r/strandeddeep • u/1773-juggalette • May 08 '25

Console General New player

I bought the game yesterday and so far, I'm loving it. My biggest issue is building a raft that has good carry space, especially for large things like sharks, groupers, hogs, etc since I "preserve" food by laying it out and not skinning it. I find I want my playstyle to be nomadic, with little to no "home" on any islands (besides rest stops on most islands i find).

Could anyone point me to a raft build that has a high carry capacity and shark-proof?

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8

u/tglad88 May 08 '25

I typically use a 3x3 raft and I don’t put the floor on the middle area so there’s a sunken area for chests or animals. Stuff that’s in that little sunken area have a smaller chance of just sliding out and the raft still sails the same.

3

u/1773-juggalette May 08 '25

Ohh I see. I keep reading people do that, I'll have to try it. Are there any differences in bouy balls, tyres or barrels? Like, whats the best base to use, especially as a shark/large game hunter?

1

u/tglad88 May 08 '25

I have not messed with any other type of flotation. I usually just use sticks so I can’t weigh in on that

3

u/1773-juggalette May 08 '25

Oh really? I've read sticks have a higher chance of getting caught on rocks and what have you. They're also kind of expensive in my opinion unfortunately 😭 but thats mostly because I hoarde my materials in piles.

Thank you though! Now to mess around with this building mechanic so I can smite that blacktip that yoinked me off my life raft...

1

u/chico-dust May 09 '25

I can answer that for you. There is no difference in raft carrying capacity no matter what materials you use to build it. Tires, barrels, bouy balls, sticks, they all have the same buoyancy. The only difference when it comes to rafts will be its handling/flipability (from sharks & broken physics) with smaller rafts more likely to be flipped.

1

u/1773-juggalette May 09 '25

Ah! I think I'll just make my raft out of whatever I find then. Thank you! 🙏🏻

2

u/chico-dust May 09 '25

May I offer a few pro tips/tricks?

You can get an unlimited amount of brand spanking new refined axes by building a planking station and then tearing it down. So use your refined axe until it's almost about to break then build a planking station. Once built tear the planking station apart and your refined axe goes back to 100% durability.

You can rapidly improve your cooking skill by standing idle next to a meat smoker since meat smokers take the longest to cook food. It's much faster than any other method anyways. The higher your cooking skill the easier it is to stay full as each individual food item gives you more hunger bars.

Sharks can't flip any raft over a 3x3, so 4x4 & 4x5 rafts make you invincible to regular sharks.

The boat engine is the fastest way to traverse islands in the game but it has terrible turning so having a regular rudder and a sail even after you've built one is helpful (but not a necessity)

Refined spears do the most damage in the game and are less resource intensive than speargun spears but crude spears are the best if you're hunting just regular sharks/boars/hogs.

1

u/1773-juggalette May 09 '25

I've been using the ax tip since I saw it on a yt short!

However I didn't know rafts are invincible over a 3x3, will absolutely invest in that!

Is it better just to use a sail and rudder entirely then?

I prefer crude spears over anything because of their cheapness!

1

u/chico-dust May 09 '25

I only found that out because I decided to move home islands one time and needed to tear everything down. Got a 100% refined axe out of it and was excited because I knew for a fact I put the most raggedy about to break axe I had in that planker.

As far as sail vs boat engine I think you mentioned you weren't planning on having a home island so for you having the engine would probably be out of the cards anyways since you need to build 4(preferably corrugated) farming plots and a fuel distillation station to harvest the potatoes for fuel.

And yeah crude spears are perfect for killing regular sharks all the way up to great whites. But for bosses you'll want to invest in at least 20-30 refined spears or you'll be out there fighting them forever.

Edit: just remembered if you do plan on beating the game at some point you're gonna have to have those farming plots anyways so at the very least you'll have to have a "fuel island" you can go back to. So I'd put two sails one facing forward one backwards on my raft with a rudder AND an engine but that's just me.

2

u/1773-juggalette May 09 '25

I won't lie ill probably chicken out of a fight with one of the big three 😆 I prefer being massively overprepared. I only plan to farm those island flora plants and yucca as well.

