Building bases in a game with online play is always a challenge. Conan Exiles gives you the option to play on larger servers, play on your own, or set up a game to play with just your friends. Base building in controlled maps is quite easy, as you can do pretty much anything you want. PVE servers are a bit more difficult as you need to find unclaimed land that meets your needs. PVP, on the other hand, can be a nightmare as other players will attack your base on top of many spots already being claimed. The guide below goes over the basics of choosing a spot for your base, as well as tips for PVE and PVP mode in Conan Exiles.

Choosing a Location For Your Base¶

Choosing a good location for your base is a must. Ideally, you will want to choose a spot that is close to the resources you need to prosper. In the early game, this will be around the starting areas of the Isle of Siptah and the Exiled Lands. Once you can make Iron weapons, you can start to move further into the map and branch out to other locations. Ideally, no matter where you choose to build your base, you will have access to water and animals to hunt for food. This gets a bit easier once you reach level 25 and can build a well that provides you easy access to water. The difficulty of choosing where to build a base goes up depending on what map you choose to play on. If you are in single-player, you are good to build your base just about anywhere that places you near a food source. Here are some reccomendations for some areas that you might want to build your base around.

In both PVE and PVP servers, you will also have to deal with base decay. This is to keep offline players from eternally hogging land or having a second base hogging up land that they never visit. If you and your clan have been away from your base for 336 hours in total, then it will enter an abandoned state. Once the abandoned state is reached, you have around 48 hours before the server gets rid of your base. Additionally, some buildings decay faster than others, like chests, which can disappear in around 2 hours when not placed inside of a base. The decay timer can be checked by using a Repair Hammer, so keep this in mind so that you don’t accidentally lose your home.

If you choose to play on a PVE server, then many of the premium or easy spots may already be taken, but you should be able to find some unclaimed land to set up on. If you are playing on PVP, though, then not only do you need to worry about finding an untaken spot and having access to basic resources, but you will need to worry about hostile players attacking your base at all times. This threat only increases when you log out for the day. The sections below go over some tips for base building in PVE and base building in PVP, as well as general building.

Basics of Base Building¶

Once you start building your base, you need to choose what you want your house to look like. There are some limitations to the building system that you should consider before you get too far in. For example, if you build walls in a close zig-zag pattern, you won’t be able to properly roof them as they are too close together to make your base look nice. You will also want to place your doors and windows in strategic positions. Windows allows you to safely view your base from all sides without opening your door. Your door should be placed in a way that easily allows you to enter and exit. Additionally, if you have a flying mount, then making a roof hatch can be an excellent way to give you an extra exit option in case of attack.

When making multiple floors, you will need to take into consideration the placement of steps. You can build decently high in Conan Exiles. If you choose to have a tower consider making an elevator to make moving around your base easier. You can even connect to separate towers using a bridge. If you are using steps then you will want to ensure that you can easily have them lead to the next floor without disrupting any crafting stations or making it hard to move around inside your base. For the most part, building the interior of your base is pretty straightforward.

How to Make a Proper Roof For Your Base¶

The trickiest part of building a base by far is putting a roof on it. If you’ve built a small base, then this won’t be much of a problem, as the pieces can easily connect. If you have a larger base, though, then you are going to need to place multiple roofing pieces on each side to make them meet in the middle. The problem with this is that the game won’t let you build but so far out before it considers the roof unstable. In this case, you can use the Vertical Decorative Beam and the Horizontal Decorative Beam to secure your roof.

You can place beams on top of each other for higher roofs, giving them the support they need to be placed. Don’t forget to use sloping wall pieces to help feel in roofing caps. You can even use them to create unique larger windows at the top of the base to look out of.

How to Make Support Beams¶

Both the Horizontal Decorative Beam and the Vertical Decorative Beam recipes can be learned once you hit level 13. These are both easy-to-make recipes that only require five Wood and five Twine each. Wood is easily obtainable from trees, and Twine can be made from Plant Fibers.

Base Building in PVE¶

When you are just facing the environment, things are a bit easier. For the most part, you aren’t going to need to worry about a bear ripping through your walls. In fact, it’s pretty easy to place your base far enough away from hostiles to never really worry about having to take enemies home with you. The only time you will need to worry is if a Purge is if you decide to trigger one yourself, and this is something you can prepare for. During Purges, your base will be attacked by invaders who are after the treasure you have placed inside. They will only target openings like doors, so you can easily create a funnel to control them.

Since this is a prepared event, you can create a special route in your base to the treasure that is made to withstand the enemy forces, and it can even be away from the normal part of your base to keep things a little safer. Many players will even build a separate base for this activity to keep everything safe. Aside from this, there isn’t really much you need to consider when building a base other than making sure you have enough room to support your clan and crafting tables. Before you start building, check the area to see if there are any key places that won’t allow you to place your foundation. If there are, then you will need to decide if you can work around this spot, depending on how large it is, or if you need to choose somewhere else to build.

Base Building in PVP¶

Base building on a PVP map is where things really come into play, and it can be a frustrating process at first. When you start out on a map, your resources will be limited, and other players will easily be able to break down your base if it’s found. If you are first starting out, you will want to build a base that’s small and out of sight. If you’re on a seasoned map, then the larger clans can wipe starter bases out in a matter of minutes. If you have valuables, consider trying to hide them. If you store them all together, it makes them easy to plunder.

Once you are able to craft stronger buildings, then you can start making a larger base. You will still want to start small to go unnoticed and then expand outward. Ideally, you will still want to choose a place that is easy to defend. A cliff, island, or cave helps to mitigate the way players can break into your base. For example, if you have a flying mount, then you can make a base that is solid at the bottom and can only be accessed by flying creatures. While other players can still attack, it’s easier to see them coming. Placing Thralls and Pets around your base to help protect yourself is always a solid idea. You can also build multiple walls to help reinforce your defenses. You can even place Exploding Traps around your base for extra security.

Some players have also used the environment to their advantage by building in areas where players must have the proper clothing to survive. Additionally, many players make Archer nests all around their base so that any players who come close immediately end up assaulted by arrows. This build is great if you want to build walls around your base, giving it several protective layers. You may even want to build a larger decoy base close to your real base to attract attention.

Make sure not just to have a single large room either. By making hallways with sturdy doors inside, you can make several points where the enemy will have to stop and start breaking through your defenses again. You can do this for multiple floors and even make the layout confusing by building in a maze where doors lead to empty rooms or several other hallways with dead ends. The more frustrating it is to get into the heart of your base, the harder it will be to raid. Kill rooms are also a golden idea. These rooms can be filled with Thralls that attack any players on sight. You can also make pits that players will need to overcome to get to the next spot in your base.

If you don’t have a large clan that is on around the clock, things are much harder to protect if you’re on a standard PVE server. Your player and base will be left defenseless while you’re logged out, and sooner or later, you will be attacked even if you build triple-thick walls and have an army of Tier IV Thralls guarding the perimeter. If possible, you should look into putting together a larger clan or joining one, as this is the only real way to protect yourself around the clock.

More Conan Exile Guides¶

If you are looking for more help with Conan Exiles, then check out our helpful guides below.

• Tips for Surviving the Purge - Best Bases - Conan Exiles
• How to Obtain Thralls - Conan Exiles
• Conan Exiles Horse Locations & How To Tame