Sons of the Forest: First Things You Need to Do From the Start

Sons of the Forest is a horror-survival game where you get stranded on an unexplored island.
This means you must secure food, shelter, water, and many more on the island to survive.

Additionally, some cannibals and mutants will pop out occasionally, and they can be pretty aggressive if they see you.

These can be overwhelming, especially if you have not played its sequel, The Forest. We made this guide to show you what you must do first as you start playing the game.

Do These Things First in Sons of the Forest

We listed five things you should do first to help you survive early in Sons of the Forest.

Use Kelvin

In Sons of the Forest, you have an AI companion named Kelvin. You can instruct him to gather materials or food for you. However, he can be killed by cannibals if you don’t help him.

You can also kill him yourself if you do not want to play the game with an AI companion or if you want to play with your friends.

Kelvin can be helpful, especially for gathering logs to build your base. You can also find another companion called Virginia, but you must first gain her trust to turn her into an ally.

Print a Mask in the 3D Printer

One of the resources you can obtain in the game is the resin which you’ll need to use the 3D Printer.

The 3D Printer can print arrows, tech mesh, or a mask. But to do so, you need to find it first by following the green pulses on your GPS Tracker.

Once you have a 3D printer, the first thing you need to print is the mask, as it can help you whenever you encounter cannibals.

If you meet a cannibal on the island, you can equip the Red Mask so it won’t attack you unless you hit it first. However, this won’t work on Muddies or cannibals that walk on fours.

Do Not Start Building Right Away

Never build right away during your first few hours in the game. Instead, survey the surroundings first and make sure it is close to water and food sources.

Also, your base must only have one path for the cannibals to go, as they will try to destroy it.

If you want to sleep or save, you can create a temporary shelter using the Tarp and two Sticks. Another method is by sleeping in a bunker near a 3D Printer.

Don’t Fight Every Cannibal You Encounter

You don’t have to be aggressive toward any cannibal you encounter. You can conserve your ammo by not paying attention to them, except if they steal from your base or when they try to kill Kelvin.

If you got killed by a cannibal for the first time, it won’t be game over yet. Instead, you will wake up tied at the Cannibal’s camp.

Use your knife to escape and make sure to retrieve your bag. It’s usually in the middle of the camp, and you can spot it with an orange exclamation point.

Get the GPS Locator

As you start playing Sons of the Forest, you will find purple exclamation point icons on your GPS Tracker. Go to these locations to obtain a GPS Locator. This will act as a marker on your map.

Equip a stick and place it vertically on the ground. After that, equip the GPS Locator, choose your desired icon, and put it on the stick. This icon will then be shown on your GPS Tracker.

In addition, your other companion, Virginia, has no icon like Kelvin. You can give her a GPS Locator instead to find her on the map.