Getting Started

Kenshi is not about becoming the chosen hero. It is about surviving long enough to matter.

Kenshi drops you into a harsh, indifferent wasteland with no quests, no destiny and no safety net. Nobody is coming to help you. This page is the orientation a veteran wanderer would give a newcomer before the desert teaches the same lessons the expensive way.

The Survival Mindset

Kenshi works differently from most games. You are not meant to win every fight — you are meant to survive them, and losing is how characters grow. A defeat that everyone walks away from trains Toughness and teaches a lesson. The unrecoverable mistake is the fight you should have run from and did not.

Internalise three things early: running away is a valid strategy, failure is progression, and the world does not scale to you. Regions and factions will happily kill a squad that wanders in unprepared.

Your First Hour

Pick a gentle start — ideally a Greenlander, who is tolerated almost everywhere. Head for a safe town; Squin is the community's standard recommendation, close to the Hub and defended by tough Shek guards who tolerate every race.

Earn your first money mining copper near a guarded town. Use it to recruit a second character from a bar — a squad of two survives what a lone wanderer cannot. Then train Athletics by travelling on foot, so retreat is always an option.

Understanding Stats

Combat is resolved by stats and positioning, not reflexes. Attack lands hits, Defence blocks them, and Toughness decides whether a beating is a lesson or a funeral. Athletics — raw run speed — is the most underrated stat in the game.

How Combat Actually Works

You direct positioning and targets; the stats do the swinging. The single biggest cause of defeat is being surrounded, which splits your Defence across every attacker. Fight at chokepoints, keep your squad in a line, and never let enemies reach your back rank. When in doubt, read the Melee Combat Basics guide.

Where To Go Next

Start with Surviving Your First Week and Best Beginner Starts. Learn the factions — especially which ones your race angers — and study the regions before you cross them. The wasteland rewards the wanderer who reads the map first.