Location is everything
Build close to the Lab so deaths are cheap and trips are short. Water nearby means you never starve on the walk home.
Walls, not floors
Bugs climb and dig, but they path around solid walls. A ring of grass walls with one door is enough early. Upgrade to weed stems later.
Inside the base
Keep a workbench, a smoker and storage inside the walls. A defended crafting spot is worth more than a pretty one.
Defense and automation
Once stable, add planters and a dew collector so food and water come to you. Turrets and walls turn a base into a fortress over time.
Expand in tiers
Grow the base as your gear grows. A huge early base is a chore to defend; a small safe one is a launch pad.
The bugs that attack your base
Most Grounded creatures are Neutral until you hit them, but a handful are Angry by default and attack on sight — those are the ones that turn an exposed base into a nightly raid. The roster below is the dangerous set (aggression and stats from the in-game bestiary); everything else mostly ignores a base that is not in its path.
| Creature | Threat | Weak to | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director Schmector | Boss, 4000 HP | Sour | Late-game only; wall it out and cover with turrets + smoothies |
| Assistant Manager | Boss, 1400 HP | — | Same approach; keep it outside your walls |
| Black Widow | 3000 HP | Sour | Bring high poison resist; never melee without a heal plan |
| Antlion | 750 HP (pit 1200) | Salty | Avoid its movement-slow pit; kite on open ground |
| Dust Mite | 400 HP | Fresh | Easy alone, dangerous in swarms; use AoE |
| Wolf Spider | 850 HP | Spicy | Fast and aggressive; perimeter walls + a light source |
| Bombardier Beetle | 500 HP | Fresh | Sprays gas; keep your distance |
| Diving Bell Spider | 150 HP | Salty | Weak alone, dangerous in groups |
| Fire Worker Ant | 600 HP | Fresh | Stuns on hit; bring stun resist or avoid |
| Black Widowling | 150 HP | Spicy | Juvenile widow; low priority |
| Stinkbug | 500 HP | Fresh | Shells up and blocks; break the shell or go around |
Build walls and a light source (a torch, or the Buddy Bump / Budding Ballad buff) — most Angry bugs calm down or avoid lit, enclosed spaces. Leave one entrance and cover it with a turret so you fight on your terms instead of getting surrounded.
Build where bugs can’t reach
Base placement matters more than size — up on a lifted platform or behind a wall keeps the small threats out. Anchor near the resource you farm, and leave a safe route back. A tidy, defensible base survives the night; a sprawling open one gets overrun.
Where to actually place it
Build on a raised platform, a large flat leaf, or behind a wall you can seal at night. Ground-level bases get walked into by patrolling ants while you sleep. Keep the base within a short run of the node you farm most — wood, weed stems, or pebbles — so restocking does not mean crossing the yard. Run a zipline from the base to a nearby landmark so you can escape a chase without fighting through the open.
Defenses that matter
A wall plus a lit perimeter stops most wanderers; bugs avoid lit areas, so torch the approaches. Stock a few chests inside the walls so a death outside does not lose the haul. Build a second, smaller stash away from the main base so a raid on the primary does not end the run.
Don’t sprawl
Every extra platform is another edge something can climb. Build up in tiers you can defend, not out across ground you cannot watch. The moment a base feels too big to secure, split the next build into its own outpost.