Necesse: Complete Guide

A practical guide to Necesse's settlement building, boss progression, ores, and settlers, from your first night to Incursions and the Ascended Wizard.

Researched September 2026 — current as of version 1.3.3 (Rust & Romance Update era, patched August 25, 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

What Necesse Is (and What Changed Recently)

Necesse is a top-down sandbox action RPG from Fair Games ApS. You explore an infinite procedurally generated world, fight bosses, mine ore tiers, and build a settlement whose settlers farm, craft, haul, and fight for you. It left Early Access with its 1.0 release on October 16, 2025.

The big recent content drop is the Rust & Romance Update (July 30, 2026). According to the official announcement it added:

• Settler personalities: each settler now has perks (combat or work bonuses) and preferences (needs and wants). Work breaks were replaced with recreation time.
• Romance between you and settlers, including dating activities.
• Bigger biomes.
• The Scrapyard Incursion, with new scrap-themed building tiles such as Scrap Floor, Big Scrap Heap, and Factory Floor (crafted at the Fallen Landscaping Station as of patches 1.3.2 and 1.3.3).

Follow-up patches (1.3.1 to 1.3.3) fixed bugs and changed balance: less Raider damage from big hitters like Greatbows and Greatswords, a Hive Scepter nerf, a fix so a Pirate Captain summoned with a Message in a Bottle drops the deep ladder, a new Clay mining expedition, and a chance for Vampire Raiders to drop the Vampire's Gift trinket. The developer recommends starting a new world to get the full update experience, though old saves still load.

Quick Start

• Talk to the Elder. He's your first settler and hands out the story objectives, which also set the intended boss order, starting with Evil's Protector (the wiki's tier-1 list continues Queen Spider, Void Wizard, and so on up to the Pirate Captain). Story quests also unlock new settler types.
• Claim a settlement early near a mix of forest, water, and a cave entrance. Settlers make everything easier, and you can fight early bosses inside your settlement's defend zone so your settlers help.
• Wood, stone, and copper first. Chop trees, go underground, and upgrade your pickaxe and weapon the moment you have bars. Pickaxe tier limits which ores you can mine.
• Light everything. Torches in your base and cave tunnels stop spawns and make fights readable.
• Pick a class direction early: melee, ranged, magic, or summon. Armor sets and trinkets are built around these, and early boss drops such as the Foci from Evil's Protector push you toward one.
• Store and label chests near workstations. Settlers use storage for crafting and hauling, and one trait (Orderly) cares about things being in the right storage.
• Keep settlers fed and housed. Hungry or unhappy settlers go on strike or leave.
• Boss health scales with party size. The wiki lists +80% base HP per extra player, so co-op doesn't trivialize fights.
• Nights are dangerous. Some bosses (Evil's Protector) must be summoned at night and killed before morning.
• Save your Recall and Travel Scrolls for getting home fast from deep expeditions.

Core Systems

Exploration and the world

The world is infinite and made of biomes: forest/plains, snow, swamp, desert, and more, each with a surface, a cave layer, and later a Deep Cave layer. Each layer has its own ores, enemies, and loot. You reach Deep Caves by getting your first deep ladder from the Pirate Captain.

Ore progression

This order comes from the community wiki's ore list:

Tier | Ore | Where

Early | Copper Ore, Iron Ore, Gold Ore | Any cave

Mid | Ivy Ore | Swamp caves

Late | Tungsten Ore | Any Deep Cave

Late | Glacial Ore | Deep snow caves

Late | Mycelium Ore | Deep swamp caves

Late | Ancient Fossil Ore | Deep desert caves

Endgame | Nightsteel Ore | Graveyard Incursions

Endgame | Spiderite Ore | Spider Castle Incursions

Demonic Bars don't come from mining. Evil's Protector drops them (12 per kill), and they're the main early-game upgrade material. Farm that boss if you want Demonic gear.

Crafting stations

Crafting runs through a chain of workstations (a basic workstation, then more advanced ones such as forges, carpenter and landscaping stations, alchemy and tungsten-tier stations). New recipes unlock as you get better materials. Some decor and tile recipes, such as the scrap tiles, live on the Fallen Landscaping Station, and the Temple Fire Chalice is crafted at the Tungsten Carpenters Station (patch 1.3.2). Everything except unique boss drops can be crafted, and you can craft gear for your settlers too.

Classes and gear

There are no fixed classes. Your weapon type and armor set decide your role:

Style | What it does well | Notes

Melee | Face-tanking, crowd control | Greatswords hit hard. Pair with defensive trinkets

Ranged | Safe boss damage | Bows and Greatbows; guns come later (e.g. Webbed Gun from Queen Spider)

Magic | Burst, piercing | Void Wizard drops the Void Staff or Void Missile

Summon | Passive damage, great in co-op | Summon slots cap your minions. Bee summons were retuned in 1.3.1

Trinkets are a big part of power. Combine them and fill every slot. The Force of Wind dash (guaranteed from Evil's Protector) is a strong mobility tool early on.

