Starting Guide

List of important items

1. Start

Here’s what you gotta do first: get a fishing rod. Just walk up to a vending machine and buy yourself one. You’ll start the game with 100 mk, which should be plenty because a fishing rod will only set you back about 60-70 mk. If you’re short on cash, just grab stuff lying around and sell it back to the vending machines.

Once you’ve got your rod, all you need to do is go fishing and save up enough money to buy a tent as soon as you can.

2. Fishing

Begin by scouting for fish animations that circle near the shoreline. Activate your fishing rod from your backpack by pressing “Tab” and selecting the rod. Next, select your preferred fishing spot and repeatedly press “E” as instructed to reel in the fish.

Your optimal starting location for fishing would be the lake located to the north of Sgt. Lake’s Outpost. The whitefish captured in this area can be exchanged at the fish vending machine for approximately 100-150 mk each. Amassing a backpack filled with whitefish should provide you enough capital to purchase a tent.

3. Buying a tent

Alright, so you’ve got your cash ready. Make your way to a vending machine and purchase a tent. Depending on when you jumped into the game, a lot of other players may have already marked their territories. If that’s the case, finding a spot in the neighborhood can be a bit tense. But don’t sweat it too much now, just find somewhere that’s not snow-covered and you’ll be good. The main thing about setting up your tent is to stake your claim to a piece of land as quick as you can. If you dawdle, another player might nick your stuff or you might end up way out in the sticks, which wouldn’t be a lot of fun for your first run-through. I’d say beginners should plonk their tent down on the starting island instead of the middle one. There’s a big forest there that’ll come in handy for the next bit and the main island seems to be a magnet for trouble.

4. Upgrading to a house

Awesome! You’ve got your little yellow tent all set up. The next task is to grab a workbench and a hatchet or chainsaw to chop down 100 pieces of wood within 24 hours or your tent will just vanish.

Now it’s time for a bit of exploring. Have a wander around your local area. Spot any buildings or warehouses? They’ve got loot boxes inside. You’ll find all sorts of stuff in them, from pointless paintings to useful ammo. If you don’t see any boxes ready to be looted, it means some other player has got there in the last 10 minutes. No worries - just come back later or hang around for the boxes to respawn.

Here are some items you should aim to find in those lootboxes:

• A workbench. Set it up in your tent and you can start piling up wood to turn that tent into a house.
• A hatchet or chainsaw. If you stumble across a chainsaw, that’s cool too, but the hatchet will give you more wood, which is really what we’re after right now.

If you’d rather, you can carry on fishing and earn enough money to buy these things. But let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to grab some free stuff now and then?

If you find something you’re not sure about, check out the item guide.

5. Explore the map

You are finished, now get out there and explore the map!