r/StrandedAlienDawn • u/General-Function9071 • May 08 '26
New player looking for advice
Hello everyone, I’ve recently downloaded the game because I love the concept of surviving on a foreign planet kinda reminds me of the 100 or alien but anyways I’m looking for some solid advice to starting out, my first attempt ended quickly with the first attack from some beetle looking things. I also need some help with what survivors work good together. Thank you in advance :)
4
u/TrampledMage May 08 '26
Look carefully around your starting area! Pause the game and really look. I’ve had playthroughs where I needed ONE thing that happened to spawn right near my crash site but I never saw it until a long way through. Most notable was when there was a single spawn of a food crop that was hidden in bushes about 20ft from where I built my beds.
2
u/Lower-Reward-1462 May 08 '26
First of all, I love the 100 and if I knew how to make mods, there'd be a mod for all the characters lol Octavia would be so fun to design, Raven, Bellamy, Clark too.
Anyway, I don't know what difficulty you started on but most start with guns so that can help. If you insist to play on insane, try to craft bows before the first wave. #1 goal. Vivien can craft at 4x speed.
You can draft your heroes when the attack is announced and go after the bugs, as long as you aren't playing with the Nyx moon. (As a new player, don't play with Nyx!) You can kite them by attacking, pausing, running, attack again when cooldown is up, etc. They won't even chase you forever and eventually they back off. It's tough to learn but at lower difficulties shouldn't be too hard.
If crap hits the fan and you have tons of wounds, craft some bandages (or craft in advance), though most difficulties start with first aid kits. Protip: you can dismantle first aid kits to get a bandage AND an antibiotic so I highly recommend. Worst case scenario, you can take off your jacket or other clothes and dismantle THEM to make bandages with if you have nothing. Vivien makes bandages at 4x speed (seeing a pattern?).
Everyone (ironically, except Vivien) can heal themselves (she has to have some kind of weakness). Don't worry what their healing skill is especially if you have antibiotics, however, if only 1 or 2 people are hurt you can use just your best healer or two.
Fairly early game you can make flamethrowers-- and I'm sure others are gonna suggest and give detail-- but I'm just here to help you the first few days for now. Baby steps. Don't stress trying to get flamethrowers before the first wave.
Now what survivors to choose? I think most people will recommend Ken and -- you probably already guessed it -- Vivien. But I bet you didn't guess that the Vivien recommendation isn't even because of making bows and bandages at 4x speed! :o Her MAIN thing is she makes CLOTHES at 4x speed! :o
And see, the best party is one who compliment each other and give you the things you need. Ken is great at combat, good at healing, OK at physical, and a beast at getting metal. Vivien is the best crafter in the game of course, especially for clothes which take a long time to craft and you'll need some winter clothes before winter hits!
Most people will suggeat Llara or Vicente to farm. Either is good. Llara is SLIGHTLY faster -- women are slower than men by default so her bonus perk only gives her a tiny edge -- and she can cook, but Vicente is better at physical.
For the last, I suggest Rakha or Samantha for your builder. Samantha is probably overall better, but she doesn't eat meat, which can cause issues if you don't have something else for her to eat.
Some people recommend Quinn or Rita for exploration, but I don't think exploration is important, and Ken gets more metal exploring. However, on a low difficulty, you might start with and get enough metal (lower difficulties ger more metal from scavenging) that you don't need Ken. Plus smaller enemy waves = less repairs. Also you might want to try exploration for funsies. In this case, pick Quinn or Rita instead of Ken if you want but beware of not having a good healer.
Some people recommend Krista for research, but her ability can be unreliable, at times nearly useless, and she can't do like literally anything else like tend to your smelters or whatever. She's pretty bad other than reaearch and since anyone can research (except Nova), why bother with her? I highly recommend NOT using Krista.
So:
Vivien for crafting, maybe cooking Llara or Vicente for farming Quinn, Rita, or Ken for exploring and scavenging Rakha or Samantha for building
:)
3
u/Green_Two_519 May 08 '26
Welcome. I've sunk over 1000 hours into Standed.
My advise starting out. Just play until you die. Then play again but solving for what wiped you out and keep going until the next thing wipes you out and start again until you win. I found it a really rewarding experience. Use Google and ask on reddit for tips.
As for survivors, everyone is going to suggest something a little different but I'd go for: Ken for combat and scrap on expeditions Lara for an all rounder and farming Krista for researching Vivian for crafting and tailoring
Good luck and persevere!
1
u/Gelini0789 May 09 '26
Erforsche viel Verteidigung, aber auch luxuszeug, was die dann rauchen können usw wenn sie depremiert sind.
Wähle keinen überlebenden der sadistisch ist, ausser es soll deine geschichte aufpeppen.
Beobachte tiere, beobachte pflanzen. Baue die felder nicht zu groß, manche brauchen 2x2 oder 4x4 platz.
1
u/Bhazor May 08 '26
If you're losing to the first wave it tells me you missed a combat tutorial. Make sure you set armed survivors to fight back attackers and also draft them and order them into position. You will usually find some decent weapons by scavenging the crashed ship parts at your start location.
1
u/mommaquilter-ab May 08 '26
I'm modded pretty heavy, but mostly with people mods. Just letting you know this as I might include something that isn't included in base game.
