Icarus is a session-based survival game from RocketWerkz (DayZ creator Dean Hall) where players drop from an orbital station onto a terraformed alien planet for timed prospect missions. Each drop is a race against the clock — gather resources, complete objectives, and return to your dropship before the timer expires or lose your character permanently. Between drops, you spend earned currency on Workshop gear that persists across missions. The Open World maps added permanent bases, and the game has evolved significantly since launch with biome additions and talent rework.
Starting Icarus can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Icarus is a survival game built around prospect missions and orbital station. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Solo Build | Good (but demanding) | Efficient resource gathering, quick shelter setup, complete objectives methodically. |
| Construction Spec | Excellent for beginners | Build forward bases, set up crafting stations for the team, maintain shelter during storms. |
| Hunter Build | Excellent for beginners | Track and kill wildlife for resources, provide security against predators, handle combat objectives. |
| Agriculture Build | Situational | Set up farms near base, process herbs for medicines and buffs, manage team food supply. |
| Combat Medic | Situational | Craft and distribute healing items, handle combat when needed, keep team healthy during extended prospects. |
Our recommendation: Start with Construction Spec. Construction talents make buildings cheaper and more durable, letting you establish outposts faster during long prospects. The reduced material costs for Stone and Concrete buildings let you build storm-proof shelters sooner. Essential in group play where one player handles base logistics.
Avoid Combat Medic as your first pick. Combining Combat talents with healing item crafting, the Combat Medic keeps the group alive during dangerous prospects.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn prospect missions
Prospects are timed missions lasting hours to days (real-time) with specific objectives: scan locations, hunt exotic creatures, mine rare veins, or survive extreme weather events. Failing to return to the dropship before the timer expires results in permanent character loss. Solo prospects are tuned for 1-3 players, while harder prospects require full groups of 8.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how prospect missions works before worrying about anything else.
Step 2: Head to Forest Biome
The most forgiving biome with moderate temperatures, abundant wood, and basic wildlife (deer, rabbits, wolves, bears). Most starter prospects take place here. Resources are plentiful but spread out — iron deposits are common in rock faces and cave entrances.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Compound Bow — it's the most accessible early upgrade. Craftable at Tier 2, the Compound Bow is silent (doesn't alert nearby wildlife) and uses craftable arrows. Bone arrows deal more damage than stone, and carbon arrows are the best craftable option. The bow's silence makes it superior to rifles for stealth hunting near predator-dense areas.
Step 4: Understand orbital station
Between drops, you access the Orbital Workshop where you spend Exotics and credits on persistent equipment (Workshop items). These items — better pickaxes, firearms, armor — give you a head start on each new prospect. Workshop gear has durability and drops with you, but losing your character loses the gear too.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early — it pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Arctic Biome
Freezing temperatures (-30C to -50C) that drain health without Fur Armor and shelter. Blizzards reduce visibility to near zero and cause rapid hypothermia. Rich in Platinum deposits and exotic ice fauna. Bring Oxite for emergency warmth and build Tier 2+ shelter immediately upon landing.
Essential Mechanics Explained
prospect missions
Prospects are timed missions lasting hours to days (real-time) with specific objectives: scan locations, hunt exotic creatures, mine rare veins, or survive extreme weather events. Failing to return to the dropship before the timer expires results in permanent character loss. Solo prospects are tuned for 1-3 players, while harder prospects require full groups of 8.
orbital station
Between drops, you access the Orbital Workshop where you spend Exotics and credits on persistent equipment (Workshop items). These items — better pickaxes, firearms, armor — give you a head start on each new prospect. Workshop gear has durability and drops with you, but losing your character loses the gear too.
talent trees
Three talent trees (Solo, Construction, Combat) provide passive bonuses that persist permanently. Solo talents boost gathering and crafting speed, Construction talents improve building durability and reduce costs, and Combat talents increase weapon damage and resistances. Talents can be respecced at any time, letting you optimize for specific prospect types.
weather survival
Icarus features brutal weather systems: temperature extremes, storms with lightning that damages structures, and blizzards that reduce visibility and cause hypothermia. Shelter tier matters — Tier 1 (thatch) barely blocks rain, Tier 2 (wood) survives storms, and Tier 3 (stone) handles everything. Carrying Oxite and wearing fur armor are essential for Arctic biome prospects.
resource extraction
Resources follow a tiered progression: fiber/sticks > wood/stone > iron/copper > platinum/titanium > exotic materials. Mining exotic veins (special deposits found during certain prospects) yields Exotics currency for the Workshop. Resource nodes respawn on a timer, and deep mining caves contain the rarest ores.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Forgetting to return to the dropship before the timer expires — this is permanent character death with all gear
Always track the prospect timer and head back with time to spare.
