---
title: "Foxhole: Beginner-to-Veteran Guide"
game: "Foxhole"
game_url: "https://qna.gg/games/foxhole"
author: "Qloud"
author_url: "https://qna.gg/players/Qloud"
topics: ["Builds", "Beginners"]
summary: "A guide to Foxhole's persistent war: picking a faction, your first hours, the logistics chain that runs the whole game, frontline combat, and what the Airborne era (air warfare) and Updates 64–67 changed. Researched…"
url: "https://qna.gg/g/foxhole-beginner-to-veteran-guide-d77f4805"
published: "2026-09-27T20:19:04.251Z"
updated: "2026-09-27T20:19:04.251Z"
source: "QnA.GG"
---

# Foxhole: Beginner-to-Veteran Guide

A guide to Foxhole's persistent war: picking a faction, your first hours, the logistics chain that runs the whole game, frontline combat, and what the Airborne era (air warfare) and Updates 64–67 changed.

*Researched September 2026, current as of Update 66 (live 18 August 2026, when a new World Conquest also began) with Update 67 previewed on 16 September 2026. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.*

## Quick Start

1. **Choose your faction carefully.** You fight for the **Wardens** or the **Colonials**. Once you've played for a faction you're locked to it until the war ends (new, low-rank players get limited leeway to switch; check the current rules on the wiki).
2. **Pick a busy shard.** ABLE has historically been the most populated. More players means more logistics and more fights.
3. **Start in the Home Region, then deploy.** Set up your character at the barracks, check the map for active fronts, then deploy to a region at war.
4. **Take only what you need from stockpiles.** Every rifle and bullet was made by another player. A rifle, 2–3 magazines, bandages and a hammer is a normal kit.
5. **Bandages stop bleeding but don't heal.** Get to a medic or a base.
6. **Do logistics.** The team with better supply wins the war. Delivering a truck of shirts and ammunition to the front can matter more than a dozen kills.
7. **Join a regiment or squad.** Voice chat and organisation make everything easier, especially logistics, tanks, naval and aircraft crews.
8. **Earn commendations.** You rank up through commendations from teammates, which you get for helping with kills, heals, revives, repairs and building.

## Default Controls (common binds)

| Action | Default key |
|---|---|
| Move | W/A/S/D |
| Sprint | Shift |
| Map | M |
| Inventory | Tab |
| Interact | E |
| Build menu | B |
| Chat | Enter |
| Aim / Fire | Right mouse / Left mouse |

Stances, voice chat and item-slot keys vary with your settings. Update 66 added **new keybinding options**, so open Settings > Keybindings once and learn crouch/prone, push-to-talk (local and squad) and your equipment slots before you deploy.

## How a War Works

- The world is a map of hex **regions**. Each region has towns and bases.
- **Victory:** a faction must hold a set number of **Victory Towns** (towns with Town Halls that count toward victory). The required number is set per war; check the war report or the wiki for the current target.
- **Starting Conditions** change every war and can adjust regions and facilities. Since Update 66 you can see the Starting Conditions in-game in the **State of the War** tent in the Home Region during the **Resistance Phase** (the break between wars).
- **War length** varies a lot, from about a week for a lopsided war to well over a month for a close one.

## The Logistics Chain

Everything in Foxhole is produced by players, like this:

| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Gather | Collect raw resources at fields and mines: **Salvage**, **Components**, **Sulfur**, Oil and others |
| Refine | At a **Refinery**: Salvage becomes **Basic Materials** (bmats), Diesel or Explosive Powder. Components become **Refined Materials** (rmats). Sulfur becomes **Heavy Explosive Powder**. |
| Produce | At a **Factory** (and more advanced production buildings), materials become crates of rifles, ammo, grenades, medical supplies, uniforms and more |
| Store | Crates go into a **Storage Depot** or **Seaport** stockpile |
| Deliver | Trucks, trains, ships and now aircraft move supplies to frontline bases |

**Your first logistics run:**

1. Get a truck from a Storage Depot or Seaport (or a Garage).
2. Go to a Salvage field, gather with your hammer, and fill the truck.
3. Unload at a Refinery to make Basic Materials.
4. Take the Basic Materials to a Factory, queue useful crates (ask in chat or on the regiment Discord what the front needs), and pick them up when done.
5. Deliver the crates to a frontline base. Soldier Supplies (used for respawns), ammo, rifles and bandages are always needed.

**Tips:**

- **Check the map's stockpile intel before producing.** Make what's running low.
- **Stockpiles:** public stockpiles are shared with your faction. Reserved stockpiles are locked by code for regiments.
- **Squad Storage at Refineries (Update 66):** squad members can send refinery output to shared squad storage and collect it as long as they stay in the squad.
- **Don't abandon a loaded truck** on the road. Park it at a depot.

## Bases and Building

- **Town Halls and Relic Bases** are the key bases in a region, and Town Halls count toward victory.
- **Bunker Bases** are player-built forward bases with defenses and spawning.
- **Respawns** use Soldier Supplies from the base's stockpile. Set a Home Base plus a player-built forward base as your spawn points.
- **Trenches and bunkers** protect a front. Build in layers, and underground bunkers can hold ammo storage, engine rooms, intel centers and artillery emplacements.
- **Watch towers** reveal enemy positions on the map within their range.
- **Weather** matters. Storms freeze rivers, disable equipment and reduce artillery effectiveness. Since Update 66, redesigned Weather Stations can give your whole faction storm predictions.

