Shelter 2- Becoming the #1 Mom

Having trouble hunting those deer? Not quite sure how to deal with those bears? Well then you've come to the right guide! Hopefully, after reading this, you'll deal with those problems in seconds! **Disclaimer: I do not have Shelter 2 Mountains DLC, so I'll just be trying my best on info about it**

Tips + The Basics

Hunting Tips
Well, if you're going to be a momma lynx, you'll have to know how to feed your babies, am I right? First off, there is no crouch button. However, if you get close enough to prey WHILE WALKING, you will automatically drop into a crouch. Secondly, there is a game feature that I like to call 'Lynx scent'. You can use your scenting ability by right-clicking. Then, everything will turn dark grey except for prey, which will be a bright and obvious red.

Cub Survival Tips
Speaking of being a momma lynx, how will you be a successful mother if you don't know some shortcuts to take care of your cubs? Here's the first tip- Even though it gives you a prompt to eat instead of your cubs in the beginning of the game, you could actually eat nothing the entire game and be completely fine. Your cubs need food, not you. So, the first tip is to not eat for yourself. Secondly, collecting is NOT a good idea. Picking things up on the way to places is fine, but I personally think it's a terrible idea to purposefully go searching for collectibles. The only thing collectibles can give you is an achievement. Surviving with all of your cubs means you win the game.

Prey

Here's a list of some prey items that are on the menu for your mother lynx, and which 'restaurants' (areas) to find them in.
Voles
Where to find: Every area.
How to catch: Either run into them directly or one might just run into your mouth.
Feeds: 1 cub

Frogs
Where to find: In marshes and by water
How to catch: Same as voles (Above)
Feeds: 1 cub

Rabbits
Where to find: Every area
How to catch: Stalk them, then charge when you get close. Catch as many as possible!
Feeds: 2 cubs

Grouse (Mountains DLC only)
Where to find: In the Mountains and Three Trees, I think
How to catch: Stalk them like rabbits, then charge. If they start flying, jump up and snatch them out of the sky
Feeds: 3 cubs

Eggs
Where to find: In trees, rarely on the ground
How to catch: If they are in trees, left click near the tree they're in to knock them out of it
Feeds: All cubs, including yourself

Deer
Where to find: Tundra and Three Trees (maybe mountains)
How to catch: Make sure you have at least half stamina, then stalk a herd. At the last second, charge, and jump once you're about 2 lynxes away from one or closer
Feeds: All cubs, including yourself

Predators

Shelter 2 wouldn't be a Shelter game without predators, right? Right.

Wolves
After escaping the wolves in the tutorial, you may think that's the last you'll see of them. But boy are you wrong. If you enter the tundra, there is a chance that the sky will turn black and all of the prey will disappear. If you didn't get the hint by now, the darkening sky will be followed by a 6-second-long howl. Run. Run for a plateau that is scattered around the tundra, and press space to jump onto it when you see a jumping icon in the corner of your screen. If you're not on hard mode, your cubs should teleport up to you. Soon you'll watch the plateau be surrounded by wolves, but don't worry. They can't get you and will eventually go away. Wolves only attack once during each visit to the tundra.

Bears
Well, Mountains DLC introduces new predators, too. Introducing the one-of-a-kind bears. Unlike all other predators, bears don't want your cubs. They want you. And, surprisingly, they do not attack you upon sight. But they will attack if you get too close. If a bear rears onto its hind legs and roars, run. Jump up onto plateau and wait for the bear to roar again and go away. If you do get caught, you'll wake up with one of your cubs collapsed and starving to death. It is impossible to kill both bears and wolves.

Foxes
Guess who's back from Shelter 1? Foxes. Except this time, they are both prey and predator. So, if you're just walking along and you suddenly hear snapping twigs, turn around immediately and keep your eyes on your cubs. Soon, a fox should run up and snatch one of your cubs. However, the fox will be slowed down by your cubs sudden weight, giving you a chance to run up, kill it, and feed your entire family. Foxes feed your entire family.

Eagles
Foxes aren't the only creatures back for more- eagles are too. And once again, they are both predator and prey. If you hear a screech while walking along with your cubs, do the same thing as with the fox, except this time, once the eagle swoops down and pauses from the weight of your cub, jump into the air and kill it. Eagles also feed all of your cubs.

