Why this system controls everything
In Enshrouded 1.0, most crafting does not come from a skill tree. It comes from people.
Melee gear, magic gear, bows, furniture, storage, potions, crops and animal bait all belong to craftspeople who are asleep in pods inside Ancient Vaults. Until you wake them and bring them home, your base can only build simple things.
The loop is always the same:
- Travel to the vault.
- Fight through its guards and solve its puzzle.
- Interact with the glowing pod to wake the survivor and claim their soul.
- Return to your base and use the Summoning Staff near a Flame Altar to place them.
Confirm it worked by checking your base’s Craftspeople counter — it goes up, for example from 3/11 to 4/11.
The five core craftspeople
All five vaults sit in or just around the Springlands, the starting biome, and they form a loose chain around the Springlands Ancient Spire.
| Survivor | Vault area | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Blacksmith — Oswald Anders | North of the Cinder Vault (Springlands) | Melee armour and weapons, metalworking |
| Alchemist — Balthazar | Western Springlands | Magic armour, potions, Shroud consumables |
| Carpenter — Cade Hawthorn | Eastern Springlands / Low Meadows | Wood building, furniture, storage, traversal tools |
| Hunter — Athalan Skree | East of the Springlands Spire (Low Meadows) | Ranged gear, arrows, fur and leather |
| Farmer — Emily Fray | Northwestern tip of the Springlands | Food, seedlings, farm animals |
The chain, walking it in order from the Blacksmith: Alchemist is to the north-west, Farmer north-east of the Alchemist, Hunter south-east of the Farmer, Carpenter south-east of the Hunter.
The vault puzzles
Each vault has its own obstacle, and this is where most people get stuck:
- Oswald Anders: interact with the statue inside the vault. This is the simplest one, which is why he is first.
- Emily Fray (Farmer): find three switches to open the main hall. Her vault also adds lava pits and pressure traps, and a gate that opens only after three wall rune buttons are pressed.
- Athalan Skree (Hunter): solve the temple puzzle, then take her essence from the topmost urn.
- Cade Hawthorn (Carpenter): his vault sits inside the Shroud — you have to pick through a wall to reach it.
- Balthazar (Alchemist): in the west of the Springlands.
Difficulty rises as you go. The Carpenter’s entrance has level 7 Fell guards and archers on stone pillars, with insect swarms and banshees inside.
The other six survivors
Your Craftspeople counter goes to 11, because the full list extends past the five core roles.
| Survivor | Role | Location | How to reach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alden Crowley | Collector | End of a Hollow Halls dungeon (Springlands) | Quest from Balthazar, after the Farmer and Carpenter are home and you finish Growing Together and Carpentry Assistance |
| Valory | Bard | Sunken City (Blackmire) | The ruins open only after you find three buttons. Follow the Melody |
| Captain Melville Fontane | Fisher | Old Captain’s Rest (Veilwater Basin) | A high-level region most players reach late |
| Elio Ridge | Barber | Elder’s Nocturnal Sanctum (Jubilation Woods) | Light Up The Night |
| Loran Krimm | Ancient Researcher | Cinder’s Cradle, far north of the map | Heart of the Cinder main quest |
| Chen Mei Yin | Lunar New Year merchant | Roadside near the Rotten Ring (Low Meadows) | Her remains are beside an overturned cart in the Shroud, between the Carpenter’s and Hunter’s vaults. Quest from Cade Hawthorn |
What each craftsperson’s workstations add
A survivor alone is not enough — they unlock stations, and the stations unlock the recipes.
| Craftsperson | Workstations |
|---|---|
| Blacksmith | Charcoal Kiln → Forge → Smelter → Blast Furnace (later) |
| Alchemist | Mortar, Grinding Stones, Alchemy Station, Laboratory, Mill |
| Carpenter | Kiln, Table Saw, Masonry Tools |
| Hunter | Drying Rack, Tanning Station, Spinning Wheel, Loom |
| Farmer | Seedbed, Cooking Station, Oven, plus beekeeping gear |
If a recipe is missing, you are almost certainly missing a station, not a survivor.
The rescue order that actually matters
- Blacksmith first. His vault is nearest the start, and his rescue unlocks the Summoning Staff recipe. Nothing else can be placed at your base until you have it. In 1.0’s intended pacing he is your second level-up, right after placing your first Flame Altar.
- Then follow your build. The Carpenter for storage and traversal tools, the Hunter for bows and leather, the Alchemist for potions and magic, the Farmer for food and animal bait.
- Farmer early if you want animals. Every bait, food, feeder and bed comes from her — see how to tame animals.
A full 1.0 progression typically starts a base with three craftspeople and pushes to five by adding the Carpenter and Farmer.
Placing survivors properly
- The Summoning Staff recipe unlocks after the Blacksmith rescue and costs 1 Twig. Use it near a Flame Altar inside your base.
- Survivors need a roofed shelter and an assigned bed to stay content and work at full efficiency.
- While placing a survivor, hold Ctrl and scroll to set their roaming radius — from 0 m (standing still) up to wide ranges. If you want a blacksmith who stays at his forge, set it to 0.
- Rescues are saved to the world, not the character, so everyone on that world shares them.
Give each survivor their own room rather than one shared workshop. It is not just cosmetic — it keeps storage organised and the settlement readable.