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If you’re just starting out in My Time at Sandrock, then you might be looking for some beginner tips. We’ve got you covered with helpful pointers to make the most out of your playthrough from early on.
Much like the harsh desert setting of the game, the early stages of My Time at Sandrock can be especially unforgiving toward beginners. This is because you’ll need to get the hang of your new job as a Builder fast in order to earn a good reputation for your workshop and make progress in the story. Of course, this is easier said than done. With a bit of good practice, you’ll learnt he ropes in no time. Here’s our top 10 beginner tips for those just getting started in My Time at Sandrock.
Top 10 Beginner Tips for My Time at Sandrock
- Build Your Workshop: Use an intricate set of machines to process materials and produce parts of huge structures before assembling them piece by piece to help Sandrock flourish. Create hundreds of unique items at the worktable to decorate your homestead, give gifts to Sandrock’s residents, or assist with community requests.
- Explore the Open World: Explore vast deserts surrounding the city-state of Sandrock. Dive into ruins to dig for Old World relics, seek out materials in hard-to-reach locations, or spend time relaxing in Sandrock with your neighbors.
- Extensive Stories for NPCS: Experience a detailed story complete with hundreds of side quests and over 30 all-new characters. Spend time getting to know Sandrock’s residents, uncovering backstories, and making meaningful connections along the way, including romance and the option to get married and have children!
- New Combat: Quickly shift between melee combat and third-person shooting mechanics in dynamic action battles. Use the new weapons and defense break mechanic to your tactical advantage or boost your stats to simply smash through battles. Face a wide range of enemies in dungeons and experience a realistic and ever-changing desert environment.
- Mini-Games and More: Sand running, gun fighting, sand fishing, holiday events, and many more, allow you and local residents to stay entertained in the desert town. Use your workshop’s profits to turn the empty prairie into farmable land. Grow crops for extra cash or transform them into delicious dishes.
Meet All Sandrock Residents
In Sandrock, you can’t operate a business all by yourself. To maximize your window for potential commissions and marriage candidates, you’ll want to meet everyone in town. While doing so will often trigger events with romanceable characters, you should introduce yourself to the rest of the townsfolk, too. The closer you become with the residents of Sandrock, the more quests you’ll be able to take on and the further you’ll progress in the main story. In turn, your workshop rating and personal life will thrive.
Collect Materials Daily
When you’re just starting out in My Time at Sandrock, you’ll have a lot of stamina and not much else. That said, you should spend time collecting as many materials as you can on a daily basis. The best resources to pocket in the early game are those found in scrap piles, as you have a chance to pick up a variety of different items at once.
Be sure to mine gravel and collect plants like oregano and sandberries, too. This will help you farm dregs and dew, which can be used to power your machinery. Of course, you’ll need to craft water with the dew you harvest in order to use it. However, you’ll want to have these resources on hand to keep your workshop running smoothly.
Clean Your Machines
As a Builder, you’ll spend a lot of time operating your machinery. Naturally, this will lead to standard wear and tear. After a couple of weeks spent working in Sandrock, you’ll probably notice a solid amount of sand has collected on your equipment. That means it’s time to start cleaning up with your trusty feather duster.
Putting off this task is a bad idea. Excess sand will lead your machines to run less efficiently, slowing productivity. I recommend cleaning regularly to keep your business up and running.
Use Your Free Pass at Eufaula Salvage
This is a big one. At the start of your playthrough, the team at Eufaula Salvage will lend you a free pass to the facility as you work on a crane lift to install in the yard. Inside, you can also mine resources that are otherwise unobtainable in the early game. This includes mechanical scrap, rubber scrap, and valuable Data Discs.
The catch: Your pass expires in just one week. I made the mistake of letting time run out before I finished building a crane lift for the facility. Because of this, I had to spend a whopping 200 Gols just to enter and install the finished product. This is a significant sum of money in the early stages of the game, so you’ll want to prioritize this project and use your free pass to the fullest extent.
Accept Commissions ASAP
In line with the last tip, you’ll want to start accepting commissions as soon as you can in My Time at Sandrock. This is the best way to make money, as you can earn hundreds of Gols by completing a single project. What’s more, completing commissions will increase your workshop rating and earn you rewards. Yan won’t hesitate to let you know how well your shop is performing, so you should do as much as you’re able.
You’ll find open commissions listed on the bulletin board inside the Commerce Guild. Just bear in mind that you can only accept one job per day until Yan gives you the go-ahead to pick up more work. Jobs are categorized according to difficulty, so you can choose to take on commissions that require common materials to get started.
Stay Busy With Builds
This tip goes hand-in-hand with taking up commissions. To make the most of your time and stamina, you’ll want to work on builds for commissions and new machines consistently. By doing this, you won’t need to set aside extra time to build the equipment needed to start new quests down the line. Some of the best machines to invest in early on are the grinder and processor. You can purchase blueprints for these machines from Qi in exchange for Data Discs.
That said, you’re limited to one active build at the Assembly Station. You can streamline productivity by focusing on collecting the materials you need for several projects at once. When you have what you need, set up a build at the handbook and finish them in one fell swoop.
Save Gols for a Rainy Day
During your first few weeks in Sandrock, Gols are tough to come by. Just a few hundred can make all the difference when you’re caught in a tight spot early on. Some crafting materials required to build machines and other items can only be obtained by visiting shops in Sandrock. Because of this, you should budget your savings accordingly to ensure that you’re able to buy what you need later on.
While you can pocket small sums by selling unwanted materials, this isn’t a sustainable method to earn money. With this in mind, you’ll want to save what little funds you have until you’re able to take on commissions and complete main story quests.
Start Your Knowledge Tree
As you work and gain EXP in My Time at Sandrock, your character will level up relatively fast. This often comes with knowledge points that you can spend on your knowledge tree. While you may be inclined to save a few points here and there, spending them in the right places will make the early game that much easier.
I suggest picking up Basic Gathering Knowledge and Basic Stone Knowledge to start, as these will earn you more EXP. In turn, you’ll level up more often and gain more knowledge points to spend.
Increase Your Inventory
Because you need to collect a wide variety of resources and materials to build machines and other items, your pockets are going to fill up fast. And we mean really fast. To mitigate this issue, you can buy additional backpack slots, starting at just 10 Gols each. This is definitely worth your investment early on. However, the price of a single slot will increase each time you reach a new row in your inventory, so this is more of a temporary solution.
As previously mentioned, saving your money is paramount in the early game. I recommend spending Gols on new slots only when you need them, as storing items and materials is more cost-effective. This leads into our last tip.
Craft Storage Items
Storage items can be crafted from the beginning stages of My Time at Sandrock. To avoid paying top dollar for extra backpack slots, you can simply craft a mini storage box at your worktable. This will allow you to put away materials that you don’t need to carry with you, as each box holds 15 items.
You can craft as many of these furniture items as you want, given you have the required materials. They only take up about a block of space, so you can easily place them inside your house to save room for new machines outside.
Consider these My Time at Sandrock beginner tips as you work out your routine, and you’ll become a top-notch Builder in no time. For more on My Time at Sandrock, check out these additional guides from our team: