Beachhead Mission Walkthrough

The first 'Beachhead' mission teaches you the basics of survival. You need to go down to the planet Icarus and return. You arrive with nothing other than your suit and must collect what you need to return to the space station. You have 7 days (real time) to do this in. It won't take you that long (when I checked it took 48 minutes including the time to take screen captures).

Here are the steps involved:

• Select the mission
• Gather resources
• Use the map if you get lost
• Construct tools and weapons
• Gather wood and stone in stacks
• Construct a shelter
• Hunt animals for food, fur and leather
• Create a bed and set your spawn point
• Return to the space station

Select the mission

At the space station from this screen select 'Missions', then select 'Olympus', and pick 'Beachhead':

Click through on 'Claim Prospect' and 'Confirm Loadout'. Having 'Steam friends only' selected allows friends to help, or choose solo. Click 'Yes' and wait while the world loads and you ride down in your shuttle pod.

Land and Start Gathering Resources

You need to gather at least 10 fibre, 4 sticks and 6 stones to make an axe. While doing this collect any food plants and oxite deposits you encounter.

Item	Minimum Needed & How to Find
Fibre	Press E when ground plants are highlighted. Aim for a stack of 200.
Stick	Find on the ground (E) or chop small saplings. Aim for a stack of 100.
Stone	Find on ground or mine boulders with a pickaxe. Aim for a stack of 100.
Oxite	Ground deposits or mine blue oxite boulders. Aim for 2 stacks of 50.
Berries & Crops	Collect any Berries, Pumpkins, Watermelons, Soybeans, or Corn. They replenish water, food, and stamina.

Using the Map

Pressing M opens the map. It marks your shuttle, your location and direction (faint red triangle), and death markers (skull icon turns into a cross).

Crafting Stone Axe, Pickaxe & Knife

First make a stone axe as your starter tool and defensive weapon. Next make a stone pickaxe, and when you reach Level 1 (2,400 XP), make a stone knife. Use the O key to open the crafting menu.

Tool	Requirements & Usage
Stone Axe	10 fibre, 4 sticks, 6 stones. Aim for heads if used as weapon. Earns 25 XP per tree chop.
Stone Pickaxe	10 fibre, 4 sticks, 6 stones. Breaks boulders, oxite, and ores. Earns 30 XP per strike.

Press P to open the Tech Tree. Items circled in red are the items you have to craft to complete the mission. You could also add the Thatch Building Base Set (dashed outline) since it contains a thatch ladder which you might find useful later. Thatch buildings are not worth bothering with though, since the storms in Icarus quickly destroy them.

Once you have unlocked the stone knife on the tech tree, it will appear as craftable in your inventory crafting menu (press O):

Tool	Requirements & Usage
Stone Knife	Level 1 weapon (2,400 XP). Primary defence and needed to skin animals. Craft two so you can quickly switch if one breaks mid-fight. Each requires 2 fibre, 2 sticks, 4 stones.

Repairs: Press I to open inventory, right-click the broken tool, and select 'Repair'.

Getting Wood and Stone in Stacks

Felling trees advances your level quickly (25 XP per blow). When your inventory fills, use the craft screen (O) to craft a wood pile, which can be stacked three units high. Break boulders with your pickaxe (30 XP) and make stone piles to clear room.

Making a Simple Wood Shelter

Once you unlock the 'Wood building base set' (P), craft 2 floors, 4 walls, and 1 door. You'll need a minimum of 100 wood and 32 fibre.

1. In inventory (I), right-click the wood floor and select 'deploy'.
2. Place three standard walls around the base.
3. For the doorway, hold R while placing the wall to choose the door-frame variant, then snap the door inside.
4. Enter the shelter (E opens doors), place the second wood floor as a flat roof.