Intended Progression Tips?

[Bz131]

Joining the forums as one of many new players looking for some tips on progression without getting too spoilery hopefully. Also can't help but complain a bit, as is tradition. I like to mostly discover things myself so haven't really looked at any guides (other than the in-game one) or anything beyond some mild wiki use just to understand a few mechanics a bit better. Survival has been...maybe not a breeze but very doable with my playstyle, since I always like farming in videogames I had (almost) enough food to make it through my first winter and was able to scrounge and feed my chickens enough to survive pretty well even though the tail end was a bit lean. I'm playing on whatever the default settings are and am the Malefactor since having easy access to ranged weaponry was attractive to me. Particularly the current "step up" I am on in technolgy has me scratching my head a bit to move from copper to the bronze age.

 

What I, as a new player, am going through is waves of frustration dealing with the combat. It is punishing, it is opaque, it seems downright discouraged without digging holes and trapping enemies where they can't fight back. Wolves and bears annoyed me a ton in the early game (and still do tbh) do but I've learned the lesson that you can't fight them early game basically at all without a plan (and a convenient pit nearby, ideally). I'm wearing tin bronze chainmail (found some extremely lucky tin early on) and have a nearby cave system after lengthy prospecting that should have lots of tin in it (ultra high or high quantity in the area).

 

Here is my issue: I feel like I can't push forward into these caves without facing tier 3 and 4 shivers, drifters, and bowtorn who kill me in 2-5 hits. This seems crazy to me, am I supposed to just strip mine without going into caves? Am I supposed to be fighting creatures that can kill me that quickly? That seems...ill-advised after my experience with wolves and bears. How am I supposed to get tin then since it is such a low quantity ore in general? Should I not bother with mining and just buy tin from a trader? I tend to shy away from "trading" strategies in most games since I find it more rewarding to mine it up myself but these caves feels like an insurmountable wall to me after feeling like I did a decent (albeit lengthy) learning process in the copper age. What am I missing here that will let me cross into the bronze age in earnest rather than being stuck in the copper age where I it feels like I can't truly fight anything other than goats? Should I have skipped bronze entirely and just made an anvil and try to mine/prospect for iron instead? Have I stumbled on an area/cave I shouldn't be in at all if tier 4 creatures are spawning? Any tips would be welcome even if they are as simple as "Yes, trade" or "Yes, don't go in that cave if tier 4 enemies are spawing" to help me progress further and maybe try a taste of the story content.

[LadyWYT]

36 minutes ago, Bz131 said:

What I, as a new player, am going through is waves of frustration dealing with the combat. It is punishing, it is opaque, it seems downright discouraged without digging holes and trapping enemies where they can't fight back. Wolves and bears annoyed me a ton in the early game (and still do tbh) do but I've learned the lesson that you can't fight them early game basically at all without a plan (and a convenient pit nearby, ideally). I'm wearing tin bronze chainmail (found some extremely lucky tin early on) and have a nearby cave system after lengthy prospecting that should have lots of tin in it (ultra high or high quantity in the area).

Welcome to the forums! Not to knock the class choice, but part of the difficulty here could be due to picking Malefactor, as it's perhaps the weakest in combat(penalties to health, melee damage, and range of fire). That doesn't mean that Malefactor can't succeed in combat at all, just that combat is where that particular class is going to struggle the most since it's optimized for stealth and gathering.

Tin bronze chainmail is tier 2 equipment, so it will keep you fairly safe from bears, wolves, and other tier 2 enemies, but you won't be entirely immune either as they can still kill you if they attack you long enough. Keep in mind too that armor is only effective as long as it has durability remaining--if it's broken it will need to be repaired before it can offer protection. Likewise, armor only protects the portion of the body relevant to its particular armor slot, so if you only have bronze chainmail in the body slot, it will mitigate incoming hits to your body but not your head or legs. Granted, your body is the easiest part of you to hit, so if you need to mix armor types its best to equip your strongest armor in this slot.

36 minutes ago, Bz131 said:

I'm playing on whatever the default settings are and am the Malefactor since having easy access to ranged weaponry was attractive to me. 

If you picked Malefactor just for easier ranged options, you might try Hunter instead. Hunters have a boost to ranged damage, as well as more options for early ranged weaponry(spears are still pretty much king though) that are easily crafted. Or you could turn off class-exclusive recipes and just craft all the things.

