INDEPENDENT PC SURVIVAL GUIDE
SONS OF THE
FOREST
Find the tool. Follow the route. Keep your people alive. A practical guide to exploring, building and surviving the island.
Start with the essentials01 / YOUR NEXT WAY IN
The tools that open the island.
Get the Rebreather and Rope Gun first. Together they unlock the Shovel route, then the buried Maintenance A hatch.
Rebreather
Find the correct coastal cave branch and prepare for its underwater exit.
Follow the route 02Rope Gun
Prepare explosives, navigate Cave B and reach the gun beside the exit zipline.
Follow the route 03Shovel
Follow the equipment chain, reach the worker and use the return passage past Sluggy.
Follow the route 04Maintenance Keycard
Expose Maintenance A and find the keycard before moving on to the deeper storage room.
Follow the routeThe first two tools can be collected in either order.
02 / FIND YOUR TASK
Keep a route within reach.
03 / BEFORE YOU SET OUT
A few things to know.
Short answers, with the route one click away.
Shovel location: prerequisites, cave route and exit
The Shovel is in Cave C, near the river confluence west of the mountains. You need both the Rope Gun and Rebreather. Travel through the zipline, waterslide and two diving sections to the dead worker at the final construction area.
PC route from Early Access descriptions with a March 2024 update agreeing on the main landmarks. No current-build enemy-count guarantee.
Read Shovel →How to befriend Virginia and give her equipment
Let Virginia approach without attacking, chasing or rushing towards her. Once trust develops and the handover interaction appears, use E to give her a pistol, shotgun, GPS Locator or suitable outfit.
PC guide based on Early Access route descriptions and later community references. Exact build is unspecified; landmarks and enemy encounters may differ.
Read Befriend Virginia →Early 3D Printer location and resin costs
The early printer is in the Entertainment entrance maintenance room on the western side of the island. It is before the card-locked bunker area, so no Maintenance Keycard is needed. Load resin into the machine, select a recipe and collect the finished item.
PC guide using 1.0-era routes and community references. It has not been tested in a 2026 game build.
Read 3D Printer →THE GAME / THE GUIDE
Build a shelter.
Explore what lies beneath.
Sons Of The Forest is an island survival game by Endnight Games, published by Newnight, with single-player and online co-op on Windows PC. This guide covers equipment routes, companions, base planning and full-release story progression.
Routes use Early Access and 1.0-era references. Each guide states its scope; content review dates do not mean the game was tested in that build.
About these field notes →