The Forest

Topics:
Start and the first Shelter / Food and water / crafting / basebuildiung / scouting / the fight / enemies and survivaling strategie

Start and the First Shelter

In the Forest you will start after a airplane crash mutants take your son and your only goal ist to survive and find him. In the Airplane you will find food, drinks and the first weapon the axe. Use as much to refresh and fill food and drinking.
The Rest you should take until you build your shelter before your new food is ready. The next move depends on the difficulty you play. In generally i would always build a shelter. All my tries i had a good expirince with treehouses. Normal enemies can not catch you there even if you sleep.
If you play at the Peacefull you can search a nice place too. In other modes i would suggest to build near a water source in wich you can wash you too. Best would be if there are fishes too so you can easily provide food and drinks. I was working with different shelters in my save game so if there was the sign a big attack was coming, i was going to my own island but this will be explained by survivng strategie. A good place to wash you will be important if you go hunting or slaying mutants.

Food and Water

To get Food you have different ways. You can use the axe or a spearto hunt animals and fishes. Very easy are the fishes with the spear because they can not flee. I would always take a lot of them. If you need fast food you can cook them on a campfire. For Longtearm results i would use a dryingrack it' takesmore time, but gives you more foodpoints so you can fill up with a lot of animals, wich saves you time and give you the possibility to create safepoints. Snacks and Soda i would just use at the first start and if you are far away from home.
The Water gets really easy if you have small a waterpool near your home and a archtop. You will find the archtop on some camps with tents. Normally there is one near to the airplane.
You can fill the archtop with water when you are near the water and press E after you can cook and drink it.
An other method ist to build a watercatcher with turtle shell.

Crafting

For the entry craftings you mostly need branches, trunks and stones. You can get the branches if you cut small scrubs and very thin trees. The Trunks too, you will get them if you fell trees. Another good ressoruce are suitcases. They have drink, food, clothes and other things inside. You can open them at the easiest way by spear / axe if you heat them.

For the first rope i use clothes to produce it. Later you find in mutant villages or at the sailingboat enough because they will respawn after reloading. For hides and meat you can hunt the animals.

For crafting you have to enter the correct tools in the middle of the backback, then you will see gearwheel after click you got your new item. To craft shelters or furniture you need to open the survivalbook.

If you need bones to armor you or craft something then you can burn mutants or kill totems. The totems often include parts which you can burn to get bones.

Base Building

Important for base building is you need water and for the first base food should be near too.
Don't build too close to mutant villages. They are mostly empty, but there are groups of mutants around there.
It will be good too if material ist near to your shelter. You shouldnt build under a cliff, it it possible that mutants attack you from above. If you make a big wall around your main quater this will not hold if a bigger group will attack you. Just traps help to kill this groups fast. As a consequence i used many small bases so i could avoid unnecessary fights. If it has already started you can sleep but just at high place and the attack is finished.
The tree house in the alpine style is very valuable it has a balcony where you can have a fire and a water catcher.
If you can not build the dryingrack at a high place there is no problem if you build the rack on the floor just place it some meters away. They will damage it some times but in generally it won't be destroyed.

Caves with good Stuff

There are two caves with good stuff.

The first ist near the big hole where the helicopter crashed. And the sea at the end of the River.
This cave is usable as a shelter too. Go down until you reach the cave sea on the right side you can dive in the direction of the light. In the room are two babie mutants. They can easily killed with Molotowcocktails.
In the tent you will find a Motorsaw, in this room you have a exit inside of the big whole.
Near the tents you will find soda, meds, flareammo and alcohol.

The second cave is near the Airplanecockpit on a hill.
Follow the way until you reach a rope on this height i would build something for the icon.
At the right side is a spidermutant and some others. On the left way you will find ressources and the Katana.
I would recommend to go fast in, take the staff and run out.

Scouting

Befor you start scouting your base should be build up at least with food and water and a shelter. The first scouting is excluded. For far scoutings i used the morning after sleep. You should eat and drink before and the best would be if there is again water and food ready when you come back. And you should have medicaments, soda, and snacks with you for emergency situations.  If the mutants see you you have the choice run or fight. If you dont have any armor i would run if there are more then two mutants depending on the/your fighting skill. You also can do much on your skin so the won’t see you so early. Caves and mutant villages are very good spots for ressources and items, but never forget, they are dangerous too !!

The Fight

You will be attacked on sometime. The starting waves you can do easily if you block, avoid and knockback. Later you will need armor and molotowcocktails and a flare gun. Don't forget to fill up your health in combat. Some enemies you have to hit several times. If they lie on the floor it doesn’t mean they are dead. Sometimes you have to hit them 2 to 3 times to the floor until they are gone. If the mutants knock you out the first time the game won't be finished you can free you and flee out of a cave. After this you will die if they knock you out again. You can reset a fight if you sleep at a safe positon. If its a thunderstorm the chance is very high to meet scouting mutants.

Enemies

Spidermutants

The spidermutants comes if there is a big attack at your base or you can find them in caves.
A good sign for their attack shows you directly if they first lift the legs in the front up. This means they will takle you. They are much stronger than normal mutants, so the best way ist to fight them with mollotowcocktails or flare gun.
 
Mutant-chiftain

You will find mutant chiftainsin group with normal mutants. They are lightly armored and have a weapon. If the group ist not big the axe is enough.
Keep the flaregun ready in case you get problems.

Normal mutants
They are in generally in groups and will try to hit you with their fists.
As long you have an armor you can kill them, but don't let them surround you.
 

Starved mutants

They are in groups too but they are alone and very weak.  You can kill 4-5 with the axe.
It also can happen when you kill the first that they will start to eat him.
 

Baby mutants

Baby mutants are small and nasty. They can jump at you and will be a threat in bigger groups.
If there is one i take the axe, for more molotowcocktails or flaregun.

Surviving Strategie

To stay longer alive (if you don't like to fight all the time)generally I would suggest you to have different bases.

In my safe game i build the main base on a island because mutants don't go into the water. The main base should have enough food and water and snacks, medicins and soda storage. You can also safe some weapons there.

Notice after every loading you can pick up the flare gun in the airplane cockpit. On the main island I build some small outposts so I can sleep at night or regenerate all the time. You will find this island if you look to the sailing boot and walk right the way down the beach. A smaller island is behind the sailing yard too. Too build this up you have to transport the material with trunk and branches holder on the raft. You can build up a hide holder too on this island so you renew you armor can all the time.