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Raft Survival Guide: How to Craft a Fishing Rod, Explore Islands, Grow Food, and Find a Radio

 

Raft Survival Guide: How to Craft a Fishing Rod, Explore Islands, Grow Food, and Find a Radio

The survival sandbox game Raft is finally out of Early Access. Despite this, a large number of players will be launching it for the first time. To help beginners on their journey, we've put together some helpful tips.


Raft can be played in co-op. Players have access to many objects that can be created. The main feature of the game is that you have to survive and build, spending most of your time on a raft operating in the sea.


You have to fight off the shark and also keep an eye on your character's vitals. Gathering supplies and building a base is the only way to survive.


Hotbar

The quick access bar at the bottom of the screen can accommodate 10 items, making them easy to access using the scroll wheel or number keys. It is recommended to place items such as a grappling hook, a spear, an oar, a fishing rod, food, and a freshwater cup here. The ax will also be used frequently, however, it will become available at a later stage of the game.

Hotbar

How to restore health

To the left of the quick access bar, you will see three scales. Actions such as rowing, running, or building will rapidly decrease your hunger and thirst bars. It is always a good idea to carry cooked fish with you and to have a cup of fresh water nearby or access to it.


Health is slowly restored automatically if the hero does not have negative effects. If satiety or thirst is less than 15% (either of the two), then health will not be replenished.


How to survive in the early stages of the game

When you first launch the game, you will spawn on a small raft with a grappling hook. The hook is used to pick up various items along the way.


At the beginning of the game, it is better not to jump into the water for two main reasons. First, the raft can get away from you and be hard to find, especially if it's raining or there are strong waves. Secondly, there may be a shark nearby, which will constantly follow you and be reborn after death. It takes about 1/3 of your health per bite.

How to survive in the early stages of the game

Gathering resources is the most important thing at the beginning of the game. The next step is to create a building hammer. It will come in handy to increase the size of the raft. In addition, the shark will periodically break your raft if it is not scared off with a harpoon. Therefore, the stronger you strengthen the raft, the better.


To access the crafting menu, press TAB. Then click on the icon of the item you want to create. If you have all the required resources in your inventory (not necessarily in the Hotbar), you can select the Craft option and get the item.



How to properly build and place tools

When the shark attacks, it can destroy the edge of your raft. There is little you can do early on to deflect an attack, so you must place your tools away from the edge. If you plan to place important items, then make sure there are free blocks around them.



How to craft a construction hammer and a wooden spear

Some of the tools are a little more important than others. In particular, a hammer and a spear. If the hammer is needed for construction and repair, then the spear is designed to protect you and your ship. It will get rid of the shark and help you get some meat.


Where to find fresh water. How to boil water in the game

Hunger and thirst levels decrease over time, especially as you engage in various activities. There are different ways to satisfy hunger and thirst: fishing, growing food, foraging, and boiling seawater.


Water is one of the most important resources because when a hero is at a critical stage of dehydration, he can quickly die.


A simple watermaker can be made with 6 planks, 6 palm leaves, and 4 plastic. You will also need a cup or bottle to drink. The cup can be made from 4 pieces of plastic. An empty bottle is crafted from 6 plastic and 4 creeper juice.


Once the cup or bottle is created, you can fill it with salt water from the ocean. Then take the salt water to the distiller. Put some planks under the bowl to start a fire. As soon as the fire goes out, the cup on the right will fill up. Now you can pour the water into the desired container.


The improved watermaker does not require burning boards and makes several cups of water at a time, however, it is difficult to make as it requires 4 units of glass.



How to create a fishing rod and catch fish

Fishing is an easy and quick source of food. Therefore, it is so important to craft a fishing rod at the very beginning of the game. After catching raw fish, it will remain to be cooked on the fire. You will also need a special fish to make shark bait.

To create a fishing rod, you need to get 6 boards and 8 ropes. The rope is made from 2 palm leaves that can be caught in the ocean.

To use a fishing rod, place it on the hotbar and take it in your hand. Hold LMB and release when the circle is full (or nearly full). As soon as the fishing line starts to move, click LMB.

Do this quickly and the fish will be caught. It will end up in your next available inventory slot. You can eat fish raw (if you're in desperate need of food), which will fill the bar about 1/4 - 1/3.

You can also grill fish. Not all fish will fit on a small grill, so they should either be kept or thrown away until you can use them.


How to grow food

To grow your own food, you will need a planter, which can be made small, medium, or large. It all depends on what kind of crop you want to grow. The seeds indicate which bed is suitable for them.

You can also use an "old shoe" as a small pot. This item can be fished with a fishing rod. Plants require water, so you will also need to craft a bottle and water the plant with fresh water.


How to get rid of seagulls

Seagulls are insidious pests. They can eat all your crops that are outside or not protected by a scarecrow. Improvised stuffed animals scare away birds for a while, but eventually wear out and become unusable. If your raft is too big or you can't keep the seagulls away, just place your plant beds under the roof.


