Icarus Complete Survival Guide (Level 1 to 25)

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Survival: How to not die
Your go to guide to surviving ICARUS. The guide becomes less detailed as you hit above level 10 as it is more fun for you to experience your own path of progression.

Starting out (Level 1 to 10)

When you start out, gather enough resources for you to be able to craft the following in order:
1. Stone Pickaxe
2. Stone Axe

Learn the following recipe in order and craft them
1. Stone Knife
2. Wood Bow
3. Stone Arrow
4. Campfire
5. Bedroll
6. Bone Arrow
7. Cloth Chest Armor
8. Cloth Leg Armor
9. Cloth Head Armor
10. Cloth Arm Armor
11. Cloth Feet Armor

When starting out, I highly recommend increasing the following in Bows Talent Tree
1. Bow Agility 3/3
2. Increased Arrow Damage I 3/3
3. Increased Arrow Damage II 3/3
4. Trained Bowsmith 1/1
5. Soft Spot I 2/2
6. Hindering Shot 3/3
7. Wounding Shot 3/3

The above will grant you with enough damage for you to be able to easily one-hit wolves from a distance. When they are near you, switch to your stone knife to attack them instead. Remember to break the carcass to obtain bones for you to craft more bone arrows.

Always find yourself something to do, during a storm, find a tall rock and mine into it. You can then crouch into it to use it for shelter. I would not recommend learning the recipe for any of the wooden structure when you are below level 10.

Progressing (Level 10 to 15)

Learn the following recipe in order and craft them:
1. Crafting Bench
2. Longbow
3. Stone Furnace
4. Anvil Bench
5. Iron Pickaxe
6. Herbalist Bench
7. Fireplace
8. Waterskin
9. Oxygen Bladder

At this point, you should be focusing on mining iron nodes to get all of your tools to iron. You should also be focusing on flour and flatbread as they will be your main source of food and EXP for now. Create flatbread dough and this will be your main source of food. For talents, it is entirely up to you on what you want to pursue.

Mid-game (Level 15 to 20)

At this point, you should be focusing on building stone buildings and obtaining metals.
Focus on getting 4 iron for every 1 copper in caves and carry on until you are level 20.

End-game (Level 20 to 25)

Congratulations, you are near the level cap. Focus on getting steel tools and unlock guns and ammo when you are able to.
When encountering bears, use the shotgun.

TIP: Finding food

Start with berries, that is the easiest, and it also provides you with hydration
Go to a lake and attack fish to cook, look out for poisonous fish.
Chasing raccoons or rabbits with a knife
Craft a wood bow to hunt deers
To kill deers easily, hunt them near lakes, when they are in the water, they tend to move slower, allowing you to kill them easier with a bow. DO NOT CHASE AFTER THEM, you will not be able to chase them.
Alternatively, you can also hunt wolves for food as they will not run away from you.
Different food has different status effect, hence you should diversify your food intake rather than eating all in one stack.
Wolves may make noise when they are near you
Jump on top of rock when fighting them, they most probably would not be able to reach you, allowing you to shoot them with your bow.

TIP: Finding water

Look for berries to slow down your thirst meter
Consume food before drinking as increases your thirst
Locate a cave if you can’t find any water
Once you find water, remember to mark it on your map
Drink water from lake, do not worry about the effects, they will be quite common when you are starting out.

TIP: Building shelter

Unlock wood building set as soon as you hit level 10
Do NOT unlock thatch building set
You can also hide inside caves as shelter
You can mine tall rocks and crouch into it as shelter
Do NOT build your campfire in your shelter, or it will burn them down
Mine a huge rock to place your campfire inside, it will prevent the rain extinguishing your campfire.
Build two exit/entrance points
Build near water source
Build a ladder up to easily hunt bears
Remember to set your respawn point after you placed beds.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: What does Dysentery do?
A: Dysentery is a status effect caused by drinking water which causes a -50% nutrition from food. Hence, I would always recommend drinking water only after you eat.

Q: Why is my game so laggy even after turning down the graphics?
A: Aside from turning down the graphics, I also recommend setting your FOV to more than 100 under Gameplay Settings, and updating your graphics card driver.