Early Game Tips (Zoom,World Gen, Items)

[Big Shasta]

 

SUP /// I posted here a couple months ago, a few spergy replies after my tangles with Early game starts on a vanilla server I hosted.

Things I take issue with are the default setting of strength for animals (too high), and the spawning of wildlife particularly wolves and bears being ....cryptic... at best...

Here are the things I learned for myself after my fanatical fundamentalist sermons, some of them were craftable items that I wasn't using/considering i.e. Wood Lamellar vs Improvised etc etc

This is shared with new players in mind 100%, since I learned all of this myself and I've found this forum to be less than helpful in most regards.

I'll try to keep this short. 

---------- Newbs / people who struggle to survive Wolves/Bears without nerd poling ---------

The Devs themselves talk about this game as an Early Access game. They don't balance anything, instead they leave it up to you to set up your game world. Even if I was some kind of elitest / purist, playing alone has no honor anyway, so learn the game and have fun. At very least you'll survive long enough to learn the game and refine your starts before jumping into online play. 

Get "ZOOM BUTTON-REBORN", it's a mod on the official mod database. It will work on servers and in singleplayer - giving you a really nice way to look out and see what is around you. Scouting for resources / threats is important, I have no idea why something like this isn't vanilla.... lazy? 

WORLD CONFIG
Customize your world, and set Player HP to max, Healing to Fast (it's not fast), Hunger to 75%, Food Spoilage to 75%, and CREATURE STRENGTH to "Weaker" 50%... You CAN CHANGE all of these later via console commands.

The Big 3

Look up Improvised Armor, ROUGH SHIELD, and "Wooden Lamellar" bro f me I'm American. Whatever - it's Wooden Armor, dunno why these hippies can't just name it what it is... 

Rough Shield is likely the most important for new spawns (the "tutorial" is a joke and I haven't seen it mentioned there) ...Even though it's a little annoying to see in the offhand during the entire early game, it WAY makes up for it with the damage mitigation. Crouching when blocking buffs the block if I remember correctly, check the wiki / handbook for these 3 important items and learn the recipes. 

....Know that Wolves will spawn in packs of 3, one wolf can basically one shot on 100% Damage even with improvised armor, and Bears are an instant 1 hit even with armor, the shield is your only saving grace and - it's not really enough on default 100% damage, you'll need to "nerd pole" in order to survive solo. Decreasing damage by 50% sounds like a lot but in the case that you have awful luck with wolf spawns / LIKE TO LIVE IN THE FOREST - well, set damage to 50% and be happy. Go looking for baddies to fight when you are ready, there are a lot more than just wolves!

Also consider: Drop Items on Death > Keep Items on Death, since, monsters spawn based on a few factors that the game doesn't tell you at all about - and you're really likely to get monsters inside your home in the early game if you are away from your house long enough for fires to go out. You can change this later with console commands, google "Vintage Story Server Commands"

Along the line of monsters, do you like the pristine nature of the game and want the surface to maintain that natural beauty? Turn off "Temporal Rifts"... honestly by default I find them really annoying more than anything - making this wonky crappy sound, and they spawn all around your house all the time, so listening to them and the monsters is torture.  Monsters will still spawn, they'll mostly be in the caves though. 

Lastly, I set tool durability to 200%. It's a little op but I'd rather the early game be a little less hungry and daylight is limited in this game. This makes flint and copper last long enough that you only really need two flint tools and one copper tool for any project early game. I do a LOT of bushwhacking with axes so - this is a very helpful setting for me. I can clear the land, find all the bits on the ground, hidden bushes and crops, and after I'm done I can jump onto my roof and SEE wolves when they howl, as well as other threats. 

------ SPOILER TIP about CREATURE SPAWNS -----
 

Spoiler

Wolves and Bears are a huge early game threat. You need to TRAP them in a pit underground in order to win ANY peace. The game respawns them RIGHT AWAY in certain instances RIGHT AFTER you kill them, so - dig a 3 deep pit where you see them, and wait to see if they fall in. Once they are in, fence off the hole and leave em. They'll stay alive in there and new bears/wolves won't spawn from the same area... it can be a pretty small radius and there can be more than a few packs of wolves or bears in a forest so... BE CAREFUL. 

(^^ this is 8 Adult Wolves trapped in a single 3x3 about 100 blocks from my base. VANILLA )

Cheers LEAVE YOUR TIPS FOR NEW PLAYERS. Take issue with something I say here? Explain why I'm wrong and show some alternatives.

