Building a solo base that holds

What makes a base worth raiding?

Raiders compare the sulfur a base costs to break against the loot they expect inside. A base is safe when that maths is bad for them. This is why partial honeycomb fails: a raider always hits the cheapest face, so one thin side sets the price of the whole base.

The practical consequence is that defence is decided by your weakest wall, not your average wall. Adding a second layer to three sides while leaving the fourth bare buys you nothing at all.

It also means loot discipline is defence. A modest base holding nothing worth taking is left alone; the same base with visible high-tier gear becomes a target.

How much does honeycomb actually cost a raider?[1]

Each extra stone wall a raider must break costs them roughly 2 C4 or 4 rockets from the hard side. Adding one honeycomb layer around a loot room means every approach costs that much again, which is usually enough to make a solo base not worth the trip.

Stone is the sweet spot for solo players. It is cheap to place, and the jump from stone to sheet metal costs far more in resources than it adds in raid cost per wall.

Where you spend the extra layers matters. Honeycomb around the loot room and tool cupboard is what raises the price; honeycomb around empty space is just upkeep you pay for nothing.

Why does the roof need two layers?

Because raiders can ladder up and breach downward. If the roof above your loot room is a single layer, the cheapest route into your base is straight down through it, ignoring every wall you paid for. Two stacked layers above the loot room closes that path.

This is the most common single mistake in solo base design. Players build thick walls, spend the resources, then leave a one-layer roof that undoes all of it.

The same logic applies to floors if your base has an open area beneath it. Any surface that touches your loot room is a wall, whichever direction it faces.

What does upkeep cost and how do I keep it low?

Upkeep is charged per building block, scaled by tier, and drawn from the tool cupboard every period. A bigger base costs more to hold, so a solo player is better served by a small, dense base than by a large one with rooms they do not use.

Keep the footprint small

Every block you place is upkeep you pay for the rest of the wipe. Build the size you actually need.

Upgrade what protects loot

Tier costs upkeep. Spend it on the walls around the loot room, not on decorative outer structure.

Stock the cupboard before you log off

A base that decays because the cupboard ran dry is a free raid. Fill it whenever you pass it.

What is an airlock and why does it matter?

An airlock is a double-door entry: two doors with a small space between, so one is always shut. It means opening your base to walk in never exposes the interior, which stops a watching player from following you through or shooting past you into your loot.

Door camping is one of the cheapest ways to lose a base without being raided at all. An airlock turns that from a real threat into an inconvenience.

Build it so the outer door closes before the inner one opens, and keep the space between them empty. A cluttered airlock defeats the point.