Community Guides/Building Guide

How To Build
Foxhole lets you build, rebuild, and upgrade a large variety of structures. These tasks are done with various tools, let's explain them:

Shovel ShovelIcon.png
The Shovel is used exclusively to build trenches and simple bunkers. Shovel can be produced at Factories.

To build:


 * 1) Equip shovel
 * 2) Press
 * 3) Select option with
 * 4) Rotate blueprint with , hold   if you don't want it to auto-connect to nearby trenches or bunkers, and place it with
 * 5) Hit blueprint with shovel by holding   until completion.

Hammer Hammer.png
The Hammer builds and upgrades structures, consuming a required amount of Basic Materials or Refined Materials depending on the structure. Notably, it handles most upgrades and add-ons for trenches and bunkers. It's the tool to build vehicles. It's also used to rebuild Bridges, Shipyards and Coastal Guns.

 To build: 


 * 1) Equip hammer
 * 2) Have the required amount of materials in backpack (depends on structure type)
 * 3) Press
 * 4) Select option with
 * 5) Rotate blueprint with   and place it with Left Click. (some options may have position requirements)
 * 6) Hit blueprint with hammer by holding   until completion.

To rebuild:


 * 1) Equip hammer
 * 2) Press  to switch hammer to "Upgrade Mode"
 * 3) Have the required amount of materials in backpack (depends on structure type)
 * 4) Get close to the destroyed structure.
 * 5) Press
 * 6) Hit blueprint with hammer by holding   until completion.

 To upgrade: 


 * 1) Equip hammer
 * 2) Press   to switch hammer to "Upgrade Mode"
 * 3) Have the required amount of materials in backpack (depends on the upgrade)
 * 4) Get close to the structure and make sure it's at full health.
 * 5) Press
 * 6) If multiple upgrade options: Rotate upgrade with   and Select option.
 * 7) If required, Hit blueprint with hammer by holding   until completion.

Construction Vehicle (CV) Construction Vehicle.png
The Construction Vehicle (CV) builds, rebuilds and upgrades large buildings, consuming a required amount of materials. Notably it is the tool to build, rebuild, and upgrade all types of Bases. It also handles Howitzers. CVs are built with a hammer and 100 Basic Materials next to a Static Base.

 To build: 


 * 1) Drive to location and press   to switch to passenger seat
 * 2) Have the required amount of materials in CV inventory (depends on building type)
 * 3) press
 * 4) Select option with
 * 5) Rotate blueprint with   and place it with
 * 6) Hit blueprint with CV arm by aiming with   and holding   until completion

 To rebuild: 


 * 1) Drive close to destroyed building and press   to switch to passenger seat
 * 2) Have the required amount of materials in CV inventory (depends on building type)
 * 3) Press
 * 4) Hit blueprint with CV arm by aiming with   and holding   until completion.

 To upgrade: 


 * 1) Drive close to building and press   to switch to passenger seat
 * 2) Have the required amount of materials in CV inventory (depends on the upgrade)
 * 3) Make sure the building is at full health.
 * 4) Press
 * 5) Hit blueprint with CV arm by aiming with   and holding   until completion.

Construction Facilities
Garage, Shipyard, and Construction Yard are facilities where vehicles, ships, and shippables are built. Press E to open their menu, select a thing to build, then use your hammer.

Repairing
Repairing structures, buildings, and vehicles is done by hitting the damaged thing with your hammer and consumes Basic Materials.

Tips

 * You cannot build within 60m from any region border, unless you're in the 40m radius of a Border Base.
 * Structures built between 60m and 100m from a region border suffer for fast Decay (See next section).
 * Up to 3 people can work on a blueprint's construction at the same time.
 * The hammer's upgrade mode displays statistics for the targeted structure, such as Health, Faction, and the original builder of the structure.
 * Blueprints are easily destroyed and any materials invested in the construction is lost.
 * If an upgrade blueprint is shot, it will turn back into the original structure
 * There's no time limit to finish building a blueprint.
 * Make sure your foxholes and gun turrets have a clear line of sights when building them.
 * You cannot build within 25m of an enemy Static Base.
 * You cannot place blueprints inside a cloud of smoke (Smoke Grenade, Howitzer smoke shell).

Structure Decay
After a structure has been built, it will slowly start to decay (lose hit points) after a Grace period. To prevent decay, the structure must be connected to a base with Small or Large Garrison upgrade and stockpiled with Garrison Supplies (bunker structures can alternatively use Bunker Supplies). You can check the hp% of a structure with your hammer equipped and standing close to it. Decay only affects structures placed by players and not static structures that players simply rebuild.