Settlements and Settlers

Recruiting

Settlers are hired with coins and items they like. Villager, Angler, Farmer, Guard, Blacksmith, and Miner have no requirements; the rest unlock through story quests. Per the wiki:

Settler | Unlock condition

Alchemist, Gunsmith | Complete the "Kill Evil's Protector" quest

Animal Keeper | "Kill Evil's Protector" quest (when found in an NPC village)

Mage | Complete the "Kill Void Wizard" quest

Trader | Complete the "Kill Runebound Chieftain" quest

Explorer | Complete the "Kill Pirate Captain" quest

Hunter | Defeat an Ancient Vulture (when found in an NPC village)

Broken Pirate | Complete the "Kill Reaper" quest

Stylist | "Kill Reaper" quest, or a Pirate Captain kill (NPC village)

Traveling NPCs and settlers you rescue or earn from Incursions add to your population. Since 1.3.3, settlers rewarded from Incursions barely take damage and are immune to damage-over-time.

Keeping them happy

• Food: settlers constantly eat, around 100 nutrition every 20 minutes according to the wiki. Better food means more happiness.
• Rooms: bigger rooms with more furniture raise happiness. Give every settler a real bedroom, not a closet.
• Personalities (since July 2026): each settler has perks and preferences. Meet a settler's preferences, such as a favorite dish or hobbies like jogging or gardening, and happiness goes up a lot, which boosts work and combat. The settler list shows a quality-of-life indicator so you can spot problems.
• Unhappy or hungry settlers strike or leave, so check the settlement menu after long trips.

Jobs

Every settler can haul, craft, chop, and farm. Specialists add more:

Settler | Signature job

Farmer | Fertilizes and tends fields

Hunter | Hunts critters

Miner | Mining

Blacksmith, Alchemist, Gunsmith | Shop-type settlers; check what each sells once recruited

Mage | Enchants equipment

Guards | Defend the settlement during raids

Set work priorities per settler in the settlement menu. Keep your best fighters on guard duty and give them your spare armor and weapons. You can quick-transfer gear into settler equipment slots (fixed in 1.3.3).

Expeditions and trade

Some settlers can be sent on expeditions that bring back resources or loot without you leaving home. Mining expeditions now include Clay (1.3.2), and Forest Cave expeditions can return Vampire Crypt loot. Sell surplus goods and buy gear from neighboring settlements to get ahead of your normal progression.

Defense

Raiders attack settlements. Build walls and doors, place traps, and arm guards. Raider damage from heavy weapons was cut significantly in 1.3.1, so early raids are more forgiving than before.

Boss Progression

The community wiki groups bosses into three tiers. Beating certain bosses unlocks the next layer of the game:

• Pirate Captain gives you the Deep Cave ladder.
• Sage and Grit opens the Temple.
• Fallen Wizard gives your first Gateway Tablet, which unlocks Incursions.

Tier 1: Pre-Deep Cave bosses

Boss | How you get there | Key drops

Evil's Protector | Use a Mysterious Portal on the surface at night. Kill it before 6:30 AM or it despawns. Portals drop from mobs and Forest Cave chests | 12 Demonic Bar, Force of Wind, one Foci (melee/magic/range/summon), Demon Heart on first kill

Queen Spider | Break a Royal Egg in a spider nest in snow caves (also from mobs and snow cave chests) | Cave Spider Glands; one of Spider Claw, Spider Charm, Webbed Gun, Frost Piercer; Spider Heart on first kill

Void Wizard | Bottom floor of the Dungeon. Craft a Dungeon Map to locate it. Resummon later with a Void Caller | Void Shards; Void Staff, Void Missile, or Magic Stilts; Empty Pendant on first kill

Runebound Chieftain | Ruins | Check the wiki's drop table

Swamp Guardian | Swamp biome | Check the wiki's drop table

Ancient Vulture | Desert | Killing it unlocks Hunter recruitment

Pirate Captain | Pirate area on the coast; also summonable with a Message in a Bottle | Your first deep ladder

Tier 2: Deep Cave bosses

Reaper, Cryo Queen, The Cursed Crone, Pest Warden, Sage and Grit, and Fallen Wizard. Sage and Grit opens the Temple, and the Fallen Wizard waits inside it and drops your first Gateway Tablet.

Tier 3: Incursions

Incursions are instanced challenge levels you open with Gateway Tablets at the incursion structure. Each has a biome theme, rewards, and a boss:

Mother Slime, Night Swarm, Spider Empress, Moonlight Dancer, Sunlight Champion, Crystal Dragon, and the Ascended Wizard, whose defeat rolls the credits. Incursions also hold the endgame ores (Nightsteel in Graveyard Incursions, Spiderite in Spider Castle Incursions). The new Scrapyard Incursion from the Rust & Romance Update adds its own enemies and scrap building tiles.

