The cave update in 99 Nights in the Forest adds more than a new monster. Buried inside its tunnels are statue rooms tied to the game’s four entities — Deer, Owl, Ram, and Bat — and each of them can permanently tilt the odds in your favor.
How cave statues and blessings work
Blessings are passive bonuses you get by interacting with specific statues hidden in the caves. Each cave contains a statue area, and each area holds two statues you can choose between. Statues are themed on the four main entities:
- Deer
- Owl
- Ram
- Bat
There are four caves in total. You start with one main cave entrance visible on Day 1 and unlock three additional, smaller caves as you progress. Every statue interaction grants one blessing, and you can obtain up to four blessings across a run.
Inside a given statue room, you only get one pick: approach a statue, interact, and lock in its effect. That choice is permanent for that blessing slot, but later caves let you add more.
All statue blessings and their effects
Each entity offers two tiers of the same basic perk. The second tier is described as strictly stronger than the first, so think of them as “I” and “II” versions of the same effect.
| Blessing name | Entity | Tier | Effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blessing of the Ram I | Ram | I | Reduces how often lightning strikes occur. | Helps smooth out storm-heavy nights. |
| Blessing of the Ram II | Ram | II | Further reduces lightning occurrence compared to Ram I. | Stronger version of the same weather control. |
| Blessing of the Owl I | Owl | I | Lowers the chance of rain. | Makes wet weather less frequent overall. |
| Blessing of the Owl II | Owl | II | Further lowers rain frequency compared to Owl I. | Better choice if you want drier runs. |
| Blessing of the Deer I | Deer | I | Extends daytime and shortens nighttime. | Gives more safe time to gather and move. |
| Blessing of the Deer II | Deer | II | Further extends day and shortens night compared to Deer I. | Maximizes daylight-focused strategies. |
| Blessing of the Bat I | Bat | I | Slows your hunger rate. | Reduces how often you need to eat. |
| Blessing of the Bat II | Bat | II | Further slows hunger compared to Bat I. | Best pick if food management is your main problem. |
Every blessing focuses on one of three survival axes:
- Weather control (Ram and Owl) to reduce storms and rain events.
- Time control (Deer) to stretch the safer part of the cycle.
- Resource drain (Bat) to slow hunger.
How to reach the cave and statue areas
The cave system appears early in a run. On Day 1, a main cave spawns in the forest, not far from the campfire. After crafting a map and upgrading the campfire enough to unlock cave access, you can track the entrance by its cave icon; the main one carries a yellow exclamation mark.
Additionally, smaller cave icons appear as you advance. These side caves are blocked off initially and require TNT from inside the main cave to blast open. Once opened, they act as extra statues and blessing opportunities, and as new exits back to the forest.
Inside the tunnels, statue rooms are gated behind combat and traversal. You have to push through cultist patrols and deal with the Bat before you’re allowed into the shrine-like areas that hold the statues. Many of these rooms sit near cave exits you can later blow open, turning them into handy re-entry points for future nights.
Combat and navigation requirements for statues
Reaching the statues consistently demands a specific loadout. The caves are dark, packed with enemies, and structured as long corridors with side paths.
- Lighting: A Strong Flashlight is effectively mandatory. Crystals embedded in the cave walls can be charged by shining the beam at them until they glow, lighting up a large area. This makes cultists and the Bat easier to track and gives you clearer sightlines near statue rooms.
- Weapons: The new cultist variant — bulkier, caped, and carrying an oversized axe — has a large health pool and serious damage. Ranged options like Crossbow, Laser Sword, Shotguns, or other late-game weapons cut the time and risk dramatically.
- Sustain: Food such as Stew or Cooked Meat, plus Bandages and a Med Kit, is important for staying in the cave long enough to clear it. Enemies respawn, so weak weapons or low healing can stall your progress before you ever see a statue.
The Bat itself is central to the cave’s risk profile. It doesn’t have to be right on top of you to do damage; it uses a scream that travels through open spaces, hitting multiple players. The safest response is to get behind any solid structure as soon as you hear or see a tell. Avoiding unnecessary damage keeps more healing in reserve for the cultists and gives you more attempts at reaching deeper statue rooms.
How many blessings you can carry
Blessings are tracked per player, not per cave. Over the course of a run, a player can hold four blessings total. That number lines up neatly with the four caves, but the actual mix of blessings is entirely up to your choices at each statue set.
Inside a given shrine, you effectively make a trade:
- Pick Ram or Owl if you want to cut down on disruptive weather.
- Pick Deer if the day–night cycle feels too tight.
- Pick Bat if food management is your main bottleneck.
Later-tier versions (II) are simply more powerful forms of the same effect. If you have the option, those are the ones to prioritize for the stats you care about.
Which blessings matter most
Each blessing family targets a specific pain point, so the “best” choice comes down to what usually kills your runs.
- Deer blessings are strong if you constantly feel rushed by nightfall. More daylight means longer windows to loot, reposition, or handle objectives without dealing with the worst threats.
- Bat blessings are ideal when hunger and food scarcity are wearing your team down. Slowing the hunger rate directly lowers how many resources you need to stay alive, freeing inventory slots and time.
- Owl and Ram blessings are quieter but useful. Less rain and fewer lightning events make for fewer visibility issues, less chaos during fights, and fewer environmental surprises while you move between objectives.
Because you can take four blessings, a common pattern is to mix time and hunger control — for example, stacking Deer II and Bat II — and then fill the remaining slots with one or two weather perks, depending on how punishing storms feel in your lobbies.
The cave statues turn what looks like a one-off horror detour into a long-term progression system. Clearing out tunnels, keeping the Bat under control, and committing to a set of entity-aligned perks reshapes how each night plays out. With four blessings active, the forest becomes less about scrambling to survive and more about deciding what kind of run you want to have.
