Newbie Checklist for Autumn

[ryvrdrgn14]

I'm trying to make a newbie checklist for Autumn to share with some friends I am planning to invite to the game. I am not so hardcore that I would want them ruins rushing or killing Dragonfly before winter. Perhaps you guys can let me know if the list is too overwhelming (though I expect them to learn it over the course of several starts and I don't expect them to get it done on their first try). Also let me know if you think there is something important that they also need to learn before winter hits.

Autumn they should try to learn how to:

• Explore at night using torches.
• Punch butterflies for butterfly wings for healing and hunger.
• Bait out moleworms with rocks or flint to kill them for morsels.
• Kill catcoons for meat.
• Cook food over a campfire (except Corn)
• Roast birchnuts for food.
• Know the healing values of roasted carrots, butterfly wings, roasted berries and roasted seeds.
• Pick green mushrooms and cook them over a fire for sanity restoration.
• How to make a science machine and backpack at the proper time
• How to prototype to save on inventory space and restore sanity lost from exploring.
• Explore edges of maps
• Follow brick roads to find pig king and possible pig villages
• What items pig king accepts for gold
• Find Glommer's Statue and the Pan Flute  near the Pig King
• How to fight hounds.
• Gather 8 reeds in swamp.
• Burn down at least 6 trees for charcoal.
• Fight spiders and trap spiders.
• Build fire pit, crockpot, bird cage, bird trap, chest, lightning rod.
• Efficient crockpot recipes for Meatballs, Pierogi and Meaty Stew.
• Map wormholes (via mod, traps or memory). Just find out where they lead.
• Build Alchemy Engine
• Enter a cave to get light bulbs and then build Lanterns
• Explore all cave entrances to see what biomes are connected to the entrance and to see if there are any shortcuts to other entrances.
• Hammer Pig Heads and/or Pig houses to make Football Helmets. Get at least 4 pig skins. 
• Feed Werepigs 4 monster meats to produce manure and maximize drops.
• Make a Top Hat
• Scare rabbits into traps instead of waiting for rabbits to run into one
• Build a Prestihatator.
• Feed cooked monster meat, cooked eggs to bird for fresh eggs
• Shave Beefalo for wool
• Lure one beefalo from herd and kill it.
• Make Winter Hat
• Make Thermal Stone
• Find Gears (Fight Clockworks, tumbleweeds, graves)
• Make Fridge
• Make Think Tank and boat bridges if necessary for ease of travel.
• Make Hambat
• Gather cactus flesh from the desert biomes
• Cook cactus flesh to restore sanity
• Have 1 stack of grass, rocks, twigs and 2 stacks of logs for winter.
• Build a life giving amulet if possible.

I'm expecting them to fail over the course of multiple worlds while I play with them, but hopefully they cross out stuff on the checklist over time.  

If you want to give more goals for the other seasons, go ahead as this is just an initial list I put together off the top of my head. I'm hoping these specific tasks will make them feel they are getting better even if they will die a lot since we have a list of goals to measure their progress.

I'll add goals for winter and other seasons once there are enough suggestions and/or I think up enough additions for the list.

[GetNerfedOn]

- Finding their way through other food like Bacon and Eggs and heals like Trail Mix would be nice, too

- also locating Oasis, but that's a far-fetched goal already

 - i feel like finding clockworks would be one challenge new players find hard to overcome especially considering thay clockworks are SO MUCH RARER compared to DS Alone. Being able to locate gears from tumbleweeds and graves would be nice too, esp after they've learned how to use sanity heals

 - a nice thing to note would be to locate not more than 8 reeds (for birdcage) and the pig heads in swamp, gathering them and leaving afterwards because that's usually all you'll need from swamp as a beginner (unless theyre playing Wicker, which is unlikely)

[Notecja]

4 hours ago, ryvrdrgn14 said:

Cook food over a campfire

Except the corn xD popcorn has half of the hunger value

4 hours ago, ryvrdrgn14 said:

Map wormholes

?? Do this mean to use pair of traps, backpacks or other visible stuff on map to early mark where each of wormhole leads? ( if they dont have mod for that).

they also could mark:

Playing with headphones/sound on. Boss warnings like Bearger and Deerclops are early with sound and very late if somebody is waiting for quote. I just noticed sometimes (new) players dont listen to sounds of the game or have them turned off.