 

36 minutes ago, Bz131 said:

Here is my issue: I feel like I can't push forward into these caves without facing tier 3 and 4 shivers, drifters, and bowtorn who kill me in 2-5 hits. This seems crazy to me, am I supposed to just strip mine without going into caves?

It sounds like you're approaching Vintage Story mining like the other block game's mining; the two don't work the same. In Vintage Story, you want to stay out of the caves unless you're prepared, since the underground is dangerous. For mining, it's better to find a good mineral reading with your prospecting pick, and then dig a shaft straight down until you hit ore. Node search on the pro-pick will alert you to any ore veins nearby, and using ladders will ensure that you can navigate the shaft safely(not possible to fall off ladders unless you move off the ladder block).

For enemy spawns underground, the deeper you go the higher the tier. Tier 3 tends to start showing up around Y level 40-50, I think, while Tier 4 shows up around Y level 30ish and below. Essentially, you need to be REALLY deep to find the really nasty stuff, but the lower tiers can kill just as easily if you get too complacent. I'll also note that more enemies spawn underground when rift activity is higher, so save your caving trips for days of calm or low activity when possible.

36 minutes ago, Bz131 said:

Should I have skipped bronze entirely and just made an anvil and try to mine/prospect for iron instead?

Metal tiers are one thing you cannot skip, in regards to progression. You'll need a bronze anvil to work iron, and an iron anvil to work meteoric iron and steel.

Edited August 30, 2025 by LadyWYT

[CastIronFabric]

Well to be fair, posting this question and reading everyones responses is not too much different than reading online guides be it video or otherwise.

The only progression tips other than (things that keep me alive right now)

1. If you stay in the spawn area think about winter. Primary winter clothes and food supply that can last.

2. Try to get as much flax growing as you can without the search for flax impeding objective number 1

3. If you have time and are thinking about doing a ton of digging for whatever long term goal you have, consider waiting until bronze age.

(disclaimer: this is just my personal opinion I do not want to advocate that I consider these two things to be an immutable fact worthy of debating)

 

 

Edited August 30, 2025 by CastIronFabric

[Bz131]

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

1. If you picked Malefactor just for easier ranged options, you might try Hunter instead. Hunters have a boost to ranged damage, as well as more options for early ranged weaponry(spears are still pretty much king though) that are easily crafted. Or you could turn off class-exclusive recipes and just craft all the things.

2. It sounds like you're approaching Vintage Story mining like the other block game's mining; the two don't work the same. In Vintage Story, you want to stay out of the caves unless you're prepared, since the underground is dangerous. For mining, it's better to find a good mineral reading with your prospecting pick, and then dig a shaft straight down until you hit ore. Node search on the pro-pick will alert you to any ore veins nearby, and using ladders will ensure that you can navigate the shaft safely(not possible to fall off ladders unless you move off the ladder block).

3. For enemy spawns underground, the deeper you go the higher the tier. Tier 3 tends to start showing up around Y level 40-50, I think, while Tier 4 shows up around Y level 30ish and below. Essentially, you need to be REALLY deep to find the really nasty stuff, but the lower tiers can kill just as easily if you get too complacent. I'll also note that more enemies spawn underground when rift activity is higher, so save your caving trips for days of calm or low activity when possible.

4. Metal tiers are one thing you cannot skip, in regards to progression. You'll need a bronze anvil to work iron, and an iron anvil to work meteoric iron and steel.

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated. Not 100% how to format this better but to go down the list of clarifications/further questions:

1. Can I swap classes (make a new character, presumably) and play on the same world? I can't help but be a bit attached as I have some boars, chickens, and bighorn sheep in pens and was working on animal husbandry. The lower health is definitely a struggle though so perhaps I will swap and start a new world. The only thing I don't love is making arrows but I suppose I can just make them out of copper to avoid having to do too much arrow knapping. 

2. I think this is the key that I am missing. If caves are prohibitively dangerous until better equipped I will simply avoid them until later. I had somewhat suspected this was the issue but am a bit sad to hear I was correct. Not to get too into the weeds but I do think this is a bit of an odd design choice but I can respect the vision of the developers, I suppose. Thank you for the tips on mining, I'll give it a try and see if my high readings lead me to some successful tin gathering.