Natural Disasters

Forest fires
If you're walking innocently through the forest on a stormy night with your cubs when all of a sudden you see lightning strike beside you, RUN. The lightning will quickly cause a forest fire. To escape, either run away as fast as you can heading nowhere specific but away from the fire, or you could jump onto a plateau. If you have low stamina, jumping onto a plateau is probably quite ideal for you. The fire cannot reach you up there and eventually the rain will put it out. However, if you're not careful, you might hear a sudden shriek and then the rain will instantly start downpouring. When you turn around, you'll be missing a cub. One of your cubs was burned to death.

The Lonesome Fog (AKA The Blob)
Sometime between late summer to early autumn of the first year with the cubs, the sky will suddenly become black. When this happens, one of your cubs will be paralyzed in fear. Pick that cub up and run to your den with the other cubs following. Once you're in the den, drop the cub and if you look, you'll see a brown 'blob' slowly closing in on the area around your den. Don't worry, though; you're safe in your den. However, if you can't escape and get trapped in it, most likely one of your cubs will die. But there have been times when all of the cubs have survived when they're inside of the Lonesome Fog.

Deep water
Now, I'm sure that water doesn't sound scary at all, and it isn't really. But, if you walk into a river or another large water source (Marsh puddles do not count) your screen will turn black and you'll reappear with your cubs on the bank feeling perfectly fine. However, if you repeatedly walk into the water, one time you'll reappear on the bank and one cub will be collapsed from hunger. Yeah, don't drown yourself or else your cubs will pay the price lol.

Cub Stages

Stage 1- Newborns in the den
Right after you finish naming the cubs, you'll appear outside of your den and will be able to see your four tiny cubs inside of it. Then, you'll have to leave the tree and hunt rabbits and such for your babies. A quick note- it is not a good idea to leave the main area while your cubs are still newborns inside of the den that you must feed. I haven't tried it yet, but that sounds like a recipe for dying babies. Anyway, just keep feeding your cubs. After you feed them three times by dropping your prey inside the den with them, they'll all walk out of the den and stand next to you.

Stage 2- Cubs following you
After you get past the newborn stage, you'll have to take care of the cubs with them following you. Now the choices of where to go and what to do are 100% yours. So yay, I hope you know how to keep walking balls of fluff and meat from being eaten! Really the main point of the game by now is to keep predators away from your babies and to feed them as much as possible.

Stage 3- Young Adults
After you get through the seasons from late spring to early spring the next year, you'll get a cutscene saying: 'Nature changes, time passes. Strength grows and bone stretches. Living is hard'. When you reappear with your cubs after this cutscene, your cubs will all be almost the same size as you. Now they can hunt small prey, such as voles, frogs, and rabbits, but that's about it.

Stage 4- Adult Lynxes
After having fun with your almost fully-grown cubs for about two seasons, you'll get a cutscene saying: 'In autumn, when the hills are yellow and red, the cubs are called to follow the path of solitude'. You'll have about 5-10 minutes to have fun with your cubs after this cutscene until your cubs stop following you and get poised to walk off in different directions while looking back at you. For about a minute or two your cubs meow gently at you, as if to say 'Goodbye', and then they start walking away. At this point, the game won't let you sprint, so when the cubs run away, you can't follow them. And when it lets you sprint again, your cubs are gone from the map.

Epilogue

I hope you enjoyed this guide and that it was helpful to you! In the comments please leave feedback and tell me what your funniest glitch in all the shelter games was! Mine was in Shelter 2: Paws, when mom was about to take Inna into the river, I had Inna go into the river before her mom could pick her up and she ended up going off the route and nearly getting stuck on a rock. I legitimately thought that I'd broken the game, but it went back to normal in a few seconds xD.

[Triplepi]

best guide

[averettsc]

voles dont spawn in the tundra and goats (extley like deer just look diffrent) spawn in the forest aka also none as the lake or three trees

[OceanNovember]

I had no idea the fog was a disaster! O.O

[Purplepaw]

Np! Ty too!

[Zvyvi]

This is really nice! Good job! Also, thank you! :))