[BeeClops]

I think that's a great list, maybe a little overwhelming but if you say you don't expect them to do it all in the first try it's fine.

[wigfrids hat]

find a cluster of glaciers OR a biome with several glaciers in it. ice regens all winter and the most cost-effective meatball recipe is 1 morsel + 3 ice aaaand if you are desperate 1 carrot/mushroom + 3 ice is ratatouille and 1 berry +3 ice is fistful of jam

[MilesUpshore]

32 minutes ago, gaymime said:

find a cluster of glaciers OR a biome with several glaciers in it. ice regens all winter and the most cost-effective meatball recipe is 1 morsel + 3 ice aaaand if you are desperate 1 carrot/mushroom + 3 ice is ratatouille and 1 berry +3 ice is fistful of jam

And if planning to survive summer/prevent base fire, use the ice to make a flingo, though that depends on worldgen too for sufficient gears on the surface. If gear amount is insufficient, sift through tumbleweeds or dig graves in hopes that a gear will appear (since exploring cave ruins for gears and other resources has increased risk).

[Owlrust]

As some stated above, teaching them how to make meatballs, meaty stew, and pierogies in a crockpot is another great thing to get down pat for them as well.

Great list also, I think I'll add this to my signature later so that people can come back to this if they would like.

[FrozenMountan]

11 hours ago, ryvrdrgn14 said:

• Burn down at least 6 trees for charcoal.

Burn the 12 trees at the oasis if you plan to base there

[GenomeSquirrel]

please remove this

• Hammer Pig Houses 

You could also remove the manure one

[ryvrdrgn14]

6 hours ago, GenomeSquirrel said:

please remove this

 

• Hammer Pig Houses 

You could also remove the manure one

This isn't a pro 100% efficiency playthrough. The goal for that is for them to get football helmets as soon as possible through any means necessary. With the limit set to 4 pig skins, they just need to break down 2 houses. Werepigs allow for more houses to be built later on. Hammering a few pig houses is no so much different from killing all but the last beefalo or volt goat in the herd. The manure is just there so that they know the mechanic exists at the same time learning how to create a werepig. It's two birds with one stone.

I still appreciate the comment though. A higher level player could just wait for the pig heads on a stick since they won't die to dumb things like newbies would.

[Mike23Ua]

This is a really large list of what you expect your friends to be able to accomplish before Winter, and if I was your friend this would highly annoy me & feel too demanding, But- (Disclaimer: I’m not much of a people person anyway.. so I tend to do my own thing.) 

With that said- Several things on this list are things that still to this very day I either do very very little... or Do not do at all.

Hammering down pig houses is something I tend to only do when playing as Wurt, Wortox, Webber or if I need supplies in a Hurry and don’t feel like gathering x wood or x stone for a few planks & cut stones.

Hammer down ONE Pig head on a stick to get hide from to build your helmet.. then Kill Pigmens to get additional skins from.

depending on what character your friends are playing should also determine what goals they should be going after-

Example: As Wurt finding swamp, establishing scaley fish Army.

As Wendy finding Pipspook, getting Sisturn built.

As Wortox- Avoiding Pigmen & Catcoons until you have weapon to fight them with.

 

[ryvrdrgn14]

4 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

This is a really large list of what you expect your friends to be able to accomplish before Winter, and if I was your friend this would highly annoy me & feel too demanding, But- (Disclaimer: I’m not much of a people person anyway.. so I tend to do my own thing.) 

With that said- Several things on this list are things that still to this very do I either do very very little... or Do not do at all.

Hammering down pig houses is something I tend to only do when playing as Wurt, Wortox, Webber or if I need supplies in a Hurry and don’t feel like gathering x wood or x stone for a few planks & cut stones.

Hammer down ONE Pig head on a stick to get hide from to build your helmet.. then Kill Pigmens to get additional skins from.

depending on what character your friends are playing should also determine what goals they should be going after-

Example: As Wurt finding swamp, establishing scaley fish Army.

