Kenshi: Survival Guide

A survival guide for Kenshi's brutal open world: choosing a start, not dying in the first hours, making money, training stats efficiently, building a squad and an outpost, and handling the factions that want you dead.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Kenshi 1.0.68 (free camera mode, April 2024), still the latest patch; Lo-Fi reported 3 million copies sold in May 2026. The game is stable and complete, and Lo-Fi Games is building Kenshi 2 (Unreal Engine). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

You are nobody. No chosen-one stats and no level scaling. Everything that starts stronger than you stays stronger until you train.
Getting beaten up is how you train. Toughness and many combat stats rise from taking hits and getting knocked out and back up. Losing isn't failure, it's XP.
Save often. Kenshi is sandbox chaos. Save before you travel, fight or steal, and keep several save files.
Carry food and first aid. Hunger and untreated wounds kill. Buy dried meat or food cubes and first aid kits early.
Earn your first cats by mining. Find copper or iron ore near a town, mine it, and sell it to a general store or bar. Boring but safe.
Recruit as soon as you can afford it. A second body lets someone carry the unconscious one to safety. Bars sell recruitable characters.
Run from what you can't beat. Starving, Hungry and Dust Bandits roam everywhere. Lead them into town guards, or just keep running.
Don't build an outpost too early. Raids scale with your base, and an undefended outpost is free loot for other factions.
Pause often (Space). Kenshi is real-time with pause. Micromanage fights, retreats and first aid while paused.

Choosing a Start

Start	Difficulty	Why pick it
Wanderer	Standard	Classic solo start. Good for learning
Freedom Seekers	Easier	A small group, so you have spare hands to carry the wounded
The Holy Sword	Harder	A decent sword, but in dangerous territory
Rock Bottom	Very hard	Starts injured, penniless and in trouble
Slave	Hard	Starts enslaved. Plan an escape
The Nobodies	Easier (numbers)	A large, weak group with cash for an outpost-first game
Cannibal Hunters	Moderate	A small armed band near cannibal lands
Mongrel	Hard	Starts in the town of Mongrel, surrounded by Fogmen

This is a selection, not the full list; the game offers more starts (including race- and faction-flavoured ones), and the difficulty labels here are rough community impressions. The new-game screen shows each start's party, location, money and relations, so read it before committing.

First run: Wanderer or Freedom Seekers. Starting in or near The Hub, a small Border Zone town with ore to mine in the surrounding area, makes the early game much gentler.

Races

Race	Strengths	Weaknesses and social notes
Greenlander (human)	Farming and science bonuses	Average combat
Scorchlander (human)	Heat-hardy, good at smithing	Average combat
Shek	Tough, strong melee	Slower learning in some stats. Honor culture
Hive (Prince, Soldier Drone, Worker Drone)	Specialized drones	Holy Nation hostility, lower max health (varies by type)
Skeleton	No food needed, repairs in beds, strong labor	Costly repairs, hated by the Holy Nation

The Holy Nation treats non-humans harshly and has strict rules about religious items and women. Scout their towns carefully with mixed squads.

Survival Basics

Hunger: characters get weaker as they get hungry. Stock one food type in a shared inventory and let them eat automatically.
Injuries: each limb has its own health. A downed character bleeds out unless someone bandages them. Carry them (select an ally, then the pick-up option) to a bed.
Limb loss: losing arms or legs is survivable. Prosthetic skeleton limbs replace them (sold by skeleton smiths, or crafted later through robotics research).
Beds and medics: resting in a bed speeds healing a lot. Rent or buy beds in towns, or build them.
Weather: acid rain, burning gas and similar hazards damage exposed characters. Check the region's weather before you cross.

Making Money

Method	Stage	Notes
Mining copper/iron	Early	Safe near towns. Also levels Labouring and Strength
Hauling loot	Early–mid	Strip gear from beaten bandits and sell at shops
Bounties	Mid	Capture bounty targets and turn them in to the right faction (tie them up and carry them in)
Crafting	Mid–late	Armor, weapons, hashish, rum, food. Needs research and base buildings
Theft	Any	Stealing trains Thievery. Sell stolen goods to Shinobi Thieves traders
Outpost economy	Late	Automated mining, farming and production at your base

Training Your Stats

Kenshi stats level by doing the thing, and they level faster when you're outclassed:

Stat	Fastest way to train
Toughness	Getting knocked out and recovering. Fighting stronger enemies and losing without dying
Strength	Carrying heavy loads while overencumbered
Athletics	Running, especially while encumbered
Dexterity / Melee Attack	Fighting (attacking) with weapons
Melee Defence / Dodge	Blocking and dodging in fights against stronger enemies
Martial Arts	Unarmed fighting (use proper martial arts gear later)
Stealth	Sneaking, especially near enemies or in towns
Lockpicking	Picking locks (practice on lower-level locks first)
Thievery	Stealing items from shops and people
Assassination	Knocking out targets from stealth
Labouring, Farming, Science, Engineering, Smithing	Doing those jobs at your outpost

Training dummies train melee attack and defence, but only up to a cap. Past that, you have to fight real enemies.

