Enshrouded: How to Build a Base, Place a Flame Altar, and Plan Your Layout

Start with the Flame Altar

The Flame Altar is the foundation of any base in Enshrouded. It establishes the area where you can permanently build and reshape the terrain, and it also works as a fast-travel point.

Crafting one is cheap: all you need is five pieces of Stone. Once placed, the altar defines a starting building area of 40 × 40 × 40. Upgrading the altar expands that space to 80 × 80 × 80 at Level 2, 120 × 120 × 120 at Level 3, and 160 × 160 × 160 at Level 4.

You can have up to 10 active Flame Altars in the world. That limit is tied to broader Flame progression rather than to an individual altar’s building-area level.

1. Gather five pieces of Stone.
2. Craft the Flame Altar.
3. Place it in a wide, open, flat area.
4. Upgrade the altar later to expand the buildable area.

Choose a Base Site

Before placing the altar, weigh a few practical factors: relatively flat terrain, space for farming, room for NPC housing, room for expansion, nearby resources, and easy access to water, useful resource nodes, roads, or landmarks.

For a first base, the areas surrounding Longkeep are a strong choice. The Springlands are mostly open terrain, which makes it easy to learn the building system without reshaping a complicated landscape.

Ferndale is an option if you want to restore an existing settlement, but its proximity to the Shroud may mean more enemy attacks, so plan suitable defenses. The Blue Goblet Tavern sits in a corner of Revelwood; from the Revelwood Ancient Spire, head west-northwest to spot it in a copse of trees. For a larger mid-to-late-game base, the Nomad Highlands offer varied terrain with flat stretches for easy building and vertical formations suited to a castle or fortress.

Plan the Layout and Shape the Terrain First

Resist the urge to start placing walls immediately. Plan your general layout first; this can save you from large changes later or from losing materials when you destroy something.

Shaping the terrain before construction also helps. Within the Flame Altar’s protected area you can flatten areas, create terraces, dig into hills, and build platforms.

Keep in mind that dismantling old structures refunds no materials, so place everything with care.

1. Sketch out the general layout of your base.
2. Flatten areas, create terraces, dig into hills, or build platforms as needed.
3. Place walls and structures only after the terrain is shaped.
4. Avoid dismantling structures unless you accept losing the materials.

A Practical Base Layout

A practical base can be divided into a Main Hall for the Flame Altar, storage, and general crafting; a Workshop for the Blacksmith, Carpenter, Alchemist, Hunter, and their crafting stations; a Residential Area with bedrooms and homes for Survivors; a Farm for crops, animals, beehives, and cooking equipment; and a Player Home with a bedroom, decorations, trophies, and personal storage.

After rescuing Survivors, you can summon them to your settlements with the Summoning Staff and put them to work. The Blacksmith handles melee weapons, armor, shields, and metalworking; the Carpenter unlocks storage, decorations, furniture, and woodworking stations; the Alchemist covers potions, spells, magical equipment, and alchemical crafting; the Hunter focuses on ranged equipment, arrows, leather, and textiles; the Farmer unlocks farming and cooking equipment such as the Seedbed, Cooking Station, Oven, and Beehive; the Bard specializes in instruments, cosmetics, banners, and decorations; and the Fisher focuses on fishing equipment.

Comfort and Storage in Your Base

Furniture such as beds, tables, chairs, fireplaces, carpets, lighting, and decorations all contribute to a base’s Comfort. Higher Comfort contributes to the Rested effect, which improves the duration of your maximum Stamina and Stamina Regeneration buffs.

Magic Chests are useful for crafting areas because they let you and your NPCs pull from them for nearby crafting stations.

Unlocking Building Blocks

Building blocks are the foundation of any structure. They are scattered around Embervale and can be obtained by completing quests and reading lore notes. The Souls of the Frozen Frontier update added six new building blocks, bringing the total to 44 regular building blocks as of Patch #4.

Many blocks unlock through simple first-time actions. For example, the Rough Wood Block unlocks after chopping Wood and requires 2 Wood Logs, the Rough Stone Block unlocks after mining Stone and requires 2 Stone, and the Rough Sandstone Block unlocks after mining Sandstone and requires 10 Sandstone.

Others come from specific places or quests. The Brick-Timbered Block is found at Fort Kelvin and requires 10 Fired Bricks Block and 5 Wood Logs. The Castle Wall Block unlocks by completing the “Fortification” quest in Pikeman’s Reach and visiting the Mining Rift, and requires 5 Dirt and 20 Stone. The Well Block unlocks by completing the “Well Blocks” quest from the Carpenter and requires 10 Sandstone and 5 Shroud Liquid.

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