Exit Ways Base Building Guide: How to Build the Ultimate Base in ASKES’ Zombie Extraction Shooter

If there is one thing I have learned from playing survival games, it is that a base is never just a base. In some games it is little more than a storage box surrounded by ugly wooden walls, while in others it becomes the heart of the entire experience. Exit Ways looks like it wants to take the second approach.

Developed and published by ASKES, Exit Ways mixes PvEvP extraction-shooter tension with open-world survival and community management. That combination immediately makes base building more interesting because everything you do outside your camp eventually comes back to it. You go on a dangerous run, rescue survivors, collect materials, find weapons, and then return home hoping you actually get to keep everything.

That makes your settlement more than a convenient checkpoint. It becomes the place where your progression, crafting, storage, survivors, and defenses all come together. And honestly, I think that is one of the more interesting ideas in Exit Ways. The better your base becomes, the more confident you can be when heading back into dangerous territory.

So, if you are wondering how to build a strong base in Exit Ways, here is how I would approach it.

Exit Ways Best Craftable Buildings Layout: Ultimate Base Building Guide

Why Base Building Matters So Much in Exit Ways

The temptation in an extraction game is to focus almost entirely on the next raid. Find better gear, grab valuable loot, survive the trip out, repeat. Exit Ways adds another layer to that familiar loop by making your camp an important part of long-term progression.

Your settlement supports practically everything you do between raids. A properly developed camp can give you better crafting options, more storage, improved survivor management, and stronger protection against the threats surrounding you.

There are four major reasons why upgrading your base should be a priority:

• Community progression: Rescued survivors can become useful members of your settlement rather than simply being another objective completed during a raid.
• Better crafting: Improved workstations can give you access to more advanced equipment and supplies.
• More storage: Extraction runs become increasingly frustrating when you constantly have to throw away useful items because your storage is full.
• A safer operational hub: Your base gives you somewhere to organize your equipment, prepare for the next expedition, and recover from dangerous encounters.

For me, storage and crafting would probably be the first things I would focus on. There is nothing worse in a survival game than finding something fantastic and realizing you have nowhere to put it.

Choosing the Best Location for Your Base

Before building anything, take a moment to think about where you are building. This sounds obvious, but choosing a convenient location early can save you a ridiculous amount of time later.

Because Exit Ways gives players considerable freedom over where their camp can be established, you should think about the surrounding terrain rather than simply picking the first flat area you find.

Look for Natural Protection

Natural terrain can function as your first defensive wall.

Cliffs, large bodies of water, steep slopes, and other difficult-to-cross areas can reduce the number of directions from which enemies can approach. If one side of your settlement is already protected by terrain, you can concentrate your walls and defensive structures on the remaining approaches.

That becomes especially valuable during attacks. Instead of defending a huge perimeter, you are effectively forcing enemies into a smaller number of predictable routes.

Stay Close to Useful Resources

You also do not want your base sitting in the middle of nowhere. Wood, fiber, stone, scrap metal, and water should all be reasonably accessible.

There is a balance here. Building directly beside every useful resource sounds great until you realize the location is also attracting enemies or sitting next to a heavily contested area.

I would rather choose a slightly less convenient location with good natural defenses than build directly beside a resource hotspot and spend every five minutes fighting for it.

Think About Extraction Routes

Your camp should also make sense in relation to the wider map. If you regularly use certain extraction areas, being relatively close to them can make your runs more efficient.

However, I would avoid building directly on top of a high-traffic zone. In a PvEvP environment, convenience can quickly become a liability when every other player knows exactly where you live.

Gather Basic Materials Before Going Crazy With Construction

Once you have picked your location, resist the urge to immediately build a giant fortress.

Start small.

Clear nearby threats first and establish a safe working area. Building while zombies are constantly wandering into your construction zone is exactly the sort of problem that sounds funny until you are trying to repair a wall with half your inventory missing.

Your early resource priorities should generally include:

• Wood and lumber for basic walls, floors, storage, and structures.
• Fiber and thatch for primitive construction and early survival necessities.
• Stone and scrap metal for stronger structures and future upgrades.

One of the best early investments is simply additional storage. Extraction games generate an incredible amount of junk that suddenly becomes valuable when you discover what it can be used for later.

Keep your materials organized from the beginning. Separate building supplies, crafting components, weapons, medical items, and valuable loot whenever possible. It may seem unnecessary during your first few hours, but future-you will appreciate it.

Build Your Base Around a Strong Central Layout

One mistake I tend to make in survival games is building first and thinking about organization later. That usually ends with a weird maze of rooms, random crafting stations, and storage containers scattered everywhere.

Do not do that.

Instead, think about your settlement in layers and functional zones.

