How to Play Kenshi — Beginner's Guide to Surviving, Fighting and Training Your Squad

The short version: Kenshi is Lo-Fi Games' open sandbox RPG with no main quest: you — or a whole squad — roam a post-apocalyptic wasteland, mining, trading, taking mercenary work, founding a settlement, or just trying to survive. There's no tutorial, no main storyline, and no classes; every ability grows by doing (getting hit trains Toughness, carrying weight trains Strength), and dead squadmates stay dead. It's famously hard — but the difficulty is ignorance, not execution.

This is the full survival manual: start, first goal, combat, training, base building, and the death list.

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Official resources: Steam store page · Lo-Fi Games official site · Kenshi Wiki — training guide · Kenshi Wiki · Wikipedia

What Kind of Game Is This?

Set expectations first — Kenshi is unlike any RPG you've played:

• No main quest: no princess to save, no forced goal. The world is there; you decide who you are in it.
• Squad-based: play solo or recruit dozens (even build a city); every character grows individually.
• Skill-by-doing: no levels, no classes — use it to learn it. Fighting trains melee, getting hit trains Toughness, hauling weight trains Strength, sneaking trains Stealth.
• Permadeath: dead is dead. You can recruit new people any time, but old squadmates don't come back.
• Cruel freedom: getting knocked out and robbed by bandits, enslaved, or eaten by wildlife in the opening hour is a normal experience — and it's all growth.

How to Pick Your Start

Race (matters a lot)

Origin (Start)

The default start (waking up in the bar in The Hub) is right for a first run. "Rock Bottom" and the slave start are challenge modes for experienced players — though honestly, the slave start (Holy Rebirth) is a hidden training goldmine (no starvation, free practice at thievery, lockpicking, and Toughness). Veterans recommend it.

First Goal: The Hub

The Hub is the safest neutral town in the Border Zone:

• Copper deposits sit nearby — mining and selling to the bar is the most reliable early income (dull work; don't mine too long).
• Starving and Dust Bandits attack the town guards — watch the gate fights, then loot the corpses for equipment to sell. The classic opener.
• The bar lets you sleep (8× faster healing), recruit, and buy maps.

How to Attack in Kenshi (Combat Basics)

Combat is the core of the game, but the mechanics are simple:

• Attack: click an enemy to engage; characters auto-attack the nearest target. Melee Attack and Defense skills decide hit and block chance.
• Defense / Toughness: Defense decides blocking; Toughness decides all damage reduction — it's the most important skill, and the easiest to train.
• Stances: Block = defend only, no attacks (effective Defense +20 levels; the lifesaver stance). Passive = doesn't attack first, fights back when hit (combine with Block to protect weak squadmates). Taunt = draw aggro (for heavy-armor tanks).
• Weapons: new players should stick with a sabre — balanced and forgiving. Polearms deal +50% damage vs animals; katanas swing fast but struggle against armor.
• Run when outmatched: there's no combat lock — leave the fight zone and you escape. Retreat is not shameful.

What to Train First

Community-agreed order:

1. Athletics — speed is survival. It rises as you run while loaded; train it incidentally from day one.
2. Toughness — rises from taking hits; choosing "get up" after being knocked out gives a huge bonus (bigger with more enemies nearby). Finding a hungry-bandit beatdown group early is the standard play.
3. Strength — hauling loads (wood backpack full of iron ore, carrying squadmates) is the universal method.
4. Melee Attack / Defense — real fights or training dummies.
5. Stealth / Thievery — thievery is arguably the strongest skill in the game (money, gear), but also the easiest way to get caught. Practice in town; if you get caught, that's Toughness training too.

The First Base: When and Where

Don't rush it. The community standard path:

1. Buy a house in town first (small shack → upgrade to a Stormhouse with research-table space when you can, ~4,800 cats) — safe, no raids.
2. Push research to mid-game before leaving town (better mining, bigger buildings, defenses).
3. Location: Shem or the Border Zone are solid picks (near major cities, easy trade, weaker raids); skip late-game warzones.
4. Defenses: walls + gates + harpoon turrets (one shot can delete a raider); Skeletons on turrets don't need food (no shift changes).

Quick Income Options

• Mining and selling ore: stable but dull (early-game bridge).
• Looting corpses at the gate: the classic opener (see above).
• Bounties: deliver wanted criminals for +2 faction relations each.
• Thievery: high risk, high reward (safe to fence once you join the Shinobi).
• Smithing / weapon crafting: big profits once skills climb — the real late-game industry.

The Ten Classic New-Player Deaths

1. Wandering at night — wolf packs and bandit ambushes.
2. Traveling without food — starving mid-journey (buy dried meat at bars; sitting while eating slows hunger 30%).
3. Fighting Beak Things — they run 20+ mph and eat you when they catch you.
4. Building a base too early — raids dismantle you.
5. Bringing Skeletons or women into Holy Nation cities — arrested or attacked on sight.
6. Solo-diving the Foglands — the fogmen carry you off.
7. Training Stealth in heavy armor — stealth efficiency -88%.
8. No medic — after a fight nobody bandages, and you bleed out.
9. Running naked in Venge — acid rain; only Skeletons and Hivers are immune.
10. Fighting without Block — squishies get focus-fired and deleted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kenshi hard?

Hard, but in the "unknown" sense, not execution: no tutorial, no main quest, and mechanics you have to discover. Once you know the rules (get hit to train Toughness, run when outmatched), the depth and freedom are unmatched.

How do I attack enemies in Kenshi?

Click an enemy to engage — characters auto-attack the nearest target; Attack/Defense skills decide hit and block rates. Use the Block stance to survive (Defense +20), Passive to protect squishies, Taunt to hold aggro. Run when outmatched.

How do I train skills fast in Kenshi?

Athletics first, then Toughness (take hits and stand up), Strength (carry loads), then melee skills (fights or dummies). Thievery is the money skill. Fighting above your level gives XP bonuses — use junk weapons on high-level enemies.

Should I build a base in Kenshi?

Not early. Buy a house in town, push research to mid-game, then claim land near an allied faction (like the Shinobi), with walls and harpoon turrets.

Does Kenshi have an ending?

No forced ending — it's a free sandbox. The endgame is whatever you define.

Can I play Kenshi multiplayer?

No official multiplayer (see the multiplayer guide). Platform support in the platforms guide.

Related Guides

• Kenshi 2 — Everything We Know About the Sequel (2026)
• Kenshi Platforms Guide — PC, Steam Deck & Every Way to Play
• Kenshi Art & Wallpapers — The Brutal Beauty of Kenshi's World

Last updated: August 12, 2026.