The Coastal Jungle is the first biome you set foot in when you wash ashore in Windrose, and its Discovery tab is the gate to almost every early crafting recipe in the game. Filling it out unlocks copper tools, your first lamp, survivor armor, alchemy, cooking, and the ability to sail into the Foothills once you put down the region's local threat.
Local threat: Thomas Richards
The Coastal Jungle's local threat is Thomas Richards, a named pirate boss tied to the Revenge Is Best Served Cold main quest line. His defeat is what flips the biome's Discovery entry to "Thomas Richards has fallen" and gates progression into the Foothills through the Needle in a Haystack quest.
Until he is down, you cannot craft Level 6+ items, and several buried treasure maps (including Blackbeard Crew's Fourth Map) remain locked behind his camp. Recommended level range for the Coastal Jungle is roughly 1 to 7, so it is fine to clear side content and fill out the rest of the Discovery tab before taking him on.
Key Discoveries (5)
Key Discoveries are the backbone of the starter biome. Each one unlocks an entire branch of crafting stations or gear. Missing any of these will stall your progression hard.
| Discovery | Where to get it | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Travel Bell | Supply Cache at the Pirate Remains POI on the starter island, or crafted at a workbench once you have Copper Ingot | Fast Travel Bell building element |
| Copper Ore | Mined with a pickaxe from Copper Deposits in Coastal Jungle caves | Smelting Furnace, Charcoal Kiln, Charcoal (Wood), Copper Ingot |
| Copper Ingot | Smelted in a Smelting Furnace from 4x Copper Ore and 1x Charcoal | Weaponsmith Workshop, Cutting Table, Sawing Rack, Saber, Copper Axe, Copper Pickaxe, Shovel, Wooden Plank, Lamp, Fast Travel Bell, Copper Pot, Copper Bullets |
| Rough Hide | Looted from furry animals such as Boars and Sows | Sailor Backpack, Survivor armor set, Armor and Clothing Workshop |
| Misty Orchid | Glowing blue plants found near ruins, usually at night; they hum when you are close | Alchemy Table, Stove and Pot, Clay Pot, Alchemical Base, Homeward Journey, Minor Healing Potion, Elixir of Cruelty |
Misty Orchid is the one players most often miss, because it only stands out clearly in low light near ruin walls. If your Key Discoveries count sits at 4/5, that is almost always the gap.
Major Discoveries (15)
Major Discoveries are the cooking, alchemy, farming, and utility materials that round out your early base. Most are foraged or looted in the open world, but a few are random drops that can take longer to trigger than new players expect.
| Discovery | Where to get it |
|---|---|
| Lamp | Crafted at a workbench, or found in chests at points of interest (there is one at the Pirate Remains on the first island) |
| Clay | Mined with a pickaxe from small deposits along the edges between sand and grass |
| Banana | Harvested from banana trees; common on later Coastal Jungle islands rather than the starter one |
| Dodo Egg | Dropped by Dodos, found in Dodo Nests, and in some Ancient Ruins |
| Cayenne Pepper | Foraged from pepper plants across the islands |
| Sweet Potato | Foraged from plants with small white and blue flowers |
| Undead Essence | Dropped by Drowned and Thorn Fiddlers |
| Healing Herbs | Found in Ancient Ruins and similar points of interest |
| Rum Bottle | Dropped by pirates and found in chests |
| Steel Nails | Looted from Lost Barrels drifting in the sea and from sunk ships |
| Crab Shell | Rare drop when picking up crabs on the beach |
| Banana Seeds | Random drop when harvesting Bananas |
| Palm Seeds | Random drop when cutting palm trees |
| Ficus Seeds | Random drop when cutting ficus trees |
| Shrub Seeds | Random drop when cutting shrubs |
Bananas specifically do not tend to spawn on the very first island. If your Major Discoveries count is stuck at 14/15 after clearing your starter island, sail to a neighboring Coastal Jungle island and look for banana trees there.
