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Sons Of The Forest > Guides > KILASIK's Guides
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Tips and Tricks
By KILASIK
💀 Survive Smarter, Not Harder – Master the Island!

Welcome to the Sons of the Forest - Tips & Tricks guide!
This guide is packed with helpful information covering everything from basic survival to advanced combat. Inside, you’ll find:

🔹 General Tips and Tricks
🔹 Exploration Strategies
🔹 Crafting & Cooking Advice
🔹 Combat Tactics and Survival Fighting Tips

Whether you're a new player or a veteran looking to improve your gameplay, this guide will give you the tools you need to thrive in the wild.

👉 Guild Link: Æsir Universe
If you'd like to contact me for anything, feel free to reach out via Discord. My Discord username is aesir_0.8.

🪓 Don't forget to comment if you have any extra tips, or just want to say thanks.
If you find this guide helpful, please consider following me here on Steam for more gaming guides and updates!
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KILASIK
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Category: Achievements, Characters, Classes, Co-op, Crafting, Game Modes, Gameplay Basics, Loot, Maps or Levels, Modding or Configuration, Multiplayer, Secrets, Story or Lore, Trading, Walkthroughs, Weapons, Workshop
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
16 Apr @ 10:14am
4 Aug @ 9:39am
1,944 Unique Visitors
45 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
🛠️ Getting Started: Your First Steps to Survive 
🧳 Suitcases and Loot 
🥦 Edible Item Indicators 
⚔️ Early Combat Strategy 
🛡️ Red Mask Crafting 
⚰️ First Death & Escape 
⚰️ Death in a Cave 
⏩ Quick Pack 
🛠️ Crafting and Combining Items 
📍 Creating Markers with GPS Locators 
🤖 Maximizing Your AI Companion 
🛠️ Checking Craftable Recipes 
🔥 Fire Spread 
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Kelvin's Commands 
❄️ Winter Preparation & Staying Warm 
⚠️ Warning Signs & Distractions 
🗺️ Map Navigation 
📡 GPS Locators 
🔦 Using a Torch 
📦 Wooden Crates 
🏞️ Frozen Caves 
🧭 GPS Tracker Stability 
🪶 Zipline Setup 
🏗️ Building Modes 
⛺ Quick Building 
🚧 Clearing Space for Base 
🔥 Fire Building 
🍖 Cooking Meat 
⚙️ Crafting Multiple Items 
🪓 Weapon Effectiveness 
🦸‍♂️ Creepy Armor 
🛡️ Mixing Armor Types 
⏸️ Healing During Combat 
🏹 Changing Ammo Type 
🪵 Using Logs to Damage 
💥 Grenade Throwing 
🛡️ Parrying Attacks 
🎯 Targeting the Legs 
🍃 Leaf Armor for Stealth 
🍃 Using Leaf Armor for Hunting 
❄️ Tracking Enemies in Snow 
🔄 Respawning Weapons 
Comments
🛠️ Getting Started: Your First Steps to Survive
In Sons of the Forest, your chances of survival greatly improve the earlier you begin collecting resources, crafting useful items, and building a solid shelter. To help you get off to the best possible start, I’ve put together a list of essential tips and tricks.
🧳 Suitcases and Loot
If you see a cluster of suitcases, be sure to open them! Suitcases will often contain essential loot that you would normally need to craft. Tape, arrows, food packs, and medicine can all be found inside, so get looting from the start!

🥦 Edible Item Indicators
When you find a new edible item for the first time, a question mark will appear above it. If you eat or pick it up, the game will remember it. From then on, that item will appear with either a green (safe) or red (unsafe) indicator. Green means it's safe to consume, while red means it should be avoided.

⚔️ Early Combat Strategy
When starting the game, it's best to avoid combat. You’ll have a window of time before the cannibals become aggressive and appear in groups. During the first day or so, let them observe you without engaging. This will give you a chance to explore the area and gather resources without much interference.
🛡️ Red Mask Crafting
You can craft the Red Mask using the 3D Printer. Once crafted, wear it to prevent cannibals from attacking you. Be sure to wear it before approaching their camps, and they should leave you alone.
⚰️ First Death & Escape
When you die for the first time, you'll wake up tied up in a cannibal camp. Wait for the cannibals to disperse, then grab your knife, free yourself, and collect your items. Loot the camp, then make your escape! The cannibals may stalk you for a while, but the AI adapts to your actions, so unless you attack them directly, they shouldn't cause too much trouble at the beginning.

