What specifically can you do in Kenshi?

[pas]

I have a few hours in and have been mining, crafting, opportunistic bandit killing/scavenging. Got my first squadmate so now I can do double the mining.

I'm trying to envision what the game will hold as I progress. When I google "what can you do in Kenshi" I get a lot of generic "anything you like!" "create your own story" answers but not anything that actually tells me how our interactions with the world change as we get more powerful.

What specifically can we do in Kenshi other than mining/crafting/killing/exploring? What does having a big squad help you do other than even more mining/crafting/killing? I have played repetitive grind games before where the object is to improve simply so you can grind harder, is this one of them?

[Hatsune Neko Gaming]

your search was correct, you do what ever you like to do, if you wish to make it a grinding game to improve, you can.
there are many option in Kenshi.

me personally, i like to use small or solo playthroughs, where i seek revenge against those who wrongly imprisoned me. left me to die with one arm missing. or to gather the best loot possible in the game.

i do a bit or RP with it as well. create a back story and play the game based on that.

you play Kenshi in the way you want to play Kenshi

[Shidan]

The game shines best with at least a little light roleplay, and if you like exploring the unknown.

The game is designed around dynamic stories that you create on your own, and is mostly just a sandbox for that adventure. If you want an incentive to grind, beyond making it easier to survive there isn't much of one. It's about creating memorable experiences.

From a mechanics perspective, the only thing you can really do later on that isn't possible earlier game is engaging in world states and affecting the other nations. Essentially as you take out important NPCs, the factions in the world can shift drastically, taking each other's towns, falling into ruins, etc. Other than that the only thing being stronger does is open up new areas you can safely explore, new factions to encounter and lore to find.

[Alshian]

I became a wanted criminal in the game from all 3 major factions. lol

I invade cities of the holy nation, empire, and shek kingdom. I kill and pillage taking some hostage and feed them to the gutters in the acid rain.

I became a warlord as this world's new evil.

in my 2nd playthrough I became a death merchant selling weapons which will be used for wars and drugs that will cause the health of every major faction to be dependent on my smuggled goods.

As for my current playthrough I'm playing as a plain farmer selling my crops hiring mercs to depend my outpost. Although I eventually became a deadly sharpshooter using crossbows along with a bonedog as my faithful guard dog, so cute! :3

[Bomb Bloke]

Originally posted by pas:

What specifically can we do in Kenshi other than mining/crafting/killing/exploring?

Only other thing that comes to mind is rescuing slaves, which can be fun to attempt while avoiding combat. Being a slave is also more fun than it sounds, as it largely involves figuring out what you can get away with while in chains.

Originally posted by pas:

What does having a big squad help you do other than even more mining/crafting/killing?

A larger squad allows you to run your production chain more efficiently, but you soon hit the point where enough is enough: the vanilla game caps you to 30 people, and there really isn't a need to have any more than that.

Originally posted by pas:

I have played repetitive grind games before where the object is to improve simply so you can grind harder, is this one of them?

Not really. Your ability to improve your characters largely hinges on your knowledge of the game's mechanics - once you're familiar enough, you can basically start a new game and raise up a superhuman character within a few in-game days. The meat of the game is in learning how to play it.

However long it takes you, though - you'll eventually end up with an experienced workforce, and then the need for them to do any actual work largely goes out the window. Your farmers will stand around doing nothing because your food stores are full. Your crafters will likewise make a surplus of absurdly valuable equipment pieces. Most battles will become so one-sided in your favour that they're not even worth watching, even if it's "one random hauler vs a dozen bandits". You'll lose all desire to grind your skills up any higher.

The end result is less micromanagement and more free time in which to explore. The world's full of interesting things to find... mostly useless things. But interesting, none the less.

[Cattrina]

Well, there are certain limitations what you cannot do, mostly because of game engine limitations. Fe. long way journeys cannot really be done by just clicking on the map and focusing on some other squad while the first squad runs. Not because they will prob get attacked (which they will), but because they will get stuck on some ground collision.

Other game engine limitation is building walls around your base is a bit iffy. I recommend a video I made about that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knFKJB99i8Q&t

You can build a town, but you cannot get NPC residents. You can get hangarounders tho, but no NPC workers. All workers must be player characters.