3. This makes sense and I had anecdotally noticed more spawns on high rift activity days. Good to know I wasn't hallucinating. 

4. On this, if I had opted instead of making a full set of tin bronze chainmail (I am wearing head, chest, and legs) to make a bronze anvil in that case could I have "skipped" up to iron without spending much time on tin/bronze age? Just curious, the ship has sailed as I don't think I have enough tin left from that lucky early node to make an anvil now but I definitely had the option early on, considered it and opted for the armor assuming it would pay dividends to be equipped well enough to mine my own tin. In hindsight, perhaps not the optimal choice as if VS is anything like the real world the difficulty with iron should (broadly speaking) be forging it rather than finding it.

[Bz131]

57 minutes ago, CastIronFabric said:

Well to be fair, posting this question and reading everyones responses is not too much different than reading online guides be it video or otherwise.

The only progression tips other than (things that keep me alive right now)

1. If you stay in the spawn area think about winter. Primary winter clothes and food supply that can last.

2. Try to get as much flax growing as you can without the search for flax impeding objective number 1

3. If you have time and are thinking about doing a ton of digging for whatever long term goal you have, consider waiting until bronze age.

(disclaimer: this is just my personal opinion I do not want to advocate that I consider these two things to be an immutable fact worthy of debating)

 

 

Fair point! I think step-by-step guides can be a bit too much information whereas a forum post would get some tailored advice for where I am in the playthrough without getting too far ahead or too far behind of where I am. 

For 1. I did mangage to survive my first winter and don't foresee any issues in the future as I now have a big greenhouse that I am slowly filling with crops. My cellars are pretty full and I have some animals I am slowly breeding for animal husbandry

2. Definitely hit the flax bottleneck a little while ago haha but now I have it growing in (relative) abundance in the greenhouse

3. This is where I am stuck, couldn't cross from copper age to bronze age since I was apparently mining incorrectly. Got some helpful tips above that should help me make push through to true bronze age

I appreciate the tips though, very helpful!

[smith]

22 minutes ago, Bz131 said:

1. Can I swap classes (make a new character, presumably) and play on the same world?

ingame chat
/gm 2
.charsel
/gm 1
 

[LadyWYT]

3 minutes ago, Bz131 said:

1. Can I swap classes (make a new character, presumably) and play on the same world? I can't help but be a bit attached as I have some boars, chickens, and bighorn sheep in pens and was working on animal husbandry. The lower health is definitely a struggle though so perhaps I will swap and start a new world. The only thing I don't love is making arrows but I suppose I can just make them out of copper to avoid having to do too much arrow knapping. 

.charsel or /player yourname allowcharselonce should allow you to switch your class, as well as your appearance. /worldconfig playerHealthPoints should allow you to adjust your base health amount--just enter an appropriate number in that command and then reload, the changes should apply. It's worth noting that by default, the base health is 15 hp. Filling your nutrition bars will add +2.5 hp for each bar you fill.

I will note that class health penalties(or penalties in general) aren't enough to really stop the class from playing the game normally. Generally, the penalties usually end up meaning you might die where others might live, might miss the occasion drops, or might need an extra hit to kill something. Of course, how detrimental a penalty is also depends on one's playstyle.

11 minutes ago, Bz131 said:

2. I think this is the key that I am missing. If caves are prohibitively dangerous until better equipped I will simply avoid them until later. I had somewhat suspected this was the issue but am a bit sad to hear I was correct. Not to get too into the weeds but I do think this is a bit of an odd design choice but I can respect the vision of the developers, I suppose. Thank you for the tips on mining, I'll give it a try and see if my high readings lead me to some successful tin gathering.

To be fair, you can go caving without a lot of gear, but you really have to know what you're doing since it's incredibly risky to do so. Generally it's better to wait until you have a bit of gear and healing supplies before venturing in--the deeper you delve the better equipped you'll need to be. As for why things get more dangerous the deeper you go...there are lore reasons, that are currently not fully explained, but there are enough tidbits for players to discover and draw their own conclusions from.

 

16 minutes ago, Bz131 said:

4. On this, if I had opted instead of making a full set of tin bronze chainmail (I am wearing head, chest, and legs) to make a bronze anvil in that case could I have "skipped" up to iron without spending much time on tin/bronze age? Just curious, the ship has sailed as I don't think I have enough tin left from that lucky early node to make an anvil now but I definitely had the option early on, considered it and opted for the armor assuming it would pay dividends to be equipped well enough to mine my own tin. In hindsight, perhaps not the optimal choice as if VS is anything like the real world the difficulty with iron should (broadly speaking) be forging it rather than finding it.

