When night strikes in a survival horror game like The Forest, the player must face a multitude of threats. Not only do the mysterious forested peninsula’s cannibal inhabitants strike fiercer at night, but elements such as the cold can kill players if they don’t get near Light Sources such as Torches.

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With almost all Light Sources requiring players to gather specific equipment, it can get challenging to create effective sources of light to aid in their survival. Thankfully, the right analysis of the game’s built-in survival guide can point players to a wide variety of Light Sources they can create from scratch. However, among these available Light Sources, some can outshine the rest in terms of practicality and availability.

10 Dead Cannibals With Headlights

Certain Cannibals Have Lights On Their Heads

When players fight cannibals in The Forest, they might notice that this enemy can appear with different variants. While some of them can carry torches and other Light Sources, some unique cannibals actually wear headdresses with a Light Source such as a candle. This can be quite an unconventional Light Source for players, especially in squads that set traps against these cannibals.

Essentially, this Light Source will become Dead Cannibals with Headlights. A player is assigned to carry a dead cannibal with a light for a headdress, illuminating the immediate area. The portability of the corpse won’t be a waste of time for players, as getting this to the base will still give players a decent source of Food courtesy of their limbs.

9 Flare

Light Source And Cannibal Deterrent When Used With The Flare Gun

When players explore more of the peninsula in their The Forest playthrough, they might notice a briefcase containing Flares. These orange sticks work in the same way they do in real life, where activating them releases a bright spark and can be thrown to trigger a small cluster of sparks. Players can use the Flare as a Light Source in the game and even throw it toward enemies to scare them. While players can store up to 10 Flares at a time, a Flare Gun (found in the cockpit in the northeast of the peninsula) can store up to 10,000 Flares as ammunition.

Players are advised to store as many Flares as they can find in the game, which can be marked as Flares respawn in their locations when the game is saved and exited. Players are advised to hold a Flare they want to use as a Light Source, as a held Flare is lit indefinitely. In emergencies, they can throw the Flare toward enemies to scare them off, after which the light lasts for 60 Seconds.

8 Flashlight

Effective Navigation Source In The Cave

Not everything in The Forest gameplay involves building things from scratch, as functioning modern tech still exists. One such example is the Flashlight, among the brightest Light Sources in the game. Similar to its Sons of the Forest counterpart, the Flashlight has a brighter light but only illuminates the direct front of the user and has various animations as its battery life gets lower. Flashlights run on Batteries, which can be found mostly underground or sometimes in suitcases aboveground. While players can only have one Flashlight at a time, spare Batteries are added to the inventory whenever they try to get another Flashlight.

The one setback of Flashlights is their 10-minute use time, after which the Battery is depleted. While extra Flashlights (ergo Batteries) do exist in Caves, their locations are fairly random and in sparse quantities. Flashlights are best used when traversing the Caves but not aboveground, where other more efficient Light Sources are accessible.

7 Cannibal Club

Easily Acquired, Easily Lit

When players begin encountering various cannibals in their The Forest playthrough, some of them might be recognized for carrying a Cannibal Club. Players can acquire the Cannibal Club when killing these cannibals, getting a rather disturbing weapon comprised of a stick or a bone decorated with a snake, a skull, and even two hands. While players can create a Crafted Club with just a Stick and a Skull, it only deals 7 Damage compared to the Cannibal Club’s 7.5 Damage per swing.

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When combined with a Cloth, the Cannibal Club can be lit on fire to become a Light Source. Doing so will ignite the Cannibal Club for 1 Minute and 50 Seconds. While this burning time is similar to most other blunt weapons in the game, the Cannibal Club (and its Crafted variant)’s accessibility and strength as a weapon make it a more practical choice for players who need a trusty Light Source in the survival horror title.

6 Custom Effigy

Fend Off Cannibals While Providing A Light Source

Adding to the survival horror appeal of The Forest would be Effigies - essentially structures made out of rocks, sticks, and limbs of dead bodies. While at first seemingly serving as random decorations, an Effigy is also an effective cannibal deterrent as mutants seem horrified of Effigies when they are burnt. While their status as ordinary items means the Effigy breaks into its component pieces when fully burnt, certain Effigy types are more useful than the rest due to their practical usage.

