SCUM is unforgiving with its survival mechanics, and when every combat encounter is potentially your last, having a place to rest and recuperate should be one of your top priorities. However, getting even just a small camp up and running isn’t as easy as it sounds, and with how overwhelming the game can be, some players might not even know that base building is a thing they can do.
Building a base is on the tail end of important things to do first in SCUM, and that’s mostly due to the amount of work required to gather resources and the need to find a good place to build on in the first place.
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How to Build Bases in SCUM
Players can find all base-related items and buildings under the Base Building tab in the Crafting menu — it’s on the upper-right side of the screen. Click on the tab, and you’ll see all the prefabs you can place and build later on.
Building a Flag
The first thing you’ll need to do is to build a Flag. This serves as your land claim block. Once you put one down, you’ll see a cubic area around the flag that indicates how far you can build stuff on. To build a Flag, you’ll need the following:
- 10 Rags
- 10 Scrap metal
- 2 Nails or Bolts
- Any Tool Box
You can get Rags by ripping up any piece of clothing. If you want to get more Rags per piece of clothing, find and use a pair of scissors or a scalpel. There should be some at a pharmacy if you’re near a town or small village. Never go looting without crafting a basic bag first.
As for Scrap Metal, you can find plenty of them inside ruined cars. Meanwhile, Nails and Bolts can be found in warehouses, toolsheds, and other places where you can reasonably find hardware.
Some items, like chests and similar containers, can be placed even without a flag.
Getting a Tool Box
In order to build many of the base prefabs, you’ll need a Tool Box. You can find the regular Tool Box or the Small Tool Box as loot from the world, or you can craft an Improvised Tool Box using the following materials:
- 2 Wooden Planks
- 2 Metal Scrap
- 1 Nail
- 1 Bolt
- Any blunt tool with 5 charges
Placing Items/Buildings
Select any of the things available in the Base Building menu, then click on the Place button on the lower-left. This will let you place a preview/blueprint of the thing you want to build. In order to actually build it, you need to have the necessary materials in your inventory or in close proximity to the blueprint. Press F to start building.
You can pick up, rotate, and reposition chests and crafting materials on the ground by opening any tab in the Character screen then dragging the target object around. You can use Mousewheel to rotate them.
Recommendations
It’s usually a good idea to build a base that’s somewhat close to a trader. They’re marked by green circles on your map. However, be careful when building a base near a trader on a PvP server.
If you’re just starting out, craft a Stone Axe as soon as possible, then chop down a tree. It should give you enough wood to make a small chest. Place that chest on a plot of land you want to build a base on, then make a Shelter near it. Use this as a temporary camp until you can get enough materials to build a Flag and a proper home.