These are important to know before or after reading this guide! I won't help you guys answer questions on comments section if the question interferes with these rules!

1. Dummies = Newbies.
   
   
2. This guide is just giving recommendations for surviving in DST and not prohibiting players for experiment something different, especially CAVE.
   
   
3. Any recommendations are for new players who still need much knowledge for playing DST. This guide will lead them to build a small base camp so they can survive some night and will understand what to do next on their own.
   Example: Making Farm, Drying Rack, Bird Cage, Bee Box, Pig House, etc.
   
   
4. This guide is not explaining about any Food for eat. You can see my other guide for dummies here.
   
   
5. For some pictures, please hover the icon to let you know how much are needed to make an item and some explanations.
   
   
6. My grammar is quite bad... Yeah, I'm not a native English speaker so please understand this.

When you start playing online, you'll see two options to play DST.

• Browse Game: You'll found many rooms to play in that server. The world inside each of room is different.
  
• Host Game: Make your own server and own world.

There are three game modes:

• Survival: If you die, you'll become a ghost and reduce sanity per minute to all alive players. If all die, the world will reset from beginning. Classic DST Gameplay.
  
• Wilderness: Each player will spawn on random location after choosing a character. If you die, you'll need to choose a character again. Challenging Gameplay.
  
• Endless: If you die, you'll become a ghost that will not reduce sanity like Survival Mode and can revive anytime from the place you spawned. Sandbox Gameplay.

For a new player, I highly suggest for picking Host Game to learn all about DST before playing with other players. I'll explain about finding a proper room when you choose "Browse Game" later.
Choose Endless Mode because you'll only need to learn the basic for playing DST.
Make your server type "Local Only" and you're ready to go. Choose to play alone when hosting the game.

About the 'Cave' Settings, please do not activate it. Following the guide's rule, I'll not explain all things from the cave (It is too dangerous to roam cave).

Yeah.. Character selection. There are ten characters available to play and each one of them has different traits and weaknesses.

Here are three characters I suggest for you for learning DST:

• Wilson
  Overall good. No weakness. Can grow beard to provide insulation (heat).
  
  
  
• Willow
  Can increase sanity by standing near fire AND have a fire lighter. Her doll can distract Shadow Creatures when it put on the ground. Insanity will cause her cold.
  
  
  
• Wendy
  75% damage dealt but manageable sanity from darkness and monster. If you sacrifice a living thing when you drop Abigail's Flower, you can spawn her to AoE attack enemies.
  
  
  
• Wickerbottom
  Good character with her knowledge of all recipes from Science Machine. Can't sleep.
  
  
  
• Maxwell
  Will not insane for newbie players. Can summon workers in cost of his max sanity so player can save their flints and twigs, but have low HP.
  

Why I don't recommend these characters while learning DST:

• Wolfgang
  You'll need to control his hunger when playing. Also, sanity decreases tremendously on darkness and from monsters.
  
  
• WX78
  Water damages him and needs a specific item to improve stat.
  
  
• Woodie
  Fun to play, but the most new player using Woodie will die quickly because of his werebeaver form.
  
  
• Wes
  Just don't. Useless character. Have a useless perk and his weakness is to survive.
  
  
• Wigfrid
  Starting with a good helmet and spear but ONLY eat meat. Most newbies died from starvation.
  
  
• Webber
  Not suggested for a new player. You can die easily by friendly mobs and have low sanity.

*Fun Fact: All characters name started with W unintentionally by dev. Even Maxwell (M is W flipped & Maxwell real name is William)*

Ok, you chose a character and got spawned on Jury-Rigged Portal. First, you MUST know these three main statuses for surviving in DST.


Harsh Environment and Your Condition:

Second, you MUST know what to do in order to survive.

• Pick these on the ground
  
  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
  

  
• Make these:
  
  Item

  Ingredients

  Used For...

  

  

  .
  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  Restore Sanity over time. It will disappear on 6 days.

1. Chop Tree for Logs.
   
2. Pick Grasses mainly on Savannah (Grass Field).
   
3. Make a Campfire (2 Logs + 3 Cut Grasses) on safe place.

PS: Don't go too far from your Campfire!

1. Cook some foods by dragging a food to the Campfire and eat it to fill hunger / health (Care of Mushroom as they give different effect).
   