Notes:


 * Decay within 100m from a border is not preventable and happens faster.
 * Decay does not start immediately, the grace period lasts a few hours for fast decay and one day for normal decay.
 * Repairing a decayed structure partially restart the grace period, proportionally to how much health you repaired.

Road Intel Coverage
It is extremely important that all main roads, especially those used to transport supplies to the front, be covered by Watch Tower. Any gap in the intel cover can mean a partisan roadblock attacking your supply line. Even around towns or near front line, Watch Tower coverage is a must to have accurate information about the enemy's movement. Building new Watch Towers in areas without coverage always a good thing.

Building to advance the front
All front lines need basic materials. When your team pushes back the enemy, you need to quickly build defenses with basic materials in the newly captured terrain so your allies aren't forced to fight on open ground when the enemy inevitably pushes you back.

Securing Resource Fields and Mines
Resources Fields and Mines are a prime target of enemy partisans. Make sure there are active defenses at most fields and mine, by building a Forward Base with foxholes and gun turrets around it.

Rebuilding a captured town
Once you've destroyed and rebuilt an enemy town hall, the work isn't over. Your team must wait for the Fortification Base Upgrade to be filled, during that time build defenses around the town, like any other front line. When the upgrade is filled, it's your cue to build a CV and rebuild the Safe Houses and all Garrisoned Houses in town (they must first be destroyed if built by the enemy). Those houses are much more resilient than simpler foxholes, have AI to fire at enemies, gives you great defensive positions to shoot from, and they do not suffer from decay. Once the Small Garrison upgrade is complete for the town, it's time to upgrade the town hall to Tier 2 as well as all the Garrisoned Houses. This greatly increases the town's defensive advantage. Finally, when the town fills the Large Garrison upgrade, it's time to upgrade the town hall and all Garrisoned Houses again.

Building a bunker base
Bunker bases are superior to Forward Base because the Garrison Bunker they can have are far stronger than simple foxholes. Their defensive power increases when the base and its garrison bunkers are upgraded to concrete. The price of this superiority is lengthier construction time and necessary planning. Consider building bunker bases in advance far from the front line at choke points in your territory (such as bridges) that are far away from any town defenses, to prevent enemy partisans from entering your back lines and to provide a strong fall back position should your team be pushed back.

The Defenses and Their Strengths/Weaknesses/Tips

 * Manned Foxhole
 * Can shoot in 360 degrees and take care of lingering infantry
 * Gun Turret
 * Effective vs. Tanks and Half-tracks
 * Is built facing a direction but the turret can rotate 360 degrees
 * Once it is done firing it will swivel to face the direction it was built in
 * Does not fire at infantry
 * Garrisoned House
 * Fires from its windows on the first and second floor
 * Do not cover its windows or it cant see/fire at enemies
 * Can have players inside for added effectiveness
 * Sturdy but can be taken out with small explosives like High Explosive Grenades or powerful Satchels.
 * Barbed Wire
 * Slows player movement speed to almost 0%
 * Do not put where friendlies are going to run
 * Instead place where you don't want rushes to occur or where you can trap enemy players in front of defenses
 * Can be disassembled by a wrench.


 * Tank Trap
 * Used to block vehicles, especially useful on roads.
 * Pretty resilient.
 * Can be disassembled by a wrench.
 * Sandbags
 * Provides cover if you crouch behind it.
 * A barbed wire can be built on the other side so the cover cannot be used against you.
 * Sandbag Wall
 * Combined with a Storage Box built against the wall, it provides a good firing position where you are difficult to shoot.
 * Can be run over by all land vehicles except motorcycle and bicycle.
 * Walls
 * Gates
 * Rifle Garrison
 * The bunker version of the foxhole. Stronger and fires back when shot.
 * Machine Gun Garrison
 * AT Gun Garrison
 * Howitzer Garrison
 * Watch Tower
 * Provides Radio Intel coverage in a 75m radius.
 * Absolutely crucial on supply roads.

The Importance of Choke Points
A Choke Point is a location in which the enemy cannot move laterally and must come at you from a single direction. It is difficult or impossible to flank and very easy to defend.

When building any Outpost or forward position you must consider how to effectively control the area with the items and players at your disposal. Follow some of these basic ideas to make the most out of securing an advanced position.
 * Identify a choke point of the map and seize early control of it, these will be locations that the enemy HAS to come at you from
 * Ensure the choke point is not too small, you need to build defenses for the enemy to crash into, leave yourself a little space


 * Build the Outpost behind the choke point out of Mortar and Artillery range