Beginner's Guide

5:52 In Enshrouded, start by leaving the Cinder Vault, placing a Flame Altar (your first level-up in 1.0), freeing the Blacksmith (your second), following the main quest, and upgrading the Flame so you can survive deeper in the Shroud. That order is Keen Games' own: the 1.0 changelog says the first level-up "is now designed to happen when placing the first Flame Altar" and the second "when freeing the Blacksmith". The opening hours were reworked for the Oct 15, 2026 release, as Keen's 1.0 Update Highlights video says to anyone on a "first visit to Embervale": more chests to try different weapons and find runes for upgrades, roads and camps adjusted "to help you find your way", and early crafting recipes reworked "to reduce frustrating resource bottlenecks". Tips from 2024 guides about the very first steps may no longer match; this page marks what dates from early access.

Quick facts

The opening: the Cinder Vault

0:16 You begin as a Flameborn waking in the Cinder Vault, from what the 1.0 changelog calls the "Cinder Vessel" pod. Keen's 1.0 launch trailer shows the moment: an orange-lit pod in a carved vault, a bare-chested figure walking out through a doorway into the night, and soon a lone camp by a fire. You start with almost nothing. A short cave teaches the basics, and its tutorial enemies now always spawn, even when a world is set to few enemies (changelog). Update 8 had already reworked the area around the Cinder Vault and the tutorial cave in April 2026 to teach the core mechanics.

Pick a difficulty before you start. The presets are Default, Relaxed, Hard and Survival, plus Custom with about 30 settings, and Keen recommends Default for a first playthrough. On Default, hunger is off, food is a buff rather than a need, and dying drops only the materials in your backpack into a tombstone you can recover (Keen support). Survival turns on starvation and drops the whole backpack. 1.0 added an "Automatic" enemy amount that scales encounters to the size of the group nearby.

Your first base and the Flame Altar

Place a Flame Altar as soon as the game offers it. It is the heart of a base: you can only build inside an altar's area, it becomes a fast travel point, and in 1.0 placing it gives your first level-up. Build a small shelter around it, because resting in a base or shelter gives the Rested buff, more maximum stamina and faster stamina recovery, and comfortable furniture makes it last longer (Game Rant, Oct 16, 2026). You can place more altars later as the Flame grows (Flame Altar and Flame Levels, Building Guide).

Game Rant's 1.0 tips suggest keeping a well or water source near the base, and building Small Magic Chests (Shroud Spores and Small Chests at the workbench) so that crafting stations can draw on your storage directly. 1.0 also makes ordinary 24-slot chests and magic chests craftable earlier, and lets you upgrade a chest in place and rename it (changelog).

Free the Blacksmith

The first story goal is to free the Blacksmith, the first of the craftspeople you rescue, and in 1.0 doing so gives your second level-up. Survivors sleep in Ancient Vaults; you wake them, then place them in your base with the Summoning Staff, where each unlocks a crafting station and recipes. In early access the Blacksmith, Oswald Anders, waited across Braelyn Bridge northwest of the start (Game Rant, Feb 15, 2024); 1.0 reworked the start, so follow the main quest marker rather than old maps. Next come the Alchemist, the Huntress, the Farmer and the Carpenter (Survivors).

1:19 Each survivor serves a fighting style. Keen's Beginner Tips video from early access (Feb 7, 2024) puts it this way: a ranger should consult the Hunter (now the Huntress), a mage should seek out Balthazar the Alchemist, and anyone who fights with swords, axes and maces should visit Oswald the Blacksmith for gear made for head-to-head fights. That still holds: since Update 8 the Blacksmith upgrades warrior gear, the Huntress ranger gear and the Alchemist mage gear (Keen, Apr 21, 2026). Keeping gear upgraded is "crucial", the video says.

Follow the main quest

Follow the main quest: it unlocks regions and crafting tiers and teaches mechanics as it goes (Game Rant). Since Update 8 quests are split into main and side quests, and 1.0 marks a quest as difficult when its area and enemies are 2 levels or more above you. Take that warning seriously: CGMagazine's 1.0 review found enemies two or three levels above you "ridiculously strong" (CGMagazine).

The Blacksmith's first errand leads to the first Elixir Well, where the Fell Thunderbrute guards a Shroud Root at the bottom (Game Rant, 2024). Beating it earns the "Thundering success" achievement, and destroying the root clears the nearby Shroud and grants a skill point. Eat before the fight. The order of the regions after the Springlands is on the Progression Guide.

Leveling up and skill points

0:12 There are two ways to get skill points, Keen explains in its Beginner Tips: leveling up through experience, and destroying Shroud Roots. Experience comes from killing enemies, discovering new areas and points of interest, and mining ore; "the quickest way to level up is often to grab a sword and look for trouble", with Scavenger camps and Shroud walls as dangerous but rewarding choices and bosses worth a second visit when they respawn. You cannot unlock everything on one character, but you can respec at the Flame Altar in your base, "so feel free to try things out". Since November 2024 a respec costs 1 rune per spent point, and since January 2025 single skills can be refunded.

1:19 Take Double Jump early. In Keen's Update 8 video on the skill tree, designer Christoph explains that "we placed double jump in the middle so you can get it earlier and without needing to put skills into the athlete tree first". 1.0 put Airborne Architect at the center of the tree too, the new skill that lets you fly around your base while building. Game Rant's 1.0 tips also suggest Updraft once you have a glider. Builds and the rest of the tree are on Skill Tree and Best Builds.

Exploring: towers, glider and grappling hook

0:52 Climb every Ancient Spire you see. Reaching the top of an Ancient Tower unlocks new locations on your map "and give[s] you an idea of where to go next", Keen's tips say; reading lore pages and journals also reveals points of interest, and the more important a location, the more experience it gives. Spires are also fast travel points. Keen's support tips add obelisks to the list of things that reveal the map (Keen).

