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Dead in Vinland (PC)

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Starters Guide

I have collected a few hints that might make your initial voyage in Vinland a little more enjoyable. This is a guide to the very early part of the game.

Early Game Hints
This guide will give just a few thoughts to get you started. If you wish to investigate the game fully on your own, stop reading now. The game is random enough that every play through is very different but I might give away some spoilers here.

Your starting family has randomized skills. Look these over on the character sheet. You will want one family member with a high score in the following Skills: Crafting, Scavenging, and Exploring. A high score is in the thirty's, forty's is better but very rare. Secondary skills in forestry, mining, and hunting are also helpful. If these are in the twenty's or better you are doing well.

Your starting family also has randomized Traits. Traits can be good or bad. At the start of the game each family member will have one good trait and multiple bad traits. Look at these closely. If one of the family members has a trait that gives -25% experience in the primary skill you have chosen for them, then you might want to start over. Even worse if they have -25% experience in everything, you might want to start over.

Early in the game you will encounter a bad guy. Actually it will be several bad guys. In your very first fight, fill your roster with three family members. Pay attention to each family member's abilities and you should win this fight. In your second fight, this happens in the same turn, only put one family member in the fight, I put Eirik. Trust me on this. You can't win this fight so minimize the damage to your family.

Just as the tutorial instructs, the logging camp should be your first improvement.

I found Depression to be a major issue for me early in the game so the second improvement I make is to build the Tavern.

I build the Rest Area or Mining Camp next. The order is up to you.

I found that scavenging your ship once per day will provide enough food for the first week. Scavenging this area also seems to generate greater Depression then other activities so by limiting the scavenging in this area it helps control Depression.

Exploring the island is very interesting. You will find many resources and additional companions. The game does this very well and I find this part of the game extremely entertaining. Most encounters offer multiple options; try them all if you can. Beware this will make for a long game, 29 hours to complete 20 days of game time.

Ropes become one of the scarcest resources. Your initial scavenging will provide you with enough to get started and fights with bad guys can drop more, they are random drops. I could not find it documented anywhere so here is where you make ropes... in the Forge. You will need hemp to make rope so the Herbalist and/or the Garden are needed.

While exploring you will discover other companions. So far I have discovered two couples and three individuals. These companions can help greatly. They give an extra set of skills and an extra set of actions per turn. Note that they also require food and water every turn. My own guideline is that once you have so many stations that you can't fill them all with the family, you should consider adding a companion.

The Harvesting station provides fruit which can be eaten but the fruit can also be made into juice. In game terms this is an addition to your potable water supply. Note that after a while this station gives less fruit and it generates a large amount of Fatigue to gather the fruit.

Various Steam Achievements

Complete the indicated task to unlock the achievement.

Achievement	How to unlock
A village is born	Craft all stations in the camp.
Adventurer	Explore 100 areas.
Cartographer	Explore every area of the island.
Crowded	Have 10 characters in your village.
Dark was the night...	Spend a night without fire.
Death in Vinland	Lose a character.
Einherjar	Win a fight with only one character.
Expert survivor	Get a character to level 10.
First blood	Win your first fight.
Good Little Ponies	Give the maximum tribute to Elof.
Headcleaver	Deal more than 15 damage in a single hit.
Highwaymen	Win a fight with 2 looters in your team.
Hiker	Explore 50 areas.
Huscarl	Win 50 fights (multiple playthroughs)
I'm the best at what I do	Get a skill up to 100.
Master blacksmith	Forge 150 items (multiple playthroughs)
Master builder	Craft 75 upgrades (multiple playthroughs)
Nice little vacation	Finish the game (Nice Vacation difficulty)
Nobody will be left behind	Finish the game without losing anyone (min. Survival difficulty)
Ready for Ragnarök	Finish the game (Extreme Conditions difficulty)
Seasoned warrior	Win 10 fights (multiple playthroughs)
Shepherd	Raise 5 sheeps simultaneously.
Skilled survivor	Get a character to level 5.
Stroller	Explore 10 areas.
Sucks to be you	Accumulate 10 negative traits on one character.
Survivalist	Get a character to level 15.
The giant sword wielding woman	Convince Gwendolen to join your cause.
The scrawny smug warrior	Convince Njall to join your cause.
The silent hunter	Convince Grim to join your cause.
The small angry dude	Convince Egill to join your cause.
Triple Kill	Defeat 3 enemies with single attack.
True survivor	Finish the game (Survival difficulty)
We are not alone!	Recruit your first ally.
You play better than the devs	Finish the game (Survival difficulty and True Viking)
You're fired!	Kick a character.
You're not human	Finish the game (Extreme Conditions difficulty and True Viking)