Otherwise dislike, cap, crack a joke, massage your ego - it's your life. Enjoy your game. 

Edited July 17, 2025 by Big Shasta
zoom button reborn lol

[Teh Pizza Lady]

These are certainly some good tips for new players who are just wanting to get into the game and enjoy it for what it is, especially all the new mechanics to learn and figure out. There's only so much you can learn by reading the handbook, for example setting up a working windmill and all the parts that go with it, or learning how to smith weapons using a hammer and an anvil. I can see how especially green players could take issue with the lack of certain things in the game and the presence of others while ALSO having to deal with wolves and bears.

Even now with steel armor in my game I still run when I see a bear, so I feel the pain, but I no longer feel like I need to tone anything down, so definitely learn to enjoy the game, but don't stagnate... some of the enjoyment comes from the challenges you'll face later.

[Zane Mordien]

6 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

Rough Shield is likely the most important for new spawns (the "tutorial" is a joke and I haven't seen it mentioned there) ...Even though it's a little annoying to see in the offhand during the entire early game, it WAY makes up for it with the damage mitigation. Crouching when blocking buffs the block if I remember correctly, check the wiki / handbook for these 3 important items and learn the recipes

Yeah, the shield is life. To avoid seeing it all the time I run around with it in the hotbar and I just hit X to switch it to the offhand when I see a threat. 

 

6 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

....Know that Wolves will spawn in packs of 3, 

I would say, if you see one assume there could be 3, but most of the time it is 1 or 2. 

 

6 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

LIKE TO LIVE IN THE FOREST

EVERYWHERE IN VINTAGE STORY IS A FOREST!!! In my first world I had 3 bears camping my dirt shack in the middle of a grassland. Somehow it was "forest" enough for them to spawn there.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

2 hours ago, Zane Mordien said:

when I see a threat

IF you see a threat, you mean? those bears like to be sneaky.

[Zane Mordien]

31 minutes ago, traugdor said:

IF you see a threat, you mean? those bears like to be sneaky.

Stupid sneaky bears. I've gotten pretty good at avoiding them though. The super sneaky polar bears still give me fits. I usually die to wolves when I get cocky and think I can handle them and forget that I'm not wearing my armor. 

[LadyWYT]

I don't agree with everything in OP's post, but overall it's decent advice for players new to Vintage Story. The learning curve is rather steep, and the early game enemies like wolves are no exception. It may seem harsh that they can kill a player so quickly, however, the wolf has a rather important role in teaching players the game. By default, Vintage Story doesn't pull its punches, and wolves will quickly teach the player some important survival tips. First and foremost, players need to be prepared(whether it's through skill or better equipment) before they go trying to deal with threats; they can't go diving into a fight underequipped and expect to come out unscathed...at least not without a really good plan(such as trapping an enemy in a hole). Secondly, letting enemies be credible threats pushes players to be more aware of their surroundings, as getting ambushed can easily have lethal consequences. Wolves tend to howl a lot, which makes them easy for players to avoid until they're ready to deal with them, provided that the player is paying attention that is.

4 hours ago, Zane Mordien said:

I would say, if you see one assume there could be 3, but most of the time it is 1 or 2. 

I think I've seen as many as five in one spot, but that's a fairly rare occurrence. Typically it's one to three, as you said.

 

10 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

Get "ZOOM BUTTON-REBORN", it's a mod on the official mod database. It will work on servers and in singleplayer - giving you a really nice way to look out and see what is around you. Scouting for resources / threats is important, I have no idea why something like this isn't vanilla.... lazy? 

I'd expect to see a spyglass added to the game sooner or later, as a more immersive option for this kind of feature.

 

10 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

WORLD CONFIG
Customize your world, and set Player HP to max, Healing to Fast (it's not fast), Hunger to 75%, Food Spoilage to 75%, and CREATURE STRENGTH to "Weaker" 50%... You CAN CHANGE all of these later via console commands.

I would also add potentially setting creatures to neutral/passive, whichever option makes them ignore you until attacked(I forgot which is which). That way they're still dangerous, but it's entirely up to the player when they deal with opponents.

Likewise, I also recommend potentially setting a grace period for monster spawns--that way the player is guaranteed a certain window of safety before they have to start dealing with monsters. Rifts will still spawn, of course, but they won't be producing monsters until that grace period is up.

Personally, I wouldn't touch healing rate, hunger rate, or food spoilage, unless the player REALLY wants to. The default values are quite fair, and if player HP is set to max that gives quite a lot of room for mistakes to be made.

