Subsistence – Beginners Guide and Tips

Getting Started and Suggestions

All credit goes to excaliber!

Suggestions and tips for the beginner:

• Turn hunters off until you get used to the game.
• Don not run unless you have something to be running from because it will drain your food and water gauges a lot faster than walking. It is easier to see collectibles like loot boxes, fiber, and plants if you walk. When chasing chickens be aware of predators because they will chase you. When running from a predator do not go into the water because they can swim and will chase you under water. Its often better to shoot chickens than it is to chase them because the chicken gives enough feathers to make 4 arrows and only takes one to drop it.
• When you are hunting predators do it from the top of something they can’t climb. If you have a gun you only need to shoot it from the distance once and it will come close enough to finish off with your bow.
• You have to pay for respawns at your bed before you can use when you die.
• If you are getting ready to die and you know it scrap your pants and store the materials from it.
• You can move everything you build except the BCU
• Build as much of your base as you can before you place your BCU if you have hunters turned on.
• You need to place additional BCU’s to have a larger area to build in.
• Be prepared to die a lot at first and don’t get butt hurt about it.
• You are going to need a ridiculous amount of wood.
• It’s better to build your base off of the ground or on a cliff but some things you make can only be placed on the ground (animal pin and mining drill are examples).
• If your base is close enough to water and you place the fire in your base over the right spot you can stand on the ground under your base at night and fish without freezing.
• Check your fridge after crafting things that take a lot of power to make because it may have shut off when your power hit 0.

The first few days

Get used to the map and search for an easily findable spot close to water to begin building your base. Craft a fire and place it to mark your spot. Build a foundation and a storage box or 2. Once you have placed the storage box put everything in it except the hatchet and glow stick. Every day from that point on collect what you can, continue to build your base, and store everything you have in boxes when you get to your base. Don’t worry about how often you die until your base is built and you have placed a bed. You may die a few times a day but that’s to be expected during this phase.

After you have most of your base built

By this time you should have a lot of things saved up in your chests and be ready to quit dying as much as you were in the beginning. Craft and place your BCU. Use the BCU to craft a bed. Buy respawns on your bed as often as you can. Craft a shirt, bow, arrows, and a pickaxe. Craft a plant bed and fertilize it with the ash from your fire every time you add wood to it. During this time you will want to slowly upgrade and finish your base taking the time to make everything you can before you have to go and do any real hunting.

Now that you have completed that you are going to need to do some real hunting before you can craft more useful items. Bring a gun. Take head shots on the deer and moose with a rifle so you don’t risk getting close enough to spook them because of trying to hunt them with a bow. Cougars are going to have the supplies you need the most. To find them you have to go to the snow covered mountains. Once you have found one go to your nearest cliff and stand at a spot that can’t be climbed by your prey. Shoot it only once with the gun to get it to run up to the kill zone. Once it is there shoot it with the bow until it is dead. Climb down and recover any arrows that you can before you harvest the animal with your hatchet. Open your inventory, right click on a canteen, and select wash your hands.

When you build your animal pin upgrade it before you start putting chickens in it so they won’t go through their supplies as fast and they will produce fertilizer for your plant beds. Don’t keep more birds than what you can easily feed. Build another plant bed before you get a second chicken for your pen. Fully upgrade your plant beds before you get a third chicken.

By the time you have built your animal pin and kept a chicken alive for a few days you should pretty well know what you are doing and how this game works. Remember that this game is still in development and you can communicate with its developer through Steam.