Strategy[]
The First Day/Night Cycle[]
This section will teach you the basics of what you should be doing in preparation for your first night in the forest!
Your first concern will be gathering enough resources in order to survive the first night. You'll need three structures to make sure you fend off the wolves and survive to see another day:
- Campfire (1 Stone, 1 Lumber)
- Tent (1 Lumber, 1 Leather or 1 Wool).
- 1-3 pieces of basic Food (lamb or wolf meat)
Next, you'll want to choose a location for your first night. Generally, where you pitch your first camp will be where you stay for most of the game until you acquire weapons and armor, so you'll want to choose a good location.
If you happen across an Elder Tree, then it's a good idea to harvest the Infused Lumber and start making a Wand which will help you stay alive.
From the Lambs, make a Sleeping Bag and Wool Coat until you can get better armour.
If you do not see an Elder Tree (They're quite rare, maybe as few as 12 on the map) then start working towards making yourself a Blunderbuss and Lantern so you can travel at night unmolested by wolves.
As soon as night hits or just before, setup your Tent and Fire, this is a good time to start cooking while you regain stamina in the Tent.
Plan your next move, if you current location is good then build a Farm for sheep and a Craft Table to make your Blunderbuss.
When morning hits, try and find a better location if the current one isn't good enough, if your planning on rushing as much armour and weaponry as possible, you'll want lots of stones nearby.
If you're planning to prosper as a mage-type character, you'll want gold deposits and Spice Bushes nearby, since you will need Lambent Sunflower and Radiant Gemstone.
Attack of the Ghouls[]
At a random given night, Ghouls will start appearing from anywhere, if you are strong enough you can stay safely at your home to kills ghouls, because if you get away they will destroy all your buildings, however if you are NOT ready, it's not recommended to try to defeat the Ghouls, because they won't stop coming until day, so better just run to the nearest ally shelter and stay there, because you will prefer much more to lose your buildings rather than dying. Remember that you can get equipment from Ghouls, and they also give some exp.
Common Builds[]
Heavy Warrior[]
Can take a lot of physical punishment, and deals good damage, weak vs. Spells. Heavy Iron Breastplate + Beserkers Battle Axe + Heavy Shield + Spells: Shield + Life Steal.
This is the most common and effective build. You'll see a lot of people going for this setup.
Mage[]
Unable to withstand prolonged attacks, best suited to kiting enemies and standing behind more heavily armoured allies whilst inflicting good damage from afar. Leather Tunic + Elder Wand + Murloc Skull + Spells: Affliction + Stealth.
If people find an Elder Tree early on, they'll often go this route. It's highly recommended that you try and complete the Chef Hat quest by bringing him the required gourmet food.
Skirmisher[]
Capable of dealing lots of damage quickly, but not as durable as Heavy Warrior. Heavy Iron Breastplate + Berserker Axe+ Buckler + Spells: Stealth + Life Steal.
Very powerful if used in conjuction with an ally in heavy armor.
Hunter/Scout[]
Able to set off quickly and harrass enemies, the Hunter/Scout is your best bet at finding out where the enemy is and harassing them no matter the weather and daytime.
Wool Clothing + Blunderbuss + Lantern+ Spells: Clairvoyance + Stealth.
Use your quick item finish to quickly set off and complete quests, aquiring the crossbow should be your top priority.
Lancer[]
Pure DPS and simular to the Skirmisher is capabale of dealing high amounts of damage in a short amount of time, the Lancer focuses on attacking early with large amounts of damage.
Gleaming Spear + Buckler + Huntsman's Jacket + Spells : Stealth + Life Steal
Try to finish this build quickly use the early advantage you have to take down enemy structures. Buy spells when trasitioning into late game
Cook[]
Allows teammates not to have to cook. Get weaker gear and specialize in cooking and gathering ingredients. Try to acquire a crossbow so you can fight at range. Make sure to get maxed in cooking.
Leather Tunic + Lantern + Crossbow + Spells: Natures Grace + Stealth
You might go this route if other people want to spend their time gathering materials rather than hunting gathering or cooking. Fight from the back and be ready to change to a different build if you are last.
Tips and Tricks[]
- Make a tent next to yourself while chopping an elder if you are low on stamina, have the extra mats to do so, and plan on continuing to a further location
- If you do not have the mats to do above, set yourself to walk while chopping the tree. This will generate you a few points to get you just a little bit further
- Walk when chopping normal trees, this will get you 1 extra stamina point if you time it right.
- Carrying a lot of iron and having 15+ artisan means you can run for a long, long time (as long as you don't freeze). Keep dropping the traps if you are being chased, there is no chance they will trigger it (at least for now,) but +10 or +15 stamina can make the difference between escaping or dying (same goes for the chaser)
- If you hire multiple murlocs and are mining stone, depending on what you still need to do to finish your build your time might be best spent standing next to them with a torch instead of making multiple fires (or worse, having idle murlocs)
- To get murlocs to stop going back to a previous command, tell them to "stop" command, then issue a new order
- Stone sells for 10/9/8/7 if the market is not currently down. That means even if a murloc only mines stone, if you have the cheaper slave perk it has already made you a slight profit in 1 trip to a stone mine.
