Sons Of The Forest throws players into the deep end. Crash landing on a remote island crawling with cannibals and mutants, players must scavenge what they need to survive from their surroundings. Not only must they contend with their violent neighbors, but also endure the elements, provide food and water, and explore the island to find a way to escape.
Sons Of The Forest: Tips And Tricks For Beginners
These tips and tricks make surviving in Sons of the Forest easier for beginners.
Along the way, players will stumble across some unique items and equipment. These should not be missed, as acquiring them can help players out, especially in the early game. Here are the best items to get, and where to find them, in Sons Of The Forest.
Updated on March 9, 2024, by Taylor Pittman: Sons of the Forest 1.0 update brought the game to its most polished form yet. Players can enjoy added gameplay, new NPCs, and special items. Locating items is important to progress in the storyline, and weapons are needed to fight the many cannibals and mutants that plague the island. There are certain things players should prioritize to get the most out of their playthrough and protect themselves. This list has been updated to include more important items players should get in Sons of the Forest first.
13 Modern Axe
A Melee Weapon
A direct upgrade to the tactical axe that players start with, the Modern Axe is a larger and overall better version. It chops down trees much faster and is an ideal weapon to wield when just starting out, as it can take down enemies in only a couple of hits, often dismembering or decapitating them.
It can be found at an abandoned camp just northwest of one of the purple GPS Locators on the map, relatively close to the mountain spawn point. Players should make sure to pick this axe up for a fantastic early-game weapon and tool.
12 Winter Jacket
An Article of Clothing
Winter is coming, and there aren’t any dragons to keep players nice and toasty. Instead, they’ll need to keep themselves warm, and one of the best ways to do this is by acquiring the Winter Jacket. This piece of clothing keeps players insulated in cold weather and prevents a loss of stamina from the cold.
Sons of the Forest: How to Find Bunkers
Here are all the hidden bunker locations and how to find them in Sons of the Forest.
Players can find the Winter Jacket at an abandoned tent on the Golf Course located on the far north side of the island. They should aim to pick this item up before winter sets in to avoid getting caught out.
11 GPS Locator
A Tracking Device
When the game begins, players will see three purple markers on the map. These are GPS Locators, and going to each individual marker and picking up a locator will add them to the player’s inventory. Players can then use them as GPS trackers similar to the one Kelvin starts out with.
Leaving them at a particular spot will mark it on the map, helping players find their way back should they want to. This is ideal for scouting out base locations or marking areas to return to. Alternatively, give a locator to Virginia and players will never lose track of her whereabouts.
10 Pistol
A Firearm
Guns are a rare but valuable commodity in Sons Of The Forest and can turn the tide of encounters with cannibals. The easiest one for players to get their hands on is the pistol, which can be picked up in the lifeboat where one of the GPS Locators is found.
This is a powerful weapon to gain access to early on, and while it doesn’t deal quite as much damage as some other options, it can be a blessing when ambushed by cannibals or defending the home base.
9 Foldable Hang Glider
An Aerial Navigation Item
The map in Sons of the Forest is huge, and sometimes, traveling from one side to the other can take up to one in-game day. Players can make traveling easier by finding a hang glider and using it to fly. Hang gliders are found on mountaintops and cliff edges throughout the forest.
Players will know they are close to one when its symbol appears on the GPS. To use a hang glider, equip it, approach a high place, and jump to activate it automatically. Since it is foldable, players can keep it in their inventory when they no longer want to use it.
8 Red Mask
A Wearable Mask
If combat isn’t the player’s thing, this strange Red Mask can provide a viable alternative. It is acquired by discovering a 3D printer, which can be found in several locations across the map, then selecting the mask, adding 150ml of printer resin, and printing it out.
Sons of the Forest: How to Get the Blazer
Sons of the Forest may be about surviving horrible mutants and terrifying cannibals, but the Blazer can help players survive in style.
It allows players to blend in with the cannibals, and as long as the player wears it, they will stay peaceful and will not attack. Sometimes they will even kneel at the player's feet and pray. Either way, it allows the player to sneak through an entire camp of hostiles if they need to, which avoids a dangerous and potentially fatal fight if on low health.
7 Stun Gun
A Ranged Stun Weapon
A non-lethal ranged option, the Stun Gun can be used to taze enemies and avoid killing them. This is especially useful as cannibals respond to the player’s actions – if they see their tribe members (especially females) killed they will retaliate and become increasingly aggressive.
The Stun Gun grants an alternate way to dispatch enemies without skyrocketing enemy aggression. It can be found in a cave right next to the beach spawn point, meaning it’s highly convenient and easy to acquire if starting out there.
6 Rebreather
A Piece of Equipment For Scuba Diving
Located in the same cave system as the Stun Gun, the Rebreather is found far deeper into the grotto. The journey is worth it, though, as the Rebreather is an essential piece of kit that allows the player to breathe underwater and grants access to previously inaccessible areas.
Once again, if starting at the beach spawn point, there’s no reason why players shouldn’t go get it straight away. There are plenty of other useful resources and tools, including the Stun Gun, that can be collected inside.
5 Pickaxe
A Tool For Mining
Players will need the pickaxe if they want to collect Solafite, a natural resource on the island that can be used to upgrade weapons and armor. The pickaxe is on the island's northeast side, deep inside a Solafite cave.
The cave contains some dangerous mutants, so make sure to pack plenty of health consumables and weapons. Players will also need to pick up the Rebreather before they can find the pickaxe. Once they find the pickaxe they can mine all the Solafite in the cave.
4 Rope Gun
A Zipline Projectile
Another key piece of equipment, the Rope Gun allows players to use ziplines to cross gaps in cave systems that would otherwise be too far to jump. It also grants the ability for players to create their own individual ziplines, which can be a fun and speedy way to traverse parts of the map.
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The Rope Gun is found by exploring a cave entrance right next to the forest spawn point. However, it might not be the best idea to head in right away, as the area is filled with creepies and can prove a challenge for lightly armed players. It might be best to return later to pick up this crucial piece of equipment.
3 Shovel
A Tool For Digging
One of the most useful items to have (and one of the hardest to acquire), the shovel can be found in a cave system just northwest of the mountain spawn point. It requires both the Rebreather and Rope Gun to get, so players should make sure they pick these items up beforehand.
The shovel is essential to progressing the story and opens up new areas to explore and new items to acquire. The dig animation leaves players vulnerable, so be wary of attacking cannibals when using it.
2 Shotgun
A Heavy Duty Firearm
The shotgun is one of the firearms players can get on the island. It is significantly more powerful than the pistol but has a slower reload time. Players must have the shovel before they can get the shotgun, which is easy to find because it is already marked on the map.
The GPS has three purple markers, and the shotgun is located at the northmost one inside a buried grave. Players will know they found it when they see a grave cross. Several cannibals hang out in that area, so be cautious while digging it up.
1 Cross
An Item Used To Repel Demons
Found in the same cave system as the Rope Gun, players will know they’ve located the cross when they find a shadow of it projected onto the cavern wall. Players can hold it up to cannibals to scare them and make them flee.
This item may seem underwhelming at first, as some enemies will attack anyway, but the cross serves a more important purpose later on in the story. As players come to the last area they explore before finishing the game, the cross can set fire to the enemies found there, which provides an effortless way of taking down these powerful creepies.