10 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

Look up Improvised Armor, ROUGH SHIELD, and "Wooden Lamellar" bro f me I'm American. Whatever - it's Wooden Armor, dunno why these hippies can't just name it what it is...

I mean...I'm American as well, and the names make sense to me. I'm nitpicking this just a bit, but lamellar is a specific type of armor, same as chain, plate, brigandine, etc. So the armor piece is aptly named. I'd also wager it's named that due to being in the same general stat class as the other lamellar armors.

As for looking up these armors to give an edge on early game survival...yes, absolutely! Once you have more experience in the game, it's easy to skip over them entirely, as the benefits you get aren't really worth what it takes to craft it. However, while early armor might not prevent that much damage or be very durable, it can be the difference between life and death.

10 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

Rough Shield is likely the most important for new spawns (the "tutorial" is a joke and I haven't seen it mentioned there) ...Even though it's a little annoying to see in the offhand during the entire early game, it WAY makes up for it with the damage mitigation. Crouching when blocking buffs the block if I remember correctly, check the wiki / handbook for these 3 important items and learn the recipes. 

The player doesn't need to keep the shield equipped at all times--just when they think they might run into trouble. That saves a bit on the energy cost.

As for the tutorial, it could be better, but the main purpose is to teach the player about the basic controls and how to acquire the tools they'll need to achieve everything else in the game. From there, it's up to the player to figure out the best way to proceed in the game(which will vary depending on map generation and playstyle preferences).

10 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

....Know that Wolves will spawn in packs of 3, one wolf can basically one shot on 100% Damage even with improvised armor, and Bears are an instant 1 hit even with armor, the shield is your only saving grace and - it's not really enough on default 100% damage, you'll need to "nerd pole" in order to survive solo.

A player should be able to survive a couple of hits on default settings, provided they're at full health. Nerd poles aren't required for survival, but they can be a useful way to deal with wolves and bears. If the player reacts fast enough, it is possible to outrun wolves and most bears(provided it's not a polar bear or brown bear)--the player is usually able to navigate the terrain much better and the predators will give up the chase if you get far enough away.

11 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

Decreasing damage by 50% sounds like a lot but in the case that you have awful luck with wolf spawns / LIKE TO LIVE IN THE FOREST - well, set damage to 50% and be happy. Go looking for baddies to fight when you are ready, there are a lot more than just wolves!

Agreed--preparing yourself and going into a fight on your own terms is pretty much the key to surviving Vintage Story combat.

 

11 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

Also consider: Drop Items on Death > Keep Items on Death, since, monsters spawn based on a few factors that the game doesn't tell you at all about - and you're really likely to get monsters inside your home in the early game if you are away from your house long enough for fires to go out. You can change this later with console commands, google "Vintage Story Server Commands"

Did you mean to say "Keep Items on Death" instead of "Drop Items on Death"? The latter is the default setting; I would recommend changing it to "Keep Items on Death" for new players. It's not hard to replace lost items in the early game, however, keeping your items in spite of death makes the game feel much more forgiving of your mistakes. I played with that setting when I first began Vintage Story, and later changed the death penalty to drop items, once I was confident enough in my own skills for it to not pose an issue.

I will also note that you will never drop worn items on death, so you don't need to worry about losing your armor or that cool cosmetic thing you found, provided that you're wearing it.

For monster spawns, they will only spawn on the surface if there is a rift nearby and the light level is dark enough, outside of a temporal storm that is. Rift activity is variable, so some nights might be entirely peaceful and others might be full of monsters(and that activity can change at any time). Lighting up an area will reduce spawn chances, if not make it impossible for monsters to spawn(outside of a temporal storm). However, the best lighting option--the lantern--typically isn't feasible until the mid game. Torches are probably the best early game lighting since they're cheap, but they will burn out after 48 hours unless placed in a torch holder(or you can break and replace them to reset the timer). Oil lamps don't burn out, but also don't offer much light--they offer just enough to see what you're doing, but won't really prevent monster spawns.

11 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

Along the line of monsters, do you like the pristine nature of the game and want the surface to maintain that natural beauty? Turn off "Temporal Rifts"... honestly by default I find them really annoying more than anything - making this wonky crappy sound, and they spawn all around your house all the time, so listening to them and the monsters is torture.  Monsters will still spawn, they'll mostly be in the caves though. 

