The roguelike nature of Against the Storm often leaves much of the player's success in the hands of chance. Upgrades can help improve the odds, but map layout, limited species selection, various cornerstone offerings, and random glade events essentially mean that even good players can lose when doing their best.
Embarkation bonuses are a small part of Against the Storm that allow players to guarantee themselves some good benefits. By spending a certain number of points, players can unlock guaranteed blueprints, get some Amber for free, or even start with a handful of rare resources. Points are limited, so spend wisely.
The costs of embarkation bonuses fluctuate. Though they can't be specifically nailed down on this list, the estimated prices have been accounted for.
10 Training Gear Delivery Line
Training gear can only be made at a Cooperage, Weaver, Tinkerer, or Manufacturer. The Weaver is a popular building pick but the others are not, so it's frequent to play a game where training gear simply can't be made. This is not a critical resource, but it helps to open caches or finish glade events.
With a consistent influx, players can likely ignore the need for making this for the entire game. Furthermore, they can save their stone and clay for making bricks instead of blowing it opening event crates. This delivery line will make players feel that this roguelike game needs more attention over on Steam.
9 Fabric
Gamers will start off with enough fabric for one or two buildings but no more than that. Sometimes players will get a blueprint that requires more fabric and then they're stuck hoping for fertile soil and the Plantation Blueprint, otherwise, it's going to be a fabric-free game.
The roguelike game will go on forever in this case and often end in defeat. Fabric usually only costs a couple of embarkation points and is worth the expenditure. Even if it's not necessary, Harpy Houses require fabric so gamers can get their Resolve boosted early with their special homes.
8 Brick
Brick is in a similar situation as fabric. Gamers start with a little and occasionally run out before finding rocks to harvest. This situation is much more common and brinks are used in more buildings, so they get a slight edge on the list if the two items are the same price.
Human houses require brick so the resource is never wasted even if players find themselves with enough resources to start making bricks immediately. It's a solid headstart, giving this game a place as one of the best roguelike games that do not have combat.
7 Oil
Oil is a popular pick despite being somewhat expensive, especially on higher prestige attempts. It can be burned as a fuel in an emergency and the tough challenge modifiers usually push fuel over the edge at some point on every map.
That's the backup plan. The main idea is that oil is used to make complex recipes and having a huge stack goes a long way. Making it personally mandates giving up resources, often food, to access it, and that's a tough decision to make. As a tertiary plan, the quantity is often enough to solve a dangerous glade event.
6 Foragers' Camp - Trappers' Camp - Herbalists' Camp
Though these are three separate blueprints, they function similarly and players will likely only be able to afford one. Each one makes increases the amount gathered of a given resource and enables the player to harvest large or gigantic resource nodes, encouraging dangerous glade exploration.
Take a look at the species list to decide which one to bring. Humans boost the Foragers' Camp, harpies boost the Herbalists' Camp, and Lizards boost the Trappers' Camp. Look over the dietary needs of the species before settling on an option.
5 Incense Delivery Line
Incense is something that, in quantities, solves almost every dangerous glade issue. It's often considered the skeleton key of the forest. But amassing enough takes several years. With a delivery line, players may still want to make incense on their own, but this small annual amount does just enough to handle a few issues.
This roguelike game has a lot of replay value so long as the events remain doable and incense makes that happen. Since higher prestige tactics involve targeting dangerous glades and avoiding smaller glades, incense gains in value as players challenge themselves more.
4 Small Farm - Plantation - Herb Garden
Reliable sources of food and fiber come from Small Farms, Plantations, and Herb Gardens. If players know there will be fertile soil nearby, especially if a human is in the party to point out the location, then having one of these blueprints ready to go will make the game's base-building mechanics a delight.
All three provide some raw food. The Small Farm makes wheat which players can turn into flour and then pies or biscuits. The Plantation makes fiber to be used in fabric-making. The Herb Garden is used for provision packs and advanced cooking recipes. Choose the one that fits the dietary and material needs of the crew.
3 Stone
Some players will tear through glade after glade and never find a stone deposit. Sometimes they find one, harvest it, and use it up immediately. Important buildings require bricks and bricks require stone. So do special events.
The stone embarkation bonus is one of the best safeguards against terrible luck by giving players a generous portion to manage. This enables bold gameplay; go ahead and open a glade earlier than usual and use the stone to grab the contents of a chest.
2 Amber
The amount of amber delivered in this embarkation bonus makes players rub their eyes and check again. Getting this amount of amber in the game means selling off tons of vital resources and food. The cost is so little that it's hard to see why any player wouldn't take this.
Some gamers feel great about their ability to trade and make amber but this still doesn't give them the money they need to buy blueprints or special upgrades from the early traders. New players who need advice should know that these purchasable upgrades must be prioritized.
1 Newcomers
An extra three population at the cost of just a point or two may not seem like much. By the end of the game, players can even get ten or more individuals in a group. But having them right away amounts to an extra fully-staffed Woodcutters' Camp.
Or use the extra manpower to build important structures while fully farming the local resources. The pick start keeps players ahead of the curve and can be the sole reason they consistently have enough fuel to outlast the storm.
Against the Storm is available in Early Access for PC.