Enshrouded drops you into a beautiful but brutal survival world where every decision counts, especially when you're just starting out. As you face the game's action RPG mechanics—exploration, crafting, and combat—knowing how to manage early resources and base location can mean the difference between struggle and smooth progression. Getting grounded quickly in these systems pays off massively as you dive deeper into Embervale's mysteries.
Enshrouded is a survival action RPG focused on exploration, crafting, fighting, and building. The game’s vast handcrafted world is packed with dangers, treasures, ruins, and abundant natural resources inviting players to uncover its secrets while managing their survival.
New players often get overwhelmed collecting less useful materials or gear, or wandering into areas too tough for their current level. Having a clear approach early on prevents wasted time and frustration, so you can focus on the right gear, resources, and safe exploration.
Setting up your world, gearing up early, finding a base near your starting point, and mastering survival in Embervale are the lynchpins of a successful early game in Enshrouded.
If you want to learn more about the game beyond this guide, click here.
Customize Your World Settings Before Playing Enable Automatic Loot Collection Loot in the Starting Cave Build Your First Base Near the Starting Area Flame Altars and Fast Travel Start Farming and Tame Animals for a Reliable Supply of Resources Learn How the Shroud Works Gather Resources With a Purpose Explore Carefully and Search for Loot Rescue Survivors to Unlock Crafting Stations and Gear Upgrades
- Customize Your World Settings Before Playing
- Enable Automatic Loot Collection
- Loot in the Starting Cave
- Build Your First Base Near the Starting Area
- Flame Altars and Fast Travel
- Start Farming and Tame Animals for a Reliable Supply of Resources
- Learn How the Shroud Works
- Gather Resources With a Purpose
- Explore Carefully and Search for Loot
- Rescue Survivors to Unlock Crafting Stations and Gear Upgrades
Customize Your World Settings Before Playing
Before jumping in, take a moment to adjust your server settings. Enshrouded lets you tweak enemy aggression, game difficulty, and resource gathering intensity. If you’re new or short on time, lowering enemy aggressiveness and easing survival elements smooths the learning curve. If you want a tougher challenge, you can crank those parameters up. You’re free to reconfigure these settings anytime, so don’t stress finding the perfect setup immediately.
Pro tip: Customize your world to fit how much time and challenge you want. If the game feels too grindy or punishing, dial down the difficulty and increase crafting speed to keep it fun.
- For an easier start: Reduce enemy health and damage, boost crafting and experience gains.
- To up the difficulty: Increase enemy stats and enable survival mechanics like starvation.
- For a tailored experience: Experiment with common settings to balance fun and challenge.
Enable Automatic Loot Collection
One of the best time-savers in Enshrouded is the Auto Collect Scattered Loot option. Make sure to toggle this on before you start. It automatically picks up resources when you chop trees, mine, or gather, so you don’t have to manually interact with each item. This tiny adjustment frees you from tedious gathering, especially during crafting-heavy phases.
Loot in the Starting Cave
Right after you leave the starting shelter, head left to explore nearby caves. Equipped with a torch (you'll need it for dark spots), these alcoves hide early gear and consumables that give you a helpful edge.
Inside the first cave:
- Check the wooden box immediately on your right as you enter.
- Turn left to find an opening holding grenades; these respawn over time.
- Use a grenade to break rubble in this area, revealing a chest with the Hunter’s Ring which boosts stamina regeneration.
- Exit and continue until you see a water section.
- Use a torch to scan the water’s left side, spotting an entrance to another cave.
- Dive for glimmering objects underwater to find the Ragged Shirt, adding physical and magical resistance.
- Inspect the box on the right when you enter.
- Go left and look for the opening containing a stack of grenades, which can spawn over time.
- Destroy the rubble using a grenade, revealing a chest with Hunter’s Ring which grants extra stamina regeneration.
- Exit the cave and continue until you get to the water section.
- Scan the left side of the water using the torch and discover the entrance to another cave.
- In the new cave, look for the glimmering objects at the bottom and dive to retrieve the Ragged Shirt, giving you physical and magical resistance.
Optional but worthwhile, these items give you a stronger start before heading out to Embervale. Using grenades to clear blockades can open new paths and gear opportunities.
Build Your First Base Near the Starting Area
After you unlock base building basics, claim your first small base near the starting village and your Flame Altar. This convenient location lets you safely practice crafting, resource gathering, and progression without venturing far into danger. Don’t aim for grandeur here—just enough room for beds, storage, and essential crafting stations.
This small base will evolve as you recruit survivors and unlock better gear and stations.
Upgrading your Flame Altar is central to survival and unlocking new areas. The altar’s radius expands your build zone and its leveling improves your resilience against the Shroud, granting access to harder regions.
Struggling with certain areas? It’s often your Flame Altar needing an upgrade to keep up with the world’s challenges.
Flame Altars and Fast Travel
Flame Altars are hubs for both base-building reach and exploration. Your starting base sits atop one, and its radius dictates your immediate building space. Placing additional altars near resource-rich zones extends your mobility and lets you fast travel between them, making exploration smoother. Initially, you get access to a few altars, gaining more as you grow.
Unlocking Ancient Spires grants a high-altitude fast travel point allowing for gliding into new areas.
Crafting additional bases around the map linked via Flame Altars cuts down on endless travel. You'll ultimately unlock up to 16 Flame Altars, so don’t hesitate to make multiple forward bases to support your exploration.
Carrying a portable Flame Altar on expeditions provides temporary fast-travel points; place it when needed, and disable it later (this takes about 30 seconds) to stay mobile but resourceful.
Beginner tip: Use temporary altars strategically to avoid long backtracking during resource runs or scouting.
Start Farming and Tame Animals for a Reliable Supply of Resources
Farming unlocks controlled ingredient supply, freeing you from entirely relying on foraging. Animals boost your resource intake and should be integrated into your base for steady farming returns.
Create Your Farm
To farm crops, build Seed Beds and prepare Farm Soil. Ingredients harvested in the world can be converted into seeds, which you plant and grow. The best part: your plants mature passively, so you can explore or fight while they do the work.
When you get back, you’ll collect new ingredients helpful for crafting and cooking.
Farm soil quality matters. Different soils affect crop yields and quality:
- Dirt: Basic, supports many plants but lower quality.
- Farm Soil: A step up for better growth.
- Fertilized Farm Soil: The premium choice for high-quality crops.
Upgrade your soil when possible to maximize farming benefits.
Tame Animals for Additional Resources
Tame Animals for Additional Resources
