Building blocks

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Vintage Story has a great number of different building blocks, which are accessible at different stages of the player's technological progress. Different types of building materials can be used to create useful structures, while maintaining a balance between what looks good and what works well or is the most available in an area.

The player can trade with various NPC traders around the world for building blocks regardless of their current technical progress, however the following lists will focus only on the blocks the player can directly find or craft at their applicable progression stage. Some other blocks like bookshelves, wallpapers or ancient ruin blocks can theoretically be acquired at any point of the game, but require the player to venture into ruins below ground. The same applies to aged wood, which can be found in various crafted versions in ruins.

These lists will also disregard containers and various decorative items like paintings and flowerpots, as well as miscellaneous items like armor stands, rugs or useable structures and tools like bloomeries, clay molds or light sources.

Requires no tools or stone tools

When starting the game, the player only has access to resources they can scavenge by hand or with basic stone tools. Luckily, this still allows for a variety of building materials and even essentials like doors and fences.

The following list is further divided in early and later game, as some blocks are theoretically obtainable from the very start of the game, but may not be "worth" the time and resources the player would have to invest while simultaneously trying to survive. Later game building blocks also tend to require specialized tools and specific materials that players may need to explore the game world to find.

Early game

Blocks that can be obtained with minimal effort and time investment, and are therefore optimal for starter buildings.

Soil based blocks

Blocks that can be crafted with soil of any fertility as part of the recipe, together with sand, clay or dry grass. Most soil-based blocks are classified by the game as dirt-type blocks, and therefore grant a bonus to cellar effectiveness.

Keep in mind that building with soil itself may not work if gravity is enabled for soil on world creation.

• Soil blocks can be picked up by hand, although terra preta should be kept for farming instead of building.
• Gravel blocks can be picked up by hand. In the standard and wilderness survival world presets, gravel is affected by gravity unless customized.
• Sand blocks can be picked up by hand. In the standard and wilderness survival world presets, sand is affected by gravity unless customized.
• Bony soil can be picked up by hand. It can be scavenged from existing ruins in the world. It can be used as a building block or for panning.
• Cob can be crafted from dry grass and soil. Grass can spread on this block similar to regular soil blocks.
• Packed dirt can be crafted from soil. There is a lighter colored "arid" version which substitutes sand for parts of the recipe.
• Strewn straw can be crafted from soil and dry grass.
• Mud brick blocks and slabs can be crafted with dry grass, clay, and soil for dark mud brick. Light mud brick is created with the addition of sand.

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  Soil block

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  Gravel block

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  Sand block

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  Bony soil

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  Cob

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  Packed dirt

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  Strewn straw

• 

  Light mudbrick

Wood based blocks

These blocks can be created out of logs, or created out of other resources that also come from trees such as sticks. These early-game wooden blocks include utility blocks such as crude doors, ladders, and fences and fence gates.

All recipes in this section require the possession of an axe, except for the ones that only use sticks.

• 

  Any type of log can be obtained by felling a tree. Remember to first destroy all leaf blocks to maximize the amount of seeds and sticks.

• 

  Rough hewn fence
  crafted with sticks, logs and an axe.

• 

  Rough hewn gate
  crafted with sticks, logs and an axe.

• 

  Crude door
  crafted with sticks, logs and an axe. This door may randomly break upon usage and does not qualify as a true "door" for rooms.

• 

  Layer of sticks
  crafted with a full grid of sticks. This is a solid block for walking and keeping things in or out. It visually lets rain through but prevents firepits from extinguishing from rain.

• 

  Ladder
  can be crafted with sticks. An alternative recipe substitutes most of the sticks with boards, which are only accessible after gaining a saw. Climb up ladders by holding down Space, and climb down them by holding down Shift.

• 

  Rope Ladder
  can be crafted with rope and sticks. It functions identically to the regular ladder, with slightly different placement rules.

Stone based blocks

Blocks that can be crafted with any kind of loose stone as part of the recipe, sometimes together with clay or soil. Stone blocks give cellars a boost to effectiveness.

Loose stones can be simply acquired by picking them off the ground, and can be obtained in large quantities as a by-product of mining.

• 

  Different types of cobblestone can either be crafted as a block, stair or slab version with a single type of loose stone and clay, or scavenged by hand from existing ruins in the world.

• 

  Cobble skull
  can only be scavenged by hand from existing ruins in the world.

• 

  Different types of Dry stone fence can be crafted with a single type of loose stone. A version with mixed stone types can be made with boards, so it will require a saw.

• 

  Stone path
  can be crafted as a block, stair or slab version with loose stones and soil. Stone path blocks slightly speed up player movement.

Other blocks

Some other building blocks require different main ingredients like dry grass, quartz or clay. All these can be acquired without the use of tools.

• 

  Hay
  can be crafted with dry grass. It is used as a building block and in a number of recipes, for instance for the various thatch roof pieces.

• 

  Different parts of Thatch Roofs - slanted, corner, ridge and tip - can be crafted with hay.

• 

  Quartz Glass
  can be crafted from sticks and clear quartz bits specifically - if found on the ground.

• 

  Two kinds of Hardened Clay can be crafted by simply baking 8 pieces of blue or fire clay in a firepit. The red and brown clay versions exist in the game, but can only be acquired through traders.

