Pax Dei - First Steps in the World (auf englisch)
Hello Paxians,
It's been a while since we published our first guide on how to start in Pax Dei, and it began to be outdated!
So we decided to refresh it to include the changes from the last months.
Ready to dive?
The one tip you need to know: Pax Dei is designed as a collaborative game.
Pax Dei is a marathon, not a sprint. Build your economy, expand your crafting abilities, and embrace collaboration.
In other words, and we can’t repeat this enough, Pax Dei is more approachable if you play with others:
Gathering resources is faster.
More people can refill processing crafters—kilns, furnaces, etc.
Resource spots can be discovered quicker.
Everyone can focus on different crafts, speeding up group progress.
Combat becomes more manageable.
Plots can be combined for shared crafting stations or outposts near resources.
Different roles within the group allow everyone to focus on activities they enjoy, whether gathering, exploring, building, or managing resources.
Pax Dei includes Discord integration for chat, allowing for better communication with other players around you and in clan-specific channels.
In Pax Dei, there's a role for everyone and a player for every role! Whether you’re a gatherer, adventurer, or builder, working together enriches the experience. If you don’t have a clan yet, head to our Discord server to connect with like-minded players.
And remember, Pax Dei isn’t a survival game, even though it features a lot of gameplay similar to games in the survival genre. Unlike traditional survival titles, your character starts with minimal equipment and won’t starve from not eating. The world is alive and runs on its own, it doesn’t adjust the difficulty of any content.
Entering the World
Bonjour! Guten Tag! The game is now available in French and German! To change the language, press Esc, navigate to Settings > General > Languages, and select your preferred option: French, English, or German.
For your first steps in the world of Pax Dei, follow these tips:
Select a shard - Normal or RP. Population levels are indicated for each Home Valley
Scout for the perfect location for your home, prioritizing proximity to essential resources like trees (for abundant charcoal), animals such as deer and boars (for leatherworking, tailoring, and armorsmithing), flax (vital for tailoring and other crafts), clay, and impure iron deposits (used for tools, weapons, and armor). As a bonus, choose a spot near the Wildlands to access iron and pure iron deposits for advanced crafting.
Pick up resources like gneiss and branches; they’ll be useful later.
Craft the essential tools: an axe to chop wood, a hammer to claim a plot and start building, and a pointy stick for early-stage defense (TAB → Craft).
Discover new resources to unlock recipes (touch everything!).
Place a plot to build your home and put down crafting stations.
Hold right-click to block during combat—this will save your life!
Be cautious in the mountains. Falls can be deadly, and retrieving your corpse is challenging. However, if you're near the vicinity of your corpse but can’t reach it, you can summon it by holding T and clicking Summon Corpse.
How to place a plot
You can check our dedicated FAQ to learn more about plots. In short, your plot is your base of operations—a home where you can place crafting stations and start building your dream setup.
Claim a plot in the Home Valleys. Open the map (M) to find Home Valleys outlined in red. The Wildlands in between are unbuildable.
Pick a good spot! Look for areas near resources like clay, mining nodes, flax, or trees for charcoal. Proximity to PvP portals can also be useful for high-tier materials.
Craft a construction hammer. Open your inventory (TAB → Craft) to make one using nearby materials.
Equip the hammer and right-click to open the Building menu. Select Plot Management to find an unclaimed plot.
Claim and start building! Place foundations and crafting stations to get started.
Share your plot if needed. Adjust permissions in the Plots tab to grant access to clan mates or friends. This will allow others to build on your plot and potentially destroy your creations. To change the plot’s permissions, equip your Construction Hammer, right-click to open the Building Menu, and select the Plots tab.
Choose wisely—your plot is where your journey begins!
How can you be sure you are in the right place?
You can’t, as you might need to relocate at some point. Our advice: avoid overdeveloping your first plot unless you’re passionate about building. You may want to move later if you make new friends or realize your current location doesn’t have the resources needed for your preferred profession.
Let’s start crafting!
Now that you have a plot, start building your first crafting stations:
Wood Chopping Block
Produces wooden beams, planks, and pegs.
Grinding Carpentry here unlocks advanced recipes.
Basic Carpenter’s Workbench
Use the Wood Chopping Block to craft this.
Containers (Chests)
Found in the Furnishings tab of the Building menu.
Craft them on the Carpenter’s Workbench and place them with the Construction Hammer - right-click once equipped to open the Building menu and click on Furnishings to select the container to place.
Stone Pickaxe
Allows you to mine gneiss, copper, and tin.
Craft it on the Basic Carpenter’s Workbench.
Campfire
Make a campfire! It is cheap and the entry point for cooking. With it, you can cook simple food to boost your stamina and health. Don't underestimate the power of food and drinks!
Combat and survival
Equip a Pointy Stick and Crude Shield for basic defense.
Use the shield’s bash ability (CTRL + right-click) to stun enemies.
Armed only with this, you should be able to take on small Inquisition camps - careful, though, as you are not equipped to survive against 2 or 3 enemies at once. Defeating these camps could earn you valuable materials and unlock some gear pieces with spells.
Avoid corrupted animals (marked by swarms of flies) until better equipped.
Yup. It is a rabbit. We told you to be careful in the wilderness!
Essential early tips
Charcoal production:
Build a Charcoal Kiln as soon as possible. Charcoal is critical for smelting and crafting.
Use sapwood or branches to fuel your kilns.
Refill it as often as you can, you will need a lot!
Metal production:
The stone pickaxe does not allow you to mine impure iron deposits. However, you should mark the spots on your map (press M for the map) and you will see the shortcut to add a marker at the bottom right. As soon as you have the second pickaxe (hint: it needs bronze) you can come back and mine them!
If you have space, you can build multiple kilns and furnaces to increase productivity.
Advanced tips and collaboration
Workstations and professions:
Components often come from multiple professions. Coordinate within your group to save time and resources.
Rare mobs:
You can recognize rare mobs from their names. Generic mobs have more general names like a wolf or an inquisitor scout, while rare mobs have titles like The Temple Pantler or names like Inquisitor Ferox.
Seek out rare mobs, as some drop magic materials and recipes for spells.
Layered armor:
Pax Dei has a layering system. You can combine a cloth tunic with a leather gambeson or chainmail with plate armor. The slots supporting two layers are shown in the Equipment view. Press TAB and click on Equipment.
Gold and economy:
Earn gold by looting NPCs and use it to purchase items at player-run Market Stalls. Or use it to gain extra Grace!
To craft your personal market stall and sell your crafted goods and rare resources, you will need to reach level 5 in Carpentry. Its recipe will then appear in the Crafting tab of the Building menu (right-click with your Construction Hammer equipped in your hand).
With the introduction of Grace, gold can also be used to acquire this ethereal resource to cast blessings that improve your crafting or gathering.
Spells:
Spells are tied to specific pieces of gear.
Items to unlock spells and rare materials can be looted from unique NPCs.
Our advice: Start by hunting Inquisitors in nearby areas. Pull them one by one to make fights manageable. This should help you unlock your first few spells!
Control Sheets