⚰️ Death in a Cave
If you die in a cave, the situation will be different. You'll wake up in a sac and will need to cut yourself out. However, you'll still be inside the cave when you regain consciousness.
⏩ Quick Pack
Use Quick Pack to equip items faster. You no longer need to fully open the crafting mat to equip items. Just hold the inventory button to open your Quick Pack for faster item equipping. Tap I (or the inventory button) to open the entire crafting mat, and also swap items in and out of your backpack.
🛠️ Crafting and Combining Items
When crafting, it's easy to see what items cannot be combined. When you place something on your pack to combine it with other items, you'll quickly know what items can't be combined with the item you chose. Black bars will appear over all the ineligible items.

📍 Creating Markers with GPS Locators
GPS locators can be combined with sticks to make your own markers. As you explore the forest, you'll find GPS locators. Place a stick in the ground first (without snapping it), then attach the GPS locator.
🤖 Maximizing Your AI Companion
Make the most of your AI companion. When you start the game, you'll wake up, get your essentials and survival pack, then need to go over to Kelvin to help him up. After this, use your little notepad to instruct Kelvin on what to do. Have him help collect resources, bring them to you, and even craft fires.

🛠️ Checking Craftable Recipes
You can quickly check what you can currently craft. When you open your crafting mat, and there's a red exclamation mark on the cog, this means there are recipes you're able to craft. A number will tell you how many recipes are available to craft, from the items you have, and even better, if you hover over the cog, it'll tell you the exact recipes you can craft.

🔥 Fire Spread
Fire spreads in Sons of the Forest, so be careful where you create one. Near some leaves? If you place a fire down, it's going to spread. Although, this can be useful if there are cannibals and mutants around.
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Kelvin's Commands
Kelvin's commands are sometimes situational. For example, if he is near a fish source, the option for him to collect fish will be in his list of commands, but won't be if you're not near a fish spawn area. Another example is, if you've been hunting with arrows, or just finished a battle with cannibals where you used arrows, you can command Kelvin to run around and collect all of your loose arrows that are just sitting on the ground.
❄️ Winter Preparation & Staying Warm
Winter first starts on day 10. When you get started in the game, you'll want to prepare for this. It ends on Day 15 and if you don't feel like facing it, you can sleep through it to skip.
Get the Winter Jacket before winter arrives and stock up on Dried Meat, Dried Fish, Animal Hide, and Non-perishable food.


When you are freezing and wet, warm yourself up with a Torch. No campfire is necessary.

⚠️ Warning Signs & Distractions
Virginia and Kelvin will warn you when there's danger about. They'll both point but Virginia will also make noise.
Enemies unaware of your presence can be lured by throwing a Small Rock in the area. This can help set up an attack or assist with sneaking past them.

🗺️ Map Navigation
You can zoom in and out on your map. Press the middle mouse button to see more of the map, or zoom in to show you exactly where a cave entrance is.

📡 GPS Locators
GPS locators will beep rapidly as you get close to them. The more frequent the beeping, the closer you are to a GPS locator.
🔦 Using a Torch
Use a torch when you venture inside a cave. All you need to craft a torch is a stick and a piece of cloth. Having a torch inside a cave will illuminate much more than the little lighter will, and proves doubly useful if you're ambushed by an enemy.
📦 Wooden Crates
Leave no wooden crate unopened. When exploring Cannibal camps, you'll find resources hidden inside wooden crates that must be broken open with the likes of your axe.
🏞️ Frozen Caves
There are two caves on the map that are on either side of the mountain. These are just frozen caves, without any danger, and filled with resources.
🧭 GPS Tracker Stability
Running with the GPS Tracker out will make it wobble all over the place. Equip something else in your right hand to keep the map steady.
🪶 Zipline Setup
Need a better angle for your Zipline to carry you over a gap or slight incline, but there are no trees around? If where you want to go is within the Throwing Range of a Crafted Spear, try planting a stick in the ground by your feet and then throw the Crafted Spear so it sticks up out of the ground where you want to go. Attach a Zipline between your Stick and your Crafted Spear for a better chance to get over some troublesome gaps. However, keep in mind this trick may not work in many locations, and may result in accidents if your Zipline runs too close to obstacles or terrain.
🏗️ Building Modes
Press X to switch building modes. This allows you to either quick build or use pre-built structures.

