The Flame in the Flood

• When it’s raining you can use empty jars and they’ll be filled with clean water. Don’t forget to top off your thirst meter while you are doing this.
• Instantly eat stuff like Mulberries, Wild Garlic and Dandelions (unless you are near a camp fire and are creating Dandelion Tea). Cat Tails are usually found in mass quantities, use them for crafting first and then eat what you didn't turn into Braided Cords. Crafted food like Jerky, Cooked Yucca and Ash Cakes should be saved for as long as possible, because they don’t spoil.
• If you die and start a new game, you will keep the contents of the dog’s backpack. So keep items in there that you want to preserve OR that are useful for a new character. To give a few examples: Sumac Tea gives you medicine and jars. A set of Box Traps will lead to Rabbit Hides, which you can turn into clothing or Pouches (= more inventory slots). And you always have a use for Saplings, Nuts & Bolts and Old Lumber.
• Even after you’ve maxed out your inventory space, you can still create another Pouch. This is a waste of materials, unless you want your dog to hold onto a Pouch for a new game.
• When sailing around you will sometimes see a shopping cart or a stack of tires. Getting close to them and right-clicking will give you an item. It’s not worthwhile to damage your raft for it tho.
• Traps can be picked up again after you’ve deployed them, but they will lose some durability. This mainly matters for the Box Trap, because unlike other traps it can be used two times. So deploy it on a rabbit burrow and wander around for a bit.
• Upon entering an area you might suddenly get the Boar King quest. It can ONLY be harmed with arrows and you don’t get a special reward for killing it (just more meat and hides than you get for a normal boar). Feel free to avoid it.
• The easiest way to deal with bears is to place 3x Spear Traps near its lair and then fire a single Arrow to lure it out. Be sure to stand behind the traps as it comes charging at you.
• If you are playing the campaign, there will be a point where your raft crashes on a beach. A workbench will be nearby, and it might be a while before you see another workbench! If you've got a Steel Knife with low durability (25% or less), save the resources for new one, craft what you need at the workbench and finally create that new Steel Knife before you sail away again.
• The game seems to auto-save when you: dock your raft, leave a camp fire after using it, leave a shelter after sleeping in it OR leave an area on your raft. If you mess up badly you can exit to the main menu and then continue to load the last time it saved. Very useful if the raft gets stuck and loses more than half its health bumping into terrain.

Raft Upgrades

• Rudder: Will make the raft controls more responsive. Get this first, because it will lead to less bumping and sharper turns will allow you to visit more areas.
• Raft Storage: More storage for your raft, which is always useful.
• Raft Shelter: A shelter you can use without having to deal with the wolves at night. Also allows you wait out the rain. Surprisingly useful.
• Sturdy Frame: Take less damage if the raft bumps into something. Somewhat useful if you still struggle after getting the Rudder upgrade, otherwise you can skip it.
• Stove: Essentially gives you a camp fire on your raft. Allows you to craft everything that doesn’t require a workbench in the safety of a dock, even in the rain.
• Raft Motor: Allows for more control during rapids and will speed things up when the river is barely moving. Uses Oil, found at Marinas. Not needed during the campaign.
• Water Purifier: A source for clean water that slowly fills up before it can be used. You probably have dozens of jars by the time you would get this. Skippable.