Outbound Guide: The Best Blueprints to Unlock First

Quick Answer: Always prioritize functional tools and machines over cosmetic items when downloading blueprints. To ensure a smooth early game, grab the Axe, Sickle, Sewing Table, Sawmill, Base Building Deck, and Bolt Press as soon as they become available.

Starting your journey in Outbound leaves you with a fairly barebones camper van. To push further into the wilderness, you need gear. The primary way to get that gear is by visiting signal towers and landmarks to download new blueprints. The catch is that the game frequently forces you to choose between several different schematics.

Picking the wrong blueprint will not ruin your save file since the signal towers eventually refresh. However, making the wrong choice will definitely slow your progression to a crawl. Skip the cute furniture and focus purely on utility. Here are the absolute best blueprints you need to hunt down first.

Top Tier Gathering Tools

Your first priority should be maximizing your resource gathering. If you are plucking individual resources by hand, you are wasting valuable time.

The Axe

Wood is the backbone of early game crafting. Without an Axe, you are stuck picking up loose sticks off the ground. Unlocking this tool lets you chop down massive logs, significantly increasing your wood yield. Farm as much timber as possible right out of the gate, but try to avoid burning through your entire stockpile just to refuel your van’s engine.

The Sickle

Fiber is just as important as wood. You need it for crucial workstations like the Spinning Wheel and the Sewing Table. Harvesting small bushes by hand yields a single piece of fiber. The Sickle allows you to slice through large bushes, giving you three pieces of fiber per swing. This tool is basically a massive speed boost for your early game progression.

Crucial Crafting Stations

Once your pockets are full of raw materials, you need the right workstations to process them.

Sewing Table

This station is an absolute game changer. It unlocks backpack upgrades, doubling your carrying capacity so you don’t become overencumbered constantly. It also lets you upgrade your clothing to boost your max health and stamina. Having extra stamina makes running around the map vastly more enjoyable.

Speaking of running around the map, you will likely encounter plenty of local wildlife while hunting for fiber. If you want to take a break from crafting to make some furry friends, read our rabbit petting and feeding guide to see exactly how that system works.

Sawmill

This is likely the first heavy refining machine you will construct. You get this blueprint by visiting the Fire Lookout tower. The Sawmill processes your raw logs into planks. You absolutely need planks to repair broken bridges around the map, which is the only way to unlock new biomes and continue your road trip.

Upgrading Your Camper Van

Eventually, your van is going to feel a bit cramped and sluggish. These blueprints solve both of those problems.

Base Building Deck

Space inside your starter camper is incredibly tight. Fitting all your new workstations inside becomes a frustrating puzzle. You can fix this by visiting the Treehut landmark located north of the starting zone. Downloading the Base Building Deck allows you to construct an entire upper floor on your vehicle, instantly doubling your usable space.

Bolt Press

As you pack your van full of heavy machines and resources, the stock engine will start to struggle, especially on steep hills. The Bolt Press converts Scrap Metal into Bolts. These Bolts are the primary currency for upgrading your engine power and battery life, ensuring your heavy, multi-story RV can actually make it up the next mountain.

Quick Reference Summary

Here is a fast breakdown of your early game blueprint roadmap:

If you want to master every aspect of your campervan adventure, be sure to check out all of our other guides at Novus Vektra.