I agree with this if a player wants to keep the surface threats more natural, and leave the monsters to the underground. However, if it's just a factor of the unpredictability of surface monster spawns being a bit overwhelming, I'd recommend setting a grace timer instead. That way, the rifts will function as intended, but the player has some time to get used to their presence and prepare before the rifts will actually be particularly dangerous.

 

11 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

Lastly, I set tool durability to 200%. It's a little op but I'd rather the early game be a little less hungry and daylight is limited in this game. This makes flint and copper last long enough that you only really need two flint tools and one copper tool for any project early game. I do a LOT of bushwhacking with axes so - this is a very helpful setting for me. I can clear the land, find all the bits on the ground, hidden bushes and crops, and after I'm done I can jump onto my roof and SEE wolves when they howl, as well as other threats. 

Eh, it's a personal preference. The default settings are fine, in my opinion. Early tools aren't durable, that is true, however they're very cheap and easy to craft. The low durability pushes the player to seek better materials and advance themselves, instead of becoming too comfortable with the easiest solution.

For clearing brush, I'd recommend crafting a set of shears. They clear out a lot of brush at once, while greatly increasing the drop rate of sticks and tree seeds. Of course, they're a little more effort to craft than an axe, but they're much better at the job.

11 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

Wolves and Bears are a huge early game threat. You need to TRAP them in a pit underground in order to win ANY peace. The game respawns them RIGHT AWAY in certain instances RIGHT AFTER you kill them, so - dig a 3 deep pit where you see them, and wait to see if they fall in. Once they are in, fence off the hole and leave em. They'll stay alive in there and new bears/wolves won't spawn from the same area... it can be a pretty small radius and there can be more than a few packs of wolves or bears in a forest so... BE CAREFUL. 

It's not much of a spoiler hence why I'm not gating this behind a spoiler, but you don't NEED to trap wolves and bears in a pit to deal with them. Pit traps are incredibly useful, yes, but it's fairly easy to avoid hostile wildlife by paying attention to one's environment and taking a good look around every so often(and not charging blindly into dense brush when you can avoid it).

As for the respawn rate...generally hostile wildlife won't respawn immediately, but it does happen sometimes. I don't think that's intended behavior though, and will likely be fixed in the future. Generally, the hostile wildlife will respawn after a few to several days, typically in the same general spots so it's easy to either avoid them, or build traps to help deal with them if you don't wish to confront them head-on.

11 hours ago, Big Shasta said:

Cheers LEAVE YOUR TIPS FOR NEW PLAYERS.

One piece of advice I don't see mentioned--if playing with temporal stability enabled, make sure that teal gear is spinning clockwise or motionless when picking a spot to build your base. If it's spinning clockwise, the area is stable, which is good! If it's motionless, the area is either neutral, or it's stable and the gear isn't spinning because you're already at 100% stability--still a good scenario. If the gear is spinning counter-clockwise though, the area is unstable and you don't want to settle down there, as spending long periods of time in such areas isn't good for your health. It's fine if part of your base is in an unstable area; you just don't want the entire base to be unstable, as you'll need a spot to recover stability lost from temporal storms and underground expeditions.

[majestik]

On 7/17/2025 at 6:13 AM, Big Shasta said:

so - dig a 3 deep pit where you see them

I'd say, 4 deep pit if it concerns bears, some of them have a 3 step height.

 

An advice I haven't see, but something that has changed my life : learn to use rope ladders. They need maybe a bit a practice to handle them but it is time well invested.

 

14 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Personally, I wouldn't touch healing rate, hunger rate, or food spoilage, unless the player REALLY wants to. The default values are quite fair, and if player HP is set to max that gives quite a lot of room for mistakes to be made.

I agree. When I started, this point wasn't really the most difficult thing to handle. I think it is more necessary when you tweak how long are the months, like 12 or 20 days each.

[LadyWYT]

5 hours ago, majestik said:

I agree. When I started, this point wasn't really the most difficult thing to handle. I think it is more necessary when you tweak how long are the months, like 12 or 20 days each.

It kind of depends on how much hunting and foraging one wants to do. I ended up playing with 30-day months when I started out, since I wanted a lot of extra time before the big scary winter arrived to learn the other gameplay and explore. To compensate, I planted a lot of farmland as well. Of course, turns out winter wasn't as bad as I thought, so I ended up going back to the standard month length in later worlds.

[BossGalaga]

Hi, newb here. I got VS because of the challenge. I started a practice world and I got donked on repeatedly. I'm on my second winter now. I love it.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

5 minutes ago, BossGalaga said:

Hi, newb here. I got VS because of the challenge. I started a practice world and I got donked on repeatedly. I'm on my second winter now. I love it.