Classic early loop: mine ore near a town while bandits wander in. Fight them with the town guards' help, heal in a bed, and repeat. Toughness, attack and defence all climb together.

Combat Basics

Weapons have types: Sabres, Hackers, Heavy weapons, Blunt, Polearms, Katanas and Crossbows. Each scales with Dexterity and/or Strength differently.
Armor has trade-offs: heavy armor slows attacks and dodges and hurts Stealth, but it saves lives early.
Numbers beat skill early. Fight with the whole squad and gang up on the strongest enemy.
Crossbows hit hard, but their users need cover. Put crossbow units behind melee and walls.
Retreat early. A character dropping below half health should run toward town guards.
Knockouts: unconscious characters get looted or enslaved, or (with cannibals) eaten. Keep a healthy squadmate close.

Factions to Know

Faction	Attitude	Notes
Holy Nation	Zealous humans	Hostile to non-humans. Strict inspections
United Cities	Noble empire	Slavery is legal. Big cities and strong samurai
Shek Kingdom	Warrior culture	Respects strength
Tech Hunters	Explorers	Buy artifacts and research items
Traders Guild	Merchants	Controls trade and slaver markets
Shinobi Thieves	Criminals	Safehouses sell to and buy from thieves
Anti-Slavers	Rebels	Fight slavers
Flotsam Ninjas	Rebels	Fight the Holy Nation
Cannibals, Fogmen, Beak Things, Leviathans	Hostile/wildlife	Avoid until you're strong
Dust / Hungry / Starving Bandits	Hostile	Early threats. Good training fodder

World states change. Killing or capturing major faction leaders can permanently change towns, factions and the map. Kenshi's world reacts to what you do.

Outposts and Research

Pick a site with good groundwater, ore and fertility, and ideally away from Holy Nation or cannibal paths.
Build in this order: storage, research bench, walls and gate, beds, food production (wells and farms), then turrets.
Research unlocks buildings and crafting. Higher tiers need books and later AI cores, which you buy from Tech Hunters or find in ruins.
Raids get bigger as your outpost grows and as faction relations change. Plan defenses before expanding.
Automation: assign characters to jobs (mining, farming, crafting) in the jobs menu, and let them work while you're away.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

One save file. A single bad fight can lock you into disaster. Rotate saves.
Building an outpost on day one. You'll be raided before you can defend it.
Walking into the Holy Nation with non-humans or without the right attitude.
Leaving unconscious squadmates behind. Carry them out, and use first aid while paused.
Starving your squad. Food spoils over time. Stock enough, and eat the old food first.
Fighting Beak Things, Leviathans or Cannibals early. They'll wipe a young squad.
Stealing in plain sight. Guards will chase you, and a sentence can end with slavery.
Ignoring encumbrance. Overloaded characters are slow, which is deadly in the wrong place (though great for training Strength).

Advanced Tips

Skeleton limbs: some players deliberately use prosthetic limbs for their bonuses. Weigh their stats against organic limbs.
Weight training: filling a character's backpack with ore or iron plates while they travel trains Strength and Athletics together.
Stealth assassination plus carrying lets you quietly capture bounty targets.
Crossbow wall: a walled outpost with crossbow and harpoon turrets handles most raids.
Recruitable characters are unique. Many special recruits exist around the world. Look for dialogue opportunities in bars and prisons.
Mods: Kenshi has a huge Steam Workshop. Quality-of-life, UI, recruitment and animation mods are popular. Load order matters, so read each mod's notes.
Free camera (1.0.68): toggle it with the ";" key for screenshots and videos.

FAQ

Is Kenshi still updated? It's complete and stable. The latest patch notes (1.0.68) added free camera mode, and Lo-Fi is focused on Kenshi 2.

What's the easiest start? Wanderer or Freedom Seekers are the usual recommendations; check the new-game screen for each start's location and party.

How do I train Toughness? Get knocked out and recover over and over. Fight stronger enemies near friendly guards or with a squad ready to pick you up.

How do I get prosthetic limbs? Buy skeleton limbs from skeleton limb smiths, or research robotics to craft your own.

Where can I sell stolen items? Shinobi Thieves traders at their safehouses buy stolen goods.

Is Kenshi 2 coming? Yes. It was announced in March 2019, is being built in Unreal Engine, and is set 1,000 years before the first game. As of September 2026 there's no release date.

How big is the map? About 870 square kilometers of seamless world, with no level scaling.