1. Build Around a Central Core

Your most important structures and valuable storage should be positioned toward the center of your settlement.

This is the area you want to protect the most. If enemies break through an exterior wall, they should still have another layer to get through before reaching your most valuable resources.

2. Keep Crafting Close to Storage

Workbenches, weapon stations, medical areas, and similar facilities should be grouped together.

The less time you spend running between storage and crafting stations, the more time you have to actually play the game.

It is a small quality-of-life decision that becomes increasingly important as your inventory gets larger.

3. Protect Your Survivors

Your rescued civilians are not just decoration. They form an important part of your settlement’s economy and defense.

Keep housing inside your safest defensive area. Losing important community members because they were placed next to an exposed entrance is the sort of mistake that can hurt far more than losing a few resources.

4. Use an Airlock Entrance

This is one of those survival-game tricks that sounds simple but works incredibly well.

Instead of having one door leading directly into your main compound, create a small entrance area with two separate doors. When one door is open, the second remains closed.

This creates an airlock and prevents enemies from immediately flooding into your base when you enter or leave.

It is especially useful in a PvEvP game where an unexpected visitor may be considerably smarter than the average zombie.

Upgrade Your Defenses Before Your Base Becomes a Target

A growing settlement naturally becomes more attractive to enemies. The more valuable your storage becomes and the better your equipment gets, the more painful a successful attack can be.

That is why defensive upgrades should happen alongside economic upgrades.

Multi-Layered Walls

Do not rely on one massive wall and assume it will hold forever.

A better design is to create an outer defensive perimeter followed by a stronger inner wall around your critical structures. This gives you time to react when the first line is breached.

It also creates space where traps and defensive structures can be placed.

Guard Towers and Elevated Positions

Height is extremely valuable.

Elevated platforms and guard towers give your defenders better visibility and allow them to engage approaching enemies before they reach your walls. They can also create overlapping fields of fire when positioned correctly.

Rather than putting towers randomly around the base, think about the paths enemies are most likely to use.

Traps at Chokepoints

You do not need to cover every square meter with traps.

Focus on entrances, narrow paths, gates, and predictable approaches. Spikes, barbed wire, and other defensive obstacles can slow enemies down while your guards deal damage from safer positions.

A good defensive base does not necessarily stop enemies immediately. Sometimes the goal is simply to make every meter of progress painfully expensive.

Your Survivors Are Part of the Base

This is where Exit Ways becomes more interesting than a traditional survival-building game.

Once you begin rescuing civilians, your settlement can develop into a functioning community. Instead of doing every task yourself, you can assign survivors to different roles based on what your camp needs.

Builders and maintenance workers can help keep damaged structures operational. Gatherers and farmers can support your resource and food supply. Armed survivors can become part of your defensive force.

This creates an interesting progression loop: you venture outside to save people and collect resources, then bring those rewards home to make your community stronger.

I particularly like this idea because it gives rescued NPCs an actual purpose. They are not simply another collectible sitting in a menu. Their value becomes connected to the survival of the entire settlement.

The Best Base Is Efficient, Not Just Huge

It is easy to assume that the strongest base in Exit Ways will simply be the biggest one.

I do not think that is necessarily true.

A giant settlement with terrible organization can actually be weaker than a compact, carefully designed camp. More walls mean more surfaces to defend, more space to patrol, and potentially more places for enemies to exploit.

Instead, focus on efficiency, redundancy, and controlled access.

Your ideal settlement should have:

1. A protected central core.
2. Clearly separated crafting and storage areas.
3. Safe housing for survivors.
4. A controlled entrance with an airlock.
5. Multiple defensive layers.
6. Natural terrain protecting at least part of the perimeter.
7. Defensive towers overlooking important approaches.
8. Traps positioned where enemies are forced to pass.

That kind of layout is much easier to manage than an enormous base that looks impressive but becomes a nightmare during an attack.

Final Thoughts

Base building could easily become one of the most satisfying parts of Exit Ways, especially because it is connected to the game’s extraction and survivor systems. Every dangerous expedition has the potential to make your settlement stronger, whether you return with rare materials, better weapons, or another survivor who can contribute to your growing community.

My biggest advice is simple: do not build for appearance first; build for survival.

Choose a smart location, secure your resources, expand storage early, keep important facilities centralized, and gradually replace fragile defenses with stronger ones. Most importantly, design your camp with the assumption that something will eventually try to break into it.

That is what makes a base feel meaningful in a survival game. It is not just a collection of walls and crafting benches. It is the place you are trying to protect after every dangerous run.

And when you finally return from a chaotic extraction, dump your loot into a well-organized storage room, see your survivors working, and realize that your tiny starting camp has become a heavily defended community, that is when the base-building system really starts to pay off.