Later game

Blocks that require considerable investment of time or resources, or require the player to have specific climates or stone types around them which otherwise would require time to search for. It is possible to acquire these blocks, but the player should weight the effort taken.

• 

  normal and green Glass
  can be made once the player has a bloomery, charcoal and quartz or olivine chunks. These requirements can be fulfilled without basic metal tools, but it will be comparatively harder.

• 

  Stacked bamboo
  crafted with bamboo stakes. This block is only viable in warmer climates, which should be to the south of spawn on a normal world setting.

• 

  Bamboo roof blocks - slanted, corner, ridge and tip - can be crafted with bamboo stakes.

• 

  Slate roof blocks - slanted, corner, ridge and tip - can be crafted with loose slate stones and blue clay. These blocks can only be made from slate, and therefore depends on whether or not the player has access to slate.

• 

  Clay shingle roof blocks - slanted, corner, ridge and tip - can be crafted with fire or blue clay shingles. Brown and red clay blocks can only be acquired through traders. Crafting shingles requires a lot of time, clay and fuel.

• 

  Glacier ice
  can be found in colder climates, which should be to the north of spawn on a normal world setting. Unlike lake ice, glacier ice will not melt even under higher temperatures.

Requires basic metal tools

Once the player has found their first copper bits and ventured into casting metal into tools, they can access existing resources more efficiently and quickly, and also access new crafting methods and blocks.

A metal pickaxe finally allows players to mine ores and minerals as well as loose and whole rocks. Crafting a chisel allows for some advanced crafting recipes, but mainly opens the possibility for complete design freedom, as almost every building block can be chiseled into different forms or even combined with different materials.

• 

  Any whole rock block can be obtained by mining out the 6 adjacent blocks, making the whole stone block fall as an item that can be picked up. This technique is called relieving.

• 

  Similarly to rock, any whole ore blocks can be obtained by mining out the 6 directly adjacent blocks around it, making the whole block fall as an item instead of dropping only the ore chunks inside. This method works for ores, minerals, and even meteor blocks.

• 

  Any type of polished stone can be crafted with a whole stone block, hammer and chisel. Polished slabs can be crafted by splitting a whole polished block with a hammer and chisel in the crafting grid.

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  Any type of Drystone can be crafted with one stone brick and loose stones of the same type. A mixed variant exists, requiring 8 different kinds of loose stone.

• 

  Plaster
  can be crafted with sand and lime, the latter requiring a hammer for processing. Plaster blocks can be further crafted with boards, but this requires access to a saw.

• 

  Violet, smoky and pink glass
  can be obtained once the player has a bloomery, charcoal and the minerals or gemstones required for the specific glass tint. Other glass colors cannot be crafted by the player and can only be acquired through trade.

Requires an anvil and saw

With enough metal the player can cast their first anvil, unlocking new tools like the saw, and recipes like metal plates. The saw significantly expands the types of craftable blocks available to players, since the ability to produce boards enables the player to create buckets and barrels for liquid storage. Boards are also used as a key crafting ingredient for a large number of wooden blocks and furniture.

Wood based blocks

With a saw, the player can create boards, a key requirement for all advanced wooden recipes.

• 

  Any type of plank can either be crafted as a block, stair or slab version with boards from a specific type of tree.

• 

  Variants of plaster with wooden detailing can be crafted with a plain plaster block and boards.

• 

  Wooden doors
  can be crafted with boards in the inventory. These count towards room requirements.

• 

  Wooden trapdoors
  can be crafted with boards and sticks in the inventory.

• 

  Wooden fences
  can be crafted with boards and sticks in the inventory, and are more efficient that making rough-hewn fences from the same materials.

• 

  Wooden fence gates
  can be crafted with boards and sticks in the inventory.

• 

  Wooden paths
  can be crafted with a saw and aged planks in the inventory. Aged planks can only be acquired by disassembling aged wood items found in ruins with a saw.

Brick based blocks

With access to a barrel, the player can start making mortar, an ingredient required to craft clay, stone and refractory brick blocks. Clay (ceramic) and stone brick blocks boost cellar effectiveness. Stone bricks are created by crafting a whole stone block (obtained via relieving) with a chisel.

• 

  Different kinds of clay brick blocks can be crafted as a full block, stair, slab or chimney version with fired clay bricks and mortar. Brown and red clay versions can only be acquired from traders.

• 

  Any type of stone brick blocks can be crafted as a full block, stair or slab version with shaped stone bricks and mortar.

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  Refractory brick blocks
  can be crafted with fire clay, various crushed ingredients and mortar. Since the effort to create them is high and they are necessary for the process of steel making, their use as building materials is extravagant.

Metal based blocks

With a steady supply of metal and advanced processing methods on an anvil, the player can create whole metal blocks and other metal based building parts.

• 

  Metal blocks can be crafted with plates of that metal.

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  Different copper roof blocks - slanted, corner, ridge and tip - can be crafted with copper plates.

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  Metal doors
  can be crafted with iron plates in the inventory or looted from rare underground ruins.

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  Glass slabs
  can be created with a full glass block and a saw with inventory crafting. Different colors of glass slabs can be made by using different colored glass blocks.

• 

  Leaded glass panes
  can be crafted with a glass block, boards and a lead ingot.