Ridiculously lucky day 1 attempt...

[jussr]

...that nevertheless failed because I couldn't access the antechamber :( Pump room had power and everything.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3480570054

(Two more coins and I could've made a power hammer, too)

[Garamoth]

Pretty damn good, although I always tried to draft a garage to hedge my bets. The 3 keys are always useful too.

I think the secret passage should be used to get a hallway to almost ensure you get a great hall and a lever. Foyer can be nice too.

Did you use the silver key on a corner to increase your chances of spawning the pool?

[jussr]

Originally posted by Garamoth:

Pretty damn good, although I always tried to draft a garage to hedge my bets. The 3 keys are always useful too.

I think the secret passage should be used to get a hallway to almost ensure you get a great hall and a lever. Foyer can be nice too.

Did you use the silver key on a corner to increase your chances of spawning the pool?

I used the silver key coming up out of the courtyard on the west side and got the pool there, on the grounds that I had only the one door left to open and really needed something that went in multiple directions to keep going.

I was hoping I'd be able to get the garage off the boiler room and then try for a secret garden key to use from the dining room so I could get both the east and west levers, but the sauna screwed me over and I had to take the conference room instead to try and keep the day going.

[Doombringer]

I had 3 attempts like that that failed because when I was connecting to the antechamber I got 2 dead-ends and a room facing the wrong way lol.
Getting Day 1 legitimately is hard.

[Garamoth]

Well, you look like you know your stuff, keep at it.

In my experience, making the power hammer is not as rare as people make it seem. It's not much harder than getting the foundation in the right position. Attic almost always contains 1-2 items for the hammer.

[Doombringer]

Battery used to be bugged and have a much lower spawn rate.
Hammer is still Workshop (starts at Unusual rarity) + 2 not common items.
With early +luck (rabbit's foot) and +luck in green rooms (veranda) you have a pretty good chance of getting the parts.
1st room closet has an okay-ish chance of rabbit's foot.
(can also be shovel, shoes, sleeping mask, coin purse, just resources)

(Battery can spawn in Attic, Patio, Darkroom, Workshop, Wine Cellar (rarely), Locker Room (rarely, need too many keys to check for it), Toolshed, Trading Post trade, Car Trunk (not the 1st time you open it, so not day1), maybe some other places)
(You can dig up broken lever. It also seems to spawn more often after Greenhouse is placed. I've seen it a ton of places, but it isn't common.)

[jussr]

Yeah, I'm usually about 2/3 of the way to a power hammer when I run out of keys and have to restart lol

The foundation, though, I have not once managed to get up and running in my various attempts; only maybe three times it's even shown up, and even then, two of those times it would've been inaccessible at the back.

[Mercurial]

Access to antechamber + Garage + 1-2 dice or study + ( Pump Room / Foundation with access) is probably the best bet.

If you get battery and pool, you can go for electromagnet into boiler room pump room, then you just need access.

If you get a couple pieces of sledge, you can go for powerhammer+tomb, and you don't even need basement key at first, just access later.

But tomb-pump and electromagnet are the big ones.