Unlike many other survival games, Sons of the Forest features a complete story to uncover! It picks up directly after The Forest, but you can enjoy it without prior knowledge. You can play through the story at your own pace — there’s no time limit. And after the ending, you can keep building your base and exploring the island, so there’s no definitive end. We recommend not waiting forever to push the story forward, but make sure you gear up properly first so you’re ready for anything. With this guide, you’ll be able to run the story from start to finish — light on spoilers and packed with practical tips.
Sons of the Forest story: Cave guide, gear, and first steps
Once you’re comfortable with the basics of Sons of the Forest, it’s time to brave the caves. That’s where you’ll find your first clues about what happened on the island. Before that, you should at least have found the flashlight, the modern axe, and the pistol.
- Diving gear: Head to the north of the map first to search the cave there for the diving gear. You’ll need it later to handle flooded sections.
- Rope Gun: With the diving gear in hand, go to the cave containing the Rope Gun — a key item for story progression and for your building projects.
- Shovel: You’ll need both the diving gear and the Rope Gun for the third cave, where you’ll snag the shovel at the end. You’ll also get a glimpse of a mysterious underground facility.
We’ve already put together a very detailed guide for all cave sections if you want to know every detail (Sons of the Forest Caves: Best Order, Locations & Tips) . The important part is to pick up the story-relevant items and hold your own against the first mutants.
Bunker guide: Find keycards, beat the Pufftons, and open the Luxury Bunker
The shovel is the key item you need for the next steps. Many of the island’s secrets are hidden underground — like bunker entrances used by the Puffton family. That’s your next focus if you want to follow the story. We also have a dedicated bunker guide (Sons of the Forest Bunkers: Best Order, Keycards, Loot & Tips) . For the story, your main goals are finding the keycards and unlocking the Luxury Bunker.
- Maintenance A: In this bunker, make sure to grab the Maintenance Keycard so you can access later bunkers.
- Supply Bunker: Your first major boss fight awaits here. To get the next VIP Keycard, you’ll face the Puffton couple. They’re essentially tougher Puffies. We recommend positioning yourself behind the glass wall at the end of the room and fighting from a rock there. The shotgun works great for this.
- Entertainment Bunker: You’ll search this bunker for another keycard. The Guest Keycard found here is needed to open the next bunker and unlock the gate to the end of the game.
- Residential Bunker: This bunker is not only packed with loot and key items (like the katana), it’s also an important step toward the ending. With the Guest Keycard, you can open several doors and, at the end, in a room full of monitors, enable access to the Luxury Bunker.
- Luxury Bunker: Head straight to the now-unlocked Luxury Bunker. Even though you can’t explore everything yet, you’ll find an important blueprint that points you to your next objective. At the end, you’ll find a golden door and, beside a skeleton, the instructions for the Ancient Armor.
Ancient Armor and Solafite: Find rare artifacts in caves
To open the golden door in the Luxury Bunker, you need to wear a specific armor. You can only craft it by finding the armor parts and then upgrading them using the blueprint you discovered. Of course, you’ll first need the armor pieces and the right material — which sends you back into the caves. You can tackle both objectives in any order.
- Cave with Ancient Armor: You’ll need the diving gear again for this cave. It’s the longest cave on the island, with multiple entrances on the east and west sides of the big mountain. We recommend the entrance to the southwest by the larger lake. Explore thoroughly to find the Ancient Armor.
- Cave with pickaxe: Next, you’ll need Solafite ore, which you can mine in a different cave. It’s south of the golf course and shorter than most. Deep inside, you’ll find a pickaxe and, right next to it, gleaming gold Solafite ore you can mine. Take as much as you can carry. You’ll need 12 Solafite to upgrade the armor. Tip: Flares and molotovs help you spot enemies early.
Endgame walkthrough: Luxury Bunker, Hell Cave, and final boss fights
Use the Armor Plater, the Ancient Armor, and the Solafite ore to transform the armor so you can use it at the golden door in the Luxury Bunker.
- Luxury Bunker: Return to the Luxury Bunker and open the golden door. This unlocks the Hell Cave, letting you delve even deeper into the island’s secrets.
- Hell Cave: The Hell Cave is dotted with red lava but fairly linear. You won’t be alone — Tim LeBlanc (the son of the protagonist from The Forest) will be at your side. Fight your way to the end and defeat the great demon in the boss battle there.
- On the beach: After a longer cutscene, you’ll wake up on the beach and can face the actual boss of Sons of the Forest: a mutated Jianyu Zhang, the man who knocked you out at the start of the game. He’s transformed into a Sluggy you must defeat.
After the boss fight, the game offers multiple endings. You can get into the helicopter or grab your backpack and stay on the island. Your friendship with Kelvin — and especially Virginia — also influences which ending you can get.
Verdict: Story explained and tips for finishing
The story of Sons of the Forest continues where its predecessor left off, providing deeper insights into the experiments and events that led to the island’s mutations. You’ll explore most of the island, uncover clues, and piece together its secrets.
It’s even more fun to beat the game with friends. [Rent a Sons of the Forest server from us]{.underline} and use our guide to push through to the end of the story.