- Murlocs consistently make money faster mining stone vs gold (unless you get lucky with rads, or VERY unlucky with stone). This requires good control to keep them productive at night, if you find yourself losing murlocs at night stick to gold.
-Selling wool is much faster if you use affliction to kill your sheep for you
-If you afflict a pet it almost always dies, then the affliction will spread to the owner. This is much better than doing a bit of damage to the owner and leaving the pet untouched
- Hotkey your silo, even when you are far away from it you can send birds. Check for birds often. Use them as soon as you get them. If you wait to attack until your bird is over the camp you won't run in and be ganged by players you weren't expecting to be there
- Pull your kobold off a stone mine right after the 5th swing if you are low on stamina, the swing is always delayed and if you wait until the 6th swing you will be losing stamina for a 7th.
- Hotkey your murlocs, make sure they stay together for easier management. If you see one breaking from the pack make sure you correct this right away it is easy to lose track of a murloc during the first days as you are rushing to get ready
-ALWAYS get 10 cooking, and buy at least 5 beers from your tavern before you leave (even if you don't have the 10 cooking yet). Beer pheasants are the only guarantee of survival even if you play smart.
-Herb food is only good to eat BEFORE a battle, not during.
-Sage berries are amazingly awesome and I don't understand why so few people use them. If a battle turns in your favor and a player starts running from you, start noming them down. This will give you the mana to shadowcloak to guarantee a kill, or enough mana to engage in another fight if the player runs to an ally.
-Always have fire mats, when you build a fire get new fire mats before you leave the fire. Don't be that guy dying to wolves after you just killed an enemy.
-If you are chasing and it turns nighttime, frost armor has slower heat loss. Frost armor also is an amazing help against the wolves chomping you both. Also, there have been a few times where frost armor was the only thing that kept me alive on zombie night.
-Frost armor is the most important spell in the game if you have multiple enemies in a fight and are focusing you. It also counters syphon life.
-Tower shield makes shadowcloak a giant waste of mana. Don't use shadowcloak on a tower shield any other spell would be more worth the mana spent.
-If you are not in combat, and do not plan on going to combat soon, use clairvoyance every chance you get. When you know the enemy positions the game becomes much easier, you can find weak spots, see gear, and also spot movement. Stop using clairvoyance when enemies get in closer range or you plan on going to combat soon. Clairvoyance and birds work well together, if you find an enemy using the spell send a bird to track the enemies movement and see if any of their allies show up in their base.
-BEAR PELTS CAN BECOME 2 LEATHER. Left click it in your inventory. So many people did not realize this for a long time, quite a few still don't.
-If you see an enemy with under 30 stamina, afflict them.
-DO NOT chase an enemy who has more stamina than you, this should be obvious but I see it happen quite a bit. It doesn't matter if they are almost dead, if you chase them and do not have stamina or a way to get stamina without losing them you will find that you end up being the dead kobold. Don't forget that they probably have forestry too, and will be getting first dibs on trees. Also if you are chasing they are more than likely running to an ally, are you prepared for a 1v2?
-When you are geared and have spells, that does not mean the crafting phase is totally over. If you have a melee weapon, don't just ignore all those mats you see lying around for a ranged weapon. If you do not know where an enemy is at the moment, take the time and craft yourself the ranged weapon at the very least for sniping traps.
-Ranged > Melee in arena combat. Assuming both players are equally skilled. Drop traps in the arena and you will never lose to a melee if you aren't a nub.
-If you are near a shrine, it never hurts to build a building next to the statue to give you a bit of warning when a player is being resurrected.
-2 lumber, 1 leather/wool, 1 stone. From the moment you leave your base till the last kobold is dead, this should be in your bag, or you should be working to get it in your bag. This is just as important as food.
-Murloc dps can make the difference in dying to/killing a stick rusher. Use your murlocs if they are near.
-Putting 1 spike trap down in your base makes an even bigger difference. The first extra iron ore you get should be placed in or near your base. You never know when a stick rush might come, or how fast someone on the other team can gear. Being impaled on a spike really kills a lone enemies will to chase you.
- MY ideal inventory is 6 beer pheasants, 2-4 sage berries, 2 lumber, 1 stone, 1 leather, 6 iron ore, and normal/herb food for the remaining spots. If you can get anywhere close to this on your journey you are almost guaranteed never to get killed.
-Set a spike trap before going into combat, as a fall back plan.
-Put raw pheasant in storage silo to allow you to use "fast food" without losing them.
-If you find extra rez mats while gearing, putting them in your storage silo doesn't hurt either.
