Survival: Fountain of Youth Buffalo Region Walkthrough

Our Survival: Fountain of Youth Buffalo Region Walkthrough will help you navigate the challenges and mysteries of the game's second Region.

< Bird Region Walkthrough | Buffalo Region Walkthrough

The Buffalo Region is a lot tougher than where you started your journey in Survival: Fountain of Youth. You'll have a greater need for Medicine due to the harsh climate, but you'll also have the opportunity to Craft some new equipment and discover some new Skill Books. Let's dive in!

Survival: Fountain of Youth Buffalo Region Walkthrough

You've conquered the Bird Region, but your journey is far from done! The Buffalo Region represents a serious step up in difficulty and complexity. You've arrived in a Boat and you don't quite know where to go just yet, so let's get moving!

Santa Maria

The first step in your Buffalo Region adventure is to head to the rocks right in front of you. You can just barely see the mast of a ship poking out from behind the rocks -- that's the Santa Maria, your first immediate goal.

Sail your Boat around the right side of the island and you'll see a path that will take you toward the Ship. Head down it and you'll find a place where you can hop out of your Boat and get on dry land.

There are a handful of resources you can grab -- pick them up for now. If you run out of Weight capacity, you can put items in your Boat's onboard storage.

Head up the path and you'll see the ruined deck of the Santa Maria.

See that Skeleton in the back hall on the left? There's a Book over there, so go grab that first. Then, head upstairs to the rear deck of the Santa Maria.

You'll find The Barrel of an Old Cannon on the rear deck. Grab it, then walk back downstairs and drop it by the iron grate on the center of the deck. Then, head to the front of the ship and you'll find an Iron Rod sitting in a rowboat. Pick it up.

Take the Iron Rod back to the metal grate in the center of the Santa Maria and you'll be able to open it up. Pick up The Barrel of an Old Cannon, head down below, and place it on the Cannon Mount.

Face the front of the ship and you'll see some Old Boxes. Pick them up and move them. Head further in the ship. You'll find a Cannonball on the left and a Gunpowder Bag on the right. Pick both of them up.

Place the Gunpowder and the Cannonball in the Cannon. You can then pick up an Improved Torch nearby. There is a Flint and Wood Chips (for Tinder) nearby. Light a Torch and interact with the Cannon and you'll blow a hole in the hull, opening up access to the rear area.

Head down the newly-opened hallway. You'll find two rooms. The first room on the left has a Set of Tools, which can later be used to Craft Iron Weapons. The room on the right toward the back has the Key to the Captain's Cabin. Pick it up, then head back upstairs.

Once you're back upstairs, head towards the little door to the right of the stairs that lead up to the rear of the ship. This is the door to the Captain's Cabin. Open it up with the key and head inside.

Investigate The Logbook of the Santa Maria and you'll see a cutscene. This will give you your next major Goal to find Copper Island.

Before you go further, though, you should grab the Marine Binoculars behind the skeletons along with a Feather and Ink. You can also break down some of the Scrap in the Captain's Cabin to get some Small Sticks if you're running low.

The Captain's Camp

It will soon be time to head to Copper Island. There's a Ship Bed in the Captain's Cabin; use it to check the time. If it's close to the end of the day, you should sleep and wait until morning before leaving.

When you get on the water, back one layer out of the Map so you can see the Region Map.

Copper Island is the southern island in the region.

Start heading toward it the Cartographer Trees that you see on Copper Island. As you head toward them, you'll see an easy place to land with a beach.

Hop out of the boat. Before we move forward, you should keep in mind that there are some dangerous new Animals on this island such as Buffalos and Tegu. Be cautious while moving around!

You can use Mapping Charcoal or Feather and Ink to do some initial Mapping, but you might want to wait. Instead, head directly south from where you landed and you'll see these three bushes:

These bushes can give you Liana, which can be Crafted into Liana Rope in combination with Narrow Leaves. Make 2 Liana Rope and you'll be able to climb the two Cartographer Trees on the island and efficiently Map most of it out.

The Captain's Camp isn't too far away. You'll have to walk through some canyons and you'll almost certainly encounter some Tegus, so make sure you're prepared for a fight or two. If you think you're ready, you'll have to take this path:

Story Goals aside, this Camp is an excellent place to set up your base camp for the Bird Region. There are already a few Workbenches there; specifically, there's a Carpentry Workbench, Tanner Workbench, and Skin Dryer. You can decide to set up camp here or you can pick up these Workbenches and move them to another spot on the island.

