In the ruins of the ancient Dwarven kingdom within Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, having a base camp is crucial for the player’s success and survival. Nighttime is a terrible time to be awake, as danger lurks around every corner in the mines. A base provides a safe place for the Dwarves to rest and recharge after a long day of mining in the depths of Moria and protects them from dangerous enemies and harsh environments.
If a player finds themselves out late at night while they’re exploring and cannot return to their camp on time, they can quickly craft a base. In this guide, players can learn how to build a strong base in Return to Moria from scratch.
How to Build a Base in Return to Moria
As players progress through the game, they will find plenty of truly convenient resting spots within Moria. However, almost all of these camps are ruined and need to be repaired before they can be used. In the middle of several old Dwarven Outposts, players can find a broken-down Stone Hearth.
Rebuilding the Stone Hearth requires 10 Stones, which players can obtain through mining or breaking piles of rocks and debris. Once the Stone Hearth is repaired, players will unlock blueprints for building new bases.
To start building a personal base in Return to Moria, players can follow the steps below:
- Press the “B” key to open the Build Menu.
- Navigate to the “Wood & Stone” tab, which contains a variety of design options for floors, walls, columns, and scaffolding.
- Hover the cursor above each crafting recipe to find the required building materials.
- Collect the necessary materials and click the icon to build the desired structure.
Players can freely construct most of the items in the Build Menu since they only require minimal resources, like Wood Scraps and Stone.
A base should have a Bedroll, the respawning point in case the dwarf dies, and a Hearth. Additionally, players can build chests, meal tables, a forge, and a furnace for smelting ingots around the central Hearth to have a well-rounded base camp.
Unfortunately, players cannot freely construct a base or use any of these structures if a Stone Hearth is unavailable.
A Stone Hearth is the traditional center of a Dwarf home, which provides warmth and allows players to cook meals. To build a Stone Hearth from scratch, players need to access the Build Menu and navigate to the “Essentials & Crafting” tab. The following materials are required to craft a Stone Hearth:
- 15 Coal
- 18 Stone
- 20 Wood Scraps
As they explore the ruins of Moria, players should never progress too far without building a base camp. However, it is not worth going through the hassles of building an elaborate camp while players move from one area to another. A cheaper base camp can be constructed using Camp Hearth. The following materials are required to craft a Camp Hearth:
- 6 Coal
- 6 Stone
- 10 Wood Scraps
Players can add a Bedroll, which costs 6 cloth scraps, and a meal table for an additional 10 wooden scraps, and they’re good to go. This little camp is perfect for players to quickly whip up a meal and rest during their journey.
Without building these minimal bases, players will be sent to the last place they rested if their dwarf dies.
The only drawback of building a base using a Camp Hearth is that there is little room to build complex structures around it. This limits the size of the base considerably.
Things to Keep in Mind While Building a Base
Constructing a whole base early on sounds exciting, but it’s not advisable for players to spend hours gathering resources and building bases in the early stages of the game. Instead, they should focus on rebuilding Dwarven Outposts rather than starting one from scratch. These broken camps already have the necessary facilities that players can repair for a fraction of the cost compared to building them. Doing so will save gamers a lot of resources in the long run.
Ideally, a base camp should be sturdy and resilient enough to prevent enemies from attacking the dwarves in their sleep. Players should focus on shielding their base with Stone Walls and Stone Barriers and create entryways by using a Stone Door Frame and adding a Simple Door.
Doors allow players to enter their base quickly while keeping the enemies out. Most of these structures only require stone, which is easily the most plentiful resource in Return to Moria.
Constructing narrow pathways and mazes of pillars is an effective strategy for repelling monsters from the base and gives the dwarf more time to kill them.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that each camp a player constructs is temporary until they unlock Fast Travel – a unique gameplay mechanic that allows dwarves to quickly travel from one base to another. With that being said, gamers should only invest in major and expensive facilities once they’re sure that they will be using the base for a longer time.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
- Released
- October 24, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Publisher(s)
- North Beach Games
- Franchise
- The Lord of the Rings
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Survival
