Surviving the First Night

Beginner's guide · Last updated 3 November 2026

Duskvale has no tutorial. You spawn at a railway station with almost nothing, and within a couple of hours of play it gets dark and cold. This guide covers what matters in the first few minutes and how to get through the first night. Everything here is how the game actually works.

Guest or account?

You can jump in as a guest straight away, but a guest character is deleted 24 hours after it was last saved. If you plan to come back, create an account at the start screen: a name and a 4- to 8-digit PIN is all it takes, no e-mail. An account character is stored on the server with its inventory, and you can continue on any device.

On your first start you also pick a faction: Valley Watch, Free Company or lone wolf. Valley Watch and lone wolves start at the station; the Free Company starts at the petrol station.

One world, one valley

There is a single world, "The Valley", shared by every player. It keeps running while you are offline. Player-versus-player combat is allowed everywhere except at the station, which is a safe zone. Killing other players puts a blood price on your head: a bounty anyone can collect, and traders refuse to deal with you.

After spawning you have a 60-second grace period. Bots will not attack you during that time. It ends immediately if you attack anyone yourself. Spend the minute looking around, not shooting.

What will kill you

• Raiders roam in groups through the village, around the petrol station and the barracks. They shoot, call for help, and remember for two minutes anyone who fired at them or made noise.
• Dogs hunt in packs around the village; wolves and wild boar live in the forest.
• Deer and hares are harmless and worth hunting once you have something to hunt with.
• Other players. Outside the safe zone anyone can be a threat.

The eye icon

The HUD shows an eye. It tells you whether hostile bots are noticing you: grey means you are hidden, yellow means an enemy is within range and getting suspicious, red means you have been spotted. The number next to it is how many bots are in range.

How far bots see and hear

A raider can notice you at roughly 50 m in daylight and 25 m at night. That flips as soon as you make light: with your torch on you are visible from 80 m at night, next to a fire or a torch post from 100 m. Crouching cuts the detection range to 60 %, lying prone to 40 %, and prone at night to 30 %. Fog nearly halves it. Gunshots carry 250 to 600 m depending on the weapon, and a raider group will walk towards the sound.

Your condition

Four values describe how you are doing: health, hunger, thirst and warmth, plus radiation in the east of the valley. Hunger and thirst drop slowly; cold becomes a problem fast at night and in winter. Each season lasts 7 in-game days, from spring through summer and autumn to a winter with snow and sub-zero temperatures. Rain, thunderstorms and fog come on top. Wet and cold at the same time is the combination that kills beginners.

Looting

Cupboards, fridges, crates and car boots in the houses hold food, water, clothing, tools and ammunition. An emptied container refills after two to six in-game days. The houses near the station are safe; the village is richer but that is where the raiders are. At the station you will also find the trader Old Gerda. Her currency is 9 mm rounds, and she hands out jobs for pay – as long as you carry no blood price.

The first night, step by step

1. Find a house before dark. Any dwelling with an intact door will do. Close the door and lock it. Locked houses can become raid targets, but never without warning – you get 60 seconds' notice.
2. Make a fire. A fireplace warms you, cooks food and dries clothes. But a fire can be seen from 100 m at night, so keep it indoors.
3. Boil your water. Water from streams and lakes is raw. At a fire you can boil a bottle or canister in 25 seconds, after which it is clean.
4. Torch off unless you need it. The torch gives you away at 80 m.
5. Don't shoot unless you have to. Every shot draws raiders, and they remember you.

Death and respawn

When you die, you respawn at the station after 10 seconds. Your body stays where it fell for 30 minutes with your entire inventory. You can run back and loot yourself – but so can anyone else.

Clans and radio

K opens the clan screen: up to 6 players, independent of faction. Clan members share doors, crates and buildings and have their own chat channel. P sends a radio ping – a position marker for everyone with a charged radio on the same channel, 600 m range, or valley-wide from the transmitter mast on the summit.

Lost connection?

If you close the tab or your connection drops, an account character stays in the world for 5 minutes. For the first 60 seconds bots leave it alone. Then it is saved and will be standing in the same spot next time you log in. So don't log out in the middle of the village street.

PC keys

The chat has a report button. Duskvale is an 18+ game and the rules apply to everyone.