Tutorial:Getting Started (Twilight Forest)/Dark Forest

This article is part of the Feed The Beast Wiki's Tutorials section.

It's dark. It's scary. There's very large spiders and very large wolves. Welcome to the Dark Forest.

Part One: Overworld

The first and foremost task to do: return to the overworld. Don't even attempt to get through the Dark Forest without getting more prepared. Head back to your base, and mine for a while, acting (again) like it's a survival world in vanilla Minecraft and nothing has changed. Gather minerals and natural resources, especially junk blocks to build with such as Cobblestone. Here's what you want to aim for:

• A good amount of Cobblestone or your building block of choice; 8 stacks, most likely, is sufficient
• If you can, get some tools with a high level of the Efficiency enchantment, and put some enchantments on your armor and weapon(s); Unbreaking is also good
• Potions, potions, potions. Good potions to have, in rough order of usefulness: Night Vision/Strength, Swiftness/Invisibility, Regen/Instant Health.
• Lots, and I mean LOTS, of lighting. Lava, Glowstone, Torches, whatever your choice lighting source happens to be. Note: if you choose to use lava, only the logs will burn, as Darkwood Leaves (which make up the canopy of the biome your portal is in inside the Forest) are flame-retardant. This makes Lava a viable lighting source, as it also can provide a "moat" of sorts around your portal to keep you in and keep mobs out.
• Weapons, both ranged and melee
• Food

Once you are comfortable with your amount of supplies, enter the forest.

Part Two: Twilight Arrival Redux and First Actions

You jump through the portal. The Forest loads in. It's still dark. Here's what you need to do first:

One: Perimeter

Spider-proof, bow-friendly, low-cost.

Build a perimeter around your portal with your building block of choice. This should be your very first action once stepping foot in the Forest. Keep your guard very much up, as monsters could jump you at any time. If you find that you have been blinded by a Mistwolf, block with your sword to prevent damage, and try to hit the wolf if you can.

See the difference?

Do not use fences: monsters will just jump right over them or find a way over. If you can, make a lip around the wall; otherwise, King Spiders will be able to climb up and over and use your face as an evening snack or possibly a doormat. Preferably, you want to have a solid encasing around your portal and give yourself another 3 blocks of space in any direction around it as well for digging and so forth. Make sure that there is a 4x4x4 cube of empty air above your portal; otherwise, when you enter the Forest again after returning to the overworld for whatever reason, your roof may be knocked out by the mechanics of the Forest and the way that portals spawn.

Two: Exit

Look around and see if you can immediately see the outside world. This is your salvation. If you see the outside world and it's within a reasonable distance of your portal, build a tunnel (either over ground or below, but not in the canopy of the Forest; Darkwood Leaves are very difficult to dig out without a Mining Laser, Vajra or Efficiency tool) towards the outside world. If you can't see it, turn up your render distance, and if you still can't see it, then try zooming out your minimap all the way. If you find light or the outside world, now you know which direction to dig.

Three: Dig

If you've found a non-Dark Forest biome via minimap or the naked eye, dig towards it or build an overground tunnel. If you wish, you can now explore the forest using the main guide, but it's advisable to secure your base a little more before doing so, as described in the next part.

Part Three: Clearing

Natural light is rare in the Dark Forest.

This next part takes a lot of time (mainly digging) and is optional, but is very helpful in the long term. Once you have a perimeter established and a method of reaching the rest of the Forest, you can then begin establishing a more permanent and aesthetically pleasing base. It's advisable to dig upwards through the canopy to allow for some sunlight to reach your portal. Important note: Shears do not make the digging of Darkwood Leaves faster at all, and no other tool makes it faster other than a tool with Efficiency. Using your bare hands is probably the best route, and although it's slow and painful, it will pay off in the long run.

Can't go through, can't go under. Go over.

You can also add a staircase. This is a very helpful feature, as it's best to explore a Dark Forest biome from on top of the canopy, selectively digging down towards notable features, instead of exploring it from below the canopy and constantly having to fend off giant monsters. Not much exists under the Dark Forest that's of note, except for the occasional Hedge Maze, Hollow Hill, etc. Those can be easily located (the normally flat and rolling landscape of the canopy will drop down and make a square or rise up significantly in a hill shape) and selectively tunneled to, even if this does take a little bit longer to do.

Part Four: Lighting

Burn. BURN! BURN!!!

If you're tired of spiders and giant hostile wolves constantly assaulting your base, you can also establish a perimeter of lighting around your base, or create a bunch of lava moats to roast them alive. Note that when making lava moats, they will have to be several blocks (a good number to shoot for is six blocks wide) in width, or monsters will just jump right over them. This may take a lot of lava, so have a lot of buckets handy. You can also drape lava from the ceiling to create a "curtain" of lava, which will be highly effective in keeping out the monsters, as they simply won't be able to get through. The most likely behavior is that they will rise to the ceiling of the Forest, get stuck in the lava and die.

Part Five: Return

Return to the main beginner's guide.