Exiles

An in-depth, player-focused breakdown of Exiles gameplay, systems, and tips

This article dives into Exiles, offering a practical, player-centered guide to its mechanics, community features, and customization options while keeping the focus strictly on this game. Whether you’re a new player exploring the opening hours or an experienced player seeking optimization tips, you’ll find actionable advice, personal observations from play sessions, and clear walkthroughs for core systems. The main keywords — Exiles and Exiles game — are used throughout to help you quickly find the sections most relevant to your needs.

Getting Started with Exiles: Basics and First Hour

I still remember my first moments in Exiles. I spawned on a sun-baked riverbank, took three steps, and was immediately gored by a rogue antelope. 🦌 My second attempt went better, until night fell. In the pitch black, something with far too many legs found me. My third life? I spent twenty minutes trying to punch a tree, not realizing I needed to find loose stones and branches on the ground first. 🤦‍♂️ I was confused, frustrated, and completely hooked.

That initial struggle is a rite of passage, but it doesn’t have to be yours. This Exiles game starter guide is designed to turn those early moments of panic into a confident, thrilling opening. We’re going to walk through exactly how to start Exiles on the right foot, making your first session a success story, not a comedy of errors.

What to expect in your first session

Forget lengthy tutorials. Exiles throws you into its harsh, beautiful world with one goal: survive. Your first hour is a frantic and fantastic scramble against the elements, wildlife, and your own growing hunger and thirst. Here’s the lay of the land you’ll be navigating.

You’ll begin at a random location along a vast, sandy river. This is your safe-ish starting zone. The immediate threats are environmental: scorching heat during the day that drains your thirst, and bitter cold at night that saps your health. Your first enemy is the sun; your first mission is to find water and shelter. 🏜️

You’ll quickly meet the local wildlife. Some, like antelope and shalebacks (turtle-like creatures), are passive unless provoked. Others, like the infamous hyenas that prowl at dusk, see you as a snack. Your initial interactions will likely be frantic dashes away from danger or cautious attempts to gather resources near creatures.

The pacing is deliberately intense. You’ll feel a constant, gentle pressure from your needs. This isn’t a flaw; it’s the core loop that pushes you to explore, learn, and craft. The magic happens when you go from reacting to these pressures to mastering them. By the end of your first session, you should have shifted from pure survival to laying the foundations for your future kingdom.

Character creation and customization tips

Before you face the desert, you face the avatar creator. This isn’t just about cosmetics; your initial choices here are your first strategic decisions. Let’s break down these Exiles character creation tips with your early survival in mind.

Appearance & Culture: This is mainly for role-play, but your cultural choice determines your starting religion. This is a late-game system, so for now, pick what speaks to you. Cosmetic options are vast—from hulking brutes to nimble scavengers. Remember, armor will cover most of it, but creating a character you connect with enhances the experience.

Attributes – The Real Game Changer: This is where your Exiles early progression can be subtly shaped. You have points to distribute across Strength, Agility, Vitality, Grit, and Encumbrance.
* Strength: Governs melee damage. A great choice if you plan to hunt and fight early.
* Agility: Affects arrow damage and climbing speed. Useful for ranged combat and exploration.
* Vitality: Directly increases your health pool. A fantastic buffer for beginner mistakes.
* Grit: Increases your stamina pool. This is a secret superstar for new players. More stamina means more sprinting from danger, more swings of your tool, and more time climbing to scout.
* Encumbrance: Raises how much you can carry. Crucial for hauling resources for your first base.

My Personal Recommendation: For your first character, lean into Vitality and Grit. The extra health and stamina provide a forgiving cushion while you learn combat and exploration. You can always find ways to increase other stats later through gameplay.

Religion: As mentioned, this is chosen by your culture. It unlocks a progression path to summoning a deity’s avatar later. Don’t stress this choice for your Exiles game starter guide; it won’t impact your first ten hours meaningfully.

Early progression: key actions to prioritize

Okay, you’re in the world. Now what? This prioritized checklist is your blueprint for that crucial first hour. Follow these steps to transition from naked survivor to established exile.

1. Immediate Scavenge (First 5 Minutes): Don’t move far. Look at the ground! Pick up 10-15 Stone and 20-30 Branches from the brush and riverbanks. Grab 10-20 Plant Fiber from small bushes. This is your foundational kit.
2. Craft Essential Tools: Open your inventory (I key). Use your resources to craft a Stone Pick and a Stone Hatchet. The pick harvests more stone and metal from nodes; the hatchet gets more wood from trees and more hide from animals. They are non-negotiable.
3. Secure Water and Food: Find the river and drink directly from it. For food, use your tools on small, non-aggressive animals (like shalebacks) or harvest Grubs from rotten logs. Cook meat on a campfire (crafted with stone and wood) to avoid illness.
4. Craft a Bedroll: This is your first, most important milestone. It costs only Plant Fiber and Twine (crafted from fiber). Placing a bedroll sets your respawn point. If you die, you return here instead of a random riverbank. Place it in a temporarily safe spot.
5. Gather for a Starter Base: You need a shelter. Start aggressively harvesting Wood and Stone with your new tools. Aim for a few hundred of each.
6. Build a Simple Shelter: Use the building menu (B key) to place a simple Foundation and a few Walls and a Ceiling. Add a Door! This gives you safety from the cold and creatures at night. Congratulations, you are no longer homeless.

To visualize that core gathering push, here is your essential Exiles beginner checklist for resources:

Now, let’s talk about that base. Your first shelter can be a simple 1×1 hut, but where you build it is a critical piece of your Exiles base location guide. 🗺️

A Personal Case Study: In one playthrough, I built my first real base high on a cliff for defense. The view was stunning, but I spent 90% of my time exhausted from climbing up and down to get water and basic resources. In another, I built right on a quiet river bend. Hyenas were a constant nuisance, but I had endless water, fish, and easy access to starter materials. My progression was twice as fast because I wasn’t constantly managing stamina just to get home.

The lesson? For your first permanent base, prioritize practicality over perfection. A good starter location has:
* Proximity to water (a river or oasis).
* Access to basic resources (trees, stone nodes).
* Relative safety (not directly on a major predator path).
* Some flat land to build on.

You can always build a grand, impregnable fortress later. Your starter base is a logistical tool for Exiles early progression.

By following this Exiles game starter guide, you will move from a panicked survivor to a confident founder within that first, magical hour. You’ll have tools in your hand, a roof over your head, and a bedroll to call home. The vast, dangerous, and magnificent world of Exiles will then truly open up before you, ready for you to conquer it on your own terms. Remember, every master of the Exiled Lands once spent their first night shivering in the dark—you just don’t have to.

Exiles offers a rich, customizable experience that rewards curiosity, planning, and community engagement. Throughout this article you learned practical first-hour steps, core system strategies, customization and mod-safety advice, advanced multiplayer tactics, and troubleshooting practices — all grounded in hands-on play examples and small case studies. Use the checklists and recommended resources when you play, adapt strategies as the game evolves, and reach out to active community hubs when you need help. If this guide helped you, try the starter checklist in your next session and share your experience with others to build a stronger in-game community.