- Doloc Town early access requires careful inventory and energy management from day one
- Backpack upgrade should be your first purchase on day one for 500 gold
- Combat strategy relies on toggling your drone's auto-fire mode for specific enemy types
- Storage shelves from Link provide free, permanent box storage if you complete his quests
- Copper tools dramatically speed up resource gathering and unlock new map areas
Day One Strategy: Setting Up Your Doloc Town Farm
Starting your journey in Doloc Town can feel overwhelming with scrap piles everywhere and limited inventory space. The key to a successful early game is prioritizing your backpack upgrade before anything else. You start with 300 gold, meaning you only need to earn 200 more to afford the first inventory expansion.
Video Highlights:
- Fastest method to earn 500 gold on day one
- How to manage energy without cooking meals
- Storage shelf unlock questline explained
- Combat drone auto-fire mechanics
- Copper tool upgrade priority order
The most efficient day one route involves grabbing your pickhammer and empty box from the chest, then heading directly east to the junkyard. Along the way, speak with Link to start the environmental crisis mission. At the junkyard, focus on collecting high-value items like old batteries, small scrap, and electrical wires. Use your box as overflow storage for common materials like rubbish, plastic bottles, and cardboard.
At 10:00 AM, head to the tavern to find Zenith. She will give you a free morning beer worth 140 gold. Take this beer along with your scavenged junk to Hull at the general store. Sell everything to reach 500 gold and immediately purchase the backpack upgrade.
Save your demo progress. If you played the Doloc Town demo during Steam Next Fest, your save file carries over into early access and should transfer to the full release.
| Time | Action | Location | Gold Earned |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | Grab pickhammer and empty box | Farm chest | 0 |
| 6:00 AM | Scavenge junk piles | East junkyard | ~200 |
| 10:00 AM | Collect free morning beer | Tavern | 140 (value) |
| Noon | Sell beer and junk, buy backpack | General store | -500 (spent) |
Inventory and Storage Management
Bag space is incredibly precious in Doloc Town. Resources are scattered everywhere, and your inventory will fill up rapidly. Beyond the initial backpack upgrade, understanding the storage system is critical for maintaining an efficient operation.
Boxes only have 15 uses before breaking. However, boxes placed on shelves do not count toward this usage limit. Always store your permanent boxes on shelves to preserve them indefinitely.
Link, the NPC with a pot on his head, is your key to better storage. After helping him with the environmental crisis mission on day one, he will send you a letter on day two asking you to find his lost pickaxe in the outskirts. Head south from your farm, then west until you reach the forest. Note that this pickaxe only spawns after receiving the letter.
Returning the pickaxe to Link rewards you with a free shelf on day three, which can store up to six boxes. This is a massive advantage since you cannot craft your own shelf for quite some time.
Takeout Box Strategy
- Carry a dedicated box for gathering trips
- Pre-load with common items like fiber, wood, rocks
- New finds auto-stack into the box
- Saves precious inventory slots
Box Recycling
- Sell worn boxes with one use left
- Yields 40 gold regardless of condition
- Better than letting boxes break naturally
- Use shipping drone to sell
Shelf Storage
- Free shelf from Link on day three
- Holds up to six boxes permanently
- Boxes on shelves never degrade
- Store overflow materials here
| Storage Type | Capacity | Durability | How to Obtain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Box | 15 uses | Breaks after 15 | Craft or find |
| Box on Shelf | Infinite | Does not degrade | Place on Link's shelf |
| Backpack (Base) | Limited | Permanent | Starting gear |
| Backpack (Upgraded) | Expanded | Permanent | 500 gold at general store |
| Storage Container | Large | Permanent | Treaty Port mission reward |
Energy Management and Survival
Early in the game, Zenith will send a letter suggesting you cook a pot meal for stamina recovery. Ignore this for now. There are far more efficient and accessible energy sources that do not require setting up a kitchen.
Energy management in Doloc Town does not require complex cooking systems during the early game. The most reliable stamina sources are found naturally in the world or looted from enemies. Blueberries are particularly valuable since they provide quick stamina boosts and are abundant throughout the map.
Canned food dropped by defeated drones and found in garbage piles serves double duty by restoring both stamina and health. Hold off on eating canned food unless you need it during combat encounters. These items stack quickly, creating a reliable emergency supply.
| Food Source | Stamina Recovery | Health Recovery | Best Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blueberries | Low (quick) | None | Daily gathering trips |
| Canned Food | Medium | Medium | Emergency combat healing |
| Trash Food | Low | None | Desperate situations |
| Cooked Meals | High | High | Late-game energy needs |
For extended exploration trips, sleeping bags are essential tools. You can purchase them for 150 gold each at Meera's outpost, or find the mysterious salesman Kuma hiding on cliffs near the Dillic River Valley. His sleeping bag recipe costs 2,000 gold but only requires five burlap and two resin to craft, making it a worthwhile long-term investment.
Place sleeping bags near valuable resource nodes like iron and copper deposits. Sleep to restore health and stamina, then mine the respawned nodes. This creates efficient farming checkpoints without traveling back to your farm.
Combat and Drone Mechanics
Combat in Doloc Town follows a bullet hell style that can feel intimidating at first. The most important setting to change immediately is your drone's auto-fire mode, which can be toggled in the settings menu. This allows your drone to automatically attack enemies while you focus entirely on dodging.
Turn off auto-fire when passing through areas with peaceful enemies like robot flies. Auto-fire drains your drone battery and can accidentally trigger combat with neutral targets. Only enable it when facing aggressive enemies that attack on sight.