Other Resources (15)
Other Resources are the everyday materials you will stack by the hundred: building mats, cooking ingredients, and trophy drops. Two entries often lag behind the rest because they are rare random drops from the region's animals.
| Resource | Where to get it |
|---|---|
| Plant Fiber | Cutting bushes, seaweed, and other plants |
| Wood | Chopping trees or looting scattered logs and Lost Barrels |
| Stone | Ground stones and poor ore veins mined with a pickaxe |
| Coconut | Foraged from coconut trees |
| Triton's Horn | Foraged on beaches |
| Closed Scallop Shell | Foraged on beaches; can be opened for a chance at Pearls |
| Pearl | Dropped by Thorn Fiddlers and found inside Closed Scallop Shells |
| Crab Meat | Picked up from crabs on beaches |
| Bird Meat | Dropped by Dodos |
| Meat | Dropped by Boars, Sows, Wolves, and Goats |
| Animal Fat | Dropped by Boars, Sows, Wolves, and Goats |
| Feather | Dropped by Dodos |
| Boar Tusk | Dropped by Boars |
| Boar Head | Rare drop from Boars |
| Dodo Head | Rare drop from Dodos (including Azure Dodos) |
Boar Head and Dodo Head are the two entries that most often leave a Coastal Jungle Discovery tab sitting at 13/15. They are not tied to a boss or a specific location, they simply drop at a low rate from ordinary Boars and Dodos. Hunt them along ruins and Dodo nesting areas while you farm Rough Hide and Meat.
How to verify completion
Open the Discovery tab and look at the Coastal Jungle panel. Every icon should be filled in, with no "?" placeholders, across the Local threat, Key Discoveries, Major discoveries, and Other resources rows. The local threat slot will explicitly read "Thomas Richards has fallen" once the boss is defeated.
Totals you should be seeing:
- Local threat: 1/1 (Thomas Richards)
- Key Discoveries: 5/5
- Major Discoveries: 15/15
- Other Resources: 15/15
That lines up with the 35 discoveries the game tracks for this biome alongside its single local threat. If the numbers match but Foothills content still feels locked, it is because the gate is specifically the Thomas Richards kill, not raw discovery count, so make sure the local threat line has flipped.
Common reasons a discovery will not trigger
A few predictable things cause Coastal Jungle entries to stay stuck even when you think you have found the item.
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| Chest loot did not register | Inventory was full when you opened it; unclaimed items do not count toward discovery or area completion |
| Misty Orchid missing | Only spotted it in daylight; try again at night near ruin walls where the blue glow is visible |
| Banana missing | Starter island often has none; required a trip to another Coastal Jungle island with banana trees |
| Crab Shell, Boar Head, or Dodo Head missing | All three are rare random drops; keep farming the respective creatures |
| Steel Nails missing | Not in ruin chests; comes from Lost Barrels drifting at sea and sunken ship wreckage |
| Local threat incomplete | Thomas Richards has not been killed yet, regardless of how many POIs are cleared |
In multiplayer, any of these items can also be unlocked by having a crewmate drop them for you or leaving them in shared storage for you to pick up. Only inventory pickup counts, so transferring items directly through a chest works fine.
What finishing the biome unlocks
Once Thomas Richards is down and the Discovery tab is complete, two things open up. First, the Foothills biome becomes accessible through the Needle in a Haystack main quest, which introduces Foothills Iron Ore, Hardwood, Tree Bark, Flax Fiber, and the rest of the mid-tier tech. Second, your crafting ceiling lifts to Level 6+ items, letting you build iron tools, the Anvil, 24-Pounders, and the upgraded workstations that rely on them.
Clearing every Coastal Jungle discovery before sailing out is not mandatory, but it is the cleanest way to enter the Foothills with copper gear, the Survivor armor set, healing potions, and a functioning farming loop already in place.