Beginners to Stranded Deep may wonder what items to craft first, as the game puts players in the role of a plane crash survivor with very little instruction about what to do next. This experience makes for a largely realistic but brutal survival game with mechanics that can be challenging to get used to at first, leading some new players to question which items to prioritize with potential life-or-death consequences.
When it comes to survival in Stranded Deep, it's crucial to keep the basics of food, water, and shelter firmly in mind, using the in-game wristwatch to monitor health levels like hydration. New players may want to prioritize specific crafting items over others to ensure they survive the first few hours of gameplay while keeping tabs on crafting recipes necessary to progress. Fortunately, there are items to prioritize to make the beginning moments much more plain sailing.
10 Stone Tool
The Stone Tool is one of the first and essential items for players to craft while following the brief game tutorial, constructed from only one rock. Until players get a Refined Knife, it's ideal for gathering resources like sticks by chopping trees and is a handy backup tool.
The Stone Tool can also chop coconuts sourced from palm trees, a crucial way of getting drinkable water and food during the first few hours of gameplay. Skin a coconut to first drink its fluid to increase hydration and chop it in half for a reliable but limited food source, as long as players don't consume too much in one sitting.
9 Refined Knife
The Refined Knife is another essential chopping tool best used for killing animals like crabs and skinning them for meat, which is one of the best ways of replenishing hunger levels when starting. Players can craft a Refined Knife from one Stone Tool, a stick, and a piece of lashing.
Players can also use the Refined Knife to shave coconuts and chop other natural resources like Yucca Trees. However, tools like the Refined Knife have limited durability before they break, so it's best to reserve the Refined Knife for survival activities like hunting, with other tools players can use for harvesting resources like wood.
8 Campfire And Kindling
Kindling is crucial fuel when making fires and requires two sticks to make. Campfires are essential for cooking food like crab meat but also provide a handy light source, as navigating the island at nighttime with reduced visibility can be challenging. In the early days, it's best to craft a simple fire rather than a fire pit, as rocks on the first island are limited.
Campfires only last so long in Stranded Deep but can be topped up, so it's handy to have plenty of kindling or other fuel around. A finite supply of sticks peppers the island floor or its bushes. Players can also chop down standard trees using the Stone Tool or other gear.
7 Fire Torch
When it comes to nighttime, players can choose to sleep in a shelter since constructed and hopefully awake in daylight. However, if thirst and hunger are low, it can be best to keep gathering resources, albeit it can be tricky to see the terrain at night.
Crafting a fire torch players can carry with them helps solve such terrain challenges, particularly when searching for resources. To make a fire torch, players only need one stick and one piece of cloth, located around the shoreline or inside the wooden container present at the beginning of the game. Use the campfire to light it and navigate islands easier in darkness.
6 Lashing
Lashing is a crucial crafting item for survival in Stranded Deep as one of the game's multi-use items and features in many crafting recipes with its ability to tie various resources together. Lashing helps to make hunting tools, consumable-related items, farming equipment, base-building materials, and even bandages. Players new to Stranded Deep should prioritize making lashing to craft items like a shelter and water still.
To make a lashing, players must get fibrous leaves from yucca plants or young palm trees and need four fibrous leaves to make one lashing.
5 Shelter
Players looking to progress and discover all that the islands have to offer must also prioritize making a shelter, as this is essential for either sleeping or saving any game progress. To make a shelter, players only need three sticks, four palm fronds, and one lashing, and they can choose to sleep or save their game at any time.
However, it's best to use the sleep option sparingly as this can reduce player hunger and hydration. On the other hand, not sleeping in Stranded Deep can also have some negative health status effects, so it's a fine balance between sleeping too much or too little, but once a day should suffice.
4 Coconut Flask
Making a coconut flask is another crucial priority as it allows players to store and transport liquid like water, so it's essential to maintain hydration levels, particularly while exploring. Having a full coconut flask on hand can save a lot of headaches trying to find water when players notice their character is thirsty, particularly during the early game days when supplies are very scarce.
When beginning the game, players should ideally craft at least two coconut flasks as soon as possible: one to retain for future use and one to use when making a water still collector.
3 Water Still Collector
Building a water still collector is one of the most essential things to make that's necessary for survival in Stranded Deep. Players cannot rely entirely on coconuts for hydration as the supply is limited, and they must look for water elsewhere to survive.
When possible, crafting multiple water stills is a handy survival pro-tip and players should make sure they have plenty of coconuts left on the island, as the water still recipe requires a coconut flask to make it and to scoop up water to drink after building. To make the water still, players also need three rocks, one cloth, one lashing, and one palm frond, in addition to one coconut flask.
2 Crude Axe
The Crude Axe is ideal for chopping up resources like wood planks more efficiently, saving time and resources. It can also be used as a weapon when hunting animals like crabs, so it is a handy hunting backup tool if the Stone Tool or Refined Knife break.
Players wondering whether to craft a Crude Hammer or Crude Axe first are best going for the Axe for survival, as the hammer is only necessary for base building. Players must also use at least a Crude Axe or get a Refined Pickaxe to open shipping container walls.
1 Fishing Spear
There are only so many crabs on an island, so players may need to search for food elsewhere to survive. Fortunately, there is plenty of fish to hunt, and players don't need to swim far to catch them. However, a Fishing Spear is essential for those who want to try catching and cooking fish, remembering they may need to skin them with the Refined Knife when caught.
At the beginning of the game, players are likely to find a ready-crafted Fishing Spear in the wooden crate that players spawn near when first arriving at the island. However, if its durability runs out, as is often the case in Stranded Deep, it's a good idea to have another on hand as soon as possible for emergencies.
Stranded Deep is available on PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.