DIVE or DIE: Children of Rain Beginner’s Guide#

Beginner’s Guide#

Welcome to the abyss of DIVE or DIE: Children of Rain. This is a demanding horror survival game, and first-time divers will likely find it stressful.

Game Objectives#

The core goal is to survive in a cursed underwater world and uncover the truth behind why it was drowned by endless rain. You will explore underwater caves at different depths, gather resources, solve puzzles, fight ancient creatures of the deep, and search for a route back to the surface.

Basic Controls#

Movement Controls#

Movement: Before you start playing, get familiar with the basic ways of moving first. Underwater movement differs from land movement — water drag slows every action down.

• Forward/back/turning — Use WASD or the arrow keys to steer. Turning underwater carries inertia, so plan your turns ahead
• Swimming and sprinting — Hold Shift to swim fast, but it burns more oxygen. Cruise at base speed whenever possible
• Hover control — Hold position in the water with small directional adjustments. Extremely useful for seabed exploration

Interaction Controls#

Interaction:

• Pick up items — Press F near an object to grab it
• Use item — Press U to use your currently equipped item
• Open menu — Press ESC to open the pause menu
• Open inventory — Press B to manage your items
• View notes — Press N to open your exploration notes
• Use flashlight — Press T to toggle your light. It works far worse underwater than on land, but it is still a necessity

The Oxygen System#

Oxygen: Your First Survival Priority#

Oxygen is the most critical survival resource. When your oxygen runs out, you face death by suffocation.

Reading the oxygen bar: The blue bubble icon in the top-left corner of the screen is your oxygen bar. It has three stages:

1. Green stage — Normal state, steady breathing. Vision is clear and sounds are normal
2. Yellow stage — Entered when oxygen falls below 50%. A pale yellow warning appears at the screen edges, reminding you to watch your remaining air
3. Red stage — Critical oxygen, your character starts to panic. Red pulses appear at the screen edges, vision narrows, and your heartbeat grows loud. This is your signal to head back immediately

What drains oxygen:

• Base drain — Roughly 3-5 units per minute naturally
• Swimming — Fast swimming doubles the drain rate
• Panic — Terrifying scenes or attacks sharply increase oxygen consumption
• Depth — Deeper water drains oxygen faster: about 15% more for every 10 m of added depth
• Carry weight — Hauling too much items strains your stamina and speeds up oxygen drain

Oxygen-saving tips:

• Stay calm and quiet in the water; don’t thrash around
• Cut unnecessary swimming and walk along the seabed where you can
• Try deep breathing when something terrifying appears
• Upgrade your oxygen tank capacity regularly

The Fear System#

Fear is the core mechanic that sets DIVE or DIE apart from other survival games. In the deep sea, the fear of the unknown never leaves your side.

Fear levels:

1. Calm (0-25%) — Best vision, clear sound, normal oxygen consumption
2. Unease (25-50%) — Subtle environmental changes begin to appear, like shadows writhing
3. Tension (50-75%) — Vision starts to narrow and surrounding sounds turn muddy and distorted
4. Panic (75-100%) — Severely restricted vision, possible hallucinations, oxygen consumption doubled

Ways to lower fear:

• Find and enter a shelter (safe zone); fear gradually falls while inside a shelter
• Use sedative items (crafted or obtained at specific locations)
• Deep breathing lowers a small amount of fear in an emergency
• Stay grounded while exploring and record the truths you discover to shrink the unknown

The positive side of fear:

Note that a certain amount of fear actually helps — it keeps you more alert to your surroundings and makes danger easier to spot. So completely eliminating fear is unnecessary; the point is to keep it from crossing the threshold.

Preparing for Your First Deep Dive#

Before starting your first proper deep dive, make sure you complete these preparations:

1. Basic gear — At least equip the most basic flashlight and compressed oxygen tank (granted automatically at game start)
2. Check oxygen — Make sure the tank is full; starting capacity is about 100 units
3. Travel light — Don’t carry too much on your first dive; weight affects swim speed
4. Set a depth target — For the first dive, don’t explore deeper than 30 m or stay longer than 10 minutes
5. Mark your return route — Leave markers as you walk the seabed (press M to place a marker), so you can find the way back even in a panic
6. Carry emergency items — At least one emergency buoy and one small first-aid kit

Basic Exploration Principles#

The three “don’ts”: In the early stages, keeping the “three don’ts” in mind helps you avoid most dangers.