As Wendy finding Pipspook, getting Sisturn built.

As Wortox- Avoiding Pigmen & Catcoons until you have weapon to fight them with.

 

Ah yes, in this instance we'll be playing together a lot so the pig heads on a stick won't be enough for everyone. I didn't mention that in the original post. I'll see where rebuilding pig houses and relocating resources fit in, but it might be better on another list after the basics are out of the way.

The character specific ones would be fun too. I still remember my Webber friend who died to so many pigs and bunnies. I wonder if the forum supports collapsed sections. Throwing it all out there would make it too big.

Also what is your opinion on Koalefant hunting and its priority for newbies?

[Mike23Ua]

43 minutes ago, ryvrdrgn14 said:

Ah yes, in this instance we'll be playing together a lot so the pig heads on a stick won't be enough for everyone. I didn't mention that in the original post. I'll see where rebuilding pig houses and relocating resources fit in, but it might be better on another list after the basics are out of the way.

The character specific ones would be fun too. I still remember my Webber friend who died to so many pigs and bunnies. I wonder if the forum supports collapsed sections. Throwing it all out there would make it too big.

Also what is your opinion on Koalefant hunting and its priority for newbies?

Koalefants are also something I rarely engage in hunting unless I really need it OR unless I’m playing as Wigfrid who can only eat Meats.

But: There are several factors that go into deciding that, I play on Xbox One and on Xbox we can only have a Maximum of 6 total players in a session at any given time, there tends to be an over abundance of available food sources when there’s only 6 players running around.

If your friends are playing Wurt shes a Vegetarian only and Koalelphants won’t do her any good besides maybe for their poop or to feed your meat loving friends.

I tend to rely mostly on early game food sources through Autumn and most of Winter (meaning Basic Bunny Traps and Bird Traps, Ice as crockpot filler) or as Wurt- Leaving all veggies in their naturally spawning location and plucking them only when I need them, the reason why you do This as Wurt is because Berries/Carrots not yet plucked won’t start spoiling until they’ve been plucked.

So reserve foods till needed.

Fridges are also optional up till before Winter, you don’t really need something to preserve your food inside of unless your not planning to eat your food immediately

Once Winter hits though- your gonna want to have been like a squirrel gathering it’s stash of supplies before Winter.

I guess my list of basics when starting go like this: Spend the entirety of day one gathering twigs, grass, rocks & flint if you can find it.. create a torch for nightfall, this is also a good time to burn some tree’s to get charcoals. Rush the Pickaxe FIRST and the Wood Chopping Axe later... 

Reason why is because flints can sometime be like finding needle in Haystack, but if you have Pickaxe built you can mine rocks to get more flints and stones.

once able- Create Science Machine and Prototype backpack.. at the same time prototype 1 Rope, 1 Wood Planks, 1 Cutstone & use rope to make Spear.

You might not use those recipes right now but least you’ve learned them and can create Cutstone / planks without needing to stand near science machine to do so.

Day 1 should be spent walking around exploring, gathering the twigs, grass, flint, rocks, foods if needed (or just kill butterflies/eat seeds) have science machine and all above recipes crafted before day 2.

Day 2 is when you quest for the bigger stuffs- Alchemy Engine, Football Helmets, Lantern etc..

I play a Nomadic playstyle though I’m always on the move just adventuring around the map and my idea of a base is only the bare minimum things I need..

Like Campfire, Cooking Pot, and maybe a Tent/Lean-to if needed.

 

[D7X]

8 hours ago, GenomeSquirrel said:

please remove this

 

• Hammer Pig Houses 

You could also remove the manure one

You can hammer pretty much every pig house you find in forests, I do prefer the villages left intact though.

[GenomeSquirrel]

8 hours ago, ryvrdrgn14 said:

This isn't a pro 100% efficiency playthrough. The goal for that is for them to get football helmets as soon as possible through any means necessary. With the limit set to 4 pig skins, they just need to break down 2 houses. Werepigs allow for more houses to be built later on. Hammering a few pig houses is no so much different from killing all but the last beefalo or volt goat in the herd. The manure is just there so that they know the mechanic exists at the same time learning how to create a werepig. It's two birds with one stone.

