If you’ve spent any amount of time playing Nightingale, you’ve almost certainly run into a roadblock when you try to craft your first set of soft linen gear, a weatherproof bed, or decorative furnishings for your base. I spent my first 8 hours of play running around killing deer and boar, confused why I wasn’t getting the material I needed, until I finally figured out how to get animal fibre in Nightingale the right way. It’s way simpler than you might think, once you know which tools to use and where to look, and you’ll never run out of this core crafting material again if you follow the steps I’ve tested over dozens of playthroughs.
How to Get Animal Fibre in Nightingale: Core Methods You Can Use Right Away
There are three reliable ways to get animal fibre in the game, and none of them require fighting high-tier monsters or exploring dangerous high-level realms if you don’t want to. I’ve used all three depending on where I am in my playthrough, and each has its own pros and cons for different situations. You can pick the method that fits your current gear level and how much fibre you need at the moment.
- Shearing tamed or docile herbivores: This is the most reliable, renewable method by far, and it doesn’t cost you any hunting supplies or kill the creatures you harvest from. You can shear the same animal multiple times as their fur grows back, so it’s a sustainable source for long-term play.
- Looting abandoned homestead chests and supply crates: You’ll find small stacks of 2-5 animal fibre in most low-level realm chests, especially near ruined farm structures or abandoned camps. This is a great option if you just need a small amount fast to craft one item, and don’t want to make shears yet.
- Trading with wandering Realm merchants: Some friendly vendors that spawn near roadways will exchange 2 animal fibre for 1 piece of raw meat, or 3 fibre for 1 bundle of berries. This is a fair trade if you’re in a pinch and don’t have time to farm, but it’s not cost-effective for large stacks of fibre.
I only use the looting or trading methods when I’m exploring a new realm and run out of fibre mid-craft. For regular use, shearing is always the best choice, since you can get 30+ fibre in a single 10-minute farming run with the right tools. I’ve had runs where I came back with over 100 pieces of fibre in 20 minutes just by shearing groups of Fallowbacks near a river in the starter realm.
Best Tools and Preparations for Efficient Animal Fibre Farming
Before you head out to farm fibre, you’ll need to make a pair of basic shears first, which is a simple craft you can do at a basic workbench as soon as you get your first iron ingot. The recipe calls for 2 wood planks, 1 iron ingot, and 2 pieces of plant fibre rope, which you can make from the wild grass you collect all over the starter realm. You don’t need to unlock any special recipes to make basic shears, they’re available from the very start of the game.
Basic shears work perfectly fine for low-level creatures, but if you plan to farm fibre regularly, it’s worth upgrading to steel shears as soon as you unlock the steel crafting recipe. Upgraded steel shears give you twice as much fibre per shear, so you can fill your inventory in half the time, and they last 3x longer than basic iron shears before they break. That’s enough to craft 10 pieces of linen clothing or 5 beds, so you won’t have to worry about running out of animal fibre for days.
You also don’t need any special buffs or potions to farm fibre, but I usually bring a tamed Fallowback with a carry capacity buff with me when I go on long farming runs. That way I can carry twice as much fibre before I have to head back to base to unload, and I don’t have to leave half my harvest behind because my inventory is full. If you don’t have a tamed creature yet, just empty out your inventory of non-essential items before you head out, so you have as much space as possible for fibre.
Top Locations to Farm Animal Fibre Across Realms
The best place to farm fibre when you’re first starting out is the default starter meadow realm, which spawns dozens of docile Fallowbacks, the fluffy alpaca-like creatures that graze near rivers and open fields. You can find groups of 5-8 Fallowbacks in most river valley areas, and none of them will attack you if you walk up to shear them, so you don’t have to worry about fighting while you farm. I usually stick to the river valley just north of the starter realm spire, since there are almost always 6+ Fallowbacks there at any time.
Once you unlock access to temperate forest realms, you can find wooly rams that give even more fibre per shear than Fallowbacks. A single ram will give you 5-6 pieces of fibre with basic shears, or 10-12 with steel shears, so you can get a full stack in just a few minutes if you find a group of 4-5 rams. The forest realms also have less aggressive predators than some higher tier realms, so you don’t have to watch your back as much while you farm.
Avoid desert and swamp realms for fibre farming entirely, even if you see furry creatures there. Most of the creatures in those realms have thick, matted fur or scales that don’t produce usable animal fibre, and a lot of them are hostile, so you’ll waste time and resources fighting for no reward. I made this mistake once when I wandered into a swamp realm looking for fibre, and I came back with nothing but damaged gear and a stack of toxic meat.
If you don’t want to travel to farm fibre, you can build a small pen near your base and lure 3-4 Fallowbacks into it with berry treats. They’ll stay in the pen as long as you leave a trough of berries out for them, and you can shear them every 10 in-game minutes for a constant supply of fibre right outside your door. I have a pen with 6 Fallowbacks at my main base, and I get enough fibre every day to make gear for my whole 3-person co-op group without ever leaving the base area.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Animal Fibre
I made a lot of mistakes when I first started trying to farm fibre, so I’ve compiled the most common ones to help you avoid wasting your time. The biggest mistake I see new players make is killing furry creatures expecting to get fibre, which almost never works. You’ll get hide and meat from killing herbivores, but no fibre, so you’re just wasting arrows and durability on your weapons for no reason. I wasted almost a full stack of iron arrows on deer before I figured this out, so don’t make the same mistake I did.
Another common mistake is using the wrong tool to try to harvest fibre. You can’t use an axe, knife, or pickaxe to get fibre from creatures, even if you hit them with it when they’re alive. You have to use shears, there’s no workaround for that, so make sure you craft a pair before you head out to farm. I’ve seen players spend 10 minutes hitting a Fallowback with a knife wondering why they’re not getting any fibre, so save yourself the frustration and make shears first.
Never try to shear hostile creatures, even if they look like they have thick fur. Most hostile creatures will attack you as soon as you get within 10 feet of them, and even if you can knock them out, they won’t give you any usable fibre. Stick to docile, non-aggressive creatures to stay safe and get the material you need. There are plenty of friendly creatures in low-level realms that give plenty of fibre, so there’s no reason to risk fighting hostile ones for it.
Also, don’t hang around waiting for creatures to regrow their fur after you shear them. It takes 8-12 in-game minutes for their fur to grow back, so you can spend that time collecting berries, wood, or ore nearby, or go shear another group of creatures and come back later. Waiting around just wastes time you could spend gathering other resources you need for your base or gear upgrades.
Farming animal fibre doesn’t have to be the frustrating grind I made it out to be my first week of playing Nightingale. Once you make a pair of shears, find a group of docile Fallowbacks in the starter meadow realm, and learn which locations work best, you’ll have a steady supply of this core material for all your crafting needs. Once you master how to get animal fibre in Nightingale, you’ll be able to craft all the warm gear, comfortable base furnishings, and upgrades you need to progress through even the harshest high-tier realms without any trouble. Try out the permanent farm trick if you play regularly, and you’ll never run out of fibre again.
