Build a Calm Year 1 Start
In Against the Storm, your starting caravan decides which villagers and starting goods you bring into a new settlement, while embark bonuses are the extra picks you buy with embarkation points before the run begins. Players also often call these embarkation bonuses, but this guide uses embark bonuses for short. A steady opener matters because if Resolve falls too low, villagers can leave, and that also raises the Queen's Impatience.
When you compare caravans, favor immediate stability over flashy upside. You want villagers you can use right away, food that covers the early game, and enough basic materials to get your first buildings running. If two caravans seem close, use the biome preview and map conditions to pick the one that covers your first likely shortage. That gives you more room to survive the first Storm, awkward blueprints, or an early dangerous glade without the run slipping out of control.
Reliable Embark Bonus Setup
- Take one food bonus if your caravan starts light on food.
- Take one bundle of basic materials like planks, bricks, or fabric so early building is less cramped.
- Consider extra villagers or extra parts if your opener feels short on labor or building flexibility.
- Spend any remaining points on fuel, amber, or another buffer that fits the biome preview and modifiers.
Biome adjustment rule: if the preview shows weak food access or rough early modifiers, lean harder into food or fuel. If the map looks rich in resources but your caravan is light on workers, extra villagers or parts are usually safer than luxury picks that do very little in Year 1.
Simple tiebreaker: if you are not sure which is the best embarkation bonus choice, pick the option that fixes your first obvious problem. No food means food. No starting materials means planks, bricks, or fabric. Not enough hands to run camps and crude workstations means villagers or parts. That is usually more reliable than forcing the same "best" setup every run.
Tip: if your first year starts to spiral, stop opening new glades for a season, move workers back onto food and fuel, and use trading to patch the missing resource when you can. That reset is often enough to steady the settlement.