Clanfolk - Surviving Winter

Here are the 5 things you need to think about when preparing for your first winter.

1. Shelter

Your clanfolk need 4 walls and a roof, with a door in and out, (and a window for light is good too but not essential). Peat Walls are best early on, as they require only peat bricks and are less flammable than Log Walls. If you are using the added difficulties - e.g. nature's wrath - you'd be best off using mountain walls, and mountain roof (i.e. carving into a mountain), as they are non flammable.There are better walls - next would be Daub Walls - but you are not as likely to unlock those before your first winter.

2. A Heat Source

Choose from:

- A Cooking Fire. This is your earliest heat source, but requires a non flammable blocker placed around it, so it takes up a lot of room (if you have non flammable walls you can put it up against a corner to save space). You also have to stock up on branches, and remember that the clanfolk will get the too bright debuff when sleeping in its light.

- A Stone Peat Stove. Requires you to dry peat bricks for fuel. It spreads heat throughout the home quite efficiently. It also does not expell too much light, and does not need a non flammable blocker. It is my choice for early game heating.

- A Stone Fireplace. It gives more heat than the stone peat stove, but does not spread it as far, and is unlocked later. It requires a non flammable blocker, and triggers the too bright debuff, so I recommend putting up walls to block it's light. You also need branches to fuel it.

- Remember you can add vents to walls to spread heat through more than one room!

3. Warm Clothing

The warmest clothing that you can get early game is fur clothing - a Fur Cloak, Hat, and Tunic will keep your clanfolk warm when outside the home (keep in mind that I have not tested this with the new difficulties you can add for colder weather). Fur has a debuff to wearing it, but it is worth it fpr your first winter.

To unlock fur clothing, you need to get the weavery, and start with sack cloth clothing before you can unlock fur.

4. Food

You will need at least 10 days of food (indicated by the number in the bottom right of your screen). The most effective food to prepare is dried mushrooms. Gather them from the base of trees in autumn, and when you've gathered enough you will unlock the drying racks so you can dry them. They last a long time and are nutritious.

Other options for food are dried berries - you can dry them on a stone peat stove - and smoked meat. They do not last as long as dried mushrooms though.

5. Water

You will need to make plenty of clay jugs in preparation for winter. You can fill them with ice, then melt the ice over a fire to make water.

6. Animals

Remember you will need to provide shelter, food and water for your animals too! Your animals can live in the same room as you, a room next to you with a vent to share heat, or a separate building with it's own heat source. Remember that chickens need a Critter Door and the other (livestock) animals need a Branch Barn Door to get in and out. They will also be more comfortable if you provide straw animal beds.
Animals will drink from a water trough - clanfolk will keep it full using water jugs. Livestock animals can eat grains from a grain trough or hay from a hay trough. If you don't get the food troughs in time, animals will eat from a hay stack, grain pallet, or even simple stock piles on the ground. if you run out of grains and hay, animals will eat nearly anything - try placing dried mushrooms in their room for example.