Raft Survival Guide: Research Stations, Hammer, Food & Water, How To Deal With Sharks

In our Raft Survival Guide, we've detailed everything you need to know about getting started with Raft and surviving till the end. In this Raft Guide.

The Raft Survival Guide is for the multiplayer oceanic survival game Raft that is still in early access on Steam. Follow our Raft Survival Tips on what would be the best way to survive as well as get the best out of the experience with your friends.

Raft Survival Guide

In this first-person multiplayer-focused survival game, you start on a raft in the middle of a wide ocean. How you manage your resources, how you survive in harsh environments; all that stuff is your job.

We’re just here to make it a little easy by shedding light on some of the crucial aspects of the game. Your basic survival includes tackling three needs:

  • Hunger
  • Thirst
  • Health

You can monitor all these using the bars on the left of the screen. Additionally, if you are looking for something underwater, you will have to be careful about your Oxygen Level as well.

As you start on a small wooden raft, look around for sources to expand and develop your boat. Just for this sole purpose, crafting a net is essential since it will capture any floating materials around saving you from the tough work.

Alternatively, you can just use your hook to bring in the floating items. Beware of the Shark circling around though. Moreover, we would not recommend going too far from the raft to look for resources since the raft will then just float away.

Hammer

To step up your craft-constructing game, you’ll need some essential tools for the job. If you’ve been fortunate enough to collect sufficient resources around the raft, you’ll have unlocked the ability to construct a Builders Hammer.

You craft this by going to your inventory (I or tab button) and heading to the tools tab.

Food & Water

You can go about two ways to ensure a steady supply of food resources. One method is to grow your own food. This is done by placing a planter and having different vegetables grow in it.

From time to time, you’ll receive barrels in your inventory allowing you to obtain beans, potatoes, and more. You can have them placed in the planter for a renewable source of food. Make sure you water them well and are near them to avoid any seagulls taking a go at your hard work.

The other way of getting food would be to use the ocean around you for fish using a fishing rod. You will need to craft one before you go about this business. Once you catch a fish, you’ll also need to cook it in order for the hunger bar to go up.

For this purpose, you’ll need a grill and a source of wire, a wooden plank would do.

As mentioned above, water is crucial not only for quenching your thirst but also for growing more food. Fortunately, you’ve got lots of water all around you in all directions. However, unfortunately, it’s too salty for anyone’s good.

Thankfully, you can construct a purification station and boil the water here (fire/wooden plank). You can collect the water from the sea in a cup or any container of your choice.

Dealing with the Shark

If you’ve grown tired of the constant looming threat that is the shark, you can take measures to deal with it. Of course, jumping into the water is definitely not one of them. You would need to craft a weapon, a wooden spear will do.

Wait for the shark to approach your raft. Then strike it with the spear until it you’ve shown it who’s the boss around your raft. It will take about 3-4 hits until the shark’s gone off. You can also use shark bait to distract or lure the shark into a specific place.

Raft (1)

Research Station

As you progress higher in the game, you’ll need more tools, weapons, and other facilities to increase your chances of survival. This is where the research station comes in.

There is a tonne of items available in the research menu. Unlocking and crafting these require blueprints from barrels and other resources. You’ll need to place the item on this research station for the process to commence.

Other Items

You can craft ropes if you have two leaves. Nails also play a handy role in crafting items in the research station. These can be made if you have two pieces of scrap that can be obtained from barrels.

Going underwater, you can mine sand, clay, and seaweed from the seabed by using your hook. You can also interact with Giant clams to collect them.

Other Rafts

You’ll also encounter other players’ rafts which you can choose to ram against or cooperate. You’ll get many supplies by going about it the ole’ devilish way i.e. destroy their boats.

Make your way to them by sails or paddles and once you’ve collected the loot, head back to your raft quickly to avoid sharks or other rafts.

Islands

On these small islands, you can find a lot of resources like coconut seeds, plants, and other sources of food. Additionally, the water around these islands is shallow and suitable for exploration purposes.

Just make sure you anchor your raft somewhere safe first. Alternatively, if you can’t afford the luxury, rush for your raft as soon as you get off the island.

Avatar photo

Ali is a passionate RPG gamer. He believes that western RPGs still have a lot to learn from JRPGs. He is editor-in-chief at SegmentNext.com but that doesn't stop him from writing about his favorite video ...