## Combat Basics

- **Stay in cover and move in groups.** Lone players die to machine guns and artillery.
- **Use a spotter.** Binoculars and watch towers find targets for artillery and mortars.
- **Medics win pushes.** Revive, heal and carry the wounded back.
- **Engineers keep tanks alive.** Tanks can be tracked, lose fuel through ruptured tanks, or be disabled. Armour uses penetration and deflection, so angle and flanking matter.
- **Don't feed.** If a push fails, fall back and regroup rather than respawning straight into the same machine gun.

## Air War (Airborne and Updates 64–66)

**Airborne** (9 February 2026) added player-flown aircraft, paratroopers, airfields and hangars, ground crews who rearm and repair planes, and aircraft whose subsystems can be damaged separately. Later updates focused on countering air:

| Update | Air-related additions |
|---|---|
| 64 (26 May 2026) | AA light tanks: Colonial **HA-1 "Sagaris"** and Warden **Sharkey-Devitt Birdeater Mk. I**, both from the Garage. Second scout planes: Colonial **A59 Venti "Perdix"** (mini torpedoes) and Warden **Luminary Mk. VI Emissary** (drops mines). Mounted Machine Guns got an AA mode. |
| 65 (7 July 2026) | AI **Anti-Aircraft Guns** at some rear airfields and towns. **Air Siren** (alerts when a non-scout enemy aircraft is within 500 m). Field Machine Guns got an AA mode. Mine Boats can lay **Torpedo Nets**. Bombers got an intel icon. |
| 66 (18 August 2026) | Warden **Rinnspeir Mk. I "Zealot"** redesigned with faster paratrooper deployment. New Colonial heavy fighter **Daimon aK-5 "Harpy"**. Coastal Guns can now engage Large Ships. Aircraft recovery and scouting improvements. |

**If you're on the ground:** place an Air Siren near the front, keep an AA tank or an AA-mode machine gun with your push, and spread out when bombers show up.

## Naval Notes

Large Ships (battleships, destroyers, submarines) support beach landings and control the sea. The Update 67 preview (16 September 2026) re-enables **cross-world Ocean Travel**, letting Large Ships travel east–west between **The Oarbreaker Isles** and **Lykos Isle**, even if those hexes are disabled during a war. It also previews a new liquid-carrying Large Ship and a Radar Bunker. Update 67 is the last minor update of 2026. **Update 68** is planned as the bigger year-end content update.

## Roles at a Glance

| Role | What you do | Good first step |
|---|---|---|
| Frontline infantry | Hold trenches, push towns, medic and revive | Deploy with a squad, carry bandages, stay near your base |
| Logistics | Gather, refine, produce and deliver | Do one salvage-to-front run solo, then join a logi squad |
| Builder/engineer | Trenches, bunkers, base upkeep, repairs | Bring a hammer and materials to a quiet sector and ask what to build |
| Artillery | Spot and shell enemy positions | Learn to use binoculars as a spotter first |
| Tank crew | Driver, gunner, commander and engineer roles | Join a regiment that already runs armour |
| Trains/Facilities | Long-haul supply and mass production | Help an existing facility before building your own |
| Naval | Large Ships, beach landings, sea control | Crew for a regiment's ship before commanding one |
| Air | Pilots, gunners and ground crew | Start as ground crew rearming and repairing planes |

## Common Mistakes to Avoid

- **Taking gear you don't need.** Emptying a frontline stockpile can lose the town.
- **Joining the faction your friends aren't on.** You're locked for the whole war.
- **Driving trucks alone through contested areas at night** with no escort.
- **Building structures nobody will supply.** Bases need upkeep materials.
- **Ignoring chat and map intel.** Other players have usually already reported where help is needed.
- **Leaving vehicles out in the open.** Unattended vehicles decay or get stolen.

## Advanced Tips

- **Specialise.** Veterans usually pick a lane: logistics, facilities, artillery, tanks, naval or air. Regiments organise around these roles.
- **Facilities** (player-built industrial bases) can turn into mass production centers. They're a long-term project best done with a regiment.
- **Trains** move huge amounts of supplies. A protected rail line can change a war.
- **Partisan play** behind enemy lines, like cutting logistics or sabotaging infrastructure, is a real contribution. Now paratroopers can do it too.
- **Read the devblogs.** Balance changes every ~6 weeks under the current development cycle, and each war's Starting Conditions change the map.

## FAQ

**Is Foxhole free?**
No. It's a one-time purchase on Steam.

**Can I switch factions mid-war?**
Generally no: once you've committed to a faction you're locked until the war ends. Very new players have limited leeway, so pick carefully and check the wiki for the current rule.

**How long does a war last?**
It varies, from under a week to over a month. When a war ends there's a short Resistance Phase before the next one starts.

**What should a new player do to help?**
Logistics. Gather salvage, refine it, produce what the front needs, and deliver it. Or join a regiment that will teach you.

**Can I fly planes?**
Yes, since Airborne (February 2026). Aircraft need airfields, hangars and ground crews. Joining an air regiment is the easiest way to learn.

**What's in Update 67?**
Cross-world Ocean Travel, a new liquid Large Ship, a Radar Bunker, water visual effects, security fixes and balance changes. Update 68 is the bigger end-of-2026 release.

## Sources

- [Foxhole on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/505460/)
- [Foxhole Steam news (Updates 64–67, Airborne)](https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/505460)
- [Foxhole Wiki: Getting Started](https://foxhole.wiki.gg/wiki/Community_Guides/Getting_Started)
- [Foxhole Wiki: World Conquest](https://foxhole.wiki.gg/wiki/World_Conquest)