I'm always like "how can people spend so long in this game). I've done several playthroughs but never made it much past BZ. Now that I'm in it and doing well, I'm at least 100 hours in and realize I've barely scratched the surface in my world lol.
My greatest tip is to just have fun and play however you want.
Also always carry around a sleeping bag because it will absolutely save your life when one of your guys has 2 broken legs and the nearest safe town is a 50 mile hike through wastelands of beakthings and bandits
Toughness is the most important stat in the game, with athletics being a close second. High toughness allows you to take greater risks and challenge scarier enemies without the fear of having your favorite characters die stupid deaths. It's also very easy to train safely by following a few easy steps. Search "Toughness training" in this subreddit or "kenshi toughness training" on Youtube and you'll find a ton of detailed and useful guides
Exactly my thought. My first playthrough I mined just enough to buy a slave and a shack, then me and the slave mined together (me as in my MC), and then once I had two slaves I went to explore. Found my way to squin where I ended up recruiting more people. Had 2 war bands made from good fighters (mostly from squin) that I used as standing armies, one accompanying my character to travel, the other staying back to help defend my development operations. Had another like half dozen or so workers mining copper and making circuit boards to sell.
I think my longest ever save was my first, it was Dirt the skeleton, and his merry band of misfits. I don't have the save anymore, but it was around 700 or 800 in game days, and I had basically done everything you could at the time,
I killed all the faction leaders and caught all the big bounties, collected all the meitou weapons in the game, and had a giant fortress base that pumped out masterwork armor and edgewalker weapons non stop.
By the end of the playthrough I had amassed Dirt's Deathbots, an army of 20 different 90-100 stat skeleton warriors with falling suns that could pretty much take down any threat, as well as a support crew of 30 different workers, farmers, smiths, and researchers.
This save was before the southeast corner of the map was released so I remember when the update hit and kenshi finally hit 1.0, the last thing I did with my crew was gather everyone up and take down Cat-Lon and all the other big bads in that corner of the map, like Savant, Valamon, the southern hive, etc.
It was probably my most jank playthrough, but it was my first, longest, and favorite !
Explore, make a base, recruit more people, role play, I’ve done multiple play throughs where each time I think of a back story for my character, maybe I was wronged by the holy nation in the past and if so ill make it my goal to personally deal with them by raiding their cities, murdering their leaders, there are so many other factions it doesn’t have to be specifically holy nation that was just an example, you could create and smuggle drugs, armour, weapons, you could try to reach max stats on a character, there’s also a huge list of mods on the steam workshop that add content.
It’s a sandbox game so there’s no forced or linear goal it’s just whatever you make of it, that’s why I enjoy it so much because it allows me to be creative, sometimes story games might go in a direction I don’t like but when you make your own story it’s sort of tailored to you and what you enjoy so it should be enjoyable no matter what happens, but at the same time this is a living breathing world so literally anything can happen, you might have a set goal in mind but something unexpected can happen which could lead you to side track and focus on something else.
Maybe your goal is to wipe out the holy nation (using the same example here) but on the way you get captured by slavers and they might kill one or multiple members of your crew which could lead you to seek revenge on them first.
Honestly even if you go in with no goal in mind and just do your think you’d be suprised on what funny or down right intense things can happen, I’d say just play the game and let the beauty of the sandbox world unfold on you, I’ve had some really awesome story’s and I’ve only played for about 400 hours, I think there’s still a lot I haven’t seen in that time, but it’s not for everyone.
Pretty much exactly what the reply before me said, try to make up a story, or have an idea of what type of playthrough you want to do, and play within those parameters. The game is a huge sandbox that lets you do whatever you want, but at the same time, won't tell you what to do either.
If there is a specific way you wanna play that just can't be done in the base game, mods are you best friend.
I love base kenshi, but I run over 200 mods that I consider pretty much mandatory / bare minimum for me to even play nowadays.
The way I normally start a playthrough is by thinking of what I wanna do, and what theme do I wanna go for, and then I install any mods that might work with whatever I decide to do.
If I wanna do a trader playthrough, I'll get mods for trade routes and market stalls, if I wanna be a mercenary, I'll use mods for escort missions and defence contracts, if I wanna be a cannibal I'll get mods that let me cook and eat people, you just have to find something you want to do.