2. Dropping into Arctic prospects without cold protection — hypothermia kills in under 2 minutes without Fur Armor or Oxite, and you'll die before crafting any shelter
3. Ignoring Workshop gear between missions — players who spend all Exotics on cosmetics instead of Workshop tools start every new prospect at a massive disadvantage
4. Building Tier 1 thatch shelters and expecting them to survive storms — lightning and wind destroy thatch instantly, killing you inside what you thought was safe shelter
5. Fighting bears with melee weapons early game — their charge attack one-shots players in Tier 1 armor
Use a bow from elevated ground or lure them into water where they move slowly.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand prospect missions and orbital station
- Choose Construction Spec as starting build
- Clear Forest Biome main content
- Acquire Compound Bow or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Arctic Biome
- Always bring Oxite on your first drop into Arctic prospects — without it, you can freeze to death before building any shelter. Oxite provides 10 minutes of cold resistance when consumed.
- Tier 2 wood houses survive storms but Tier 1 thatch does not — prioritize upgrading your shelter walls to wood within the first 20 minutes of any prospect.
Tips for New Players
- Always bring Oxite on your first drop into Arctic prospects — without it, you can freeze to death before building any shelter. Oxite provides 10 minutes of cold resistance when consumed.
- Tier 2 wood houses survive storms but Tier 1 thatch does not — prioritize upgrading your shelter walls to wood within the first 20 minutes of any prospect.
- Skinning knife gives double animal resources compared to pickaxe or bare hands. Craft one as soon as you have iron — the extra leather and fur accelerate your armor progression.
- Fill canteens at rivers before heading inland — dehydration kills faster than starvation, and finding water in the Arctic or Desert biomes is much harder than in forests.
- Abandon prospects before the timer expires or your character is permanently lost with all Workshop gear they carried. Set an alarm for 30 minutes before deadline.
- Workshop items (gear bought with Exotics between missions) massively outperform craftable equivalents. Prioritize buying a Workshop Knife and Pickaxe first — they last many missions and speed up early gathering.
- Bears are the most dangerous common wildlife. They charge in straight lines and can be kited around trees or rocks. A Hunting Rifle headshot kills them in one shot with proper Combat talent investment.
- Build near cave entrances for easy access to iron and copper deposits. Caves also provide natural shelter from storms without building costs.
- Lightning during storms can destroy Tier 1 structures and kill exposed players. Build Lightning Rods on your base and stay indoors during electrical storms.
- In co-op, have one player spec Construction while others spec Combat/Solo — the Constructor builds and maintains the base while Combat players handle objectives and hunting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I don't return to the dropship in time in Icarus?
Your character is permanently lost along with any Workshop gear they were carrying. This is the core tension of the game — you must balance exploring/completing objectives with getting back safely. Always set a personal timer for 30 minutes before the prospect deadline.
Is Icarus a permanent survival game or session-based?
Both. The original design is session-based (timed prospects you drop into and return from), but the Open World maps (like Styx) added permanent base building with no time limit. Most players spend time in both — prospects for Exotics currency, Open World for relaxed building.
Can I play Icarus solo?
Yes. Most prospects are designed to be completable solo, though harder ones are tuned for groups of 4-8. The Solo talent tree provides bonuses specifically for solo play. Workshop gear helps compensate for the lack of teammates.
What Workshop items should I buy first?
Buy the Workshop Knife and Pickaxe first — they're used every single prospect and dramatically speed up early resource gathering. Next, get Workshop Armor (Fur for Arctic) and a Workshop Hunting Rifle. These four items make every prospect significantly easier.
What to Read Next
- Icarus Builds — Optimize your build once you've learned the basics
- Icarus Walkthrough — Full progression path
- Icarus Tips — Advanced strategies for when you're ready