How to explore islands and get food

From time to time, you will stumble upon islands. On some of them, you can find edible plants: watermelons, mangoes, or coconuts. Depending on the plants you are dealing with, you may need to use special equipment. Watermelons and pineapples are the easiest to collect, as you can interact with them directly. Whereas mangoes and coconuts need to be cut down from palm trees with an ax.

Sometimes getting to the islands is problematic. To do this, it is recommended that you first build a staircase on the side that will be closest to the island. This will allow you to climb from the top of the ladder onto dry land. If your ship already has several floors, you can use them to get to the island.

Note: At first, you will not be able to stop the raft, as this will require a special Anchor weighting agent. Therefore, inspect the islands very quickly before your raft disappears over the horizon.


How and why to explore the underwater areas on the islands

Underwater, you can find many useful materials. For example, seaweed (seaweed) or scrap (scrap) can be found on the reefs around the islands. If you have an anchor and you can linger on the islands for a while, be sure to explore the underwater world.


Take provisions with you during long trips to the land

As you explore the larger story islands, don't forget to bring food and water with you. The fact is that on some islands there is no reliable source of the necessary resources. If you do not take supplies with you, then you may have to return to the ship at the most inopportune moment.

How to find sand, clay, shellfish, and sunken boxes

Some resources can only be found underwater, which means that at some point you will have to dive to where the shark is hiding. The best place to do this is right in front of an island or large rocks sticking out of the water. It's usually not very deep. This will allow you to spend more time underwater and quickly get to the raft if a shark appears nearby.

When collecting resources underwater, you also need to use the grappling hook. Underwater you can find sand, clay, shellfish, sunken boxes, and various ores.

It is extremely important to remember to anchor the raft so that it is not carried away by the current. A one-time anchor is not reusable, so it will have to be created again and again. While the more expensive one is a permanent anchor, you can use it as many times as you like.

Note: To stay underwater longer, you can research and craft Fins and an Oxygen Tank.

How to farm wood in Raft

Wood is one of the most important resources in Raft. You need it to build, cook and even clean water. Therefore, you will use a huge amount of wood. Once you get past the initial stages of the game, you will notice that wood has become less consumed. But before you get to this stage, break all the barrels, search the islands and collect as much wood as possible.

On the islands, you can find 4 types of trees: palm tree, mango tree, birch, and pine. You can cut them down and get boards. You can also get seeds and other resources (fruits and leaves) from them. Thanks to the seeds, you will be able to grow trees in the beds on your raft. There are some types of trees in the game that cannot be cut down.


Don't rush through the story

Don't rush through the story. Get materials that will help you turn a small raft into a huge houseboat. You'll have to swim a lot to find the basic building materials (planks, plastic, and palm leaves), so feel free to explore the world around you before visiting the story islands.


How to find the radio and progress through the story

The only way to progress through the game's story is to follow a pile of debris in the water. The trash can lead the hero to the islands and eventually help you find the radio. The radio is the tool to use to find the big story islands.

How to create and use a research table

The Research Workbench lets you craft more complex designs and gear: breathing apparatus for longer underwater journeys, upgrades to makeshift tools, and useful electronics.

You need to use different materials and do research to learn new recipes using this material. It's easy to forget about this during the game. Make sure you use the table when you explore new locations and find previously unexplored resources.

In addition, sometimes you can find blueprints in barrels, which can be studied on the research table and get a new recipe.

How to make shark bait

You can attack the shark with a spear or use a trap to get rid of it easily. The lure will distract the shark, allowing you to hit it with a spear before it swims away.

Predatory fish will return until the bait is eaten. You will only have time to defeat the shark before this happens. Once the shark is killed, continue the journey.


Prepare for strong opponents

As we have already noted, the main enemy in the game is the shark. While she doesn't pose much of a threat with the right preparation, she will need to be fought off throughout the game. On some islands, you can meet more serious opponents, such as bears. To ensure protection, stock up on spears in advance.

From aggressive animals, you will get meat and various resources such as feathers, leather, and wool. Aggressive Animals, Fish, and Insects: Shark, Wild Boar, Cracker, Albino Cracker, Pufferfish, Pig, Rat, Bear, Ursa, and Bee Swarm.


How to catch an animal and put it in a pen

If you build a corral on a raft, then a goat (Goat), a llama (lama), and a fat tail (Clucker) can be kept there. Between themselves, these types of animals do not conflict, so you can put everyone in one pen. If you do not put up a fence, then the animal will simply run away.

To catch these animals, you will need a net launcher. There must be grass in the paddock so that the animals can eat and produce resources. Goats, llamas, and fat tails have several rare varieties, but they differ only in color.


Use the mouse wheel to select the desired number of items in your inventory

This is not so much advice on gameplay, but on improving the quality of life. If you love the proper organization of items, then know that you do not have to get things from the storage only one at a time or in a stack. Using the scroll wheel, you can choose the exact amount of materials to take.

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