I still appreciate the comment though. A higher level player could just wait for the pig heads on a stick since they won't die to dumb things like newbies would.

Why not have them make log suits instead, it’s faster, easier to reproduce, and more sustainable.

[ryvrdrgn14]

39 minutes ago, GenomeSquirrel said:

Why not have them make log suits instead, it’s faster, easier to reproduce, and more sustainable.

They'll need the backpacks and I know a couple of them would be terrible with armor/backpack swapping. Most of the time I just use log suits as a supplement to helmets to make them last longer, but I prioritize the helmets.

[Viktor234]

Killing a single pig is literally same as killing a single mob from a herd, you'll get your loot and the pig will respawn on its own.
Hammering a pig house is same as killing a whole herd: Pigs will stop respawning if you smash their pig houses and pig houses don't regenerate over time on their own.
The heart of the pig herd isn't the pig, it's the pig house. And to generate a new herd you'll have to sacrifice the pig skin you obtained from destroying a pig herd which is why many players don't want to create new pig herds.

The Pig King and the Pig Village are the natural pig farms in a world, generated by the world generation for players to gather their pig skin or to hire some workers. Pig houses located in forests are also special: They can be considered as the last resort for players to get pig skin in case of if players get rid of all the other pig farms located in the world. Some players do prefer forests over pig farms since the spiders in forests do sustain them with Monster Meat which can be used to turn the pig into a werepig. Webber, Wortox and Wurt players might also prefer forests over pig farms since dealing with pigs one by one will be easier there.

In any case, smashing pig houses is disrespectful towards other players: You're wiping out whole herds because you want to avoid farming pigs or farming ressources to establish your base, but this acting does also prevent other players from obtaining their pig skin.
Moving them to a safer spot to e.g. protect them against wildfires during summer is more or less acceptable, but still disrespectful if you do it before mid-spring.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

Why no just give them monster meat? Anyways you need silk so that m. Meat that will no be used will give 1 pig skin

 

I just broke few houses to quick make alchemy engine or because the house are in a bad place and i never had problems with pig skin

Destroying pig houses is just a temporary way, the problem of producing pig skin will remain

[ryvrdrgn14]

1 hour ago, Viktor234 said:

Killing a single pig is literally same as killing a single mob from a herd,

Smashing pig houses is disrespectful towards other players: You're wiping out whole herds because you want to avoid farming pigs or farming ressources to establish your base, but this acting does also prevent other players from obtaining their pig skin.
 

As long as one pig house exists, they will be able to replenish them through werepigs. Also this is for a game that we are playing together or they will play solo. Even on Klei public servers which I play on often, no game lasts beyond winter or spring. Ruins will get rushed, houses are smashed and it all won't matter in the end. I do not join servers that are not Klei public ones as I have no business joining a server that someone else set up for their friends. Again, this is not a guide for server etiquette as that varies from place to place and I'm not going to lecture them on what they should or shouldn't do when they are playing by themselves. This is to teach them the basic mechanics of what resources they can get as beginners and making them go through the motions of gathering those resources. Don't worry, they will not be hopping on your server any time soon, but I appreciate the comment. 

54 minutes ago, ArubaroBeefalo said:

Why no just give them monster meat? Anyways you need silk so that m. Meat that will no be used will give 1 pig skin

 

I just broke few houses to quick make alchemy engine or because the house are in a bad place and i never had problems with pig skin

Destroying pig houses is just a temporary way, the problem of producing pig skin will remain

If you read the bullet point immediately after smashing the pig houses part, you'll see that it's about feeding pigs 4 monster meat. 

 

[Mike23Ua]

I still say it depends on what character your playing as that should prioritize what your doing first-

Wendy needs to find Pipspook & build Sisturn.

Woodie needs to chop wood/ go goose and find Lunar Island.

