There’s a lot left Enveloped that’s just part of the survival crafting genre of games – crafting, workbenches and cooking, for example – that makes it feel familiar. But there’s also so much different and unique about it that just diving into it can be really intimidating and confusing.
Us Enveloped The Beginner’s Guide will give you tips from our 50 (or so) hours with the game to get you started exploring Embervale.
Enshrouded is a survival crafting game through and through
If you’re familiar with the genre, you already know almost all the beats Enveloped. That is not meant derogatorily; it is not the old derivative versus tribute distinction. Enveloped just cuts into the genre in a way that makes it familiar.
You pick up materials to make workbenches, to make new items, to make new workbenches, to make better items, lather, rinse and repeat. Enveloped has its own take on the genre and also mixes some elements from other genres, but the basics are there. Basic principles such as…
Grab one of each to unlock new recipes
You start your journey as the (a?) Flameborn with a few recipes for things like torches and a simple axe. The first way you can unlock new recipes is by simply finding new resources. Grab (at least) one of everything you find. The first time you place these new items in your inventory, you will unlock new recipes.
The other way you learn new recipes (and progress through the game) is by finding other survivors.
Progression in Enshrouded is tied to survivors and their quests
You are not alone on your journey through Embervale. There are other survivors – five of them – who will help you. In the story, these are other Flameborns (like you) that you must travel around and awaken from their magical sleep. To awaken them, you’ll need to travel to their Ancient Vault, do some light dungeon exploration, and then summon them to your base.
Functionally, these other survivors are a lot like workbenches that give missions. For example, with Find the Blacksmith you can get started with metal. The hunter unlocks fur. The same goes for the farmer, alchemist and carpenter.
Image: Keen Games
As you add survivors to your base, they all come up with new missions for you. The blacksmith needs a crucible. De Jager needs her hand spindle. The Alchemist needs his mortar. The farmer needs her boiler.
Their quests aren’t just busy work, though. They determine how you progress through the game. They unlock new technologies and materials for you, add new workbenches, and send you out into the world to explore new locations and new biomes.
To reach those places you have to walk over them Enveloped‘s gigantic map, and that means…
In Enshrouded you will walk a lot
Yes, Enveloped has some very cool moving tools, like the wing suit-like glider and a grappling hook. However, your options for using these will be quite limited. Instead, you’ll do most of your exploring on foot.
When doing one of these walks, stay on the roads as much as possible. First, it’s just easier to see where you’re going and you’re less likely to run straight off a cliff. But more importantly, when you’re on the move, your endurance decreases more slowly; the ‘on the go’ condition means your stamina decreases 90% as quickly.
The other reason you’ll be walking so much is…
There aren’t many fast travel points
As big as the world of Embervale is, there aren’t many fast travel options. There are actually only five permanent ones. There’s the Cinder safe where you start the game, and then a Old spire in each of the four biomes: the Springlands, the Low Meadows, the Revelwood, and the Nomad Highlands.
You can also fast travel to any Flame Altar – essentially the starting point for a base – you’ve built. You can build two of these at first, but you can eventually increase that number with upgrades to the Flame Altar, but early on this means you can have a base and an outpost and that’s it. You can always destroy a Flame Altar and build a new one somewhere else after walking there (see above).
Flame altars are cheap to build; you only need five stones that you can find on the ground. And that means you can create your own (temporary) fast travel network.
The only place where you cannot build a Flame Altar is in the Shroud of the same name. Speaking of which…
Treat the Shroud like any other biome
The Shroud is, as the game says, a “destructive mist.” You’ll usually find it in the low-lying parts of the map, but it also pops up in random locations. Entering the Shroud means you become Wrapped (hey!) and a timer starts counting down. When the timer runs out, you die.
Image: Keen Games
And all of that makes the Shroud seem worse than it actually is. Sure, there are (slightly) nastier enemies and your time there has a limit, but it’s not an instant death sentence. In fact, there are many useful things found only in the Shroud, such as Shroud Wood and torn cloth.
With a little time and not too much work, you can increase the timer to almost 10 minutes. And that means you can treat the Shroud as just another biome. Respect the timer, but don’t go there out of fear.
If you’re not traveling through the Shroud or searching for any of the other survivors, you’ll need a home base. That brings us to Enveloped‘s best feature…
Spend some time at your base
There’s just something super satisfying about it Enveloped‘s construction mechanics. There are a lot of parts that can be assembled in different sizes. Play with the shapes and how they fit together. Building (and expanding) your base is just as satisfying as exploring and combat.
For more Enveloped guides, learn where to find salt, where to find metal scraps and how to make metal plates.