Windrose Oil Lamp Guide: How to Craft and Refill Your Light
Wandering into a Windrose cave without a light source is a fantastic way to get punched to death by something you never even saw.
The day and night cycle in this game is incredibly punishing, and the underground ruins are completely pitch black regardless of what time it is outside. You can rely on the ambient glow of your base bonfire for a while, but the moment you step out of its radius, you are entirely blind. The Drowned enemies absolutely love creeping up on you in the dark.
You need a portable light source to survive. The Oil Lamp is an essential piece of adventuring gear, but the game hands it to you completely empty. I spent my first few nights running away from glowing eyes in the jungle before I figured out how to actually keep the lights on. If you are struggling with the absolute basics of staying alive, you should read my beginner's survival guide first.
Looting Your First Free Lamp
You do not have to waste your precious early game metal to get a lamp. There are two guaranteed spots on the starting island where you can simply steal one.
The Smuggler's Cache
Right near the beach where you initially spawn, there is a hidden hole in the ground covered by a suspicious pile of leaves and wooden planks. Smash the debris with your axe and drop down the stairs. Be ready for a fight, because a Drowned zombie is waiting for you in the dark. Once you put it back in the dirt, loot the chest to claim an Empty Lamp. You will also likely find the item required to start building your fast travel network inside this same hole.
The Pirate Remains
If you miss the cache, head to the eastern side of the first island and look for the Pirate Remains point of interest. There is a Decrepit Chest sitting right next to an old boat. Looting this box hands you a Lamp, a starter weapon, and a blurry sketch that kicks off a major side quest.
How to Refill the Empty Lamp
Finding the lamp is the easy part. Turning it on requires a quick hunting trip.
When you equip the lamp to your hotbar, you will notice an empty gauge next to the icon. To fill this gauge to 100 percent, you need exactly 3 Animal Fat.
Grab your weapon and start hunting the local wildlife. You are looking for the wild pigs roaming the island. Sows will drop a single piece of Animal Fat when killed, but Boars will drop two pieces. The boars hit surprisingly hard if they catch you off guard, so make sure you know how to heal properly before you aggro a whole pack of them.
Once you have your three pieces of fat, head back to your base. Open your Workbench, and look for the specific Refill/Repair sub menu tab. Select your Empty Lamp, confirm the resource exchange, and the game will hand you back a fully fueled light source.
Crafting a Replacement
If you manage to lose your lamp, or you just want to craft a backup, the recipe unlocks automatically as soon as you loot your first one or smelt your first batch of metal.
Four Copper Ingots is a steep price when you are just starting out. If you are struggling to find enough raw ore to fund this, I mapped out the best mining spots in my copper gathering guide.
The Cheap Wood Alternative
If your lamp runs dry in the middle of a cave and you do not have any spare animal fat, you are not entirely out of luck.
You can abuse the base building system. A standard Floor Standing Torch only costs 2 Wood to construct. You can pull out your hammer, build a torch directly on the cave floor to light up the room, fight the enemies, and then immediately deconstruct the torch to get your 2 Wood back. It is a tedious way to explore, but it works in an absolute emergency. For more structural tricks, take a look at my base building guide.
Keep your lamp fueled, avoid running into caves completely blind, and you will dramatically increase your survival rate. Keep checking the Windrose Hub for more targeted guides.
