-game AI mobs are not too hostile, so they won’t attack you unless you attack them first.

Inside Caves

Moreover, the scenario gets different if you die in a cave. You will be inside a sack, in a cave, using your knife to cut it and get out. You can look for the loot present there and then move back to your shelter.

Quick Pack / Quick Inventory

Setting up your inventory to swap items faster is one of the best tips, and Quick Pack is the way to do it. This will help you deal with critical situations and quickly craft or equip items.

You will not need to open your crafting mat to use the Quick Pack. Instead, you must hold the inventory button/key bind to open the Quick Pack and equip them. You choose which items can be placed in this portion to help you use it efficiently.

Crafting

Crafting can be a difficult concept for people new to the game. You must observe some obvious markers on your crafting mat to grasp it. All items that you cannot craft will be covered with black lines. Additionally, all items you can craft with your current resources will be colored naturally.

AI Companions

Once the game starts, your fast priority should be to collect all the required things around you. Your next task should be to locate the companions using the markers on the map. These companions can be helpful a lot in collecting resources and even crafting some stuff.

Kelvin

Kelvin will be one of the starting companions you can interact with. He is near the helicopter crash site, and you can help him get his assistance. Kelvin can only take orders written in the notebook because he is deaf.

His tasks are based on the location and scenario, and they are not always available. For example, fishing commands will only work if he is near a fishing spot. He can do the following tasks for you:

• Gather items such as food (e.g., berries), sticks, arrows, and much more.
• Build or complete structures, shelters, and fires.
• Follow you to some location for help.
• Take a break or stay in a shelter or home.
• Spot enemies and alert you about their location.

Virginia

Virginia has three arms and three legs; she is the second NPC of the game who can become your companion. The method to earn her is a little more complicated.

She can only become your companion once she trusts you completely. To make it work, keep a peaceful environment near her and not approach her. She will come to you gradually.

In comparison to Kelvin, the tasks she can perform vary a lot. She can help in:

• Pointing out hostile entities.
• If you give her a weapon, she will eventually use it and kill enemies along your side.
• She will follow you around to explore the map.
• You can give her a GPS locator and a few other items she can use for your benefit.

Seasons

An essential aspect of the game is the weather and season changes. Each season lasts for a different duration in the game, but the Summer and Winter seasons are the exception because they are the longest. Seasonal changes can be seen from the natural alterations, like freezing water sources and snow showing its winter seasons.

Winter

Almost all seasons in the game are harmless and do not affect your game more or less except for the Winter season. From our list of good tips for Sons of the Forest, this one should be taken care of the most.

Seasons can affect the environment and the way your player behaves as well. For example, in winter, your player will feel cold, and if not given adequate heat using some heat source, he may die.

In Winters, the player should take care of the following:

• Clothing and decent heat sources to keep himself warm.
• All water sources become frozen, so you must also find a way to gather water.
• Hunting techniques may also change in winter, so you should adapt.
• You should gather as much wood as possible to make fires last longer.
• Keep packaged foods stored as a reservoir for Winter.

In addition, the Winter season usually lasts for five days, the first one starting on day ten and ending on day 15. There is an option to avoid winter by sleeping.

Other seasons in the game are not cruel, and they have a lot of benefits as well.

• Fish can be a significant food source in Summers and Springs because the rivers are melting, and fish growth is abundant.
• Your character will wear light clothes, and there won’t be any need for some extra precautionary measures specific to seasons.
• Water will be available in ample amounts.
• Fruits and animals will spawn more frequently, giving you a decent food source.

Important Items

3D Printer

The most important item you need to get your hands on as quickly as possible is the 3D Printer.

• 3D Printer is used to craft essential items like tech armor, sled, flasks to store water, red masks, and more.
• To find a 3D Printer, follow the Green marker on the map. You will eventually find it in some cave or abandoned bunker.
• 3D Printer uses resin as a crafting ingredient, and it is a rare item. So, use it wisely.
• 1000ml of resin can be found in the printer, and a few more are on nearby shelves.

Can-Opener

• A can-opener is used to open canned food items.
• Canned food items can be stored to be used in winter.
• You can find the can opener near the helicopter crash site in the mountain area.

Some other important items are there as well, which are necessary to either get other items or craft new stuff. Detailed guides are written for them already. These include:

• Keycards
• Axe
• Rope
• Rebreather
• Pistol
• Shovel

Exploration Tips & Tricks

Map

Map is the basic equipment you will receive when the game starts. It will cover the whole game world, and it contains markers for important item locations and other sites. Efficiently using the map is one of the best ways to gather resources quickly and stay aware of your surroundings.