1. Don’t be greedy — When you see a valuable item, assess whether you can carry it out safely. If you’ve already burned a lot of oxygen, letting some items go is the wise choice
2. Don’t provoke — When you encounter deep-water creatures, don’t attack or approach rashly. Observe their behavior patterns first; in most cases staying perfectly still is the best strategy
3. Don’t take risks — When you’re unsure whether a path is safe, don’t push ahead. Remember, retreating and preparing is always safer than barging in

Planning your exploration route:

• Hug the walls as you explore, so you have a reference point whichever way you go
• Find the main artery first, then branch off into side passages
• Mark every junction to avoid getting lost
• When back in a safe zone, log the areas you’ve explored on the map

Resource Collection Basics#

In the early exploration phase you will find all kinds of resources. Knowing their basics is crucial for everything that follows.

Basic resource types:

• Glow Algae — The most common resource, used to craft lighting equipment and flares. Found all over the seabed
• Shell Fragments — Used to craft simple tools; common on the rock surfaces of caves
• Old Metal — Rarely found in caves, used for crafting and gear upgrades, usually hidden in locked containers
• Water Essence — A rare resource that only spawns under specific conditions, used for advanced crafting

Resource usage priorities:

1. Glow Algae — burn it first to keep your lighting up; light is the key to surviving the dark
2. Shell Fragments — craft tools and repair gear
3. Old Metal — save it for late-game upgrades
4. Water Essence — extremely precious, use it only for the most critical crafts

Safe Zones: Shelters#

Over the course of your journey you will encounter several kinds of safe zones:

Shallows Camp: The most basic shelter in the early game, offering oxygen refills and fear recovery. Every camp has an oxygen pump that automatically refills your tank.

Cave Shelter: Secret shelters found in deeper water layers. Larger than ordinary camps, with a workbench for crafting items and notes you can read for background lore.

Ancient Outpost: The highest tier of safe zone, with complete facilities and well-preserved equipment. These are bases left behind by ancient explorers and usually contain important story clues.

Inside a shelter, your oxygen slowly recovers and fear gradually falls. This is your safest time to rest and prepare.

FAQ#

Q: What should I bring on my first deep dive? A: The simplest checklist: flashlight, a full oxygen tank, one emergency buoy and two glow sticks. That’s enough to carry you through a successful first outing.

Q: What happens when oxygen runs out? A: The moment oxygen hits zero, your character loses consciousness and sinks to the seabed. The system automatically restores you to the nearest shelter, but you lose some experience points and items.

Q: Does death affect my progress? A: Death never takes your exploration notes or discovered map markers. You only lose carried items that weren’t stored, which is why regularly depositing items at shelters matters.

Q: How do I judge when to retreat? A: When the oxygen bar enters the yellow zone (roughly below 30%), or fear reaches 50%, you should consider retreating. Never wait for the red zone to run.

Q: How far can I see underwater? A: Visibility is about 15-20 m in the shallow seas, 10-15 m in mid waters, 5-10 m in the deep zone, and under 5 m in the deepest layer. Lighting gear extends your view but only to a limited degree.

Q: Does the game support saving? A: The game supports both autosave and manual saves. Autosaves trigger after reaching a new area or using a shelter. Manual saves can only be made at a shelter workbench.

Resource Comparison Table#

Opening Strategy Table#

Newbie Resource Priorities#

In the early game, how you manage resources determines how long you survive. Here are the resource priorities by phase:

Advanced Beginner Techniques#

Once you have the fundamentals down, try these advanced techniques:

Deep breathing — Start deep breathing before fear begins to rise, not once panic has set in. Preventive deep breathing is three times as effective as patching things up afterwards.

Rhythm swimming — Keep a rhythm of 6 strokes then 2 pauses to maximize oxygen efficiency. Fast swimming may look flashy but is extremely inefficient.

