Best Base Locations in Enshrouded

Find the best Enshrouded base locations for early game, restored towns, central travel, resources, co-op, and late-game water builds.

Last updated: 2026-08-01

The best base location in Enshrouded depends on what the base is meant to do. A first workshop should reduce early travel and resource friction. A permanent town needs enough protected volume for Survivors, storage, production, and decoration. A secondary Flame Altar can be a compact travel anchor near the next region rather than another complete settlement.

For most new players, the open plains beyond Longkeep are the best starter location. Ferndale is a strong early restoration project, while the Blue Goblet Tavern and Glenwood's End suit players who want to rebuild an existing settlement. Later, a high plateau in the Nomad Highlands makes a practical regional hub, and the Veilwater Basin offers the most natural setting for a water-focused endgame build.

Best locations at a glance

Location	Best for	Main advantage	Main drawback
Longkeep starter plains	First playthrough	Close to the opening route with easy building space	Quickly becomes far from later regions
Ferndale	Early village restoration	Existing settlement character in the Springlands	Requires clearing and adapting old structures
Blue Goblet Tavern	Scenic forest home	Ready-made Revelwood landmark and central-region atmosphere	Uneven terrain limits very large layouts
Glenwood's End	Large co-op town	Extensive settlement footprint for restoration	Hostile, distant, and ambitious for an early base
Nomad Highlands plateau	Midgame travel and production	Open terrain and access to a later resource tier	Less convenient for new characters
Veilwater Basin shore	Endgame and water builds	Water access and late-game scenery	High progression requirement and longer setup

1. Longkeep starter plains — best first base

The game points new characters toward open ground after leaving the Cinder Vault and passing through Longkeep. This is the safest general recommendation for a first Flame Altar because it gives you room to learn building, establish shelter, and organize the first Survivors without committing to a complicated ruin.

Choose a patch of ground above the Shroud with enough flat space for a central hall and a separate production wing. Do not spend hours perfecting the first footprint: its main job is to support the Blacksmith, early crafting, storage, and the first expeditions.

Choose this location if: this is your first playthrough or you want the shortest route from awakening to a working base.

Move or expand when: repeated trips into Revelwood and the Nomad Highlands become longer than the crafting convenience is worth.

2. Ferndale — best early restoration base

Ferndale is a Springlands settlement and a good introduction to restoring Embervale rather than building every wall from scratch. Existing houses and roads give the base an immediate sense of place, while the surrounding starting region keeps early materials and objectives within reach.

Clear the area, inspect the structures, and place the Flame Altar so its initial cube covers the part of town you actually intend to preserve. A restoration base can become frustrating when the Altar sits at one edge and important roofs or cellars fall outside the protected volume.

Choose this location if: you want a village aesthetic without waiting for late-game building blocks.

Watch for: hidden rooms, damaged roofs, and uneven floors that make workshop routing harder than an open-field build.

3. Blue Goblet Tavern — best scenic Revelwood base

The Blue Goblet Tavern is a recognizable settlement in Revelwood. It works well as a compact forest home, role-playing base, or secondary hub between the Springlands and northern Revelwood objectives.

Treat the tavern as the visual center, then use the surrounding protected space for a workshop, storage, and Survivor housing. Revelwood terrain is more enclosed than the starting plains, so build vertically or create smaller connected structures instead of forcing one enormous rectangle into the landscape.

Choose this location if: atmosphere and an existing landmark matter more than maximum flat building area.

Watch for: trees, slopes, and the need to position the Flame Altar carefully around the existing structure.

4. Glenwood's End — best town-scale co-op project

Glenwood's End is a large town in the far reaches of Revelwood. It is occupied by Scavengers and tied to the Scavenger Matron encounter, so clear the relevant quest and hostile areas before treating it as a construction site.

The settlement is best approached as a long-term co-op project. Different players can take responsibility for housing, production, roads, defenses, and decoration while preserving the town's original outline. Upgrade the Altar's protected area before making changes at the edges of the settlement.

