Recognize the bucket and the two wells

  • Wooden Bucket game icon

    Wooden Bucket

    Opened by obtaining Wood Planks; the normal well’s key ingredient.

  • Water Well game icon

    Water Well

    The normal well at the end of the Carpenter chain.

  • Improved Well game icon

    Improved Well

    A separate, later recipe — not a step toward the normal well.

The unlock chain runs through the bucket

Once Cade Hawthorn has been rescued, two obtain triggers drive the chain: Wood Planks open the Wooden Bucket recipe, and a crafted bucket opens the Water Well recipe.

The Water Well unlock chain runs through the Wooden BucketRecruit Carpenter Cade Hawthorn, obtain Wood Planks to open the Wooden Bucket recipe — two planks, one metal sheet, one charcoal — then obtain a bucket to open the Water Well recipe: twenty Linen, one hundred Stone and one Wooden Bucket at a sheltered Carpenter. The Improved Well is a separate recipe that also needs Masonry Tools, limestone and bronze bars; it is not a step in the normal chain.Recruit Cade Hawthornthe CarpenterObtain Wood Planksthe saw route is separateWooden Bucket recipe2 planks · 1 metal sheet · 1 charcoalObtain 1 Wooden Bucketthe well’s key ingredientSheltered Carpenterstation requirementWater Well recipe20 linen · 100 stone · 1 bucketWater Well placedstanding water sourceImproved Well — separate recipealso needs Masonry Tools · limestone + bronze barsThe Improved Well is not a step in the normal chain.
Unlock chain with current recipe quantities from 0.9.1.2 data. The Improved Well branch is separate and also requires Masonry Tools. Swipe the diagram to inspect each part.

Check the station’s Shelter state before judging a missing recipe — the Carpenter chain expects a sheltered Carpenter. The saw route that produces Wood Planks is in the Table Saw guide.

Build the normal well

The bucket’s own recipe is 2 Wood Planks, 1 Metal Sheet and 1 Charcoal, opened by obtaining Wood Planks.

Ingredients
  • 20 Linen
  • 100 Stone
  • 1 Wooden Bucket
Craft atSheltered Carpenter
1 Water Well game iconOutput1 Water Well

The Improved Well is a different unlock

Water WellImproved Well
Unlock pathCarpenter chain: obtain a Wooden BucketSeparate recipe tied to Masonry Tools
Ingredients20 Linen · 100 Stone · 1 Wooden Bucket20 Linen · 100 Limestone · 1 Wooden Bucket · 2 Bronze Bars
Plan for it asThe first standing water source at the baseA later upgrade, not a prerequisite

A new well starts empty

Patch 11 made a freshly placed well start out empty — that is the normal state, not a bug. Give it time to hold water, then check the well itself rather than waiting on any fixed timer.

Once it holds water, treat it as the base’s standing water point: fill pouches there, fill the Portable Water Pump there, and let a water-using factory draw from a nearby well with its own draw action.

Continue your build

Sources and version