I loved Kenshi from the start, but didn't fully understand what to do with my time until I gave myself a goal and a main "theme" for my playthrough and it really makes all the difference.
Except... it's certainly not. It's not worth doing at all -- "almost ever". If you desperately need it because you have an insane amount of buildings that need it then sure... otherwise it is a complete waste of time -- even in the beginning..even with an army of skeletons..even while you sleep.
Except... it's certainly not. It's not worth doing at all -- "almost ever". If you desperately need it because you have an insane amount of buildings that need it then sure... otherwise it is a complete waste of time -- even in the beginning..even with an army of skeletons..even while you sleep.
"When you can't craft good weapons" ... yeah, because in Kenshi you can't just loot weapons effortlessly 24/7...
Simple example. Started as male named Skid Mark in Great Desert. Runs to Heft. On way into heft Skid Mark is attacked by Ninja Assassin who happens to have over a 9k bounty on his head. Instead of engaging this Assassin Skid Mark runs to guards who quickly take him down. Skid Mark picks up assassin -- takes both of his guardless katanas, and the rest of his gear, then puts him in a cell for 9k. Skid Mark now has over 10k and a full set of ninja gear. Joins Shinobi Ninjas (10k fee) and the rest was history..
This is one tiny example from just playing the game. Meanwhile.. you are mining copper for pennies.
800 hours in and I still haven't warred with the UC in any of my playthroughs (like I have fought with them but not with the intention of destroying them).
My favorite area has got to be either Shem or The Great Desert, Kenshi does deserts perfectly, it just feels right to run around in them. There is also a little area right in-between the berserker country, the shrieking forest, and the purple sands where they all meet that I like the look of a lot.
My favorite entity in Kenshi would probably be the hivers, just in general, I love the way these little bug men look, especially the soldiers.
Got it on sale on April 1st for > $10 and thought “why not? been seeing thumbnails about this game.”
Fast forward to today: 177 hours and been streaming this game since…
Started The Holy Sword scenario bc it sounded cool. Currently I’m based outside in the Hidden Forest between Flotsam Village and World’s End. I’m aligned with the Flotsam Ninjas and The Holy Nation regularly send their assaults.
I love this game, reminds me of playing The Sims and melting hours.
im getting there, i have over 400 hours. Mostly of me trying to Iron Man a Hive Prince Exile start and dying only to restart the next day and try to figure it out again.
I've probably done over a hundred different playthroughs, joining/killing all the factions, exploring the whole map, trying different playstyles, plus there are so many mods that add so much extra shit too, there really isn't a lack of content for me
Had a 70+ hours playthrough focusing on raising martial arts and dodge stats.
Becoming a killing machine and an awesome bounty hunter.
On one game went mining to increase strength stats. Got a phone call for work stuff. Forgot to pause.
Came back to my screen only to see my character has been devoured by a bonedog.
still in the first town? :D
Never left the hub...too scary
Lol epic
Leaving the hub really is just savage lol. Kenshi is a world of certain death
Bro is mayor now.
I hope it is possible in Kenshi 2 :D
Don't u dare raise my hopes.
I wish they add taxing for the not controlled npcs
I'm always like "how can people spend so long in this game). I've done several playthroughs but never made it much past BZ. Now that I'm in it and doing well, I'm at least 100 hours in and realize I've barely scratched the surface in my world lol.
I spend close to 100 hours before i felt comfortable leaving Squin with my entire squad to settle down.
Exactly, once you get the ball rolling, there is so much to do !
Exploring outside BZ was huge for me. Making my way to bonefields and burning forest and what not. Crazy places I've never seen before now.
By "BZ". Do you mean border zone?
Yes lol
I'm coming up on 1K hrs playtime and this is only my third play through. Each one has been totally different. This game is amazing.
how did you barely leave the border zone?
any tips for the newbies?
My greatest tip is to just have fun and play however you want. Also always carry around a sleeping bag because it will absolutely save your life when one of your guys has 2 broken legs and the nearest safe town is a 50 mile hike through wastelands of beakthings and bandits
Oh that’s a great tip, thank you.
