Welcome to EIP’s walkthrough for Sons of the Forest! Below, you’ll find everything you need to survive on Endnight’s cannibal-infested island, from info on where to find the best weapons and tools, to tips and tricks for constructing a base. If you’re looking for something specific, use the contents button to quickly navigate this guide!
Beating the Game
As a survival crafting game, the “point” of Sons of the Forest isn’t necessarily to beat the game, but rather to explore the island, create a base, and so on. That said, the game does have a story that you can complete. Here’s how to beat Sons of the Forest:
To progress through the story (and eventually beat the game), you’ll need to collect keycards. These are generally found in bunkers, and are mandatory for unlocking the game’s story — plus many of the most important items.
Your character in Sons of the Forest has basic needs that have to be met. Currently, not meeting them won’t lead to your death, but it does impact your maximum stamina -–- which can inadvertently lead to death-by-enemy. The basic needs in Sons of the Forest are:
For more information on surviving in Sons of the Forest, see our Beginner’s Guide and our guide on Basic Needs.
Crafting
If you’re going to do anything besides rush through the game’s story, you’ll end up doing a fair amount of crafting in Sons of the Forest. To craft, open your inventory with /. You can then press / while hovering many items -–- doing so will place them on your crafting mat. Then, hover the gear icon in the corner of the crafting mat, and you’ll be able to see all the available recipes related to the item(s) currently on the mat. Once you’ve put all the requisite items for a recipe on the mat, you’ll be able to press / on the gear to craft the item.
You can see which recipes you currently lack the ingredients for by looking at which icons are displayed in red (which indicates you lack the ingredients in question)
Equipment
While all you need is food, water, and rest to keep your character healthy, you won’t last long against cannibals or mutants without the proper offensive, defensive options. Additionally, progressing through Sons of the Forest’s story requires some specific tools in order to progress through key sections of the island.
It’s important to know that weapons in Sons of the Forest vary wildly in terms of strength and utility -–- while it’s technically possible to wield a stick as a weapon, we don’t recommend it. With that in mind, we’ve created guides on how to find a number of the most powerful weapons, which you can find below.
While killing things is always a solid choice, sometimes you need utility to solve a problem, rather than brute strength. After all, you can’t shoot a dark cave to light it up -–- wait, actually you can… but that’s besides the point. Sons of the Forest has a number of useful tools on offer, and we’ve got guides on how to find ’em and how to use ’em once you do:
You can find details on using tools, and some hints for the trickier tools, in our Tools guide.
Armor
To protect yourself from the island’s cannibals and mutants, you’re able to equip up to 10 pieces of armor. Except for the Golden Armor, you create (or collect) and equip each piece individually. You can also mix and match armor, wearing any combination of up to 10 pieces of armor. Armor absorbs damage — after absorbing all the damage it can, armor segments will be lost. The more advanced/powerful the armor, the more punishment it can take before being lost.
There are currently 5 types of armor available in Sons of the Forest, plus the Golden Armor:
The lower down the list you go, the stronger the armor gets, with the exception of the Golden Armor — this special item significantly reduces damage versus Demon enemies, but otherwise does not offer protection or damage mitigation. It also differs from the other armor types in that you equip it all at once (rather than segment by segment), and it cannot be damaged.
Armor is found in the bottom right corner of the inventory matHere you can see a variety of armors equipped
There are two types of construction in Sons of the Forest: Custom Building Mode, and Classic Building Mode. To pull out the construction handbook, tap / . By default, you’ll be on Custom Building Mode -–- to switch between building modes, hold / / .
The Custom Mode is more free-form, and lets you create structures with only pictures to guide you. It can be more difficult to create successful structures, but this mode offers greater flexibility compared to the Classic mode.
Classic Building Mode allows you to select pre-designed structures and place a “ghost” outline of them — you then add the required resources to the outline; once you’ve supplied all the necessary materials, the structure will automatically be complete.
For detailed building instructions, and more info on both modes, take a look at our construction guide.
Companions
There are two different companions you can have in Sons of the Forest: Kelvin and Virginia. They are quite different from one another, in that Kelvin can be given orders, while Virginia helps you when she feels like it. Both can be quite useful -–- Kelvin is a huge help with repetitive tasks like collecting logs or finding food, while Virginia can back you up in combat (assuming she decides to show up).
Kelvin can be found on his back near the helicopter crash site that you spawned at right at the start of the game. He’s hard to miss, but if you can’t find him, go into your inventory and pull out your GPS Locator -–- Kelvin will appear as a K in a blue circle, making it easy to locate him. Once you find him, get close to him, look at him, and hold // when prompted. After you pick him up, you’ll be able to use the same input to give him commands!
Virginia isn’t so easy to befriend, although it’s still not that difficult. All you have to do is make sure that you don’t act aggressive when she shows up: don’t approach her, try to walk instead of run when she’s around, and definitely don’t attack her. After a few positive interactions (her standing at a distance and then running away), she’ll eventually bring you some herbs, indicating that she is now a companion.
At this point, you can walk up to her and press // to give her outfits and weapons. You should also give her one of the GPS trackers once you have one, as it will make it easier to find her (for those times you’re being chased by cannibals and want backup)
If Kelvin or Virginia die, you can get them back -–- but it requires digging into the game files a bit. Check out our guide on Getting Virginia and Kelvin back for details.
Still have questions about Sons of the Forest? Want to offer your fellow island survivors a tip or two? Drop us a line in the comments!
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Kelson H.
Kelson is a spud head from out west. He is most happy when holding a milky tea with too much honey and playing a sprawling role playing game or reading a fantasy novel. His video game tastes vary but his main genres are looter shooters, RPGs, and real time strategy games.
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while hovering many items -–- doing so will place them on your crafting mat. Then, hover the gear icon in the corner of the crafting mat, and you’ll be able to see all the available recipes related to the item(s) currently on the mat. Once you’ve put all the requisite items for a recipe on the mat, you’ll be able to press 
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. By default, you’ll be on Custom Building Mode -–- to switch between building modes, hold 
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when prompted. After you pick him up, you’ll be able to use the same input to give him commands!
