To ensure your longevity on the island, it’s crucial to monitor your stats closely in Sons of the Forest. In addition to Health, Armor, and Stamina bars, your HUD displays Strength, Fullness, Hydration, and Energy. While the latter three stats are self-explanatory, maintaining Strength requires specific actions. But how can you boost the Strength level in Sons of the Forest, and what purpose does this stat serve?
Strength Stat Explanation
In Sons of the Forest, your Strength level solely determines your Health. It remains consistent after resting and doesn’t impact stamina, vitality, melee damage, speed, or carrying capacity. The number of enemies encountered is solely influenced by your survival duration. Initially starting at Strength Level 1, you can increase it up to Level 50 through specific actions.
Your character’s Strength in Sons of the Forest can be viewed by the flexing arm icon on the right side of the screen. The stat’s progress is indicated by the red bar surrounding the icon, with the Strength level displayed atop the flexing arm icon.
| Strength Level | Health Bar |
|---|---|
| Level 1 / Default | 4 Health Bars |
| Level 15 | 5 Health Bars |
| Level 30 | 6 Health Bars |
| Level 40 | 7 Health Bars |
| Level 50 / Maximum | 8 Health Bars |
However, despite having additional health bars, enemies in the game can inflict significant damage. The extra health may provide only a slight advantage, allowing you to withstand a few more hits than usual at best. Thus, prioritizing Strength level grinding isn’t advisable in Sons of the Forest. Instead, focus on acquiring superior armor and weapons to bolster your combat capabilities.
How to Increase Strength Level in Sons of the Forest
Not all actions in Sons of the Forest contribute to increasing your Strength level. Only two specific actions grant Strength XP:
- Swinging weapons and tools.
- This includes utilizing Chainsaw’s secondary swing attack.
- Charged attacks do not yield additional Strength XP.
- Interestingly, chopping the tips of Log Walls does not elevate your Strength either.
- Picking up a Log from the ground.
- Simply carrying and dropping Logs does not contribute to your Strength’s XP.
The exact amount of Strength XP acquired from swinging weapons and picking up Logs remains unknown. However, picking Logs seems to yield quicker results than swinging a weapon. It takes 100 knife swings to elevate your Strength from Level 1 to 2, whereas picking Logs only requires 50 times to reach Level 2.
Keep in mind that the actions required between levels increase exponentially. For instance, advancing from Level 6 to 7 necessitates 360 weapon swings. Fortunately, there’s no diminishing return on actions, allowing you to grind the same activity repeatedly.
Sons of The Forest is accessible on PC via Steam.