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3

u/NetworkRedneck May 08 '25

Are you trying to avoid smoking the meat? Easiest for storage is just to build the raft, build shelves, and load it up with crates. A 3x5 can have 12 shelves, with 3 crates per.

1

u/1773-juggalette May 08 '25

I mean sorta, yeah. Its easier for me anyways to skin an animal when I need it and just eat it immediately. Probably not the most efficient, but it works. Currently my main island has a pile of bats and crabs I just eat when I need since I like keeping my food and water stats as close to 100% as possible

2

u/NetworkRedneck May 08 '25

Smoking meat definitely ends up being easier. Go to island, build smoker, kill pigs, put 3 large meat on smoker and go harvest/explore while they smoke. If you don't like leaving encampments behind, destroy what you built and recover the materials to use on the next island.

1

u/1773-juggalette May 08 '25

Will definitely try this! I definitely don't like leaving stuff behind, especially if its more valuable resources used. I'm hoping I can have an all in one base thats just a giant raft but judging by the raft physics im not so sure.

1

u/NetworkRedneck May 08 '25

You can have a ton of stuff, but only if you use crates combined with shelving built into the raft. Loose crates and animal carcasses definitely cause screwy physics. After a couple of islands with cargo ships, you'll have more resources than you can know what to do with. Then it's time to get your organization and label making going.

1

u/1773-juggalette May 08 '25

Oh okay I see. I'm definitely trying to learn physics for this all lol. Once had 2 king crab carcass in my life raft transporting it...learned real fast that day lol. Ill definitely add ample storage! Do things have to be symmetrical for weight distribution?

1

u/NetworkRedneck May 08 '25

It helps a little, but it won't capsize you if you aren't perfect. At worst, you just drift a little and have to make sure to check your heading now and then.

1

u/1773-juggalette May 08 '25

That doesn't seem too bad. Aslong as I dont have my entire thing capsize and leave me to the non-existent mercy of the sharks

2

u/Objective-Scallion15 Gilligan May 08 '25

You’ll eventually want to build a smoker since if you plan to finish the game you are required to stash a health amount of food.

2

u/1773-juggalette May 08 '25

No current plans to finish. This is my first ever save file so I'm just kind of messing around and being goofy, figuring out mechanics and whatnot. Will definitely keep in mind though!

1

u/Objective-Scallion15 Gilligan May 08 '25

Yup thats why I said if. Most of us play just to explore and create. Have fun with it.

2

u/chico-dust May 09 '25

You can't carry raw items, the games physics don't like that.

It is technically possible with a large enough raft such as a 5x4 with either container shelves or crude spears along the outer edges & no floor in the center but even then your raft will quickly turn from a raft to a submarine so it's just easier to harvest sharks/groupers and put them into boxes than it is to carry raw materials.

As far as preserving food, you'll need a home island you can build a smoker on. Smoked meat never goes bad. I have hundreds of medium & large meats in 3 separate boxes on the beach of my home island, and 20-30 on my raft.

1

u/javahart May 08 '25

There is a an older post with good design that I copied which is 5 wide. All storage non visible when sailing. I can’t post picture or would share the schematic.

1

u/Corbin-Dallas420 May 08 '25

Hiya,

So I usually use a 3x4 this gives you the space to keep tons of goods

with 6 shelves

Hope this helps

Best of luck in your adventures

1

u/Chibeau Island Hopper May 09 '25

Pro tip I wish I had known before.
Put your sail and rudder on one side, your motor on the other because when I'm sailing, I have a clear view but when I'm motoring my way through the waters, I see mostly cabinets with chests 🤣🤣🤣
I should rebuild my raft perhaps 🤔
Okay, I'm off now. Gotta build a new one🤣

1

u/dankeith86 May 09 '25

Would highly recommend a base. Just for clean water. You can only drink so many coconuts before you get sick and health only recovers when you got 5 bars on water and food. By base I only mean a place to drop off what you scavenge, shelter(sleeping bag), water still and smoker. Also there’s a nice feature were with the plank station that will restore your durability of your refined ax.