Day 2 | Survival Guide Starbound Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
On day one, you have learned the basics of the crafting system and placing blocks/ Day two is devoted to hunting and combat.
Hunting and combat
Your character has his needs and hunger is one of the. The hunger meter appears, every now and then, at the bottom of the screen and it shows how hungry your character is. The hunger level drops at the rate of, around 10% per 4 minutes of the real time. Once the meter drops to zero, the character will start to take damage until he dies or eats something. For that reason, you always need to carry some form of food around with you and make sure that the hunger meter does not drop below 25%.
The best weapon for hunting is the bow. However, to craft it, you need 10x Unrefined Wood and Plant Fibre, which you can find in the numerous caves.. Plant Fibre resembles a regular vine hanging down from the wall. Cut down one of the vines, with the Matter Manipulator, and open the crafting window. Highlight one and craft a Hunting Bow. Then, place it in the shortcut bar.
Before you go hunting, you should learn several things about hunting and shooting. To use the bow, you only need to select it from the shortcut bar, or the L/R quick bar, and hold down the LMB and release after the string is drawn. The longer you are holding down the button, the farther away the arrow will fly, and the higher the damage. If you release the arrow in the ideal moment (the bow's flash) you will receive damage bonuses to your shot and the range.
Although the bow is definitely stronger than the initial melee weapon, there are situations in which you need to draw your blade and square off against the enemy. As much as bows increase your chances of obtaining food and the pelt of the animals that you kill, you do not receive Pixels, i.e. Starbound's in-game currency, for that. For that reason, if you need meat and hide, it I better to kill the opponents with melee weapons, for the sake of the valuable Pixels.
The fight with melee weapons is similar to that with the bow. To attack, you need to place the weapon in the shortcut bar, or in the quick L/R shortcut bar, and click LMB or RMB, to land a single blow. You need to watch out, however, because fighting an aggressive opponent deals damage to your character and some opponents use special attacks, like e.g. the charge, belching fire or ranged attacks.
Hunting and cooking
After you have learned about the combat system, you can go hunting. The monsters should be plentiful, regardless of which way you go. A regular animal should fall after 3 charged arrows. Keep killing animals until you have gathered 5-10 Raw Alien Meat. Then, return to your cozy cottage.
Unfortunately, raw meat is inedible, which is why you need to cook it. For that, you are going to need a Campfire. To create it, you are going to need 10x Unrefined Wood and a Torch. Place the campfire on the ground and activate it. Put the Raw Alien Meat in the campfire's right window and press the Cook button. After a while, you will receive tasty bits of Cooked Alien Meat. Eat some and leave the rest for later. You do not need to worry about shelf life. In Starbound food never goes off.