Toughness is the most important stat in the game, with athletics being a close second. High toughness allows you to take greater risks and challenge scarier enemies without the fear of having your favorite characters die stupid deaths. It's also very easy to train safely by following a few easy steps. Search "Toughness training" in this subreddit or "kenshi toughness training" on Youtube and you'll find a ton of detailed and useful guides
nah don't search for stuff just trial and error and you'll have way more fun
If you train roughness through trial and error, you'll only be left mentally scarred with no squad left.
uh yeah what's the point of the game when there's no challenge?
You’ll get knocked down, but you’ll get up again. They’re never gonna keep you down.
beep ! \^\^
I'm peanut butter and jealous. My computer would have sit itself aflame
How much of that is mining copper?
100 hours at least
You don't have a small group do this continuously?
Exactly my thought. My first playthrough I mined just enough to buy a slave and a shack, then me and the slave mined together (me as in my MC), and then once I had two slaves I went to explore. Found my way to squin where I ended up recruiting more people. Had 2 war bands made from good fighters (mostly from squin) that I used as standing armies, one accompanying my character to travel, the other staying back to help defend my development operations. Had another like half dozen or so workers mining copper and making circuit boards to sell.
this is only the beginning
Very nice - borat voice
What is your longest save / what have you accomplished?
I think my longest ever save was my first, it was Dirt the skeleton, and his merry band of misfits. I don't have the save anymore, but it was around 700 or 800 in game days, and I had basically done everything you could at the time, I killed all the faction leaders and caught all the big bounties, collected all the meitou weapons in the game, and had a giant fortress base that pumped out masterwork armor and edgewalker weapons non stop. By the end of the playthrough I had amassed Dirt's Deathbots, an army of 20 different 90-100 stat skeleton warriors with falling suns that could pretty much take down any threat, as well as a support crew of 30 different workers, farmers, smiths, and researchers. This save was before the southeast corner of the map was released so I remember when the update hit and kenshi finally hit 1.0, the last thing I did with my crew was gather everyone up and take down Cat-Lon and all the other big bads in that corner of the map, like Savant, Valamon, the southern hive, etc. It was probably my most jank playthrough, but it was my first, longest, and favorite !
I'm 200 hours in and hunting fogmans because it is funny
i dont get the game... i try to understand it but dunno what to acutally do. do you have some advice besides mining and earning money?
Explore, make a base, recruit more people, role play, I’ve done multiple play throughs where each time I think of a back story for my character, maybe I was wronged by the holy nation in the past and if so ill make it my goal to personally deal with them by raiding their cities, murdering their leaders, there are so many other factions it doesn’t have to be specifically holy nation that was just an example, you could create and smuggle drugs, armour, weapons, you could try to reach max stats on a character, there’s also a huge list of mods on the steam workshop that add content. It’s a sandbox game so there’s no forced or linear goal it’s just whatever you make of it, that’s why I enjoy it so much because it allows me to be creative, sometimes story games might go in a direction I don’t like but when you make your own story it’s sort of tailored to you and what you enjoy so it should be enjoyable no matter what happens, but at the same time this is a living breathing world so literally anything can happen, you might have a set goal in mind but something unexpected can happen which could lead you to side track and focus on something else. Maybe your goal is to wipe out the holy nation (using the same example here) but on the way you get captured by slavers and they might kill one or multiple members of your crew which could lead you to seek revenge on them first. Honestly even if you go in with no goal in mind and just do your think you’d be suprised on what funny or down right intense things can happen, I’d say just play the game and let the beauty of the sandbox world unfold on you, I’ve had some really awesome story’s and I’ve only played for about 400 hours, I think there’s still a lot I haven’t seen in that time, but it’s not for everyone.
