First steps
This is a suggested route for learning the game, rather than a strict order for every quest. Finish one useful job before leaving for the next.
- Establish a home. Follow the opening objectives, place your Flame Altar, and build a Workbench. Make a small shelter and a place to rest before spending resources on a large house.
- Rescue the Blacksmith. Track the relevant Journal objective. Bring the survivor back and speak to him about the equipment and crafting options you can now make.
- Prepare your travel tools. Craft the basic Glider and Grappling Hook when you have their materials. Try each in a short, low-risk trip near home.
- Eat, rest, then leave. Take a weapon, a pickaxe, food and space for supplies. Choose one objective and a way back.
- Return, craft and follow the next quest. Store your haul, rescue other survivors as their Journal objectives become available, and check new recipes. Identify whether your next obstacle needs a tool, a quest or a stronger Flame.
Ready to move on? You can return home, repair and craft, travel with your basic tools, and identify one next objective in the Journal.
Base camp
Give your first home enough room for shelter, a fire, storage and the crafting stations you are using. Expand when you run out of working space; an elaborate building is optional.
The Rested buff improves stamina and stamina regeneration. Check its conditions on screen: safety, warmth and comfort matter, along with shelter, sitting or sleeping. Get the buff before heading out rather than assuming a roof alone has prepared you. The Rested reference explains these conditions.
Keep materials in a few clearly organised chests. Before a long trip, repair your tools and unload items you will not need. This reduces the chance of reaching a resource deposit with a broken pickaxe or a full backpack.
Travel tools
Both basic tools are crafted at the Workbench. Collect their materials while completing nearby objectives instead of making a separate expedition for every ingredient.
| Tool | Basic recipe | What to practise |
|---|---|---|
| Glider | 8 Shroud Wood, 2 Animal Fur, 2 String, 2 Shroud Spores | A short flight to a visible landing place; watch stamina |
| Grappling Hook | 4 Metal Scraps, 7 String, 10 Shroud Spores | Using a nearby grapple point and checking where it takes you |
Recipes are listed in the Shroud Spores crafting reference. These are the basic tools, not their upgraded variants. If a recipe is missing, check the Workbench and your opening quest progress.
A Glider does not make every distant landing reachable. Save risky crossings for after you understand its range and have identified somewhere safe to land.
Shroud survival
Before descending, identify the way out. Pick a nearby destination, watch the timer actually displayed in your world, and turn back while you still have a margin for a wrong turn or a fight.
Do not treat a timer quoted in an old guide as a guaranteed allowance: progression and world settings can change your situation. If an area warns that its Shroud is too dangerous, take another route and check your Flame progression rather than testing it with a full inventory.
For combat, fight where you have room to move, learn an enemy's attack before committing, and retreat when stamina or health is low. A short successful trip is more useful than losing your supplies while trying to do several unfamiliar objectives at once.
Flame upgrades
There are two different decisions at the altar:
| Option | Purpose | Check before gathering |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade Altar | Expands the base's building area | Do you actually need more building space? |
| Strengthen the Flame | Advances Flame progression, including access through more dangerous Shroud | Does the next area or objective require stronger Flame protection? |
See the Flame Altar reference. Expanding a house plot is not a substitute for strengthening the Flame.
Continue the Journal's survivor objectives for crafting progression. For example, the Carpenter adds building and furniture options and the Kiln. When a station or recipe is unavailable, inspect the survivor's current quests and requirements first.
Next trip
- Missing a resource for crafting? Name the item and the recipe before leaving. Our clay guide covers a Revelwood mining trip and the first Kiln materials.
- Trying to collect or build with water? Start with the water guide, which separates drinking, water tools and base drainage.
- Ready to specialise in combat? Compare the build approaches, then use the mage guide if you enjoy wand and staff combat.
Avoid spending a whole session collecting everything you see without knowing what you will make. One completed crafting or exploration goal gives you a clearer next step.
FAQ
Building first?
No. A functional shelter and working crafting area are enough to begin this route. Gather and explore first, then expand around the stations and storage you actually use.
Early builds
Try the weapons you have first. Use a build guide to understand useful priorities, then adapt it to your current equipment and the encounters you can handle.
Stuck progression
Check the tracked Journal objective, speak to rescued survivors, inspect the exact missing recipe, and distinguish Flame strength from altar building upgrades. Work on the specific requirement instead of searching an unrelated biome.
Sources
Prepared for the 1.0 era, with source checks on October 31, 2026. The opening order and trip checklist are editorial recommendations; they are not a claim of one mandatory quest sequence. This guide is based on published references rather than an in-game playtest.