You can go for an adventure with a small group (well technically any size), camp out in the wild and risk attacks from the local fauna and people. Besides the traders there really is no friendly NPCs. No NPC in Kenshi will aid you automatically, offer you free food or anything. Only aid you can get is first aid, and that is usually done by slavers who will promptly carry you away. This will of course change if you ally with some faction, then you can get FA from them and they will help you fight. Adventure means either finding interesting places, fighting their guard robot spiders and then looting the place. Or perhaps you'd like to embark on bounty-hunter business? Plenty of that available. Bounties are kinda the quests of Kenshi.

And yeah, you can hire mercenaries.

That is vanilla game, with mods you can also:

Romance people
Ride on a bull (horse pending)
Go on various other types of quests than just bounty hunt
Conquer NPC towns and become world dominator
Play as hundreds of immersive or non-immersive peoples (races), such as androids, star wars characters or infected hivers etc.
Follow unique custom story lines, fe, a father who is seeking their child, which is a real NPC in the world you need to actually find.
Get a NPC barber droid (plastic surgeon) to hang around your base, so you do not need to run to town every time you want to change a hairdo.

There are thousands of mods available. You can make your game to fit exactly how you would like it with mods.

[Bandy]

Kenshi is only a grind game if you make it so. Buy one or more pack animals so you can carry stuff and don't bother with building a settlement, at least for a while. Believe I read somewhere the original intention was for settlement building to be a bit later in the game for player...

Talk to lots of NPCs as they sometimes tell stories about places to investigate. Also buy maps and books for same reason, to provide player destinations and get you moving out of your comfort zone. Consider this similar to a 'job board' if you want/need that structure.

I started several Kenshi playthroughs and got distracted by some other game release. This time I bought a Tech Hunter Map (not cheap at beginning) and decided to follow it into other zones I have not explored before. My squad was apparently not prepared for this but that's OK, it worked out and wow! Satisfying game play and good squad stories.

IOW, you get out of Kenshi what you put into it. The game will either click for you or not.

[Karina]

I play ex slave hiver that dreams to be a martial arts legend. Because slave masters cant take away your hands. Well, they can - but who would want an armless slave? I like to kidnap random people, disarm them and use them as unwilling sparring partners. After i beat them up - i would bandge them and give them some food as thanks. I dont recruit anyone, but i can make an exception for escaped slaves or exiled hivers. But they have to learn the Way of the Fist.

[Synopse]

Originally posted by Cattrina:

Well, there are certain limitations what you cannot do, mostly because of game engine limitations. Fe. long way journeys cannot really be done by just clicking on the map and focusing on some other squad while the first squad runs. Not because they will prob get attacked (which they will), but because they will get stuck on some ground collision.

I know what you are talking about. Have you tried this mod? It is much better pathfinding.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2424904535

[Red Bat]

There's a bit more to do than it seems, but a lot of the less obvious stuff requires a bit of a understanding of the game world. However yes, at some point the game world eventually does start to feel a bit shallow in terms of your interactions with it.

Things to try doing:
1. Kill major leaders, the game world will change to adapt to it
2. Ally with different factions, this sometimes adjusts the results of doing the former
3. Explore everywhere, some areas are interesting, have unique recruits, or one of a kind weapons
4. Collect unique recruits. Some have a few unique dialog lines, or completely unique dialog like Beep.
5. Kill off almost every major player. A lot of the towns can actually be reduced to ruins.
6. Build a base and try to trigger base events. One of my least favorite things to do.
7. Try an all Skeleton party.

[Wanted111who]

i play it as animal survival sim on one of my run without human. Doing pretty good. manage to take down bad teeth and blister hill


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2878417804

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2878417945

[Cattrina]

Originally posted by Synopse:

Originally posted by Cattrina:

Well, there are certain limitations what you cannot do, mostly because of game engine limitations. Fe. long way journeys cannot really be done by just clicking on the map and focusing on some other squad while the first squad runs. Not because they will prob get attacked (which they will), but because they will get stuck on some ground collision.

I know what you are talking about. Have you tried this mod? It is much better pathfinding.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2424904535

I hear it's good. I do not play much myself any longer, I found modding and got hooked, line and sink.

[nazerick]

There are basically three major ways to play the game.
1. Make a squad and explore, steal, kill, ect.
2. Make a base and build industries such as farming, smithing, tailoring, and ect.
3. Some combo of the two.
Basically Kenshi is a simulation game so there isn't much of a driving story, but rather passive lore and how you make your way through the world.