Choose this location if: your group wants a substantial shared restoration project rather than a compact efficiency base.

Watch for: the travel time, hostile surroundings, and the amount of repair work required before the town feels complete.

5. Nomad Highlands plateau — best midgame resource hub

A broad, above-Shroud plateau in the Nomad Highlands makes an effective functional base once the party's progression moves east. The region provides access to a later crafting tier, and open high ground makes it easier to separate smelting, farming, storage, and living space.

The exact plateau matters less than three checks: it should be safely above the Shroud, have a clean glider approach, and avoid duplicating an Ancient Spire's fast-travel coverage. Place the Altar where it opens a useful new route instead of beside a fast-travel point the group already owns.

Choose this location if: crafting trips and resource hauling now happen mainly outside the Springlands.

Watch for: building a beautiful second town when a small production outpost would solve the actual travel problem.

6. Veilwater Basin shore — best late-game water base

The Veilwater Basin is the natural choice for a late-game waterfront settlement. A shore above the Shroud can support docks, canals, farms, terraces, and a visual connection to the Wake of the Water systems.

Test drainage and water flow in a disposable area before routing water through finished rooms. Complex channels can travel farther than expected, and a decorative experiment is much easier to correct before valuable storage and crafting rooms surround it.

Choose this location if: the group has reached the late game and wants water to be part of the architecture rather than merely a resource.

Watch for: progression requirements, hazardous nearby areas, and the time needed to move a mature production chain.

What makes a base location good?

Fast travel without wasted coverage

Every active Flame Altar is a fast-travel destination. A useful outpost fills a gap between Ancient Spires and regular objectives. An Altar placed beside an existing fast-travel point spends part of its value on a route you already have.

Protected building volume

A Flame Altar protects building and terrain changes inside a three-dimensional cube. The four Altar-area upgrades expand the maximum size from 40 × 40 × 40 to 160 × 160 × 160. Changes outside an active Altar boundary can reset after time passes or the world restarts.

Center the cube around the complete project, including towers, cellars, walls, roads, waterworks, and underground rooms. The Base Planning guide has the complete coverage table.

Space for the real workflow

Before choosing scenery, reserve space for:

Survivor housing and quest access.
Frequently chained crafting stations.
Magic Chests near the stations that use their contents.
Food production, fields, and animal areas.
A sheltered comfort room.
Expansion after the next crafting tier unlocks.

Safe terrain above the Shroud

The Flame Altar must be placed above the Shroud. Scout the complete intended boundary rather than checking only the center point. A nearby Shroud pocket, steep drop, or quest area can make part of an otherwise attractive site awkward to use.

A reason to revisit the base

One complete workshop is usually more useful than several half-finished towns. Give secondary Altars a clear job: regional travel, mining, farming, a water project, or a restoration build. Assistants can duplicate selected services without moving the original craftsperson.

Recommended base progression

Establish a compact workshop in the Longkeep plains.
Keep upgrading that base while rescuing the core Survivors.
Use temporary Altars to shorten resource and quest routes.
Choose Ferndale, the Blue Goblet, or Glenwood's End only if restoration is the desired project.
Add a Nomad Highlands production outpost when eastern hauling becomes repetitive.
Build in Veilwater when water architecture and late-game scenery justify a permanent move.

There is no mechanical requirement to abandon the first base. Fast travel means a well-organized Springlands workshop can remain the main crafting hub for the entire playthrough.

Before committing to a location

Place a temporary Altar and inspect the visible boundary.
Check the roofline, basement depth, and outer wall—not only the floor plan.
Confirm that the site does not interfere with an unfinished quest or desired enemy encounter.
Test glider access from nearby Ancient Spires.
Compare the location with existing fast-travel coverage.
Back up a shared world before undertaking a major restoration.
Build one functional room before transporting every stored item.

Version and sources

Reviewed for Enshrouded v0.9.1.2. Location recommendations are editorial choices based on current region layout and building rules; they are not official rankings.