Each boss guarantees one of its unique items per kill until you own them all. After that, drops are random. Farm bosses for your whole set with that in mind.

Boss tips that work everywhere

• Build an arena. Clear a big flat area, light it, and add Banner Stands for buffs (you can place these even in the Void Wizard's room).
• Bring potions and food buffs. Alchemy potions and cooked food add real power.
• Fight early bosses at home. In your settlement's defend zone, your settlers join in.
• Queen Spider: dig out and light a big room first, dodge her charges, and punish her while she lays eggs or spits venom.
• Void Wizard: don't destroy his clones in phase one. Each one you kill adds bouncing projectiles that last the whole fight. Burst him while he transforms at 50%.

First-Day Priorities (Checklist)

• Talk to the Elder and read the story objectives.
• Gather wood and stone, craft a workstation, and make basic tools.
• Put down a small home with a bed and torches before dusk.
• Find a cave, mine copper and iron, and upgrade your pickaxe and weapon.
• Claim your settlement and recruit your first extra settler.
• Set up a small farm and cook food. Settlers need it.
• Build a storage room next to your crafting stations.
• Aim for Evil's Protector on a night when you have a decent weapon and some healing.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Summoning Evil's Protector at dawn. It despawns at 6:30 AM and you lose the attempt.
• Tiny settler rooms. Room size and furniture drive happiness. Cramped rooms tank productivity.
• Ignoring personalities. Since the Rust & Romance Update, meeting preferences is the main way to get large happiness gains.
• Fighting in unlit caves. Mobs keep spawning and fights get chaotic. Carve and light an arena first.
• Skipping armor sets. A matching set plus trinkets beats a higher-tier weapon with no armor.
• Hoarding. Sell surplus to neighbors and buy upgrades early.
• Playing on an outdated server. Patches 1.3.1 to 1.3.3 require hosts to update. Mismatched versions cause join failures or missing fixes. Older builds are under Steam Properties, Game Versions and Betas.
• Destroying Void Wizard clones in phase one.

Advanced Tips

• Scale settlers like party members. With good personality perks and full gear, settlers become serious combat allies. Give guards your old armor sets instead of salvaging them.
• Use expeditions for materials you hate farming, like Clay and cave loot, while you do bosses.
• Boomerangs and salvaging: salvaging gear returns essence. 1.3.3 fixed wrong boomerang essence amounts, so recheck your salvage math if you skipped it before.
• Summoners in co-op: summon slots and the Companion Locket (fixed in 1.3.2 to scale with slots) make summoners strong support. Settlers despawn their own summons after 10 seconds out of combat (1.3.2 hotfix), which keeps performance up.
• Mutant Hydra got a bit more resistant to AoE in 1.3.3. Bring single-target damage.
• Pyromancy weapons no longer deal max-health-percent damage to some bosses (1.3.1). Don't count on that trick anymore.
• Dedicated servers scale to many players, and the world adapts. For big groups, split roles: one builder, one farmer, one miner, and a boss squad.

FAQ

What's the boss order in Necesse? Follow the Elder's story objectives, which start with Evil's Protector. After the early bosses come the other surface and cave bosses up to the Pirate Captain (deep ladder), then the Deep Cave bosses up to Sage and Grit and the Fallen Wizard (first Gateway Tablet), then Incursion bosses ending with the Ascended Wizard.

How do I get to the Deep Caves? Beat the Pirate Captain for the deep ladder. As of 1.3.3, a Pirate Captain summoned with a Message in a Bottle also drops it.

Should I start a new world for the Rust & Romance Update? The developers recommend it for the full experience (bigger biomes, new generation), but old saves still work.

Why are my settlers on strike? Low happiness, usually from hunger, small or bare rooms, or unmet personality preferences. Check the settler list's quality-of-life indicator.

Is Necesse good solo? Yes. The world adapts to solo, co-op, or big dedicated servers, and settlers fill the party role. Boss HP grows about 80% per extra player, so co-op stays challenging.

How do Incursions work? Put a Gateway Tablet into the incursion structure to open a timed, instanced level with a boss and rewards. The Fallen Wizard drops your first tablet.

Can I play an older version? Yes. Steam Properties, Game Versions and Betas lists older builds, which is useful if your server hasn't updated.

Sources

• Necesse on Steam
• Necesse Steam news (Rust & Romance Update, patches 1.3.1 to 1.3.3)
• Necesse Wiki: Bosses
• Necesse Wiki: Ores
• Necesse Wiki: Settlers
• Necesse Wiki: Evil's Protector
• Necesse Wiki: Queen Spider
• Necesse Wiki: Void Wizard