Starting a new city - tips?

[Check Six]

I want to build a new city. Location seems important, and has been discussed elsewhere. What I wanted to know is that it appears as if I'll need to make a convoy and make several trips to bring all the needed building materials etc. Should I build a storhouse first and is it safe to lock my goods in there and "abandon" it whilst I go and get more? Should I start by building the perimeter walls (nothing to steal) and when I have a sealed enclosire, I can build farms and crafting benches etc.
Any tips will be gratefully received. Thanks in advance.

[Arran Chace]

There is imho no right or wrong way on how to build a base.
I used to rush into a base asap, now i take it slow, build a few chars first that are capable of defending the base in the area i want to build in.

I often use a shed of a Holy Farm as storage, and just buy something in towns, set ny basic research up there, drop some beds and a stove in it, few storage chests, and just do research till i have large buildings and most stuff i need to set up a fully operating base with defenses.

While doing so, i just roam around scout area's, loot stuff, steal stuff, kill stuff, sell it even my own mother and get the best gear i can get my greedy hands on.
And keep doing so till my guards are strong enough to win most fights in the area i want to settle in. Then i just drag enough stuff in to build a stone mine and iron processor, and make the rest on the spot.

There are some nice green spots now too in the Fogislands but you will get overrun by fogman there, occasional raids etc.. Hence the guard route i take.

You also could cower a newbie town in HN lands right away, maybe little riskier in the borderzone, but less vertile grounds there again.
I guess everyone has some spot he/she favors and often starts there, this is kinda part of the game exploring for you're ideal location.

Stuff doesn't dissapear, even if the storage isnt owned by you, so there are many ways you can go about setting up, this is why Kenshi is really a sandbox game, there is no right or wrong way.
Only the way you like to do and enjoy.

[Cian]

It depends on the tech level I've researched. If I have the tech to build more advanced buildings and a big squad, I'll bring enough stuff to make a hybrid stone mine and a good iron refinery and windmills and farming stuff and I just get to work on it.

If I'm still low tech and poor and plan to work my way up as I go, I bring the stuff for a stone mine, stone refinery, and manual iron refinery (which isn't much) and some plants for a farm. I build up the stone mine and refinery first, refine some stone to get enough materials to make a well, and get some guys on food. Then I get building materials to make a house and some walls and set up an iron refinery and go from there.

If you have enough to make an iron refinery, a stone mine, and a stone processor you can make the stuff for everything else. Having some electrical components can simplify things if you want to go straight for wind power, but you can make fuel and small generators with just iron and copper and some wheatstraw.

If you have some extra cash you can hire mercs to protect your base for 1k a day until your guys are up to the challenge. If you're making grog or something you can easily make the money back in your base to keep mercs hired permanently.

[Bonk]

Don't worry about things being stolen. They won't. Right now focus on getting enough people together to both speed up your building time and defend against attacks.

I would build a stone mine, stone processor, iron refinory, and storage for those items first, then build a shelter. Do as much research as you can in a purchased building inside a town so you won't have to fend off attacks while waiting for certain things to become unlocked like Turrets and Defensive Walls.

Trader's backpacks can carry stacks of items like building materials and iron plates, so you can mule those items over. If you can, it would be wise to purchase a garru to haul the majority of your items. Also make sure you have plenty of food before you head out because your people will get hungry while working and running out of food while far away from a bar is asking for trouble. Walls should go up after your first storm house.

While the door on the house can take a bit of a beating and give your people time to prepare for a fight, it will get broken down fairly quickly and you will have a swarm of enemies inside the house.

Ideally, you would want to shoot them down using the crossbow turrets aimed at the gate. You could start with four turrets mounted on the wall, two on each side of the gate. Maybe make a V- shape entrance so that the turrets can shoot directly at the outside of the gate, funneling the enemies into a hail of arrows.

[Democracy Officer 0311]

Only major tip i can give you is don't build in cannibal country. That place is brutal on new settlers unless you are prepared to defend midbuild.

[paulbrittgarcia]

I always build my main base and new outposts using only 1 guy (my fastest in athletics (and good in sneak)) runs from a safe place and puts up a gate and then builds walls and I run him back and forth with building materials until ALL the gates and main walls are up! (The more people you use to build the more time it takes ---> trust me! (And less attacks (and chance to be attacked) if use 1 guy!) After that I send everyone loaded with stuff to build inside the walls (and after a house with beds for everyone is up then --- sometimes expand the walls outward or make a better "kill channel"!

[BrowneHawk]

I would make sure to have at the least 10-15 fighters. Decent ones. If you go to make a base with not enough men the raids will be to much for you. I even started my current game with an op toon and even he wasn't enough to take the raids alone.

[Ghostsniper64]

Everyone is going to have their own school of thought on this, but build your first base somewhere 'safe', i.e. probably in Holy Lands if you have mainly humans. Essentially, your first main goal is to get your resource production running so you can build more buildings without buying things, so make sure you have stone, iron, and copper available (the higher quality the better, but as long as you have all three in some form you'll be okay).

Build walls around your base as soon as you can to help you survive bandit and river raptor attacks. My advice for a first base would be to have two gates, so when enemies are attacking one gate, all of your people can run out the other end to safety depending on the enemy.

Buy and steal food until you can get a farm going. If you are in holy lands, river raptors will try to eat your crops (and they will knock down your gates to do so), so be prepared for that.

As for building locations, once again Holy Lands are decent for a first base. South of Blister HIll, by the river there is a tall rock right next to a bend in the river. Great stone production, and iron is close by. Copper is a walk though, but doable. Wind is okay, but you may have to turn some of your crops into fuel to run generators until you get higher level tech.

