100 Days at Sea punishes a messy start. Hunger drains, metal runs short, and the cargo ship or a late raid can end a good run early.
This is the Day 1 to 100 plan that gets you to the helicopter on day 100 and into infinite mode after. Build in order, fix food with the pizza oven, time your survivor rescues, chase weapons that matter, clear the cargo ship once with a real timer plan, keep metal topped up, and let radar and turrets do the quiet work. Use the 100 Days at Sea wiki for the full loop, islands for loot routes, companions for buffs, classes for Pearl planning, and codes for a little early help. The companion tier list pairs well once your food and metal are stable.
Get the build order right and fix food early
The first week is setup, not exploring. Get these down in order and the rest of the run feels calmer.
- Craft a Crab Trap first. It gives you ingredients so the next step actually does something.
- Add a Cooking Pot next. A pot without a trap leaves you staring at an empty hunger bar.
- Build both Magnets as soon as you can. You can only place two, they cost nothing to run, and they pull metal from the ocean floor on repeat. Drop them every time they come back up.
- Get an Ammo Factory and a Log Saw. The factory takes 3 metal per use, so stock metal before you start cranking. The saw keeps wood up, which you burn faster than you expect once gas production starts.
Food stops being a crisis once you unlock the pizza oven. It is the single upgrade that changes the run.
- What it is: A faster cooking pot that makes pizza. One quarter of a pizza fills your hunger bar almost completely, and it accepts a wide mix of ingredients.
- Cost: 225 Coins for the recipe from the Traveling Merchant.
- How to unlock it: After buying the recipe, swim underwater near your rig and look for a glowing object. Interact with it to unlock the oven, then craft and place it on the rig.
Survivors are the classic early trap. The game pushes rescue quests, but survivors eat your food and will flip on automated factories and burn metal and wood for you.
- Default rule: Wait until you have two Magnets running and a steady pizza supply before you bring anyone back. Then you can absorb the extra cost.
- When to break the rule: Your daily quest says rescue a survivor and you are close to leveling. Levels unlock new recipes, so that trade can be worth it.
Chase the right weapons, clear the cargo ship, and keep metal up
You start with a knife and it feels like one. Move up this ladder instead of hoping a random drop saves you.
| Weapon | How to get it | Damage note |
|---|---|---|
| Knife | Starting weapon | Very low |
| Machete | Treasure chests on islands | Medium |
| Ghost Cutlass | Defeat the Ghost Captain at the castle | Very high, two-shot kills |
| Revolver | Chests on the cargo ship | Good ranged damage |
| Rifle | Chests on the cargo ship | Best ranged damage |
| Flare Gun | Traveling Merchant | Distracts angler fish |
Swap views while you fight and loot. Third person helps you see enemies around you. First person makes picking up items off the ground much easier.
The cargo ship is tough and very rewarding. It also unlocks the Container Shelter quest item and the Lightning Rod blueprint.
- Bring time and supplies. You get a 25-minute timer on board. Plan for 15 to 20 minutes to clear it. Go in with full health, full hunger, pizza in your sack, at least 20 rounds, and a machete or better.
- Hunt Batteries and open doors. Batteries are tucked in chests and crates. Plug them into wall slots to open locked doors. Open everything.
- Grapple to the top. After the final door, grapple up for the best loot: Revolver, Rifle, and the Lightning Rod blueprint.
- Place the Lightning Rod smart. Put it near your factories. When lightning strikes during a storm, nearby production runs faster for a while.
Metal is the real bottleneck. Keep it simple and consistent.
- Magnets first, always. Free metal every return, so never leave them sitting.
- Scrap Junk Engines. Islands and the cargo ship drop them. When your sack is almost full, prioritize Junk Engines over random loot.
- Skip the Jet Ski. It only carries one player, so co-op partners get left behind. The Dinghy carries two, costs less metal, and keeps everyone moving together. Save the metal for magnets and ammo instead.
Radar towers are quiet progression. Each one unlocks map locations including the oil rig, the castle, and the outpost. Hit them whenever you see one.
Night raids get meaner the longer you survive. Late raiders bring Grenade Launchers, so do not wing it.
- Auto Turret helps a lot. You unlock it after reaching a certain level and buy it from the Traveling Merchant. It shoots automatically with no ammo and even knocks seagulls out of the sky for extra food.
- Kraken is manual. The turret does not target Kraken arms, so stock ammo and use your own guns for that fight.
Around day 90, stop chasing far islands. Keep food and ammo topped, stay healthy, and play near your rig. Day 99 throws a massive boss fight, so arrive ready. Survive to day 100 and the helicopter picks you up for the finish. After that the game flips to infinite mode, so you can keep building and exploring as long as you want.
