Use your favourite features in-game with our Desktop AppWindrose is a pirate survival game from Windrose Crew. It scratches that swashbuckling itch and pairs it with gathering, building, crafting and exploration.
The game is currently in Early Access, and if you’re jumping into Windrose for the first time, here are some spoiler-free early game tips and tricks to help you survive and make the most of your time in the Age of Piracy!
Resources such as plant fiber and wood are crucial throughout the game. You’re going to need these resources for basically everything. Building, crafting stations, furniture - a big part of the early game is based of gathering these 2 resources.
As soon as you land into the world, it is important that you start stockpiling these resources. The more wood and fiber the merrier! The obvious way to do this is to hit trees for wood and hit plants for fiber, but there's a way more efficient method to make sure you aren't wasting your time.
Whenever you see a small cluster of plants and trees (specifically the Ficus Tree), try to farm them as they give you an abundance of both materials - a lot more per swing compared to farming singular trees and bushes. If you can build this habit early, it will make resource collecting easier and less tiresome.
In Windrose, it is really important that you’re on top of your rested stamina buff. Stamina is used for a whole heap of things things like sprinting, fighting, mining, and exploring. Needless to say, if you have good stamina recovery, everything is much easier.
In combat, it can be the difference between life and death! Thankfully, there are ways around this - though it may not be how you think.
Windrose ties the rested bonus to your base decoration. Unlike other sandbox games where decorating your base is a side quest and largely unimportant outside of aesthetics reason, in Windrose it’s really important that you furnish your new digs appropriately to extend the rest bonus.
Combat and fighting are core features of Windrose, and there are 2 major combat movements familiar to souls-lite enjoyers that you need to understand: perfect blocking, and dodging.
Holding block and tanking your way through fights is a sure-fire way of getting yourself killed. You'll burn through your block bar and be left vulnerable for follow up attacks. Even the basic enemies in Windrose can be extremely strong, especially if you’re new to the game or are rather weak.
This is where you need to learn the perfect block. Think of a perfect block like a parry in other games - as the enemy winds up their ability, tap block. If you time it perfectly, you can shut down the attack, and it will give you an opportunity to punish your opponent.
Sometimes blocking isn’t the ideal strategy, though. In those times you might need to dodge instead. This is the preferred method against hordes of enemies - blocking is great when you can lock in on one target, but not so good when you're being rushed from all sides.
When facing groups of enemies, remain mobile and keep moving. Kite around them, and keep your camera open. If you can, group them up to make attacking easier. Your go-to method should be to make space, step in, hit once or twice and then reposition. Don't be greedy!
When fighting, keep an eye on your stamina. If the bar runs out, your movement gets heavily nerfed and you’ll be incredibly slow, making it easy for enemies to catch up to you and kill you.
Carrying spare wood is quite a useful strategy in Windrose. The game constantly throws little side quests or objects in your path that you need to overcome, and carrying spare wood will improve your QoL in the game tenfold. It can be used for a plethora of things, such as building stairs to reach a chest, creating a bridge to cross something awkward, creating torches to light a blacked out dungeon, etc. The possibilities are really endless.
Whatever the reason may be, carrying wood saves you a lot of time and hassle. Make sure you always have some on hand!
As you explore, setting up small outposts with a bed can really improve your experience. These simple shelters give you a place to recover after dying and help prevent you from losing too much progress.
Since dying will happen often, placing these outposts along the way makes the game far more enjoyable. They don’t need to be elaborate like your main base - just having something in place is better than nothing.
When setting sail, bringing a fast travel bell with you is one of the smartest choices you can make. The map is huge, and islands that look nearby can take much longer to reach than expected.
Once you arrive on a new island, make placing your fast travel bell a priority, along with setting up an outpost and a bed. If you die before doing this, or skip it altogether, you will lose a lot of time and have to make the journey all over again. It gets frustrating quickly, so it is always worth carrying the bell.
In a game like Windrose exploration is key. Walking past even the most basic of looking things could be lead to you missing out on resources, treasures, recipe unlocks, and all things shiny.
If an area seems concealed yet built up somewhat, like an abondoned post or temple, make sure to have a peak inside - it could have a ton of goodies tucked away.
Windrose does a good job at rewarding curiosity, so make sure you keep your detective shoes on and constantly explore when you can - the game will reward you for being nosy!
If you’re starting out in Windrose, the big things to remember are pretty simple. Farm wood and fiber smartly. Keep your rested buff up. Learn perfect blocking early. Don’t panic in group fights. Respect your stamina. Carry wood. Build panic shacks. Bring fast travel bells. And actually explore the world instead of just sprinting through it.
Do all of that, and your early game is going to feel a hell of a lot smoother.
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