DIVE or DIE Beginner Walkthrough
DIVE or DIE beginner walkthrough covering your first days, settlement setup, diving basics, and early-game priorities.
Your First Hours as Chief
DIVE or DIE: Children of Rain opens with Jack and a handful of survivors clinging to the last dry land above the Abyssal Pool. The Rainmaker has granted humanity a final window — collect eight Eldritch Idols from the depths or face extinction in the Flood. On Normal difficulty, you begin with forty days. Each dive consumes one.
Your immediate objectives are straightforward: rebuild the Altar and Infirmary using Planks and Iron Ore from early dives, then establish a sustainable loop of diving, crafting, and camp maintenance. Do not chase every resource node — prioritize Maps and Blueprints above all else.
Days 1–3: Learning the Depths
Send your first diver into The Shallows with basic equipment. Collect Iron Ore, Carbon, and any Blueprints found in sarcophagi. Killer Algae block paths — craft a Diving Knife at the Workshop once you have the Blueprint. Avoid Rain-Touched enemies until you have a Nailgun.
Return before oxygen depletes. Every meter matters. Boost swimming only when necessary, as it doubles oxygen consumption relative to speed gained. Surface with at least one Map fragment if possible — Maps reveal new areas in the Library and unlock deeper biomes.
Days 4–7: Building the Settlement
Complete all nine building construction objectives before upgrading any structure to Tier 2. Each new building unlocks critical features: the Infirmary heals injured divers, the Altar enables Worship to extend the Flood Countdown, the Library stores Maps and hosts the Beastiary, and the Fishing Hut generates passive Nutrition and Morale.
Assign one survivor to each building. Match traits to roles — a survivor with Ritual Practice at the Memorial boosts Tribute yields, while Passion: Liturgy accelerates Altar experience. Keep two dedicated divers whose only job is descending into the Abyssal Pool.
Days 8–14: Mid-Game Priorities
Upgrade the Diving Deck and Workshop in tandem. The Deck reduces travel cost to objectives; the Workshop unlocks Advanced, Electronic, and eventually Eldritch crafting tiers. Upgrading only one creates bottlenecks — deeper access without gear, or better gear without reach.
Start making daily Worship offerings at the Altar. Sacrificing Nutrition or Morale adds twenty-five percent to the Worship meter; sacrificing a survivor adds fifteen percent per level. At one hundred percent, you gain an extra day. Plan each purchased day with a specific goal.
Common Early Mistakes to Avoid
Over-recruiting survivors inflates Nutrition and Morale upkeep without adding value. Only recruit when you need to man a building, fill an Expedition slot, or replace a sacrificial diver. Idle survivors gain minimal experience.
Neglecting the Camp Report after each dive causes slow starvation or demoralization. Starving survivors lose maximum Health; demoralized survivors lose Sanity. Burn Tributes at the Memorial or send divers for Mementos when stocks run low.
Blessing a biome too early increases difficulty before you have full map coverage. Explore thoroughly, collect all Maps, then bless when you know resource node locations.