I was torn between giving you a "haha" or a "wolf bait".

I chose "haha" because I didn't want to send the wrong idea. Enjoy the game!

[BossGalaga]

2 hours ago, traugdor said:

I was torn between giving you a "haha" or a "wolf bait".

I chose "haha" because I didn't want to send the wrong idea. Enjoy the game!

I haven't evened out the score with wolves yet. I'm doing slightly better on the bear front, but I usually just RUN. I know it gets harder, too. I've been down in some deep, dark places. Lost some stuff. Got some stuff.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

31 minutes ago, BossGalaga said:

I haven't evened out the score with wolves yet. I'm doing slightly better on the bear front, but I usually just RUN. I know it gets harder, too. I've been down in some deep, dark places. Lost some stuff. Got some stuff.

haha yesss run away! I do the same thing now and I wear steel armor. It's just engrained that bear = bad juju.

Also in case you haven't figured it out by now, exploring those deep dark places is the sort of thing you don't want to do early game... there are.... things ...down there. Vile, abhorrent things that really do go bump in the night.

[LadyWYT]

23 minutes ago, traugdor said:

It's just engrained that bear = bad juju.

In all fairness, this isn't just force of habit. The hitboxes on bears are a bit broken; they can sit right on top of you, so that you're clipped into the hitbox. When that happens, you can't hit them(because you're clipped inside the bear's model), but the bear can still hit you. It's why bears are so frustrating to fight, even when you have really good armor, and also why it's a good idea to kite them around in a tight circle. It's a lot harder for them to sit on top of you when you maneuver that way.

[Greccen]

Instead of a crude door, that breaks at the worst moment ever, place 2 wattle gates on top. These don't have a chance to break.

I rather click two times each time to open and close than have to empty or search my inventory in a panic run.

[HalfAxd]

My biggest beginner tips are:

1. Dig trenches and lead bears/wolves into them... easy peazy...

2. Use the same trenches to chase herds of game into for either food or domestication.

3. stack poles of dirt on each side of the trench so you can find it from a distance (great when you are being chased in a panic)

4. dig a trench around your base once you start keeping animals, etc. that you want to protect.

5. liberally sprinkle ladders in your trenches... just in case...

Then, non-trench related

Consider burning down large areas of brush & trees where you want better visibility.  (the better to see you with my dear...)

[Zane Mordien]

1 hour ago, HalfAxd said:

Consider burning down large areas of brush & trees where you want better visibility.  (the better to see you with my dear...)

LET IT ALL BURN!

 

4. Fences are way easier than digging a trench.

Edited July 18, 2025 by Zane Mordien

[HalfAxd]

On 7/18/2025 at 2:38 PM, Zane Mordien said:

LET IT ALL BURN!

 

4. Fences are way easier than digging a trench.

True, though I like to catch what falls into the trench around my compound...

 

 

[Krougal]

These are all things I wish I had known as a noob that I had to figure out on my own as well.

The bit about lamellar made me laugh, but yes, it's a thing. 

There's no shame in using the settings or mods. Without them I absolutely hate this game honestly.

The fact that support for modding was built in from the begining, instead of as an after-thought, is the saving grace.

Edited July 20, 2025 by Krougal

[Thorfinn]

1 hour ago, Krougal said:

The fact that support for modding was built in from the begining, instead of as an after-thought, is the saving grace.

Amen, bro!

On 7/18/2025 at 4:38 PM, Zane Mordien said:

LET IT ALL BURN!

Prior to shivers, I used to think this. While I'm improving, I'm still not good enough to take on a combined forces heavy temporal storm on cleared land. It's either leave the brachy leaves intact, removing only the leafy ones, or litter the arena with blocks to jump over and take cover behind.

[Chaotic-Reaper]

I didn't go through all the replies, may have already been mentioned, but here's a tip from me
be sure to get your food situation sorted out before winter time, when winter comes, food will be extremely hard to find if your running vanilla vintage story, even if you do have mods in the game to help out with the food situation, you still need to prepare for the winter either way with food.

another tip is, be sure you don't build a wooden place near a fire, or even near flammable stuff, it will for sure go up in flames in seconds if it catches fire
when I first started, wood is yes easy to get easy to build with and make a shack with, but lightning hit my wooden shack and it with all my chests(10) full of storage went up in flames and reset my entire weeks worth of playing back to 0 in seconds, so be sure to at the very least not keep your storagehouse in a wooden are or in an area the fire can spread to and take out