Icarus tips and early start guide

Icarus tips and early start guide :
( Q & A at the bottom )

Icarus Intel interactive map - https://www.icarusintel.com/



cave at c3, bottom right of the map square

Skip thatch totally and wait for level 5 to unlock wood building items instead

You stop gaining talent points at level 40, but still gain tech points

Don't waste talent points on the extra blueprint points

Don't waste talent points on the solo tree unless you play ONLY solo

Skinning bench gives a LOT more fur, leather etc. from animal skinning

Backpack prevents picking up animals (so can something else in the G hotbar slot)

Build a wood wall to block cave worms spitting


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ICARUS Complete Survival Guide (Level 1 to 25) by By DarrylSSY
   ( source link : https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2672453067 )

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,
but you may alter this guide's recommendations as you see fit for your playstyle.


Progressing (Level 10 to 15)
Learn the following recipe in order and craft them:
1. Crafting Bench (Skinning Bench is a very good thing to have early game as well)
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.


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FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: Should I choose DirectX 11 or DirectX 12?
A: DirectX 11 provides the fastest and most stable game experience, and is our default setting.
Enable DirectX 12 if you have an RTX graphics card and want to play with RTX Global Illumination.
NVIDIA DLSS and FSR acceleration technologies are enabled in both settings.

Q: Is Icarus optimized for Windows 11?
A: No. Windows 11 is not supported.

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: What happens when I am cold and wet?
A: When you are wet, you are 20% more likely to get cold, and being cold decreases your health and stamina regeneration.
Your food consumption will also increase by 10% while water consumption decreases by 10%.

Q: How do I prevent losing XP if I die?
A: Removing yourself from prospect is the only way to prevent XP. Do this if you have just started your mission.

Q: Is there a map of all the caves location?
A: FinallyRage has made an interactive map which you can find at https://www.icarusintel.com/

Q: What are Outposts?
A: Outposts are permanent 1km x 1km maps with no time limit, safe animals, light weather and limited dangers - ideal for building.
Your Outpost is stored on your local PC and is permanent. Only one of your characters can be on an Outpost at a time,
but while you are there you are Hosting a session and can invite your Steam Friends to visit.
Resources such as trees and ores will regenerate when you rejoin your Outpost, so you have ample supplies.
You can bring tools from the Workshop down to your Outpost, but cannot return them.
You do not earn XP while building in your Outpost.

Q: Will my character’s progress carry over between Icarus’ base game and Outposts?
A: Currently your character does not earn XP on Outpost drops and must leave the Outpost before they can join a game session.

ONLINE AND MULTIPLAYER
Q: How does online co-op and matchmaking work?
A: You can play Icarus with up to 7 other people from your Steam Friends List.
One player can “Host” a session and then their Friends can “Join a Prospect” to browse and join sessions that their Friends are Hosting.

Q: How do Icarus’ servers work?
A: Our game servers are run "peer-to-peer" and we also store key player data on our dedicated central server.
This means that when playing one player “hosts” the game and others connect to their PC, while our external server saves snapshots.
If the host leaves, or their Internet connection goes away,
then all players will be returned to the orbital station but another player can host the session and everyone can continue playing.

SUPPORTERS EDITION
Q: What is the Supporters Edition?
A: Supporters Edition is for fans who want to support RocketWerkz and Icarus’ long-term development.
In addition to the base game, Supporters receive the next two DLC, two additional Outposts and the exclusive First Cohort Envirosuit,
which can be found in the Workshop to research and buy.

We will continue to add extras for Supporters over time to say thank you.

Q: Can I upgrade from the Standard Edition to the Supporters Edition?
A: Yes. The Supporter Edition is a ‘package’ in Steam made up of the base Icarus game plus the Supporters Edition content.
If you already own the Standard Edition of Icarus,
when you purchase the Supporters Edition Steam will remove the price of the Standard Edition.
You won’t pay for the Standard Edition twice.

THE FUTURE
Q: Will Icarus be updated regularly?
A: Yes. Icarus will have a day one patch as well as regular content updates such as new items and missions,
hot fixes and periodic patches. These will be available as part of the base game for no extra charge, in addition to the DLC.

Q: What are Icarus’ two DLC Chapters?
A: New Frontiers and Dangerous Horizons.
These chapters will offer new biomes, enemies and overall gameplay content.
They are planned for 2022 and we will showcase them when ready!
They can be purchased separately (price not announced yet), unless you pre-ordered them as part of the Supporters Edition.