⛺ Quick Building
You can quick build basic things in real-time like tents and fires. You can just place a tarp down, then equip a stick to make a quick shelter. Alternatively, you can snap some sticks to make a fire.
🚧 Clearing Space for Base
Kelvin can clear the space around you when you're making your base.
🔥 Fire Building
The more sticks you break, the bigger the fire. Add stones to reinforce your fire further.
🍖 Cooking Meat
Eating meat that's fully cooked is better than raw meat. Throw it onto the fire, then let the meat darken. This will give you a bigger boost and keep hunger at bay much longer than raw meat will.
⚙️ Crafting Multiple Items
When you want to craft multiple of one item, drop a bunch of ingredients on the crafting table. For example, if you want to craft a lot of Stone arrows, place all the sticks, stones, and arrows you have on the crafting table, that way you can just keep clicking the cog wheel until you've either maxed out on arrows or are out of materials.
🪓 Weapon Effectiveness
Modern Axe, Katana, or any cleaving melee weapon can kill many grouped fish all in a single swing.
🦸‍♂️ Creepy Armor
Killing mutants gives you plenty of creepy armor. When you kill mutants, you can skin them and get creepy armor. Equip as much as you can, and the armor bar will appear showing you how much protection you have.

🛡️ Mixing Armor Types
You can also mix and match different types of armor.
⏸️ Healing During Combat
If you're in danger and need to heal, you can pause time (in single-player). Open the crafting menu, take meds, and just wait for your health bar to restore fully before getting back into a fight.
🏹 Changing Ammo Type
Changing your ammo type when using the bow requires you to look down at the ground. Once you've done this, then you can swap between ammo types.
🪵 Using Logs to Damage
You can use logs to damage enemies.
💥 Grenade Throwing
After pulling the pin out of your Grenade, you can hold the live Grenade until you're ready to throw it. You can also Cancel your throw by pressing G on PC and the grenade will go back into your inventory.
🛡️ Parrying Attacks
Some weapons will let you Parry melee attacks with a well-timed tap of the Block Button. When successful, the enemy will become vulnerable to your next attack, briefly.
🎯 Targeting the Legs
Aim for the legs. Most bipedal enemies will either be crippled, staggered, or killed by shots (or repeated shots) to the leg. Works great with retrievable projectiles like arrows and crossbow bolts.
🍃 Leaf Armor for Stealth
A full set of Leaf Armor improves stealth when crouching, making it easier to hide from cannibals, sneak past them, or sneak up on them for the perfect silent arrow headshot. But be careful because Leaf Armor doesn't offer much in the way of armor, so be sure to have a defensive armor in your inventory you can switch to if you are spotted.
🍃 Using Leaf Armor for Hunting
You can also use Leaf Armor to make it easier to sneak up on prey like the skittish deer. You will be able to get closer to them before they notice you take your shot.
❄️ Tracking Enemies in Snow
Enemies leave tracks in the snow, making it easy to find them if they flee.
🔄 Respawning Weapons
Need a shotgun and pistol to arm Virginia with, but still need weapons for yourself? Just give Virginia your shotgun and pistol, then go collect another shotgun and pistol again from the same places you got them before. The guns will respawn each time you load your save file.
6 Comments
< >
Dret 28 Aug @ 11:52am 
quick tip I hear nobody speak of is chopping trees down faster by regular swinging and timing the swings side to side, much faster.
_Knoxious_ 28 Aug @ 7:20am 
Hey so I recently went back to get another shotgun from the grave but it didn't respawn - the pistol did but not the shotgun, any idea if this was patched? Because I know there is a second shotgun location in a bunker.
Fahrenheit 24 Apr @ 7:08am 
The efforts went into this is incredible. I also learned about the mask, thank you.
Priceless 17 Apr @ 3:09am 
Like, Favorite, Award.
AzeLow™ 16 Apr @ 10:54am 
:heartred:
KILASIK  [author] 16 Apr @ 10:24am 
I hope you found these tips and tricks helpful! If you have any additional suggestions or questions, feel free to drop them in the comments.