Base Upgrades and Resource Management

Base management supports everything you do at the inspection gate. Survivors need food and medical care, the generator needs fuel, and powered buildings stop working when the base cannot supply enough electricity. You do not need to buy every upgrade. Focus on keeping the checkpoint running, then improve the parts of your inspection routine that cause the most trouble.

Cash and Research Points serve different purposes. Cash pays for food, fuel, medkits, and facility upgrades. Research Points, or RP, raise the zone level and improve inspection equipment. A higher zone level unlocks more facility upgrades, but you must still buy those building improvements separately with cash.

How to Upgrade the Zone Level

The zone level is the checkpoint's overall upgrade tier, not an upgrade for a single building. During the campaign, the first guided zone-level increase becomes available on Day 4 after you refuel and restart the generator. Wait for the campaign prompt, open the tablet, and select the Upgrades tab.

Complete the Day 4 generator objective if this is your first zone-level upgrade.
Open the tablet and select Upgrades.
Choose the available zone or checkpoint level upgrade.
Review the RP cost and confirm the upgrade when you have enough points.
Open Base Management to see which facility upgrades the new level unlocked. Purchase those upgrades separately with cash.

If the first upgrade is unavailable, make sure the generator tutorial and its dialogue have finished. Current versions prevent you from purchasing the Tier 2 checkpoint upgrade before completing that tutorial. Food, fuel, and medkits are operating supplies; none of them can replace the RP required to raise the zone level.

Best Early Upgrade Order

Priority	Spend On	Why It Matters	What It Helps You Avoid
1	Generator and fuel support	The generator powers your base facilities and must remain fueled. Its improvements can increase power output and fuel capacity.	Building facilities that the base cannot keep powered.
2	Tent and quarantine capacity	Tents house approved survivors, while quarantine provides room for uncertain cases that need observation.	Running out of space and being forced into avoidable verdicts.
3	Food and clinic support	The canteen feeds survivors, and the clinic uses medkits to treat sick residents. Later upgrades increase capacity or add resource production.	Housing more survivors than your support buildings can handle.
4	Zone level and inspection tools	Spend RP on the next zone level when you need access to its facility tier. Tool upgrades can also make readings clearer or remove slow manual steps.	Unlocking needed buildings too late or repeatedly struggling with the same tool.
5	Defense improvements	The base faces horde attacks, and the Defense Center provides upgrades for the weapons used in those encounters.	Overspending on defenses before power, supplies, and capacity are stable.

Your best upgrade order depends on the base's current bottleneck. Fix power or capacity first when either one is disrupting operations. If the base is stable but symptoms remain difficult to read, spend RP on the relevant inspection tool. If your tools are reliable and a newly unlocked building would solve a repeated shortage, save your cash for that facility.

Resource Priorities Between Shifts

Fuel and power: Check the generator's fuel reserve and available power before adding another powered facility.
Food: Keep enough food in the canteen for the survivors housed at the base.
Medkits: Keep the clinic stocked so it can care for sick survivors.
Cash: Use cash for resupply orders and individual building upgrades. Set aside enough for the next food, fuel, and medkit order before buying an optional improvement.
RP: Spend RP on zone-level increases and inspection-equipment upgrades. Detailed inspections award RP, and evacuation rewards can provide RP instead of cash.
Capacity: Expand tents or quarantine when either area repeatedly reaches its limit.

Before spending cash, make sure the purchase leaves enough money for your next resupply. Before spending RP, compare the value of the next zone level with the benefit of a tool upgrade. These currencies solve different problems, and raising the zone level does not consume food, fuel, or medkits.

Recovering After a Bad Shift

If supplies are low, open Base Management, select the affected building, and use its Resupply tab. Restock fuel through the power or generator building, food through the canteen, and medkits through the clinic. Then fix one repeated problem. Expand tents if approved survivors lack space, expand quarantine if uncertain cases keep filling it, or improve the generator if new facilities exceed your power plan.

If weak inspections are limiting your cash or RP, slow down and complete every required check. Mark each symptom you find instead of stopping once the likely verdict seems clear. Better inspection performance can earn more RP, helping you reach the next zone level or equipment upgrade.

Quick Upgrade Checklist

Wait for the Day 4 generator tutorial before attempting the first Tier 2 checkpoint upgrade.
Open the tablet's Upgrades tab and spend RP to raise the zone level.
Review unlocked facility upgrades in Base Management and purchase them separately with cash.
Keep the generator fueled and confirm that it can power your facilities.
Expand tents or quarantine when capacity becomes a repeated problem.
Supply the canteen and clinic before purchasing optional building upgrades.
Upgrade inspection tools when clearer or faster readings would solve your main problem.
Improve defenses once horde encounters, rather than basic operations, become the weak point.

Base management works best when it supports the inspection loop. Raise the zone level to unlock the facility tier you need, spend cash to upgrade and resupply the base, and use remaining RP on tools that make your next verdict more reliable.

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