Sons of the Forest is a triumph of the open-world survival genre. Even before release, the world is complicated, requiring loads of items to explore properly. And, being a survival-craft game, you’ll want these items as soon as physically possible! The caves in Sons of the Forest are where the main items of the game are hidden, so knowing where to go is half of the battle. Let’s talk about where the required items are, so you can clear the game efficiently!
Which Caves to Complete First in Sons of the Forest
If your goal is to complete Sons of the Forest, as well as gain access to all content currently in the game, then you’ll need eight total items. These are the Rebreather, Rope Gun, Cross, Shovel, Maintenance Keycard, VIP Keycard, Guest Keycard, and the Golden Armor.
Not all of these are required for every cave and bunker currently in Sons of the Forest. However, items like the Rebreather, Rope Gun, and Shovel are commonly required. Plus, each Keycard unlocks a variety of different types of bunkers across the map.
The map above will bring you to each cave. The order is very important!
- The Rebreather lets you breathe underwater. Fun, right? Well, this simple item is used so often in Sons of the Forest that you’ll need to get it – and air tanks – early.
- The Rope Gun and it’s associated Grapple Hook are critical to crossing gaps and clearing areas. The Cross really isn’t super important other than in the ending. Be sure to grab it while you’re in the area.
- The Shovel is needed for digging up items. This will also be needed for digging out the entrance to a specific bunker. This is a super strong item to have in your inventory as early as possible, since Sons of the Forest loves to hide things underground!
- The Maintenance Keycard is your first, and is used to crack open several bunkers. The cave that it is in has a ton of different resources, too, so it’s worth bowling over.
- The VIP Keycard is next, requiring the Maintenance to get to. It’s also used for a bunch of different bunkers.
- Seeing a pattern? The Guest Keycard is the last one you’ll need, and it’ll let you open any bunker that you need… Well, that has a door that a Keycard can open, at least!
- Finally, the Golden Armor is only really needed for opening the ending bunker. But you do need it to unlock the game’s ending and clear out the last cave. So, head there and get it.
- You will need to head to the Surveillance Bunker to unlock the final bunker.
The final cave of the game sits just northeast of the surveillance bunker.
Non-Required Caves in Sons of the Forest
Okay, so you have all of the items that are required to clear out caves and complete the game. But, there are a few caves that we haven’t touched on. What’s going on in these fixtures? Well…
- The Cave on the Western Side of the Mountain has a can opener and some canned food. Good for nutrition, if needed.
- The Cave on the Southern Side of the Mountain is filled with rope, wire, and coins.
- The Cave by the Frozen River in the Center of the Mountain has some more canned food and cloth.
- The Cave on the western side of the large eastern lake has nothing of major importance in it. Just more loot and enemies to drain your resources.
- The Cave to the south of the Golden Armor cave holds some crates and Night Vision goggles.
- There is technically a cave after the Luxury Bunker that is unmarked on the map. This just has enemies in it, and isn’t truly marked as a cave.
None of these caves require more than the Rebreather to traverse safely.
