It can be reasonably argued that there is no greater determinant of success for a round of Against the Storm than the quality of the blueprints offered. Every loss can usually be chalked up to never getting a structure that made a certain food, fuel, or resource.
When choosing between buildings, take some time and think. Of course, it's important to fulfill needs before all else in Against the Storm which sometimes means taking a weaker building because it provides an important resource. But, given the choice, there are a few standout options.
This list only covers blueprint choices. Some buildings, such as decorations, Fox Houses, or Finesmiths, are either unlocked permanently or found on the map by chance. Since there is not really a choice about taking them or not, they are excluded from the rankings.
D-Tier
- Bath House
- Brewery
- Brick Oven
- Clay Pit
- Greenhouse
- Grill
The Bath House is notorious in the community for its poor performance, providing only one service buff to treatment and a couple of other buffs that are alright but nothing close to what other service buildings do. New players learning about the game should steer clear.
The Clay Pit is potentially alright when playing on a map that has no stones at all but taking up fertile soil with it is definitely a nasty sacrifice. The rest of these have perhaps one or two quality materials to make but don't make them efficiently.
C-Tier
- Artisan
- Cellar
- Clothier
- Distillery
- Furnace
- Granary
- Press
- Rain Collector
- Rain Mill
- Smokehouse
- Stamping Mill
- Teahouse
- Temple
- Tinctuary
- Workshop
The big ticket item here is the Workshop. On paper, it makes two-star planks, bricks, and fabric, all staples. But with only two worker slots, players that try to get all their resources from this shop will constantly find they are out of all three. The better plan is to have buildings individually dedicated to making these items.
Products made at the Tinctuary are efficient but they're all luxury items. Usually, the plan is to go for incense or oil for luxury resources and commit the rest of production to staples. Players that want the game to feel like one of the best roguelikes around will find these buildings underwhelming.
B-Tier
- Alchemist's Hut
- Bakery
- Beanery
- Brickyard
- Clan Hall
- Cooperage
- Druid's Hut
- Forum
- Herbalists' Camp
- Leatherworker
- Plantation
- Ranch
- Scribe
- Small Farm
- Smelter
- Supplier
- Tea Doctor
- Trappers' Camp
Players may think a blueprint ranked in the middle is average and that is indeed true for some of these buildings. But a couple are here because they are either S-Tier or D-Tier depending on the layout. Players with lizards and foxes will find the Ranch is unreal. Those without those two species will find a Ranch just turns edible food into inedible resources at minimal efficiency.
The Smelter and Druid's Hut each make some favorable items but not with the efficiency that players might get from something else. Look over the species of the city, both good and bad, before deciding to ditch or pick up these blueprints.
A-Tier
- Butcher
- Cookhouse
- Explorer's Lodge
- Guild House
- Herb Garden
- Forester's Hut
- Manufactory
- Market
- Monastery
- Provisioner
- Smithy
- Tavern
- Tinkerer
- Toolshop
- Weaver
Many of these buildings provide top-level food buffs to the species in the camp with a great deal of efficiency. Aside from fuel, starvation is the biggest obstacle when it comes to victory, so these kinds of buildings should not be overlooked. Some can even be selected as an elite embarkation bonus before starting the game.
Of note, the Forester's Hut takes fertile soil and harvests resin and crystalized dew. Crystalized dew is a substitute for copper bars in almost every recipe, this can be a literal game-saver on maps that simply don't have copper mines.
S-Tier
- Apothecary
- Carpenter
- Kiln
- Lumber Mill
- Tinkerer
The Apothecary is the only building that makes incense above a one-star level. Incense can be used to solve about every dangerous glade problem, so having a lot of it around can fix many issues. It also makes biscuits and tea, both good for meeting needs.
The other buildings on this list are all about fuel, the single most important issue to handle in the game, and tools, which give free Reputation Points on discovered chests. The Kilm turns logs into coal which burns longer and is more efficiently sacrificed for Resolve during storms.
This roguelike game has loads of replay value especially when using the Lumber Mill which makes three-star planks, saving more logs for fuel in the process. The Carpenter makes both planks and tools and can easily handle both needs.
Against the Storm is available in Early Access for PC.