Windrose Resources Guide: The Complete Discovery List

You won't get very far building anything if you can't tell one tree from the next.

Windrose gates almost everything behind a giant checklist called the Discovery tab, and the game won't tell you a recipe exists until you've physically picked up whatever raw material it needs, at least once.

Open that menu early and it's mostly question marks. That's not a bug, it's just how the whole system's designed. The frustrating part is procedural generation means specific plants and rare drops can be genuinely hard to track down, and losing an afternoon wandering a swamp hunting one specific mushroom is a very real way to spend an evening in this game. So here's the complete resource list, sorted by biome, to cut that hunting down to nothing.

One shortcut worth knowing if you're playing co-op: you don't have to harvest something yourself to unlock it. If a friend drops a piece of iron on the ground and you pick it up, that's enough to permanently check it off in your own Discovery tab.

The Coastal Jungle (Tier 1)

This is the starting zone, and everything here forms the foundation for your early base and survival setup. Worth stripping this biome completely bare, copper included, before moving on to anything further out.

Coastal Jungle Key Discoveries

These are the mandatory progression items. You cannot advance the story without them.

Resource	Location and Primary Unlocks
Fast Travel Bell	Found in chests at POIs. Unlocks the Fast Travel Bell recipe.
Copper Ore	Mined in Coastal Jungle caves. Unlocks the Smelting Furnace and Charcoal Kiln.
Copper Ingot	Smelted at the Furnace. Unlocks the Weaponsmith Workshop, metal tools, and firearms.
Rough Hide	Dropped by Boars and Wolves. Unlocks the Sailor Backpack and early armor.
Misty Orchid	Glowing blue plants found mostly at night. Unlocks the Alchemy Table and early potions.

Major Discoveries (Coastal Jungle):

• Clay: Brown deposits near beaches. Unlocks the Clay Bottle.

• Lamp: Found in specific chests. Unlocks the ability to refill it. Check my Oil Lamp guide for details.

• Banana & Sweet Potato: Harvested from wild plants. Used in essential early game cooking.

• Dodo Egg & Cayenne Pepper: Found in nests and wild bushes. Unlocks high tier stat boosting meals.

• Undead Essence & Healing Herbs: Dropped by zombies and found in ruins. Crucial for crafting Healing Potions.

• Rum Bottle: Found in pirate chests. Used for the Homeward Journey potion.

• Steel Nails: Looted from sunken ships. Unlocks the Combat Repair Kit for your vessel.

• Seeds: Banana, Palm, Ficus, and Shrub seeds drop randomly when harvesting their respective plants.

Other Resources (Coastal Jungle): Plant Fiber, Wood, Stone, Coconut, Triton's Horn, Closed Scallop Shells, Pearl (rare drop from shells/undead), Crab Meat, Bird Meat, regular Meat, Animal Fat, Feather, Boar Tusk, Boar Head (rare), and Dodo Head (rare).

The Foothills (Tier 2)

Once you defeat Captain Thomas Richards, you graduate to the Foothills. This biome introduces farming, advanced iron tools, and specialized combat elixirs.

Foothills Key Discoveries

These materials unlock the mid game crafting stations and heavy weaponry.

Resource	Location and Primary Unlocks
Fertile Soil	Found in Ancient Farms. Unlocks the Foothills Patch for base farming.
Foothills Iron Ore	Mined in Foothills caves. Unlocks the Anvil, advanced tools, and heavy ship cannons.
Hardwood & Tree Bark	Chopped from Divi-divi trees. Unlocks the Toolbox, Tanning Rack, and Tanned Leather.
Flax Fiber	Blue plants in the central zone. Unlocks the Spinning Wheel and Linen Fabric.
Corn	Wild crops or POI loot. Unlocks the Millstones. Essential for gunpowder production.
Silver Ingot	Looted from ruins. Unlocks the Jeweler's Bench.

Major Discoveries (Foothills):

• Sulfur: Yellow deposits on large rocks. Vital for crafting Homemade Gunpowder. Read my gunpowder farming guide for the exact recipe ratios.

• Wolf Fang & Bezoar: Dropped by Wolves and Goats. Unlocks precision and concentration combat elixirs.

• Coffee Beans: Found in chests or bought from the Tortuga vendor.

• Nuts: Dropped by pirates. Used in high tier cooking.

• Lime & Tomato: Harvested from wild plants. Unlocks various juices and salads.

Other Resources (Foothills): Aloe Leaf, Salt (found in sea caches or bought in Tortuga), Cane Sugar, Wolf Head (rare), and Head of a Mountain Goat Leader (rare). If you need help finding the Tortuga market to buy that salt, check my faction trader locations guide.

The Cursed Swamps (Tier 3)

The endgame biome. It is dark, poisonous, and full of infected crocodiles. The materials here are required to push your gear into the final tier.

Cursed Swamps Key Discoveries

The absolute highest tier of crafting materials currently available.

Resource	Location and Primary Unlocks
Ancient Scraps	Mined from metal deposits in unmarked swamp ruins. Unlocks the Large Smelting Furnace and Mire Metal Ingots.
Crocodile Hide Piece	Harvested from Crocodiles. Unlocks the Material Rack and the massive Quartermaster Backpack.
Essence Arborum	Created by processing Plague Wood in a Furnace. Unlocks the Enchanting Table and magical ingots.
Crocodile Tail	Harvested from Crocodiles. Unlocks the absolute best strength boosting foods in the game.
Bromeliad	Red plants found in highly infected swamp zones. Unlocks the Distiller and infused endgame elixirs.

Major Discoveries (Cursed Swamps):

• Tar & Plague Wood: Harvested from Tarwood and Infected trees. Used for waterproofing and magical essence.

• Firefly: Caught in the swamps. Used for the Elixir of Firm Hand.

• Tear of Sorrow: A rare drop from high level undead enemies. Unlocks the Great Healing Potion.

• Cocoplum, Leek, Beans & Lobster Mushroom: Wild swamp flora. Unlocks the final tier of epic cooking recipes like Swamp Pie and Gazpacho. Check my Windrose cooking guide for the full breakdown.

• Mysterious Spice: Looted from chests. Mandatory for high end cooking.

Other Resources (Cursed Swamps): Tainted Bile (from infected crocodiles) and Crocodile Head (rare drop).

Clear the camps, harvest every single plant you see, and empty the chests. If you need help organizing all this junk back at your base, read through the Windrose Hub for more architectural tips.