02 — Base Designs
Last updated: May 18, 2026 Patch context: post-April 30, 2026 mortar update
This file lays out base designs by group size. Each design has a cost breakdown (raw materials), a raid-cost estimate (what an attacker has to spend in sulfur to reach loot), and the design's weakness. There's no "best base" — there's the best base for your group size, your time on the wipe, and how much you're willing to farm before logout.
For the underlying mechanics (honeycomb, soft-side rule, doors, TC), see 01_Building.md. For automation defenses (auto-turrets, shotgun traps), see 06_Automation_Circuits.md.
Solo bases
A solo base has one priority: cost-to-raid > cost-to-build by the largest possible ratio. You're not going to defend it while you log off, so the base itself does the defending.
The 1x1 starter
The classic wipe-day shelter. One foundation, four walls, ceiling, door. Stone.
| Resource | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stone | 1,500 |
| Wood | 500 (for door, frames) |
| Metal frags | 25 (sheet metal door) |
| Build time solo | 8–12 min from spawn |
Raid cost (soft side, one stone wall + door): ~1,400 sulfur. Anyone with one C4 takes it. This is not your wipe base — this is your hour-1 stash to keep your starter loot off your corpse. Move out within 3–4 hours.
Weakness: any explosive raids it. No honeycomb, no depth.
The 2x2 honeycombed
The actual solo wipe base. Two foundations wide, two long, two stories tall, full honeycomb on the outer ring of the bottom floor.
| Resource | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stone | 12,000–14,000 |
| Wood | 2,500 |
| Metal frags | 800–1,200 |
| HQM | 50–100 (upgrade TC walls + main door) |
| Build time solo | 60–90 min from spawn (assuming farmed materials in advance) |
Layout: bottom floor is the storage/TC core, honeycombed on all four sides. Second floor is the loot room with armored door. Bunker hatch into a sealed core 1x1 under the TC for the soul stash (the box that holds the irreplaceable stuff). Two embrasure window slits at front door height.
Raid cost: 8,000–12,000 sulfur to reach the TC, +4,000 sulfur to crack the soul stash if they find it. Most solos won't get raided.
Weakness: roof rush. If your roof isn't double-stacked, raiders ladder up and breach down through your loot room directly. Always two-layer the roof above the loot room.
The triangle bunker solo
A circular base around a triangle core, with the TC and bunker in the middle triangle. Smaller footprint than a 2x2 but more honeycomb walls per material.
| Resource | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stone | 9,000–11,000 |
| Wood | 2,000 |
| Metal frags | 600 |
| HQM | 50 |
| Build time | 45–75 min |
Raid cost: 7,000–10,000 sulfur. Slightly less than 2x2 but smaller storage footprint. Good if you don't need much loot space.
Weakness: smaller storage. You will run out of box space by hour 8.
Duo bases
Duo means two players coordinating. You can carry more, build faster, and defend together — so the base can be bigger.
The 2x2 duo
Same shape as the solo 2x2 but with bigger storage and a workbench room on the second floor. Two beds, two locker spots, two box rows.
| Resource | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stone | 14,000–18,000 |
| Wood | 3,500 |
| Metal frags | 1,500 |
| HQM | 150 |
| Build time | 45–60 min for two |
Raid cost: same as solo 2x2 (~10k sulfur to TC). The extra storage doesn't change the raid math because storage rooms aren't on the raid path.
Weakness: if both teamies log off, it's a solo base by raid math. Have a sleep-schedule offset so one of you is on during raid-prone hours (evening server time).
The 3x2 wide duo
Adds a third bay alongside the 2x2 for industrial/electrical equipment without expanding into the loot path. Same depth, more lateral storage.
| Resource | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stone | 18,000–22,000 |
| Wood | 4,500 |
| Metal frags | 2,000 |
| HQM | 200 |
| Build time | 60–90 min for two |
Raid cost: ~10–14k sulfur. Honeycomb wraps the new bay so attack surface is similar; only the entrance side changes.
Weakness: more wall, more upkeep. Stack the TC higher.
Trio bases
Trio is the size where you start needing room for one dedicated farmer's stash, one PVPer's gear lockers, and one tinkerer's industrial setup. Bases scale to 3x3 or 4x2 footprints.
The 3x3 trio
Three by three foundations, two stories. Middle foundation on bottom floor is the TC core, sealed off, accessed via floor hatch from above. Honeycomb on all exterior. Multiple armored doors layered.
| Resource | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stone | 28,000–35,000 |
| Wood | 8,000 |
| Metal frags | 4,000 |
| HQM | 400–600 |
| Build time | 90–120 min for three |
Raid cost: 15,000–22,000 sulfur depending on where they pick. The interior is large enough that raiders have multiple entry choices, which means they need more explosives to commit fully.