You can zoom into and out of the map using the scroll wheel on your mouse. This will help you locate cave entrances because the large map cannot show these small details when zoomed out.

GPS Locators

GPS locators are excellent pieces of equipment in Sons of the Forest. They can mark places or companions so you can find them easily later. A good feature of this device is that it will start beeping rapidly once you get close enough to it, making it easier to spot it.

Resource Caves

There are two frozen caves without any hostiles on either side of the mountain. These caves contain abundant resources, so don’t forget to check them out.

Wooden Crates

Apart from the suitcases, the game has a variety of wooden crates scattered across the map as well. You should not leave any crates unopened as they may contain some rare or unique items useful in your survival.

Crafting Tips & Tricks

Guidebook

A guidebook is given to the player when the game begins. It consists of all the information to build structures in the game. The guidebook can be accessed by pressing the B key on the keyboard.

In your right hand, it will open the quick build mode, while in the left hand, it will open the pre-built mode. You can cycle through various designs using the buttons at the bottom of the page or skip them to a particular section by clicking on the right-side panel.

Crafting Multiple Items

Place all the required materials on the crafting mat to craft multiple items simultaneously. Afterward, you can keep clicking the item till any of the ingredients becomes deficient, and you cannot further craft it.

For example, throwing all the stones, sticks, and feathers will allow you to craft the maximum number of arrows you can make in one go.

Fires

Fires can easily spread in the forest. That is why you should remain mindful of where to place it. This can be used to your advantage and disadvantage as well.

If your base is near the fire, the fire may spread and damage your stuff. In addition, if some area is crowded with mutants and cannibals, you can start a fire there to burn all of them.

Here are a few free tips for building a good fire:

• Breaking sticks into smaller pieces produces more fire.
• Adding stones to a fire will make it stronger and last longer.

Building Modes

The game features two types of building modes for your convenience. Pressing the X key on the keyboard will change the building mode.

• The Quick Build mode contains guides on how to build a structure.
• The Pre-Build mode contains pre-built structures which you can place and start to construct.

Cooking

Cooking is an important task in the game, and you should not ignore it. Cooked items give more boost to your hunger as compared to uncooked items. Cooking meat is better because it will keep you energetic longer. To cook it, throw it on the fire and it will be cooked in a few minutes.

Combat Tips & Tricks

Mutants And Cannibals

Mutants and cannibals are hostile entities. Although both have different natures, they will still try to harm you in one way or another.

• Cannibals are hostile towards you as well as the mutants. You may see them fighting off mutants along your side.
• Cannibals can raid your base, loot your resources, and destroy structures, so ensure your base has a good defense system.
• They can also use some in-game items and other things like zip lines to travel or raid bases quickly. Your defense should be strong in such areas too.
• You can use traps to enhance your defense system along with walls.

Armor

Armor protects you from the incoming attacks of mutants and cannibals. There is an armor bar showing your current armor stats.

• Golden Armor fills the armor bar to the full, showing maximum damage protection.
• Killing mutants can help you craft a basic creepy armor using their skins.
• Armors are built-in pieces, so make complete armor for full protection.
• There are six types of armor in the game, and a few of them are compatible.

Healing

Healing items are infrequent, and only a few can be crafted. A few good sources of healing items are:

• You can find healing items in caves, cannibal camps, and bunkers, but these places are filled with hostile mutants or cannibals.
• Aloe Vera is an important item used in healing but is also rare. It grows near water resources, so keep checking those places.
• You can find two sources of Aloe Vera by a small pond below the main stream flowing near the helicopter site.

I think Healing is quite difficult in the game. But here is a hack that I found working pretty well for me.

• If you are in the middle of a fight and you need to heal, then you pause the time and heal yourself.
• You must open the Med Kit and take the meds to heal.
• Wait until the health bars are full again, then continue with the fight by starting the time.
• This method only works in single-player mode.

Weaponry And Ammo

There are a variety of weapons, and several of them use ammo; e.g., Crossbows and Bows use arrows, while guns use bullets.

• Logs can be used as weapons to kill mutants and cannibals.
• Conserve ammo as much as you can because it is scarce.
• Swapping ammo while using a bow requires looking down at the ground.
• Electric batteries act as ammo for electrical weapons like stun batons.

That is about it for all the tips and tricks that can greatly aid you in your first playthrough of the game. If you have more queries, share with us in the comments section below. 

For more guides on Sons of the Forest, check out:

• Sons of the Forest Secrets.
• Sons of The Forest Best Settings For High FPS.