Beginner guide for 1.0

Pick Survival or Tribe Mode on the relaxed difficulty for a first save, build a bonfire, recruit three tribesmen as soon as your mask allows it, and work toward bronze before you summon the first guardian, the Saber-toothed Predator, whose Fierce tier needs only summon level 5. The first ten Awareness levels come quickly; 85.9% of Steam players reach level 10, but only 37.1% have beaten that first guardian.

Before you create the save

Choice	What to pick for a first playthrough	Why
Map	Cloud Mist Forest	Shifting Sands also starts from scratch, but its quest line assumes you can handle heat, sandstorms and ships.
Mode	Survival or Tribe	Survival is the original game. Tribe Mode adds invasions, merchants and a cheaper tech tree. Warrior is a hard combat mode. See game modes.
Difficulty	Relaxed or Casual	The community manager’s own recommendation for solo first-timers.
Starting mask	Civilization, Conquest or Rich	Rich suits bows. You can get the other two later in the level-25 Ancient Ruins.

Single-player saves in Survival, Tribe and Casual have used an Awareness EXP multiplier of at least 3x since 11 June. If bosses still hit too hard, lower Damage Taken from Barbarians or Damage Taken from Beasts in the save settings instead of restarting.

First hour

1. Follow Consciousness X, the 1.0 guidance companion. Tutorial blueprints that cost no tech points are learned automatically.
2. Build a bonfire. It is the first Steam achievement most players earn (75.7%) and the anchor for your base: tribesmen defend inside its range, and invasions build up around it.
3. Gather branches, stone, fibre and thatch, and make stone or bone tools. A Beast Bone Pickaxe or better is needed for ore.
4. Open the Mask Knowledge Base when you need an item. It lists uses, crafting methods and map locations for each material.
5. Repair the mask’s Control node. It lets you deter and recruit your first three tribesmen and possess them.

First tribesmen

Hit a barbarian or outcast down to low health, then press E to deter them. They fall unconscious and slowly gain Recognition; at 500 Recognition you can recruit them. Keep them alive with a bandage or broth placed in their inventory. The full method, including which enemies cannot be deterred, is in the recruiting guide.

Recruit for the job you need first. A laborer to log and mine and a craftsman for the workbench save the most time. Barbarians with the Weapon Master title appear from the early game and make good escorts.

First goals in order

Goal	Unlocks	Achievement rate
Recruit 3 tribesmen	Automated gathering and crafting	63.4%
Awareness 20	More tech tiers and mask nodes	54.7%
Craft a Bronze Ingot	Bronze tools, weapons and the road to the Blast Furnace	38.9%
Fierce Saber-toothed Predator	First mask data update, guardian loot	37.1%
Western or Northern Rainforest tribal priest	Worship Containers for guardian summons	36.3% and 29.4%
Craft an Iron Ingot	Iron-tier gear for ruins	22.6%

The rainforest tribal priests (Retroreflector and Rock Breaker) are level 20 and drop Worship Containers, which every guardian summon needs. Follow metals and smelting for the bronze and iron steps.

Gear tiers for ruins and bosses

Exploration points in 1.0 show recommended gear. Do not take bronze gear into a ruin or boss that recommends iron. Quality iron or steel makes an iron-tier expedition much safer, and ruins and bosses stay until you are ready.

Common early mistakes

• Fighting with followers only. Since 1.0, boss and elite HP no longer scale with your number of followers under default settings, but tribesmen still die quickly to area attacks. Deploy a few and recall them with Hold F2.
• Leaving tribesmen without work. Give each one a role so they look for jobs when their own station is idle. See tribesman jobs.
• Ignoring Worship Containers. Without them you cannot summon guardians. Save every one from tribal priests and chests.