Among Effigies, the Custom Effigy is the most practical to learn due to its simplicity. At its core, a Custom Effigy needs 3 Rocks and 2 Sticks for the basic structure. When created and lit on fire, a base Custom Effigy burns for 10 minutes. However, each limb (Bone, Arm, Head, Leg, Skull) added can increase its burning time by 65 seconds - up to 20 minutes. The most sustainable version of an effigy that still burns for 20 minutes is comprised of 10 Skulls or Bones.

5 Skull Lamp

Stationary Light Source That Does Not Need To Be Relit

Environmental effects in The Forest gameplay, such as rain, can make most Light Sources moot, especially since they are mostly made of fire. However, the Skull Lamp is impervious to such hazards. When built, a Skull Lamp is a stationary Light Source that can serve as effective illumination around a base or even underground. Since the Skull Lamp is effectively inextinguishable, players have an infinite Light Source to rely on when navigating the game.

However, the Skull Lamp has some downsides, the most obvious of which is its stationary nature. Not being able to move the Skull Lamp means players need to position it carefully to maximize illumination in a location, such as a room with storage items. Additionally, Skull Lamps can’t be used to cook food, unlike typical Fires. Lastly, placing too many Skull Lamps in a given area can affect the game’s overall performance.

4 Fire Pit

Light Source For Cooking And Warmth

When it comes to basic Light Sources in The Forest base-building gameplay, players will likely get used to making a Basic Fire. It only needs 7 Leaves and 2 Sticks, but it has a lot of benefits: it provides light and warmth, and it can cook food and boil polluted water. However, the Fire Pit is a more sustainable option if players want their base to have a more reliable Light Source for their playthrough.

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Granted, the Fire Pit’s 7 Leaves, 7 Rocks, and 4 Sticks cost can seem too much compared to having the same effect as the more affordable Basic Fire. However, the Fire Pit is perhaps the most useful among the Fire category of items due to its position as a jack of all trades. For instance, the sturdier Bonfire does provide brighter flames, and the Standing Fire can create fire arrows, but neither can cook food. Meanwhile, the Basic Fire does cook food, but its fragile nature means players have to remake it repeatedly compared to the more durable Fire Pit.

3 Torch

Sole Purpose Of An Upgraded Stick

Sticks are among the easiest items to obtain in a player’s The Forest playthrough, which makes the Upgraded Stick among the first new Weapons for players to craft. However, while the Upgraded Stick underperforms in terms of overall damage, its best use is when it’s transformed into the Torch by combining two Sticks and a Cloth. The process creates an Upgraded Stick that is essentially flammable, allowing players to make a makeshift torch using a lighter. In combat, the torch swings fast and can be used for defense and setting enemies on fire. As a Light Source, the Torch can burn for as long as 4 minutes.

2 Plane Axe With Cloth

Basic Fire Upgrade With An Indestructible Weapon

Similar to the Lighter, players can obtain the Plane Axe before leaving the crashed plane in their The Forest playthrough. The Plane Axe will serve as the player’s basic Weapon and Tool of choice, allowing them to kill cannibals, hunt animals, and cut various items such as trees.

While the game does allow weapons to light up almost any kind of weapon, the Plane Axe with Cloth is likely the most practical application of the concept. The indestructible nature of the Plane Axe, combined with the frequency of the Cloth’s appearance, can make this weapon rather sustainable. When lit, the Plane Axe burns for 50 Seconds.

1 Lighter

Infinite Basic Light Source

When players start a The Forest playthrough, their character will always come equipped with a Lighter. This is both a Tool and a Light Source, allowing players to light the immediate surroundings - be it underground or by night. Its nature as a fire source allows players to set fire to various things, such as Fires and even Effigies.

Unlike other Light Sources, the Lighter is perhaps the most useful due to its indestructible and infinite nature. While the fire it creates can be doused by water, the Lighter can constantly recreate the same fire to restart Fires, light up Weapons, and create light with objects generally unable to do so on their own.

The Forest

Platform(s)

PC , PS4

Released

April 30, 2018

Developer(s)

Endnight Games

Metascore

83