Weakness: too big to fully cover with one auto-turret. Plan for 2–3 turrets minimum (see 06_Automation_Circuits.md).
The 4x2 wide trio
A wider, shallower footprint. Good for builds on coastlines or against cliffs (the cliff is one of your walls — raiders can't approach from that side).
| Resource | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stone | 22,000–28,000 |
| Wood | 6,000 |
| Metal frags | 3,000 |
| HQM | 400 |
| Build time | 75–100 min for three |
Raid cost: 12,000–18,000 sulfur. Slightly cheaper to raid than the 3x3 because the attack surface is more linear, but cliff-side eliminates one full attack vector.
Weakness: if the cliff isn't actually a cliff (raiders can ladder it), the design loses half its defense. Verify with a hammer test before committing.
Clan / 5+ player bases
Clan bases are a different problem. You're defending a compound, not just a base — multiple storage outbuildings, vehicle ports, farming greenhouses, possibly external walls extending the no-build zone. Costs scale 5–10x from trio.
The compound
A central main base (typically 4x4 or larger), external walls extending the TC bubble, outbuildings inside (vehicle bay, helicopter pad, greenhouse, scrap-farm). The April 2026 mortar patch hits these the hardest.
| Resource | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stone | 80,000–150,000 |
| Wood | 25,000 |
| Metal frags | 15,000 |
| HQM | 2,000–4,000 |
| Build time | 4–6 hours for five |
Raid cost: 40,000–80,000 sulfur for the main base, but raiders often online-raid (no offline defense needed), in which case the actual cost is "did they catch us off-guard."
Weakness post-mortar patch: external walls are now penetrable by HE mortars launched from outside the TC bubble. Solution: roof-spam over the courtyard so mortar shells can't reach loot buildings, push external walls 30+ meters from any structure so mortars need to be set up dangerously close, and station rotation defenders on the wall during prime hours.
The bunker compound
Compound with a sealed underground/bunker section accessed via a single hatch deep in the main base. The bunker holds the soul stash and is built in armored on all faces.
The bunker section adds 200–400 HQM but turns even a successful compound raid into a partial raid — the soul stash survives. Worth it for any clan that intends to play past hour 24.
A note on base shapes you should never build
The 1x2 "shotgun." Too narrow to honeycomb meaningfully. Solo and duo players sometimes try this in tight quarters; it has terrible cost-per-defense.
The 5x5 mansion solo. Surface area kills you. Five-by-five takes 50k+ stone, and raiders only need to break in somewhere, not raid the whole thing. Bigger is not better.
Anything circular without a triangle core. Pure ring designs sound elegant but have no central protected room. Raiders pop one wall and stand in the middle hub with line of sight to every storage room.
Vehicle bays and external storage
Vehicle bays should sit inside the TC bubble but outside the main base honeycomb. A separate 1x1 vehicle bay with a garage door and lockable code lock holds your minicopter or horse without expanding the main raid surface. Cost: ~2,000 stone + 1 garage door (15 HQM).
External storage (boxes outside the main base) is for things you don't mind losing. Never put irreplaceable items in external boxes — boxes outside walls take environmental damage and any rando can break them with a rock for 4,000 hits.
Putting it together: a recommended progression
Hour 0–1: 1x1 starter base, wood walls.
Hour 1–4: upgrade 1x1 to stone, place 2 small boxes, hide low-grade fuel.
Hour 4–8: build the 2x2 main base in stone, place TC, transition all loot.
Hour 8–24: upgrade core walls to sheet metal/armored, install first auto-turret, harden the bunker.
Day 2+: industrial network for passive smelt and craft (see 04_Industrial.md), greenhouse outbuilding (see 05_Horticulture.md).
This progression assumes solo. Duo cuts the times roughly in half; trio cuts again to about a third. Clan progression is parallel — the farmers farm while the builders build while the PvPer holds the front.
Final pro tips
- Half-walls above doorways stop ladder-rush onto your second floor. Use them above every external door and embrasure.
- External TCs placed in fake outbuildings extend your no-build zone without putting real loot in those buildings. Cost: 1 cheap TC + 1 cheap building per location.
- Decoy bunkers — small empty 1x1s near your main base draw raid attempts away from the real loot. Worth it on high-pop servers.
- Triangle floor pieces as bunker doors cost less HQM than full doors and look like building, not like a door. Hide your soul stash behind one.
- Pick a known base design rather than freelancing. The 2x2 honeycombed solo, the 3x3 trio, the bunker compound — these are battle-tested for thousands of hours. RustBaseLab.com has hundreds of variations.