Willow needs to find Ingredients for crafting more Bernie dolls+ Sewing Kits to repair Bernie Dolls (Beefalo Wool, Beardling Hair, Silk, Hounds Teeth)

Warly needs to try and get different seed types to build a garden to get his Recipie ingredients so him feeding Catcoon hoping for things like Pumpkin Seed, Potato Seed, Onion Seed, Tomatoes Seed etc.. And building a Bird Cage to get more Seed should be high on his priority list.

Winona needs to bust open the nearest Cave hole (preferably not one so close to base..) and gather the rocks, Nitre & Gems to craft & Keep her craftable structures up.

Wickerbottom should be gathering ingredients for and crafting backpacks for everyone as the first thing she does seeing as she starts the game with the knowledge of doing so without needing to craft science machine first.

There is simply a lot you have to factor in- if you want to play as a Team that’s fine: But each character still has a specific Role they should be fulfilling, Wendy in Particular should have your best supply of Top Hats and Glands for Telltale Hearts/ Healing Salve very early game priority for her 

(which means she would benefit from going to Spider infested swamp or even accompanying the Winona deep down into Caves.)

I may play this game for the most part Alone... but I know Team Synergies when I see them due to games like SMITE demanding that Teamwork or you fail.

Wendy Synergies best with hilariously.. Wes, and I’m not even joking about that: She’s Always plucking flowers to create/refuel Sisturn so she should be able to provide Wes with Garlands for Sanity and Later on the higher tier Top Hats, In Addition: Abigails Petal Bestowment Damage Buff means that Wes is dealing more damage then his Average hit rate.

I can only hope that whenever Klei reworks Wes they give him more indirect buffs like Sisturn/ Petal Bestowment (Aka: Abilities only other characters presence can help him be more powerful with.)

Now having said all that- People have varying skill levels, & entertainment values, what YOU find enjoyable may not be what some of your friends find most enjoyable.

As much as people complain about “Wendy OP Plz nerf...” I actually LIKE being able to build a Sisturn and give everyone top hats to easily manage their Sanity or to bring a Pipspook back to base so Willow or Maxwell players can reach low enough Sanity to trigger the Crawling Horrors but NOT the Terrorbeaks.

For me personally I don’t see Abigails use any better then having a secondary player to help you. It’s literally just Co-oP play without having to Rely on another living human being to help you 

(examples being someone could run past a Killer Bee Hive to draw out the Bees while player 2 kills them while their aggrieved is drawn on player 1..)

Areas where Abigail shines best at are basically that “Player 2”

the one thing Abigail can do that a player 2 could not- is single handedly and effortlessly take out entire frog rain sessions.

Nontheless- Your friends may enjoy other activities that you aren’t really interested in. Like building Sea fishing rods and fishing on the open Ocean, or gathering Bundle of Thanks from Pearl to build their own little neat musical orchestra out of her seashells.

Thats the beauty of DST, go where you want to go.. do what you want to, work together or strike out on your own, as long as you and your friends are having fun you shouldn’t have high expectations of what you want them to accomplish before Winter starts.

(As a disclaimer: Ever since Klei added random season start times and season lengths (almost) all of my worlds have been set up like this... there’s no way to prepare for anything because it happens at random and you must come prepared for everything.. or you must be able to adjust on the fly, I feel the need to heavily stress the “Almost” part..)

I have friends who in order to play this game with them and them not become frustrated and rage quit, I have to turn OFF every season except Autumn, turn off Hound Wave attacks & Seasonal Giants, basically bringing a lot of the games difficulty down so they can still play & enjoy themselves.

Which is why I have to have an Unbiased opinion when it comes to Klei’s content updates- I want the game to get harder to play but also easier to play simultaneously at the same time-

Because as I said somewhere earlier in this now long post (that i didn’t intend to be this long but ended up turning into a TL:DR sorry about that..  )

People will have varying skill levels..

And I think what I admire most about DST is that there are world generation options/ game content that appeals to both parties.

Usually a development company would pick either a casual crowd or a Hardcore crowd and then focus all content updates to appeal to that particular crowd, but NOT DST... DST tries to provide content that appeals to various skill levels.

While some people may not enjoy Sea Fishing & see it as boring unimportant content, other people may find it much more enjoyable.