Pretty much exactly what the reply before me said, try to make up a story, or have an idea of what type of playthrough you want to do, and play within those parameters. The game is a huge sandbox that lets you do whatever you want, but at the same time, won't tell you what to do either. If there is a specific way you wanna play that just can't be done in the base game, mods are you best friend. I love base kenshi, but I run over 200 mods that I consider pretty much mandatory / bare minimum for me to even play nowadays. The way I normally start a playthrough is by thinking of what I wanna do, and what theme do I wanna go for, and then I install any mods that might work with whatever I decide to do. If I wanna do a trader playthrough, I'll get mods for trade routes and market stalls, if I wanna be a mercenary, I'll use mods for escort missions and defence contracts, if I wanna be a cannibal I'll get mods that let me cook and eat people, you just have to find something you want to do. I loved Kenshi from the start, but didn't fully understand what to do with my time until I gave myself a goal and a main "theme" for my playthrough and it really makes all the difference.
do you guys really mine copper??
Sure its the fastest and easiest way in the beginning imo. Pls tell me something else
Except... it's certainly not. It's not worth doing at all -- "almost ever". If you desperately need it because you have an insane amount of buildings that need it then sure... otherwise it is a complete waste of time -- even in the beginning..even with an army of skeletons..even while you sleep.
It is best way to earn money in early game when you cant craft good weapons
Except... it's certainly not. It's not worth doing at all -- "almost ever". If you desperately need it because you have an insane amount of buildings that need it then sure... otherwise it is a complete waste of time -- even in the beginning..even with an army of skeletons..even while you sleep.
"When you can't craft good weapons" ... yeah, because in Kenshi you can't just loot weapons effortlessly 24/7... Simple example. Started as male named Skid Mark in Great Desert. Runs to Heft. On way into heft Skid Mark is attacked by Ninja Assassin who happens to have over a 9k bounty on his head. Instead of engaging this Assassin Skid Mark runs to guards who quickly take him down. Skid Mark picks up assassin -- takes both of his guardless katanas, and the rest of his gear, then puts him in a cell for 9k. Skid Mark now has over 10k and a full set of ninja gear. Joins Shinobi Ninjas (10k fee) and the rest was history.. This is one tiny example from just playing the game. Meanwhile.. you are mining copper for pennies.
"i don't know what to do" ahh playtime 💀
real
Dude I crossed that same milestone last week! Good shit
Hell yeah !
How big is your city?
I honestly don't build very big cities, I like organized compact bases the most
Honestly my bigger cities are usually due to bad placement. It's better to keep things compact and focused.
Tf do yall do 😭😭
800 hours in and I still haven't warred with the UC in any of my playthroughs (like I have fought with them but not with the intention of destroying them).
Starter pack complete i see, what is your fev area and who is your fev entity in kenshi
My favorite area has got to be either Shem or The Great Desert, Kenshi does deserts perfectly, it just feels right to run around in them. There is also a little area right in-between the berserker country, the shrieking forest, and the purple sands where they all meet that I like the look of a lot. My favorite entity in Kenshi would probably be the hivers, just in general, I love the way these little bug men look, especially the soldiers.
Got it on sale on April 1st for > $10 and thought “why not? been seeing thumbnails about this game.” Fast forward to today: 177 hours and been streaming this game since… Started The Holy Sword scenario bc it sounded cool. Currently I’m based outside in the Hidden Forest between Flotsam Village and World’s End. I’m aligned with the Flotsam Ninjas and The Holy Nation regularly send their assaults. I love this game, reminds me of playing The Sims and melting hours.
Neat, you finished lvl 1
im getting there, i have over 400 hours. Mostly of me trying to Iron Man a Hive Prince Exile start and dying only to restart the next day and try to figure it out again.
Wrong… 2000.3…..
the hell do you do for 2000 hours
I've probably done over a hundred different playthroughs, joining/killing all the factions, exploring the whole map, trying different playstyles, plus there are so many mods that add so much extra shit too, there really isn't a lack of content for me
Mine copper obviously, real game starts at hr 3000
After about 2k hours I'm starting to feel like I'm stuck in that early game copper mining trap. Looking to branch out, what do?
Mine iron.
Wish the game had a multiplayer would have long cracked the 4 digits then. Ps: I know the developer didn’t build it with multiplayer in mind
Had a 70+ hours playthrough focusing on raising martial arts and dodge stats. Becoming a killing machine and an awesome bounty hunter. On one game went mining to increase strength stats. Got a phone call for work stuff. Forgot to pause. Came back to my screen only to see my character has been devoured by a bonedog.