2. Add fuel to the Campfire if the fire starting to disappear with some grasses of woods.
   
3. Learn and remember some recipes on the left side of your monitor.
   PS: Do not ever go to Total Darkness except you equipped with
   
   (2 Twigs + 2 Cut Grasses).

1. Find a place that provide many kinds of food. Example: Rabbits, Beefalo, Birchnut Tree, Berry Bush.
   
   
2. 

   

   Better than Campfire and can re-lit anytime.
   
   
3. Replant Tree with or near from you.
   
   
4. 

   

   For prototype new items and recipes.
   
   
5. Burn a Tree with Torch then wait until it burned out and chop it for . KEEP IN MIND about the proximity of a burning tree near with other trees. It can cause fire to other trees as well.
   
   
6. Prototype
   

   

   More inventory slots.
   near Science Machine.
   PS: If you prototype a new item, you will gain Sanity and you don't have to go near Science Machine again to make that item.
   
   
7. Prototype
   

   

   

   
   
   
8. Prototype
   

   

   Make better foods.
   
   
9. Prototype
   

   

   Store items
   
   
10. 

    

    

    

    More items and recipes than Science Machine
    PS: You can destroy your Science Machine after you made this with Hammer to get resources.
    
    
11. Prototype
    

    

    Store foods and reduce spoilage time
    near Alchemy Engine.
    
    
12. Prototype better Tool (Luxury Axe, Opulent Pickaxe, Regal Shovel) and throw away old tools because these have better durability.

When you want to play with others, make sure to find a room when that world is at Autumn or Spring. If you enter when that world is at summer or winter, you will most likely to died because of its harsh environment.

You can choose either Game Modes to play, but you can choose Survival for the classic DST playstyle.

Don't forget to pay attention about Mod used on a specific room. Usually, you'll need to download these mods used on that room from Workshop. If you're want to play a normal DST without any Tweak and modification, just search a room without mods.

Any items I mention like Thermal Stone and some equipment isn't necessary to learn for newbies. You can learn how to make and how to use it by yourself. These items are needed especially on harsher seasons. For newbie players, just play it when the world is at Autumn because it is the most peaceful than other and these items is quite useless.

If you want to build Ice Box and confused where should you find a Gear, you can get it by killing:
Clockwork Knight. It is quite strong and hurt enough to kill you. With a proper weapon, you'll found and proper armor, you can kill it easily.






Tumbleweed is optional source of grasses and twigs. If your character position in the desert (sandy area with cactus), you can find the corner of the desert and you'll find many tumbleweed stuck.
You can found these moving in other area as well. Indicating that your position is near with the desert.




While you're exploring, you may encounter Grass Gekko. Like a gekko, it will cut its grass tail if you approach it and run. Grass Tuft spawn rate is lowered after this gekko released. You can found Gecko's population mainly in green area, grass area, or desert area.

• Chester.
  
• You can store items like a Chest.
  
• Will follow anyone with
  
• If you're lucky, the Eye Bone is just lying around the ground. Pick it and a Chester will follow you as long the Eye Bone is in your inventory.

• Glommer.
  
• Give Sanity Aura+ around it. Give Glommer's Poop that is highly flammable, nice fertilizer, and restore some health and fill hunger in cost of sanity.
  
• Will follow anyone with
  
  
• You can get the Glommer's Flower on
  
  • Full Moon (Night is not dark but bluish light instead)
    
  • At Glommer's Statue

• Stagehand.
  
• Naturally spawn anywhere and trying to find any light source in its vicinity. Will not move if you are too close to it.
  
• This is an optional resource of light if you can find any 'Light Bulb' or 'Glowberry' from the cave for two nights.
  
• You cannot destroy this (except with 'Weather Pain'). Instead, if you try to hammer this 86 times, you'll get an 'End Table Blueprint'. End Table has the same functionalities and sprite with Stagehand, but destroyable and a dead object.

Please let me know in the comments if there are some mistake on some parts so I can fix the guide. I hope these basic survival guide will let you know what you should do while playing DST.

If you want to experiment other things, DO IT!
Experiment in DST is fun and it is the core of this game! Don't be lazy and do something!
Try to learn more by experiment and DO IT yourself!
JUST DO IT!

Thanks =D