Check out the green tents and you'll be able to find a Skill Book. The big red tent is the Captain's Tent. Head inside.

Pick up the Diary of Ponce De Leon on the disk and you'll see the next Story cutscene. When it's over, you'll find a note underneath the diary. Take it and it will direct you to a watchtower at the edge of the camp.

There are three things in the watchtower: Ponce de Leon's Order About Search Parties, Blank Piece of Parchment, and Broken Sextant (Repair). Read Ponce de Leon's Order About Search Parties and it will activate your next Goal, "Following Ponce and Fernan."

Making Camp on the Copper Island

The Captain's Camp makes an ideal home on the Copper Island, so you should take the time to set up a proper camp with Workbenches and storage. You can make do with what's there, but it might not be a bad idea to invest some time into improving it. You can also consider doing some Building and setting up a proper house to provide protection from the elements -- it's much hotter in the Buffalo region.

More importantly, the Copper Island has both Clay and Copper Deposits (the latter of which is one of your next goals). Using these two items to set up proper Copper smelting can get you the best gear available in a relatively short time if you want to put in the work. More importantly, you're going to need to be set up for Copper smelting to complete the next Goal. Fortunately, we'll find what we need along the way.

Following Ponce and Fernan

Your next step is to head through the canyons Northeast. Empty out your Inventory except for a Pickaxe, an Axe, a Melee Weapon, and any other crucial supplies you think you might need for a short trip. You will almost certainly encounter a Jaguar, so it's probably a good idea to take some Medicine to heal yourself, too.

When you're ready to go, you'll be taking this route:

Head to the destination. It might be a good idea to consider confronting the Jaguar and preemptively killing it, but that's up to you.

Head to the Copper Deposit. A "tablet" (that is, a sign) is on a post to the left of the Copper Deposit. Read it to trigger a cutscene, then mine at 1 A Piece of Copper. Then, grab as much Clay as you can carry.

You'll have to make a few trips to get everything you need -- you're going to need to Craft the following:

• Charcoal Pile (3 Piece of Clay)
• Smelter (2 Massive Stone, 2 Piece of Clay)
• Primitive Forge (2 Clay Brick, 1 Massive Stone, 4 Split Log, 1 Wide Leaf, 1 Clay Mode for Crossbows)

You're also going to need a bunch of Small Sticks to turn it into Coal. Once that is all set up, you'll have to make a Copper Ingot. Here's how to do it:

1. Make Coal in the Charcoal Pile.
2. Place Coal in the Smelter.
3. Make a Copper Ingot using 2 A Piece of Copper.

When you have a Copper Ingot, you can climb back up the Watchtower and repair the Sextant. This will give you the item "Map of the Search Parties" that will point you toward the Windy Island.

Now that you have Copper production set up, this is another good point to remind you that you can make better equipment. Your next Goal will require you to leave the island, so it may be a good idea to resupply here and upgrade your gear.

The Windy Island

Your next goal is the Windy Island. Before you leave, Craft 3 Builder Toolkit and place a Dock where you left your Boat. This will give you the option to quickly Fast Travel back to Copper Island and make use of the camp.

Our next step is the Windy Island. Open up the Map and then go up a layer. Here's where you can find the Windy Island:

Windy Island is located to the northeast of the Buffalo Region. Don't expect a massive amount of resources here -- most of the island is dedicated to a cave complex and a temple of sorts.

Here's where you'll be making your landing:

Once you touch down on the island, you won't have to go very far to make it to your next goal.

Find Diego Nunez

We're approaching the next goal: to find Diego Nunez, one of the missing crewmembers.

Here's where you'll be heading:

When you reach the end of the marked line, you'll have found the corpse of Diego Nunez. Another cutscene will play, revealing another tantalizing piece of the story.

Unfortunately, that's the end of the story in the Early Access launch version of Survival: Fountain of Youth. You can still explore the Red Island and other areas on the Map, Build a Base, and uncover some more of the mysteries in the game. Have fun!

< Bird Region Walkthrough | Buffalo Region Walkthrough

That's the end of our Survival: Fountain of Youth Buffalo Region Walkthrough. There's still a lot to explore in the game -- check out our other guides below to find out more!