Crafting Mechanics
Overview
Crafting allows you to create tools, weapons, structures, clothing, and other items from gathered resources. Crafting requires time, materials and often specific tools.
Crafting Requirements
Basic Requirements
- Materials: Specific resources in your inventory
- Time: Each recipe has a duration (in hours)
- Tools (optional): Some recipes require specific tools (e.g., knife for arrows)
- Skills: Higher skill levels improve success rate and efficiency
- Fatigue: Crafting consumes energy based on complexity
Crafting Time
Crafting time varies by item complexity:
| Item Type | Duration (hours) | Fatigue Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Simple (tinder, rope) | 1.0 | 0.25 |
| Basic tools (arrows) | 1.0 | 0.25 |
| Weapons (bow, spear) | 3-4 | 0.5 |
| Advanced weapons (crossbow) | 6 | 0.75 |
| Shelter | 6 | 0.75 |
| Traps (snare, fish trap) | 2-3 | 0.5 |
| Building components | 1.5-3.8 | 0.3-0.65 |
| Clothing | Variable | 0.35-0.65 |
| Medical items | 2.5 | 0.55-0.625 |
Skill Bonuses
Skill levels affect crafting:
- Intelligence attribute: Provides XP bonus for learning
- Crafting skill: Improves speed and success rate
- Specialized skills:
- Carpentry: For building components (+14 to +18 with tools)
- Gathering: For recognizing useful materials
- Cooking: For food preparation
Experience Gain
Base XP per craft: 0.5
Multiplied by:
- Success factor
- Difficulty modifier
- Intelligence bonus
Crafting Categories
Survival Essentials
- Fire: Requires wood + tinder
- Tinder: Requires wood/birch bark
- Cordage: From plant fibers
- Shelter: Requires wood, cordage
Tools & Weapons
- Bow: Requires wood, cordage, knife
- Arrows: Requires sticks, feathers, stone/bone, knife
- Spear: Requires wood, stone, cordage
- Crossbow: Requires wood, cordage, scrap metal
- Slingshot: Requires cordage, leather
- Throwing Spear: Requires wood, stone
Traps
- Snare: Requires cordage/snare wire
- Fish Trap: Requires cordage, sticks
Building Materials
- Planks: Requires wood, saw
- Beams: Requires wood, saw
- Shingles: Requires planks
- Floorboards: Requires planks, hand plane
- Stakes: Requires wood
Building Components
- Corner Post: Requires planks, stakes, fasteners
- Wall: Requires planks, cordage, tar (needs anchor)
- Reinforced Wall: Requires planks, beams, fasteners, tar
- Rafter: Requires beams, fasteners
- Roof Panel: Requires planks, shingles, tar (needs support)
- Floor Segment: Requires floorboards, fasteners (needs support)
- Frame: Requires planks, fasteners
- Door: Requires planks, fasteners (needs frame)
- Window: Requires planks, glass shards (needs frame)
Storage Containers
- Wooden Chest: 2 hours, 0.625 fatigue
- Barrel Container: 3 hours, 0.8 fatigue
- Crate: 1.5 hours, 0.5 fatigue
- Clay Pot: 2 hours, 0.575 fatigue
Clothing
Requires: Fabric/leather, needle
- Gloves, hats, socks, boots
- Pants, jackets, coats
- Specialized: Patch armor, insulated cloak
- Duration: ~4 hours average
- Fatigue: ~0.625 average
Advanced Items
- Headlamp: Requires battery cell, electronics, copper wire (3.5hr)
- Electronics Kit: Requires circuit board, electronics (3.5hr)
- Patch Armor: Requires fabric, fasteners, scrap metal (4hr)
- Disinfectant: Requires chem supplies, water (2.5hr)
Fishing Equipment
- Bone Hook: Simple craft
- Metal Hook: Requires scrap metal
- Lures: Require metal, glass, or specialized materials
- Simple Rod: Requires stick, cordage, hook
- Reinforced Rod: Requires better materials
- Fishing Net: Requires cordage
Medical Supplies
- Splint: Requires wood, cordage, fabric
- Tourniquet: Requires fabric, cordage
- Crutch: Requires wood, cordage
- Medicine/Herbal Balm: Requires wild herbs, chem supplies
Specialist Crafts
- Tanning Liquor: For leather production
- Leather: From pelts + tanning liquor
- Candles: From beeswax or animal fat
- Tar: From resin processing
- Fasteners: From old nails/scrap metal
- Lead Sinkers: From lead pipes
Tool Requirements
Some crafts require specific tools:
| Tool | Used For |
|---|---|
| Knife | Bow, arrows, butchering, detailed work |
| Saw | Planks, beams, lumber processing |
| Hand Plane | Floorboards, smooth finishes |
| Carpenter Hammer | Building assembly |
| Pot | Boiling, some recipes |
| Needle | Clothing and fabric items |
Failed Crafting
Crafting can fail based on:
- Low skill level
- Missing tools
- Insufficient materials
- High fatigue
Failed attempts:
- Consume partial materials
- Waste time
- Grant reduced XP
Durability
Tools have durability (-1 per 10 uses):
- Hatchet, saw, knife
- Pot, fishing gear
- Specialized tools
Repair: Use resin to restore +5 durability
Crafting Tips
- Skill up early: Practice simple crafts to increase skill
- Keep tools repaired: Have resin ready
- Batch craft: Make multiple arrows/tinder at once
- Plan ahead: Crafting takes time; don't wait until desperate
- Specialized builds: Carpenters get huge bonuses with proper tools
- Material efficiency: Higher skills = less waste
Unlockable Recipes
Some advanced recipes unlock with skill progression:
- Basic recipes: Available from start
- Advanced recipes: Unlock at higher skill levels (typically Expert 60+)
- Greenhouse: Requires specific skill milestone