Your first day
Choose a hero slot on the title screen and create your wanderer. Choose difficulty carefully: it can be raised later, but cannot be lowered in that world. Read the difficulty rules before choosing Hardcore.
- Gather loose wood, flint and stone around the homestead. Pick flax, moonpetals and redcaps when you find them; holding ingredients teaches their recipes.
- Make a Flint Axe by hand (3 wood, 3 flint). It cuts birch and pine. A Club costs 5 wood.
- A Torch costs 2 wood and 1 pine resin by hand. It lights the dark while held, wears down as it burns, and can be repaired at a workbench.
- Build a workbench to craft a Stone Pickaxe (3 wood, 4 stone, 2 flint). Work towards better tools, weapons and protective gear.
- Cook meat at a fire and carry healing supplies. Food improves your stamina and recovery; a healing draught restores health.
- Build a bed and shelter at home. Watch attack warnings, save stamina for evasion, and return to prepare before pushing into dangerous regions.
Your satchel scrolls and has no slot limit. Inventory and crafting screens leave the world running. Only the single-player pause menu pauses it; online co-op never pauses.