Start practicing combat mechanics against green slimes, the easiest enemies in the game. Once comfortable with your drone fighting alongside you, experiment with toggling auto-fire on and off depending on the threat level of your current area.
As you defeat enemies and collect drone parts, visit Motti and COD to upgrade your drone. The first drone frame upgrade costs 1,000 gold from Motti. You may already have sufficient chips from combat drops, making the COD purchase unnecessary.
| Combat Element | Strategy | Recommended Setting |
|---|---|---|
| Green Slimes | Practice dodging patterns | Auto-fire ON |
| Robot Flies | Peaceful, avoid combat | Auto-fire OFF |
| Aggressive Drones | Circle strafe while drone fires | Auto-fire ON |
| Boss Encounters | Focus purely on movement | Auto-fire ON |
Enable Auto-Fire
Open settings and turn on drone auto-fire mode. This transforms your drone into a personal bodyguard that attacks automatically.
Practice on Slimes
Find green slimes and practice dodging while your drone handles damage output. Get comfortable with the bullet hell movement patterns.
Collect Drone Parts
Defeat various drone enemies and collect their dropped parts. These components are used for upgrades at Motti and COD's shops.
Purchase Frame Upgrade
Save 1,000 gold and buy the first drone frame upgrade from Motti. Check if you already have the necessary chips from combat drops before purchasing from COD.
Tool Upgrades and Crafting Priority
Copper tools dramatically improve your efficiency in Doloc Town. The upgrade priority matters because each tool unlocks specific new areas and capabilities. Focus on gathering copper ore from the river valley before attempting any other crafting goals.
Set aside a few days dedicated to river valley mining. Bring your drone with auto-fire enabled as a bodyguard. Smelt small rusty scraps into copper bars using the garbage smelter to reduce return trips.
The copper pickaxe should be your first upgrade. It allows you to mine ore in the river valley and break apart larger junk piles that yield better materials. Next, prioritize the copper axe to break rockwood on the west side of the map and cut bamboo in the river valley. The copper scythe comes last, used primarily for cutting vines needed to unlock seeds at Alchemy's lab.
| Tool | Priority | Unlocks | Copper Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper Pickaxe | 1st | River valley ore, large junk piles | Medium |
| Copper Axe | 2nd | Rockwood (west map), bamboo | Medium |
| Copper Scythe | 3rd | Vines for seed unlocks | Low |
Building and deconstructing structures requires speaking with Gerald, the white-haired NPC. For deconstructing, you need a toolbox which acts as a single-use item. The toolbox returns your original construction materials and gold, making it far superior to letting buildings decay through acid rain.
Do not attempt to destroy buildings by letting acid rain damage them. This wastes all construction materials and gold. Always use a toolbox for clean deconstruction with full material refunds.
Sustainable Farming and Resource Routes
Plant trees close to your farm but not directly on it. You will need farm space for buildings and structures as you progress. Trees take time to grow through various stages, so establish your forest early between your farm and town.
Creating a sustainable wood supply is essential for long-term progression in Doloc Town. When harvesting trees, occasionally collect tree seeds. Plant these seeds near your farm to create a renewable wood source. Larger trees yield significantly more wood when harvested.
Wood is needed for crafting, unlocking seeds with Alchemy, the town botanist, and transportation upgrades at the Treaty Port. Maintaining an extended tree farm ensures you never run short of this critical resource.
Link also offers a valuable trash trading feature. You can exchange common trash for rare materials. For example, 50 bags of rubbish can be traded for one old engine core. Engine cores are essential for crafting simple generators that power sprinklers and other automated systems.
| Trade Input | Output Material | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| 50 Rubbish | 1 Old Engine Core | Simple generators, sprinklers |
| Scrap Metal | Various parts | Crafting components |
| Plastic Bottles | Trade materials | Construction supplies |
| Cardboard | Trade materials | Storage upgrades |
Week 1 Progression Goals:
- Purchase backpack upgrade on day one (500 gold)
- Complete Link's environmental crisis mission
- Find Link's lost pickaxe on day two
- Obtain free storage shelf on day three
- Craft copper pickaxe as first tool upgrade
- Establish tree farm near your base
- Trade 50 rubbish for old engine core with Link
- Purchase sleeping bag from Meera's outpost
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does my Doloc Town demo save carry over to early access?
Yes, if you played the demo during Steam Next Fest, your save file carries over into early access. Your progress should also transfer into the full release when it launches.
Q: What is the fastest way to get 500 gold on day one?
Scavenge the east junkyard for valuable items like old batteries and electrical wires, then collect the free morning beer from Zenith at the tavern at 10:00 AM. Sell everything at the general store to reach 500 gold for the backpack upgrade.
Q: How do I get permanent storage in Doloc Town?
Complete Link's quests on days one through three. After helping with the environmental crisis and returning his lost pickaxe, Link gives you a free shelf that stores up to six boxes. Boxes placed on shelves do not degrade.
Q: Which copper tool should I upgrade first?
Prioritize the copper pickaxe first, as it unlocks ore mining in the river valley and allows you to break larger junk piles. Follow with the copper axe for rockwood and bamboo, then the copper scythe for vines.
Q: Where can I buy sleeping bags for exploration?
Meera's outpost sells sleeping bags for 150 gold each. Alternatively, find the mysterious salesman Kuma on cliffs near the Dillic River Valley. His recipe costs 2,000 gold but lets you craft sleeping bags using five burlap and two resin.