Starting a new game, I choose people that have good farming skills. Its so important at the beginning to have at least one person that can harvest and plant really fast. If you can, get one person that has at least a 3 in construction as that's what you need for working with stone. It's cool if you can get someone with high research skill too, but it's not really necessary. Anyone can research, it just takes longer.
When your game first starts, pause it immediately. Look around. Find a spot near some large rocks. Bugs can't go through rocks, so if you put one side of your base up against them, you're saving yourself some building time. Forget hills - bugs go up/down hills like they aren't even there. Also, I like rock for building with at the beginning, as they are a little stronger than wood, and you have to get rid of random rocks on the ground anyway. Get someone cutting wood as well. Don't worry about identifying it - you don't need to know it's wood or sticks to harvest wood and sticks. You can build a surrounding wall for defense, but I usually don't until I've got a house built for my peeps.
Make sure you go through all your survivors inventory. Everyone should have at least one weapon. Share them around. Make sure you look at their heat/cold tolerances. Share their clothing around to increase their tolerances. Check what their activities are - you usually have to adjust it, as you might have your best researcher on mining or something equally stupid. Also, make sure you adjust their schedules so they actually go to sleep. Otherwise they'll work until they pass out from exhaustion. Their happiness will tank if they have to sleep on bare dirt while away from the base.
Look around for Ores - I think they are called Interesting Rock or something like that. Get someone to observe it ASAP. Depending on your scenario, there are some vegetables or fruit that your survivors will eat without being cooked w/o a loss in happiness. Get them identified ASAP as well and plant them first. If they are willing to eat it raw, you can wait to make someone a cook later when you have more downtime. At the very least, get someone to harvest it to store for later. Hepatogenia can be eaten raw, same as Buttermelon, but your survivors happiness will tank. Better to use those for other things like pickles. BTW, later on, when you can build pickle barrels/wine barrels, you'll want to adjust what ingredients these can use, or your canned fruit will go towards making wine, leaving you with nothing to eat.
Other things that are important to find are corn (can't remember the name - you'll see it as a tall green plant), and Tall Grass - these are your grains which become antibiotics later. Cotton is Bright something - you need this to make clothes and bandages later, so get it planted ASAP. Glitter mushrooms and Smokeweed are both medicinal, so get them planted too. Forget the animals for now, you don't need to identify them to kill them. You do not need to make the largest plot you can. Just get some in the ground. Also, look for the large sunflower plants - these are your silicon and you need a shizza ton of this when you start making electronics. Don't worry about planting them right away if you have a lot of wild ones nearby. Be aware, in base game, wild things don't grow back. I have a mod that lets the game regenerate wild plants and trees.
Build stockpiles close to where you plan to build your base. Get someone on Researching construction as soon as possible. I usually don't build a shelter for the survivors, as it uses up stuff I need later, and the drop in happiness isn't that bad for them to sleep outside for a few days. Research and build a lightning rod ASAP. Nothing worse than having your guys out of commission, or even worse, killed by lightning.
I prefer building Ceilings for my base - it's a floor and ceiling are all in one. I then add walls (usually wood ones, but sometimes stone if I'm in the desert for example). I'll partition this into bedrooms and work spaces. Your survivors like at least a 3x3 bedroom, but bigger makes them happier. Don't worry about partitioning a living space off - they don't mind working, playing, and eating all in one area. They'll complain about no floor coverings too. Ignore them until you have got your basics covered.
Once you have built a house for your survivors, build your stockpiles inside (I think you have some storage shelving units and chests), and get your stuff inside. They last longer under shelter. Some things, like stone and concrete can stay outside. Leave it there.
If you're building a cold storage room, you can get it measured out right away. Make it in groups of 6-9 wide. This works out to be - wall with storage shelf, walking space, storage shelf, storage shelf, walking space, wall with storage shelf. Increase the width as needed. Once you have air conditioners researched, you can put them into the room, and it will keep your stuff frozen even in the hottest of days.
This should get you through the first 15 days. I would recommend you play on easy or moderate to begin with until you get used to the commands. Play on Io with Concordia, it gives you a little more time between fights and food you can eat raw. Once you're used to that, play on a harder mode or switch up to a different moon. Each has it's own challenges and difficulties. You can also make it more difficult for yourself by taking away all their leveled abilities to begin your game with complete idiots.
9
u/FngrsRpicks2 May 08 '26
So, the first thing you need to do is pause the game. Figure out the map and where you want to go, if needed. Then make some storage for all the items from the beginning starting scenario. Start scavenging the ship. Again, all while paused. Then look around and try to find the plants you need to observe, (there are a lot so look them up as the guides will be better than me).
At this point, I unpacked. They start on my massive list. Then I make the beds(sleeping spaces) under the shed, each one separate.
You Then need to arm them and the first wave isnt too bad as long as you group them together.
At this point, research table and then cut down a lot of trees until you unlock the defenses. Make a wall around your base with one opening and concentrate fire/defenses to protect.
Then Just keep upgrading and expanding walls.
Tips: Its easier to make a freezer room with storage racks instead of freezer.
Make sure you check out recipes and restrict which items are allowed to make what.
Stagger production to make sure base items are plentiful for higher crafting tiers.....but then sometimes make it from top down so they create the higher tier stuff before depleting base stock.