Build order
Your base is called the S.A.N.C.T.U.A.R.Y. and is the heart of Ashen Veil. You unlock the first options when you complete the prologue: the Workshop, the Scrap Pit and the Defense Walls. A good order for your first days is:
- Scrap Pit first: it produces the Scrap everything else costs.
- Workshop next: ammunition, medkits and tools. Do not run an expedition without crafted ammo.
- Defense Walls before your first raid. A weak wall loses survivors and resources.
- Medical Infirmary once you have Medicine to spare: healing, radiation treatment and the Decontamination Flush.
- Greenhouse when you want a steady food supply instead of living off fishing.
- Wasteland Bar when you need more allies, rumors and contracts.
What each building does
| Building | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Workshop | Crafting: ammunition, medkits and tools such as the Fishing Rod. Expand it as your base grows. |
| Scrap Pit | Spend stamina here to produce Scrap or Wood (pit level x 10 for 20 Stamina), the main building materials of the game. |
| Defense Walls | Your first line against raids. Walls, tripwires, turrets and a garrison add up to your defence rating. |
| Medical Infirmary | Healing, radiation treatment (including the Decontamination Flush) and the Rad-Meds regimen with its auto-dose option. |
| Greenhouse | Grows food so you can stop eating every Raw Meat you catch. |
| Wasteland Bar | Hire mercenaries and hear rumors that turn into one-off encounters on the map. (Boss contracts come from the Shady Informant.) |
Survivors and mercenaries
People are the second resource of your base. Survivors you rescue or recruit work in buildings and produce resources; the named survivors bring special skills such as extra Scrap yield, better trade prices or medical crafting. Mercenaries from the Wasteland Bar fight beside you and sit in your squad formation.
The Warden talent tree boosts survivor production, tripwires, turrets and the wall garrison, which is why it is the best tree for a base-focused player.
Defending the base
- Layer your defences. Tripwires thin the attackers, turrets kill them and the garrison holds the wall. Neglecting one layer weakens the rest.
- Lost raids cost you. A defeat takes a share of your base; the Disaster Plan talent in the Warden tree reduces the loss.
- Do not neglect the Infirmary. Healing and radiation treatment keep you in fighting shape between attacks.
More guides
Beginner's Guide
Your first week decides the rest of the run. Here is what to do, in order.
OPEN →Combat Guide
Fights are turn-based and every Action Point counts. This guide explains the rules underneath.
OPEN →Squad Strategy Guide
Who you place where before the first shot matters as much as what they carry.
OPEN →