South of that in UC territory (near Drifter's Last I think) there are a few good locations, and the rebel farmers aren't too hard to deal with. The slavers and the UC guards can be troublesome, but it adds to the fun with some chaos. The trip down there may be dangerous, and you may have to pay UC taxes and bribes, but it's doable.

North of World's End (the very top of the map) there is a nice piece of coastline just east of the fishing village which makes for a great location for a base once you are well equipped, though you will be raided by a party of 50+ cannibals weekly.

My current location for my base is just east of the Waystation that is East of The Hub. Okay-ish resources, but centrally located, decent wind levels, and plenty of starving bandits and Dust bandits to practice on. I use hydroponics for farming now, but you should be able to grow cactus there for food.

There are some good locations in Shek territory; however they wouldn't be suitable for a first or even maybe a second base.

Oh, and I'd avoid the Hiver's territory (forgetting the name off of the top of my head, Vain I think it is?) Beak things will devour your soul as well as all of your people. Admitedly though, I'd send a person into a hive village and then wait for the hivers to kill beak things and then i'd take the meat and bring it back to base back when I couldn't grow food.

Anywho, hope this helps. Worst case scenario, do a google search and see what comes up.

Oh! And pro tip: if your start an outpost, it will demolish all of the trees and vegitation nearby, so dont worry about those things when finding a location. I'd probably save before building, save again after you built your first struction, then try either loading up that last save or restarting the game and then the vegitation should be gone within like a 40 yard radius or so.

[Zee_]

If you've got any skeletons, they're perfect for setting up an initial base along the northern shorelines, in Vain or in the foglands. They may get beat up but they'll never be kidnapped or eaten. Basically skeletons are the vanguard when setting up anywhere things like to eat people.

I have a skeleton only squad building a base in the fog islands in one of my games. I have to deal with the occasional fogman patrols, but wandering fog princes and heavies ignore me for the most part. Once the walls, gates and basic defenses are set up its time to bring in the real workers to get the buildings, mines, and farms up and running.

Any other tips I could give have already been covered.

[BrowneHawk]

Using skeles as a construction vangaurd, thats a really cool idea.

[Móðsognir]

I almost always start with a skeleton and buy a building in a city with resources nearby that I can gather and sell, doing this while stealthed to raise skill. I research everything that requires only books before ever starting my own base, and once I do I still keep at least one character behind in a existing city to continue making cash and insuring I don't have to start over if things get real ugly in battle. Always have either a large enough force to defend your own base or no one at all. leaving only one or two at your base can be a recipe for disaster. Also, if your going to use skeletons, i would suggest researching skeleton repair beds ASAP. I buy a building in most cities so I can always have skeleton beds somewhere near on the map. More important now too because of mechanical limbs.

[Check Six]

All brilliant replies people. Some great ideas and tips. I started in (or very near) Sho-Battai?? (spelling) in United Cities territory, got very healthy levelling in crafting a few things, moved to Stoat (because there was no clothing in SB), bought a few buildings and started crafting again, and also levelling up my crew. Mostly people tend to leave me alone because I don't steal things (except for two cups and two sets of tools - which I couldn't buy anywhere, and needed to set up Thievery training).
I thought what I might do is move into the third United City, set up a few buildings there as well, get crafting again to make money, and then level up my crew some more, recruit a few others, and level them up. Then I plan on scouting a location somewhere in the middle of the triangle formed by these cities, close to my solid buildings and crafting set-ups, and so I can shop for what I need and do not yet manufacture.
I have done a BUNCH of research, and buy a lot of blueprints of everything from all stores so that I can make these goods. At the moment, my armour crafter is making Masterwork grade leather armour (she is level 86) and my arms crafter is making level 69 swords etc (yet to make crossbows, but I've bought one).
So now I need more crewmembers, level them up, and go find a new place to call home. Your very wise tips will assist me in doing that efficiently and without too much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair. Thanks guys, you've been an immense help..

[Darqfire]

I know the moment I built a gate the attacks increased dramatically

[Proto]

Yeah no right way to build your base. In fact you can build anywhere if you have hydroponics. The safest places is usually in town or cities and if your entire party is humans building on the Holy Nation land is safer and cheaper as well.

The Swamps is a good place to grow hemp and rice as well as making allies with the hounds or enemies. But there are a lot of enemies in the swamps. Once you have rice and hemp growing swamp raptors will come at you insistently and it doesn't help if you get raided as well so get a strong big group to build there.

The Fog Islands have some good places to build. Many Iron and Copper nodes from lost technology/civilizations as well going over 100% yield due to dual enviromental stuff going on with Wheat and Hemp. Build a vegetable farm or collect a lot of meat and you can make a lot of food cubes and meatwraps. Enemies aren't difficult because the majority is unamored cannibals that will lose limbs like nothing against a overpowered sharp weapon.

Next base I want to build is in the cannibal plains. My friend says there are some good spots there to grow stuff as well as iron and copper. The key thing here is to find iron, copper, and stone source. If you want food consider fertility and enviroment. Water isn't a issue when you have power going.

[Nemund]

One big tip I haven't seen mentioned above is keep the base small.
If you make it large walls & pathfinding (especially to food barrels) gets glitchy.
Small base keeps it all running smoothly.

[RicWalker]

If you plan to build your base on United Cities (UC) territory, you definitly should improve your standings with the Traders Guild and the UC itself. Both will come for Taxes weekly (minimum 3000 each) otherwise. From the Traders Taxes you seem to get Tax free for 100.000 by Tengu in the City of Heng.
You can Improve your standing with the UC in the city Heft with a Guy naimed Koin.
I am fairly new to the game myselve and so cant be 100% shure about that, but it looks like you can get Taxfree and protected from Slave hunter raids by getting membership with the traders guild and a good standing with the UC.