What material do you start building with?

[Sjustus548]

Say you are wanting to build a horde base out of steel.  Do you start with laying down steel blocks or do you lay down wood frames and upgrade all the way up to steel for the extra xp?  I prefer to start at wood and upgrade all the way up to where I want because it's a very nice xp boost and, depending on how big you are building, can net you a couple levels.  It takes more resources and time do go the long route but I don't find that to be a big issue with how abundant all the resources are.  Another benefit of using wood frames is that errors are much easier to fix in case of a misplace.  Just curious if other players find the xp worth it or if the time and resources are more important to them.

[seagas]

I usually go all the way from wood for the XP. Sometimes I will use cobble and/or concrete blocks in the interest of time, like putting finishing touches before the horde showa up. That being said, I really miss the rebar frames, that was my prefered method prior to A20.

Edited January 20, 2022 by seagas (see edit history)

[BFT2020]

I always progress based on what I think I need for the upcoming horde night.  I always start with wood first and upgrade the blocks I believe are going to be beaten on to cobblestone at the beginning.  Eventually I upgrade to concrete and then steel at the end.

 

Anything I feel won't be attacked by zombies I will stop at concrete.

 

However, if I got concrete or steel blocks available, I will use them as part of the construction process as long as I have a clear idea of what I want to do.  I am not fixated on going a specific route, I typically changed based on what I need to do and what I currently have.

 

Got a ton of concrete but little to no cobblestone - wood frames to determine then switch them out with concrete blocks.  Have a ton of cobblestone (or materials to make cobblestone) and low on concrete, use the concrete for the trouble areas and upgrade everything else to cobblestone to strengthen it.

[Vaeliorin]

I always build from wood (though I really miss rebar frames.)  And my last base I built got me more like 40 levels as opposed to a couple.  But it also took me 18 in game days of doing nothing but harvesting and building (along with 2 horde nights).  I didn't end up finishing it (I wanted to go higher), but I got kind of bored with that world a week or so after that, since I was basically invulnerable.

[POCKET951]

If time isn't an issue I will always start with wood frames for exp. If its horde day and I need to whip something together in a pinch I will use the higher tier frames from quest rewards

[Darklegend222]

7 hours ago, BFT2020 said:

I always progress based on what I think I need for the upcoming horde night.  I always start with wood first and upgrade the blocks I believe are going to be beaten on to cobblestone at the beginning.  Eventually I upgrade to concrete and then steel at the end.

 

Anything I feel won't be attacked by zombies I will stop at concrete.

 

However, if I got concrete or steel blocks available, I will use them as part of the construction process as long as I have a clear idea of what I want to do.  I am not fixated on going a specific route, I typically changed based on what I need to do and what I currently have.

 

Got a ton of concrete but little to no cobblestone - wood frames to determine then switch them out with concrete blocks.  Have a ton of cobblestone (or materials to make cobblestone) and low on concrete, use the concrete for the trouble areas and upgrade everything else to cobblestone to strengthen it.

Having rebar was so nice, I didn't even use it for the extra level of concrete. I only liked it because I could lay a foundation to upgrade. Now i need 4 materials on me taking all my inventory to build.

 

Edit: after going through some XMLs and seeing the entire shape menu, I wouldn't be surprised if rebar was possibly abandoned for having all the air pockets. It would be a nightmare having to design the bars to be specific for all 1.3k shapes. I'm not sure if I'm skilled enough to bring it back at all, but if I do, it'll be textured as a different type of material.

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Darklegend222 (see edit history)

[BarryTGash]

Early game wood -> cobblestone

 

Afterwards, plan with wood frames, remove and replace with cobblestone blocks and upgrade to concrete/steel for xp as resources allow.

[Crater Creator]

Hmm.  It seems no one else is motivated by the fact that more XP means tougher zombies.  I don’t do anything for the XP.  I do it to improve my situation, directly or indirectly, and the XP is a side effect.  Should I waste extra time and materials to upgrade blocks, if it gives the same result except for more XP?  That’s a no brainer for me: no.

 

My first, week 1 horde base used cobblestone so as to not waste time with wood.  It was a new design, so afterwards I reinforced the parts that took the most damage with concrete.  After a few weeks I decided to try a new, larger design in a different location.  I used cobblestone as a foundation and concrete for any block that was important, either for support or to absorb damage.  The topmost layer is deliberately sacrificial, so it’s actually made of wooden frames.  It’s had some unforeseen weak spots, but I’ve been happy with my allocation of materials.  Once I can make my own steel, I’ll have to see if the concrete isn’t strong enough.

 

Of course, it’s handy to lay down wooden frames to prototype a shape, but you don’t have to upgrade them.

 

I guess my TL;DR is: use as strong a block as you need for each spot, and go for that material immediately if you’re able to.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Crater Creator (see edit history)

[theFlu]

17 minutes ago, Crater Creator said:

It seems no one else is motivated by the fact that more XP means tougher zombies.

I'll volunteer here; I see earning XP as progressing in the game, the loot gets better and the enemies get better. Also, more skill point makes my character better. Win-win-win. So, as far as XP has an impact on my decisions, I'll pick the upgrade path.

 

For actual building though, I haven't built anything massive yet. I also swapped to over to 20.1 exp wiping my progress again - so I can't say much about big builds. I tend to want to upgrade for the XP, but I wouldn't mind just dropping blocks.

 

For the little I actually build, I always go the upgrade route; the stuff I'm doing is shaping a POI into a horde base, so I'm testing the weirdest shapes. Once the wood has been laid out, the resource cost isn't an issue, it's a few dozen blocks usually.

[Darklegend222]

1 hour ago, Crater Creator said:

Hmm.  It seems no one else is motivated by the fact that more XP means tougher zombies.  I don’t do anything for the XP.  I do it to improve my situation, directly or indirectly, and the XP is a side effect.  Should I waste extra time and materials to upgrade blocks, if it gives the same result except for more XP?  That’s a no brainer for me: no.

 

My first, week 1 horde base used cobblestone so as to not waste time with wood.  It was a new design, so afterwards I reinforced the parts that took the most damage with concrete.  After a few weeks I decided to try a new, larger design in a different location.  I used cobblestone as a foundation and concrete for any block that was important, either for support or to absorb damage.  The topmost layer is deliberately sacrificial, so it’s actually made of wooden frames.  It’s had some unforeseen weak spots, but I’ve been happy with my allocation of materials.  Once I can make my own steel, I’ll have to see if the concrete isn’t strong enough.

 

Of course, it’s handy to lay down wooden frames to prototype a shape, but you don’t have to upgrade them.

 

I guess my TL;DR is: use as strong a block as you need for each spot, and go for that material immediately if you’re able to.

I disagree, if you get that much exp you can spec into intellect for traps.i never build anything except a regular base on stilts as my home, then horde bases afterwards.

 

My traps allow me to kill zombies at higher gamestages, which means as long as I keep my traps properly managed, the exp can keep coming in. More loot, more exp, and more refined horde bases. I'm at level 117 and I'm managing perfectly fine with a GS at 176, along with 3 people around the same GS. We're at the point of building now specifically for perk points. 3 blade traps, 3 dart traps, and 3 electric fence posts are MORE than plenty.

[Vaeliorin]

1 hour ago, Crater Creator said:

Hmm.  It seems no one else is motivated by the fact that more XP means tougher zombies.

More XP means more perk points means I can actually spend perks points on things for fun rather than required QoL stuff (required QoL stuff for me means at least 7 levels in every single attribute, more in some.  Anything that makes harvesting and movement more efficient is required as far as I'm concerned.)