Kenshi: A Quick Start Guide

Table of Contents Show

Tired of breaking your back mining copper for days on end just to keep from starving? Too proud to stoop to thievery? Willing to take a few risks? In this guide I will show you how to set yourself up in the world of Kenshi with 40-50k cats and a set of decent quality gear in only one day through the honorable profession of bounty hunting.

Other Kenshi Guides:

Overview

The first few days of Kenshi can be the worst. You have nothing. You are no one. A gentle breeze will knock you out to be picked clean by the wildlife. There are several ways to give yourself a boost past this early, brutal stage. Here I will show you my personal favorite way to get a new character moving with a bounty hunter start.

Beginning with the Wanderer start I will show you how to quickly gather enough resources to hire a squad of mercenaries and take down the Dust King for his 35k cats bounty along with all the loot from his tower, all in one day.

The Beginning: Gathering Funds

We begin with the classic Wanderer start. Other starts are perfectly viable, but any details or adjustments relating to other choices will not be covered.

The first thing you will need to do is scrape together the 2k cats needed to hire a squad of mercenaries. The usual routine of mining copper or searching for the leftovers of a fight can take a while and is not very exciting. Fortunately, the world of Kenshi is full of loot to scavenge if you know where to look.

Assuming you have selected the Wanderer start, you are now in The Hub. Look for the only undestroyed shack in town.

Although it is the only shack in good shape, this building is actually abandoned. Head on in. There are only a few pieces of loot here. You may take them freely, as no one owns any of it now. You will be most interested in the sake and the chewsticks. Grab them. (It is worth noting that you can also sleep here for free.)

Venturing Forth: Scavenging

Next, head out to the ruined Holy Nation outpost to the east. Keep your eyes peeled for bandits and bone dogs along the way. Avoid all combat.

Most of the items scattered around here are not worth your time. Pick up the iron plates and the most valuable (white quality as opposed to grey) weapons.

With a couple iron plates, a few weapons, and the previously gathered sake in hand, you should now have more than enough loot to get the cats you need.

Find Some Help

Continue east to the Waystation.

Sell everything you are carrying. You won’t be needing any of it soon, and you will want as much space as possible. Head in to the Bar, find the group of mercenaries, and talk to the captain.

You are (1) looking to hire some bodyguards. One day will suffice. You should have more than enough from the loot you have scavenged so far.

The Hard Part

Head north to the Dust King Tower.

Make sure you stay close to your mercs. If they get into combat along the way, do not attempt to help them. Wait for them to finish and then keep moving.

Now it gets interesting. Pick the lock on the gate or break it down. With luck, you will get in before nightfall. At night all the bandits will head inside and it will be more difficult to take them all on at once.

Step inside. As soon as the bandits notice you and start shouting, back off. It’s time to let the mercs do their job.

No matter what happens now, do not engage in any combat yourself. A stray swing could easily cripple you or knock you out, and you will be lying on the floor until your mercs leave you for dead. Instead, stay back and watch the fireworks.

As the bandits drop, take their weapons.This will prevent them from becoming a threat when they get back up. Store them inside when you get an opportunity, but wait until your mercs have moved in so you can get by safely. Enemies will pick weapons up off the ground but not out of containers.

Eventually you will spot your paycheck the Dust King. He is easy to find as he is the only guy wearing a shirt. Keep tabs on his health for the rest of the encounter. The instant he goes down you will need to grab him so he can’t recover.

While your expendable brave mercs are earning their cats, head upstairs and start looting the place. Important things to look out for include backpacks, first aid kits, a specialist quality crossbow, food, and booze. Find a first aid kit as soon as possible. You will need it to stop your investment from bleeding out on the floor.

Continue keeping an eye on the status of the fight without risking your own neck. Keep disarming downed bandits. You may want to use first aid on any mercs that go down, but make sure you save some for the Dust King.

Profit

As soon as the Dust King goes down give him some first aid so he doesn’t bleed out. A dead bounty is only worth half the cats, after all. Pick him up so he doesn’t recover. Finish looting the place while your mercs mop up. Don’t forget to use the Dust King as a second backpack.

When the fighting clears wait for any downed mercs to recover. You are about to be a very slow and valuable target as you drag your haul across the wastes. You should hopefully have just enough time to crawl back to The Hub before your mercenary contract ends. Sell everything you don’t want to keep here, as you will probably be on your own from this point and you want to be as fast as possible.

Finally, take your prize to Squin and turn him over to the police.

That’s it! Adventure complete. You should have 40-50k cats and a set of decent equipment from the Dust King himself. To think, just one day ago you were a worthless vagrant. Now you are a rich, well equipped, and respected bounty hunter! Okay, you are actually none of those things, but you are in a much better position to take on the world.

What you do from here is up to you and outside the scope of this guide, but here are some recommendations for putting your newly found fortune to good use:

1) Join the Shinobi Thieves. For 10k cats you gain access to combat, lockpicking, and assassin training as well as a place to crash in many parts of the world. You also gain access to some good sneakiness oriented gear and Thieves Backpacks. In fact, pick one up now.

2) Buy a building in Squin or the Hub. You can easily set up a starter base and get started on research and crafting.

3) Hire a couple new squad members. You can probably afford some gear for them, as well.

4) Become overconfident and find yourself bleeding to death at the hands of a pack of hungry bandits 10 feet from the city gates.

I hope you enjoyed this adventure and I hope it will prepare you for many more!