Marker strategy — Place a marker at every major junction. It not only helps you find the way back, it also provides navigation for teammates in multiplayer.

Item management — Learn to switch items quickly in your inventory. Veteran players swap to the right consumable mid-fight in an instant, and it takes a lot of practice.

Environmental observation — Pay attention to small changes in the current. A sudden shift in current direction may mean a hidden room or passage is nearby.

Sound recognition — Learn to tell different sounds apart. A low rumble usually means safety, while a high-frequency hiss may spell danger.

Managing Your Nerves#

Facing the dread of the deep sea, mental adjustment matters just as much. Here are some practical mental techniques:

Set small goals — Don’t think about exploring everything in one go. Break each deep dive into several small goals and give yourself positive feedback for each one completed.

Accept fear — Fear is a normal reaction; don’t try to eliminate it completely. Learn to coexist with fear and still make the right calls while afraid.

Keep hope — Remember why you are exploring. Behind every drop of rain lies a truth worth discovering, and your courage may change the entire world.

Share experiences — Share your exploration stories with other players. In multiplayer, team success is far more rewarding than solo adventures.

Common Beginner Mistakes#

Here are the mistakes new players make most often — knowing them helps you avoid unnecessary frustration:

Over-exploring — The most common rookie error is pushing deeper regardless of remaining oxygen. Remember, the point of exploring is to bring results home, not to see it all. You should turn back immediately below 30% oxygen.

Ignoring gear maintenance — Once gear durability drops below 50%, performance and protection fall off sharply. Make sure your equipment is in top shape before every dive; don’t wait until it’s badly damaged to think about repairs.

Poor fear management — Don’t panic when fear climbs; learn the deep-breathing technique. Losing control of fear ends the game — not because the enemy is strong, but because you lost control of your equipment.

Wasting resources — Spending rare resources on low-tier crafts in the early game is a huge waste. Learn to stockpile resources and use high-tier crafting at the critical moment.

Skipping shortcuts — Beginners tend to obsess over checking every corner and miss the shortcuts. Prioritize unlocking the shortcut network; it drastically cuts travel time and resource costs.

The Beginner Growth Curve#

Understanding the growth curve helps you set reasonable expectations:

Week one (onboarding): Get familiar with the basic controls, learn to explore the shallow seas safely, and manage oxygen and fear. Dying in this phase is normal.

Week two (progression): You can enter the mid waters, start learning the shortcut network, and pick up basic resource management. The death rate drops noticeably.

First month (competence): You can reach the deep zone, master skill point allocation, and use most crafted items. You start challenging bosses.

Third month (mastery): You master exploration of the deepest layers, know every shortcut and secret, and can clear high-difficulty challenges. You start chasing the perfect ending.

Summary#

DIVE or DIE is at its core about balancing the urge to explore against the instinct to survive. You will die frequently at the start, and that’s perfectly normal. Every death is a chance to learn — remember where you ran into danger last time and whether your decisions were right. As experience accumulates, you will gradually become a better diving explorer.

Remember, real courage is not the absence of fear, but pressing on while afraid. May you find your own answer in this abyss.

Squad Composition Recommendations#

In co-op play, sensible role pairings can greatly improve survival odds. Here are the recommended role combinations:

In the next chapter, we dig into boss strategies and learn how to fight the most terrifying creatures of the abyss.

Appendix: Bonus Content#

Beginner’s Guide#

Game Background#

The world has been drowned by endless rain, and humanity’s last hope hides in ancient underwater caves. You play Jack, an experienced diver leading a group of survivors to find a way to save humanity within 40 days. Deep in the Abyssal Pool sleeps the Mother of Rain — an ancient entity that is both the source of the disaster and possibly the cure.

Core Mechanics at a Glance#

DIVE or DIE’s core gameplay revolves around four interlocking systems. Understanding how they relate is the key to survival.

The Four Core Systems#

The Resource Loop Diagram#

Low oxygen → Fear rises → Oxygen drains faster → Mistakes → Injury/death
         ↑                                    ↓
          ← ← ← ← ← Use a sedative ← ← ← ← ← ←

The key to breaking this vicious cycle: never let oxygen drop below 30%, and use a sedative immediately when fear exceeds 50%.