- Get your build down so you can always be geared by a certain day, no matter what items you find (meaning you are making enough money that you can buy, for example, an infused lumber, if you don't find an elder tree)
-If you are going for a build that doesn't use iron, use iron to make traps, instead of hunting. Make sure to also build a farm. This can put you ahead a day sometimes.
-Make sure you know what gear you are going to make, and trade with allies for stuff you need.
- Be a team player, use the freaking troll warblade if you are with allies, or offer it to someone. Don't just leave it sitting in your inventory.
-Always attack a player with wolfsbane right at dawn.
-Cleansing drought is underrated, 15 cooking is worth it if you see a player going for an affliction/frost armor build (staff/skull/leather)
-If someone does the chef quest, try your damn hardest to get that quest reward food. ITS WORTH THE WORK.
-Extra money doesn't have to be dumped into pets, buying extra iron ore at the silo can be just as beneficial, if not more so
-Eating raw meat means that you don't have to spend time cooking. Not cooking means no xp gain for the meals you are eating. This is a judgement call every game you should decide based on how quickly you are finding your mats and getting your income.
-There is no excuse to go into battle if you are the attacker and not rest to full stamina before going in. There is also usually no rush, walking from your tent to the enemy base means you have more stamina if a chase occurs.
-Gold doesn't always have to be spent. If an ally dies and you saved your gold you can send it to them if they are revived. This means they can buy their mats instead of starting from scratch. This means you have 1 more player ready for the next battle.
-If you lay more than 1 spike trap in a spot, do not allow the battle to be moved away from that location. It might be annoying but unless you are positive you have a kill do not leave the spike trap. If you think the enemy is not going to engage in a spot, don't lay so many spike traps. It is best to lay the traps when you see the enemy coming to you, instead of when you are going to your enemy (as they have "attack" on their mind, versus "I am being attacked")
-If you die be patient and teach noobs how to revive you. Be polite and understand they are learning, ask if they will share control with you.
-Scanning slightly ahead of yourself as you travel can be a life saver. Yes you lose mana, but you will see an enemy in advance and can set up for battle while your mana regenerates. You will never get jumped, and can see any resources that might be coming up if you still need one (usually I use this method for pheasant hunting as I travel)
-In 2v2, 3v3 and larger battles, if you are being focused use frost armor and eat food. HOWEVER, if you are not being focused you better damn well be casting spells and using SAGEBERRIES. This means more spells and more dps for your team.
-If you cannot find the last player on an enemy team, use reapers hand, in the middle of the map, at dawn. Zombies will find the player for you. Wolves will pick the zombies off at night so dawn is best.
-If you kill a player with wolfsbane, don't let it rot in your inventory. Use it for night chases.
-If you kill an enemy player, hide their gear. I cannot tell you how many games I have won because my gear remained untouched and I could instantly arm myself for battle.
-Building a forward storage silo after killing a player means that their allies cannot raid the loot after they win, you get more money, and can even put their gear in it (buildings are generally not killed as often late game, and no one thinks of looking for their gear in a silo)
-If you attack a day wolf once but don't kill it, it will slowly follow you forever nibbling at your feet.
-In 1v1 fights, if an enemy uses shadowcloak wait until the last possible second before you will be hit and use your own. Now you have more mana (generally), and a longer duration. When theirs times out, use yours. They just wasted their remaining mana and got nothing to show for it, whereas you got the spell off. That is a good trade no matter what way you look at it.
- If you are basing in a very forward spot, or away from your team, proxy fires around your base can save your life, giving you warning and time to flee.
-Plant trees as soon as the cooldown ends
-Elders usually have the highest market value, chopping an extra down is absolutely worth your time if you still need gold
-When you are low on hunger at night and traveling, building a fire next to a berry bush and harvesting berries will fill your hunger up quickly, as well as leaving you with some extra sage
-If you are building a base that is on a hill, using the tavern, fire, workbench/smith/silo you can make a wall leaving just enough room for a spike trap. Now anyone who comes through your base will either trigger the trap or have to destroy it, both of which give you time to flee.
-Every boss attack can be avoided with practice. Spike traps are guaranteed kills on bosses and also help if the enemy team shows up to try to take the quest rewards.
-If you have chef hat, cook some food for your ally as he enters the arena.
-You can make multiple wolfsbanes, if you have the ability to make 1
-Stay together with your team at all times in serious games. Running off alone to chase someone will almost always be your downfall. Splitting up to come in both directions usually fails as well, as the enemy will come across a lone kobold before the attack works, and retreating is not as safe using this tactic either. Think of kobolds like you think of protoss, they aren't nearly as effective when they aren't balled up.
-Douse your campfires just before dawn when you are in forward positions. You never know when the enemy tribe might have a talented gatherer.
-Every time a murloc returns to you to drop off goods it mined, punch it in the face. This will have it run back to work faster haha
-Rumors cost 1 gold, if you believe the enemy team is specializing, figure out who their cook is and kill the cook first. As the game goes on the enemy will run out of quality food.