Craft the glider and grappling hook early, and remember both must be equipped before you can use them (Keen). Glide down from the spires you climb (PCGamesN, 2024). Keep Flame Altar materials in your backpack so you can set a new fast travel point where you need one, and travel on roads, which give the On The Road buff that cuts the stamina cost of sprinting (Game Rant). There are no mounts; see Glider, Grappling Hook and Fast Travel.

Resources and food

2:11 Keen's Beginner Tips share two resource secrets from early access. Green trees rarely drop resin, but trees with brown leaves almost always give one to three. Flax grows in only a few places, but a seed bed turns one flax into ten flax seeds, as long as you have water; the video points to a well near the start of the journey that refills every two hours or when the zone resets. 1.0 reworked many early recipes to need less grinding, so exact quantities from 2024 guides may be out of date (Materials and Ores, Crafting Stations).

Food gives timed bonuses, such as more health, faster regeneration or more strength, in a limited number of slots, so eat what suits your style before you head out (mage, warrior or ranger), and take food with you (Keen). Once the Farmer joins you can grow plants at home. Bandages are cheap and heal over time, useful when the potions run out (Food and Cooking).

The Shroud and the Flame

2:59 Blue Shroud can be entered, red Shroud cannot. Keen's tips explain that red Shroud means your Flame level is too low for that zone, and stepping in "spells immediate doom"; to go further, return to your altar and strengthen the Flame, which opens more of the map and gives everyone on the server attribute bonuses, so friends who join later can keep up. The same video advises hanging on to old gear to hand to friends who join later.

In blue Shroud you have a timer. Drink a Shroud Survival Flask before you go in, look for hourglass capsules (1.0 put many more of them in the fog, each giving "about 70% more time"), remember the way you came in, and catch "fresh air" on towers or in caves above the fog (Keen; changelog). Bring a bow or staff, because some enemies there fly. Everything about the fog is on The Shroud.

Ten tips for 1.0

6:44 Turn on auto-loot first. 1.0 added a setting that lets you "hold the collect key and collect all the loose loot in the vicinity", or collect it constantly; it does not empty chests or defeated enemies, as Keen's narrator says: "That is still your job." The other tips:

1. Place your first Flame Altar early: in 1.0 it is your first level-up.
2. Free the Blacksmith next for the second level-up and better gear.
3. Build magic chests so stations and building can use your stored materials (Game Rant).
4. Carry Flame Altar materials to set fast travel points as you explore.
5. Travel on roads for the On The Road buff.
6. Respect enemies two or three levels above you; a quest's "difficult" mark means 2 or more.
7. Take Double Jump from the center of the skill tree.
8. Climb Ancient Spires to reveal the map and unlock fast travel.
9. Upgrade the Flame whenever you can: it opens red Shroud and boosts the whole party.
10. Spend your skill points before leaving the base, and respec freely at the altar if a build does not work.

Frequently asked questions

Should I play Enshrouded solo? Enshrouded can be played entirely solo, and a Flame upgrade or a respec helps when an area is too hard; co-op with up to 16 players on PC (8 on PS5) makes the Hollow Halls dungeons and bosses easier.

What is the best difficulty for beginners in Enshrouded? Default, which Keen Games recommends for a first playthrough of Enshrouded; Relaxed is easier, and Custom changes about 30 settings.

How do I get out of the Shroud in Enshrouded? In Enshrouded, head back the way you came or climb to a tower or cave above the fog before the timer runs out, and use Shroud Survival Flasks and hourglass capsules for more time.

How do I level up fast in Enshrouded? In Enshrouded, fight Scavenger camps and bosses, discover new places, mine ore and destroy Shroud Roots, which give skill points of their own; follow the main quest, which in 1.0 grants the first two levels for the Flame Altar and the Blacksmith.

What should I do first in Enshrouded? In Enshrouded 1.0, leave the Cinder Vault, place a Flame Altar, free the Blacksmith and follow the main quest to the first Elixir Well.

Can I carry over my early access save to Enshrouded 1.0? Yes, but Keen Games strongly encourages a new world in Enshrouded 1.0 because the first hours were reworked, and the skill tree resets once.

Sources

• Release trailer, changelog... everything you need to wait for tomorrow!, Keen Games, Oct 14, 2026
• Forging the Path is live, Keen Games, Apr 21, 2026
• Souls of the Frozen Frontier update, Keen Games, Nov 5, 2024
• Back to the Shroud update, Keen Games, Jul 29, 2024
• General Tips (mild spoilers), Keen Games support, read Oct 20, 2026
• Server Gameplay Settings, Keen Games support, read Oct 20, 2026
• Enshrouded new players guide, Game Rant, Oct 16, 2026
• Enshrouded craftspeople locations, Game Rant, Feb 15, 2024
• How to clear the Elixir Well and beat the Fell Thunderbrute, Game Rant, Jan 25, 2024
• Enshrouded tips, PCGamesN, Jan 30, 2024
• Enshrouded 1.0 review, CGMagazine, Oct 15, 2026
• Enshrouded 1.0 - Update Highlights, Enshrouded (Keen Games), Oct 15, 2026 (video)
• Enshrouded 1.0 - Launch Trailer, Enshrouded (Keen Games), Oct 14, 2026 (video)
• Enshrouded Beginner Tips, Enshrouded (Keen Games), Feb 7, 2024 (video)
• Enshrouded - Forging the Path, Gear and Progression, Enshrouded (Keen Games), Apr 14, 2026 (video)