Build in this order: Day 1 Woodcutter's Camp + Forager's Hut, Day 2 Communal Kitchen + 4 Basic Beds, Day 3 Subterranean Mushroom Plots, Day 4 Expedition Tent (place, do not deploy), Day 5 Palisade Walls around food storage. After Day 5 add a second Basic Workstation, then the Forge + Anvil + Smelter chain.
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The five-day settlement build order
| Day | Build | Cost | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Woodcutter's Camp + Forager's Hut | 50 Wood, 10 Stone | Baseline wood + berries without starving. |
2 | Communal Kitchen + 4 Basic Beds | 80 Wood, 20 Stone | Removes the Slept on Ground debuff (-20% work speed) and stops early starvation. |
3 | Subterranean Mushroom Plots | 15 Wood, 5 Spores | 25 mushrooms every 36 hours; out-produces foraging by Day 5. |
4 | Expedition Tent (place, do not deploy) | 100 Wood, 50 Stone | Forms the first party later without committing yet. |
5 | Palisade Walls around food storage | 120 Wood | First real defense layer against bandit raids. |
Settlement layout rules that hold up
Place the Communal Kitchen within 3 grid tiles of primary food storage — cooking output is about 15% higher at that range. Sleeping quarters within 10 tiles of food storage cuts morning transit time and keeps morale from tanking on the first bad night. A small wood stockpile directly next to the carpenter's bench removes idle carpenter ticks. The settlement Temple room provides a Pray Needs Resource Modifier of -10% to -40% based on quality tier (Poor / Decent); higher-quality temples need Level Up furniture, Light Quality 3+ items, and larger sizes. Indoor structures (beds, Research Station) require fully enclosed rooms — walls, doors and corners must close the room, since any gap halts output entirely.
Room quality tiers
Rooms in the settlement are rated Poor to Decent by default, with higher tiers unlockable. Tier is driven by size, structure count and quality, plus wall/floor quality. A well-sized, well-decorated bedroom pushes morale up and stress down; a cramped or unfinished one pulls in the opposite direction.
What to build after Day 5
Second Basic Workstation
A single station with three settlers creates a queue bottleneck; two stations keep an opening queue moving (e.g. 6× Textile, 1× Cloth Armor, 2 bundles × Wood Arrows).
Forge + Anvil + Smelter chain
Unlocked from the Engineering Tech Tree after Blacksmithing basics. Smelter turns raw ore into ingots, Forge crafts iron and steel tools, Anvil produces advanced metal gear.
Medical Tent + assigned Herbalist + stockpiled Medicinal Herbs
Required to heal wounded settlers, who then need 24 hours of uninterrupted bed rest.
Kitchen + Research Station expansion
Once food production is stable, expansion into a Cooking Workstation and a larger enclosed Research Station is the next loop unlock.
What to read next
For food and shelter details, see Food and Shelter. For base expansion past the starting perimeter, see Base Expansion and Workstations. For getting your settlement past 6 settlers, see Early Game Population.