Outpost: Arcwood — Field Guide

Outpost: Arcwood · field guide.

Map read

What spawns, what kills, how the crew runs Outpost: Arcwood. The free base-game outpost: temperate redwood forest plot. Every prospector has it — the default crew homestead. Use this page as the crew's planning reference before choosing a base site, mission route, or resource loop.

Planning priorities

• Pick a central rally point first, then branch to biome-specific work sites instead of moving the whole base every objective.
• Mark water, caves, exotics, and reliable shelter on the planner as soon as they are found.
• Keep a light forward kit for scouting and a heavier production kit at base; map work punishes overpacked travel.
• For outposts, use the persistent map to test building layouts, farms, ranches, and power grids before committing resources on timed prospects.

Spawn watch

• Resources: Fiber (Plot-wide), Iron Ore (Forest outcrops), Stick (Plot-wide), Stone (Plot-wide), Wood (Conifer forest).
• Creatures: no creature rows are recorded yet; treat wildlife pressure as unknown until scouted.

Crew checklist

• Before scouting: carry a bedroll, repair hammer, spare oxygen, water, food, and enough arrows or ammunition for the local predator tier.
• During scouting: record coordinates immediately; memory is less reliable than a marker once storms or predators interrupt the route.
• Before building: check roof exposure, nearby water, cave distance, travel time to mission sites, and whether mounts can path to the base.
• After the run: update spawn notes and resource locations so the next crew starts with better information.

Source notes

The free outpost everyone owns — temperate redwood plot with gentle weather.

Why it matters

• Zero-pressure build practice: test blueprints here before spending mission time on them.
• Persistent farm + ranch: crops and tames keep ticking between prospects.

Field expansion notes

• Keep the guide open during the run and compare each completed step against the tracker before moving to the next region.
• Prefer one well-marked supply cache over scattered personal stashes; it keeps recovery simple after a death, storm, or route change.
• Write down the first place the plan becomes ambiguous: an unmarked cave, a surprise wave, an unclear build radius, or a missing delivery container.
• When a route crosses biomes, pause at the border and reset food, water, oxygen, temperature buffs, and ammunition before pushing onward.
• If the mission provides equipment, collect it before crafting substitutes; if equipment is lost, check whether the escape menu offers mission resupply.
• For construction or delivery work, overbuild the hardest requirement first, then reuse portable pieces and leftover materials for smaller objectives.
• For scan, hunt, and recovery work, stage a respawn point outside the objective radius so a failed fight does not turn into a full-map corpse run.
• For map and outpost guides, add exact build-site, cave, water, and predator notes after each scouting trip; persistent maps become more valuable every time the crew annotates them.
• For resource routes, note the round-trip time as well as the node itself. A nearby mediocre cave can beat a rich cave that requires a dangerous cross-biome haul.
• For base planning, verify storm exposure with temporary pieces before committing rare materials; rebuilding a roof is cheaper than replacing a full production room after weather damage.
• For multiplayer runs, agree on extraction and rescue rules before the objective starts: who stays with cargo, who retrieves bodies, and when the group abandons optional loot.
• When a marker, quantity, or unlock differs from the live game, update this guide immediately so the next run starts from the corrected plan.