What to Do on Day One#

The first day of the game is the tutorial phase; your core goal is to learn the basic controls and secure your starting equipment.

Day One Task List#

What NOT to Do on Day One#

• ❌ Don’t try to explore deeper than 15 m
• ❌ Don’t waste materials crafting weapons
• ❌ Don’t ignore fear management
• ❌ Don’t try to fight every monster
• ❌ Don’t keep pushing deeper when oxygen is below 40%

Survival Strategy for the First 10 Days#

Day-by-Day Plan#

Days 1-2: Foundation Building#

Days 3-5: Shallow Exploration#

Days 6-7: Gear Improvements#

Days 8-10: Pushing Toward the Deep#

Oxygen Management Techniques#

Advanced Oxygen Consumption Math#

Depth Oxygen Budget Table#

Three-Tier Oxygen Emergency Plan#

Best Times to Use Oxygen Potions#

• Don’t wait for the red alert to use one — Oxygen Potions take 3 seconds to take effect; at death’s door it may be too late
• Drink one before a fight — Combat consumes a lot of oxygen, so top up in advance
• Stage one before entering new areas — Keep oxygen above 60% before entering unknown territory

Fear Control Methods#

Exact Fear Trigger Data#

Fear Control Strategies#

Gear Level#

Skill Level#

In-Practice Tips#

1. Use a sedative before fear reaches 50% — Past 50% your controls start to degrade noticeably, so the earlier the better
2. Return to shallow water or camp to drop fear fast — Near the surface, fear naturally falls 3 times faster than in deep water
3. Flares are fear-management tools — Not just for light; using flares in dark zones reduces fear accumulation
4. Talk to survivors to lower fear — Each interaction with survivors back at camp lowers fear by 10-15%
5. Don’t do high-depth dives back to back — Rest at least one day after each deep dive to let fear fully recover

Resource Collection Priorities#

Resource Tier Guide#

Early Collection Route#

Leave camp → Shallow seaweed patch (Seaweed×10) → Coral Maze entrance (Shells×8)
→ Wreck debris (Scrap×5, Rubber×2) → Dark Cave (Glowing Seaweed×3)
→ Return to camp

The full loop takes about 12-15 minutes (including gathering) and burns roughly 80-100 oxygen — ideal for early exploration.

Camp Building Basics#

Facility Unlock Order#

Survivor Management#

Survivor Recruitment Basics#

Recruitment Triggers#

Recruitment Tips#

• Recruit the Engineer first — Cuts crafting material costs by 15%, huge long-term value
• The first survivor is easiest to obtain in the Coral Maze
• Every survivor grants a unique camp bonus — don’t ignore them because they repeat
• Rescued survivors need time to recover (about 1-2 days) before they start working

Common Newbie Mistakes#

Top 10 Newbie Mistakes#

First Dive Checklist#

Pre-Dive Checklist#

Post-Dive Checklist#

Recommended Gear Upgrade Order#

Recommended Upgrade Path#

Stage one:
  [Oxygen tank 100→150] → [Craft Night Vision Dive Mask] → [Dive suit basic upgrade]

Stage two:
  [Oxygen tank 150→250] → [Dive suit mid upgrade] → [Weapon upgrade to Impulse Gun]

Stage three:
  [Oxygen tank 250→350] → [Dive suit advanced upgrade] → [Weapon upgrade to Tentacle Blade]

Stage four:
  [Ultimate dive system] → [Abyss Stalker set] → [Legendary weapon]

Materials Needed per Upgrade Stage#

Mental Preparation for Deep Dives#

Mental State at Different Depths#

Summary#

The key to the beginner game comes down to one thing: oxygen management is the heart of everything. Prioritize tank upgrades, don’t get greedy while exploring, use a sedative once fear passes 50%, and build up camp every time you return. Remember these five points and you will get through the hardest first 10 days and steadily advance toward the deeper stages of abyss exploration.

Related Guides#

• Combat System
• Item System
• Skill System
• All Boss Guides