Bears are the Black Forest‘s biggest early-game roadblock. They hit hard, they carry roughly 800 health, and they shrug off the piercing damage from the flint spear and crude bow most players are still holding when they first meet one. If you would rather not spend ten minutes parrying with leather armor, there is a building trick that kills a bear with almost no risk and only wood as the cost.
Quick answer: Aggro the bear onto flat ground, drop a Workbench nearby, box the bear in with Wood Walls, then place a Campfire underneath it and keep repairing the fire and walls with your hammer until the bear burns to death.
What you need before you start
Everything here is meadows-tier. You do not need bronze, and you do not need a bow.
| Item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Hammer | Builds and repairs every piece of the trap |
| Workbench | Required to place walls and floors in the area |
| Wood (a large stack) | Walls, floor tiles, campfires, and constant repairs |
| Stone | Campfires, the actual damage source |
| Food and a rested buff | Stamina for running and repeated hammer swings |
Bring more wood than you think you need. Repairing is free in materials, but replacing a burnt-out or smashed campfire is not, and a bear will chew through several walls before it dies.
How to build the campfire trap
Keeping the trap alive with hammer repairs
The trap only holds if you babysit it. Keep the hammer out, switch to the repair function, and cycle between the campfire and the walls the bear is attacking. Repairs cost nothing as long as you have the hammer equipped, so there is no reason to be stingy about it.
You will see “Repaired Campfire” when a swing lands on a damaged piece and “Campfire does not need repairs” when it is already at full health. Use that second message as your cue to move on to the walls instead of spamming the fire. If a campfire is destroyed outright, place a new one immediately rather than trying to salvage the old spot.
Note: Wood Stack piles nearby make this much smoother, since you can top up your inventory without leaving the trap unattended.
Why the trap fails and how to fix it
There are only a handful of ways this goes wrong, and all of them are avoidable.
- “Invalid placement” on the walls or fire. The ground is too steep or the Workbench is out of range. Move the bench closer or lay a floor tile first.
- The bear breaks out. A wall dropped while you were repairing something else. Prioritize whichever piece the bear is actively hitting.
- The bear stops burning. The campfire was destroyed. Rebuild it in the same spot, since burn damage stops the moment the fire is gone.
- Greydwarves join in. They will attack your build pieces too. Pick a spot away from spawners before starting.
You know it worked when the bear collapses and the loot drops on the ground, with a “NEW MATERIAL” notification for Bear Hide the first time. Bear Hide also unlocks a new crafting recipe, the Loincloth of the Bear.
Bear drops and star levels
Drop counts double with each star, so a 2-star bear is worth the extra wood spent on repairs.
| Drop | 0★ | 1★ | 2★ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Hide | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Bear Meat | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Bear Paw | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Bear Trophy | 10% | 10% | 10% |
Bear Meat needs a Cooking Station or an Iron Cooking Station, and it restores a large amount of health once cooked. Pull it off the rack on time, because leaving it too long turns it into Coal.
If you would rather fight the bear straight
The trap exists because bears are tanky, not because they are unbeatable in a fair fight. The single biggest mistake early players make is bringing a spear or a bow, since bears resist both piercing and blunt damage. Slash is the damage type they do not resist, which makes an axe or a sword the right tool.
| Attack | Damage |
|---|---|
| Bite | 55 Pierce |
| Claw swipe | 50 Slash, 40 Chop |
| Slam | 50 Blunt, 40 Chop, 40 Pickaxe |
Their swings are heavily telegraphed. A parry with even a level 3 wooden shield staggers a bear long enough to land a full three-hit axe combo, and parrying does not cost stamina. If you prefer to dodge, hold block and press jump to roll clear of the lunge, then punish the recovery window with one or two hits before backing off.
Tip: Bears are afraid of fire. Holding a torch in your off-hand makes them hesitate and swing wide, and a campfire dropped on the ground will keep one away from your copper mining site entirely.
Unlike trolls, bears cannot damage trees or boulders, so a floor tile and a couple of ladders built against a tree gives you a platform they simply cannot reach. That said, the campfire box is faster and does not burn through a stack of arrows, and once you have a few bear paws and hides, the direct fight gets considerably easier anyway.