It's very likely, yes. If you have a bronze pick and a bronze anvil, you have the equipment needed to mine and work iron(which is more involved than copper or bronze working). Of course, there's nothing wrong with making bronze armor either; it depends entirely on one's preferred playstyle and the current game conditions. For earlier armors, bear armor is a solid choice, if you're brave enough to hunt them. Gambeson takes a lot of flax to make, but offers some of the best protection and utility in terms of general use armor. Lamellar is probably the best choice for early metal armor; while not as protective as other metal armors, it's much cheaper in terms of cost.

The good news is that tin isn't particularly hard to find, as it's a more common ore spawn, so checking lower prospecting readings is more worth it. You can also combine bismuth and zinc ore with copper to make bismuth bronze, or silver and gold with copper to get black bronze. If you're having trouble locating an ore deposit, tin, bismuth, and zinc are also sold by commodities traders, and survival goods traders as well(I think). It'll cost you a few gears, but you can earn gears easily enough by just selling some things to the local traders when you can.

[CastIronFabric]

17 minutes ago, Bz131 said:

Fair point! I think step-by-step guides can be a bit too much information whereas a forum post would get some tailored advice for where I am in the playthrough without getting too far ahead or too far behind of where I am. 

For 1. I did mangage to survive my first winter and don't foresee any issues in the future as I now have a big greenhouse that I am slowly filling with crops. My cellars are pretty full and I have some animals I am slowly breeding for animal husbandry

2. Definitely hit the flax bottleneck a little while ago haha but now I have it growing in (relative) abundance in the greenhouse

3. This is where I am stuck, couldn't cross from copper age to bronze age since I was apparently mining incorrectly. Got some helpful tips above that should help me make push through to true bronze age

I appreciate the tips though, very helpful!

yeah it sounds like your really well on your way.

Given I play on 'Explorer Mode' I now make a mad dash to about 10,000 blocks right at spawn where I can grow nearly everything almost year round. 20,000 is a bit to far for that sweet spot of farming though

[Bz131]

11 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

To be fair, you can go caving without a lot of gear, but you really have to know what you're doing since it's incredibly risky to do so. Generally it's better to wait until you have a bit of gear and healing supplies before venturing in--the deeper you delve the better equipped you'll need to be. As for why things get more dangerous the deeper you go...there are lore reasons, that are currently not fully explained, but there are enough tidbits for players to discover and draw their own conclusions from.

The good news is that tin isn't particularly hard to find, as it's a more common ore spawn, so checking lower prospecting readings is more worth it. You can also combine bismuth and zinc ore with copper to make bismuth bronze, or silver and gold with copper to get black bronze. If you're having trouble locating an ore deposit, tin, bismuth, and zinc are also sold by commodities traders, and survival goods traders as well(I think). It'll cost you a few gears, but you can earn gears easily enough by just selling some things to the local traders when you can.

Thank you again for all the help! I think with all these tips I am well equipped to cross over to bronze age and I think I will stick to Malefactor for now although knowing I have the option to swap classes with some commands is awesome. 

Just to comment on the 2 pieces quoted above: Good to know on caving, although since I'm quite bad at combat I think I'll just stay away for the most part until I am a little better equipped.

For tin, that is good to know it isn't super rare when mining/prospecting correctly. It seemed like such a low percentage ore even at "high"/"ultra high" readings that I didn't think mining downwards would be very effective which is why I was so set on cave-diving but I'll give the recommended mining method a try and maybe report back on my successes/failures for posterity for any other newbies stuck in a similar situation. I'll also consider some trading since I do have a commodities trader relatively nearby. That honestly might be the easiest choice since all my head-banging against the caves has left me with a few gears laying around to spend since I had found a few stashes when wandering around and checking out cave entrances.

[Toroic]

Caving in general is a high risk, low to moderate reward activity because enemy spawns in caves are very high.

100% you’re on the right track to rush through bronze, especially for armor iron is vastly better and iron is far more abundant.

Keep in mind you’ll need a tin bronze pickaxe specifically for story progression.