Where you lay your first foundation in Conan Exiles decides the next fifty hours of play. Iron within reach, a narrow chokepoint every attacker has to pass through, and thrall camps nearby: those three things matter far more than a pretty view. Here are ten locations worth claiming, along with what each one costs you.
Ten spots at a glance
| Location | Best for | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Scavenger’s Birth (island in the south) | peace and a safe start | almost no iron nearby |
| The Crevice | iron, more than anywhere else | contested on public servers |
| Relicwatcher Rise | balanced access to all resources | you need a gas mask for the sulfur lake |
| The Great Dam (to the east) | interior fortress with a single entrance | popular and hard to claim |
| Island chains (east) | pure defense | awkward to climb and resupply |
| Gate Of The Moon | hidden two-level jungle ruins | you have to travel farther for iron |
| Waterhole Outlook | thrall hunting near the Black Galleon | expect neighbors |
| Lookout Point | island fortress with decent gear nearby | Komodo dragons |
| Claw Outcrop | hidden cave base for PvP | little flat ground to build on |
| Bonebreaker’s Bend | a newcomer’s first base | close to spawn, lots of foot traffic |
Getting started: Bonebreaker’s Bend and Claw Outcrop
From spawn, follow the river to the right until you reach a stone bridge. That’s Bonebreaker’s Bend. Silk from the local spiders, iron deposits, trees, stone and several flat patches to build on. It’s the safest place to learn building without running into something that kills you on the spot.
A bit farther along the same river lies Claw Outcrop, where cave openings by the water let you build right into the rock. That’s a real PvP advantage: a base nobody can see is a base nobody raids. The silk and iron at Bonebreaker’s Bend stay within reach.
Defensive picks: islands, the dam and the moon gate
Lookout Point covers iron, wood, stone and water, and a nearby island offers flat ground plus a fighter who drops decent gear. Before you head over, be ready for Komodo dragons.
East of The Great Dam there’s a large interior space with a small entrance and several levels to build on. A single narrow chokepoint is the strongest defensive feature in the game, and that’s exactly why people fight over this spot.
The island chains in the east have very few access points, and bridges between the islands let you spread your base across several of them. Climbing up is a pain; climbing up under fire is a nightmare for an attacker, which is the whole point.
Gate Of The Moon hides you in jungle ruins with two usable levels and much less traffic. Animals are a threat and you have to go farther for iron, but in return you build where most players never look twice.
Resource picks: The Crevice, Relicwatcher Rise, Waterhole Outlook
The Crevice has more iron deposits than any other location, plus a big cave to build in and passive animals for food. On a public server, expect a race to claim it.
Relicwatcher Rise is the balanced choice: thrall camps, iron, wood and water, passive animals, a sulfur lake (with a gas mask), plus an obelisk and a city nearby.
The plain between Waterhole Outlook and Marauder’s Muster gives you room for a big build, iron for advanced crafting, and the Black Galleon, one of the best sources of thralls in the game, within reach.
A base for PvE
In PvE, your main enemy is the environment. Mammoths, dragons, gorillas and rhinos roam the Exiled Lands. Two locations stand out:
- The Hand of the Maker: plenty of resources, passive animals for food and fewer threats around. The gentlest place to learn.
- The Unnamed City: packed with enemies, which makes it the fastest farm for XP and thralls, as long as you survive there.
You can have more than one base
Nothing stops you from holding several bases, and there are concrete reasons to do it:
- more total storage space,
- safe points in different regions,
- access to resources that one corner of the map doesn’t have.
Give each base a job (one by the iron, another by the thralls, a third purely for defense) and put a bed or bedroll in every one. You respawn at the last place you slept, and if you forget, every death turns into a twenty-minute run.
FAQ
At Bonebreaker’s Bend. It’s close to spawn, covers silk, iron, wood and stone, and has flat ground, so you learn to build without a long hunt for materials.
In The Crevice, by a wide margin. It also offers a big cave to build in and passive animals, which is why someone claims it right away on full servers.
Few access points and poor visibility. Cave bases like Claw Outcrop or the eastern island chains force an attacker into a single direction and hide you from casual scouting.
Once you’re on your feet, several small ones. You get storage space, safe points across regions and a wider range of resources. Just put a bed in each, because you respawn at the one you used last.
Yes, and it’s often better than open ground. The ruins at Gate Of The Moon and the caves in Claw Outcrop or The Crevice give you natural walls and camouflage that no built wall can match for the same cost.
Information verified as of 25 August 2026. The layout of locations and resources in the Exiled Lands has been stable for years, so this guide will hold up through future updates too. For other survival games, we have a beginner’s guide to ARC Raiders and a table of respawn times, or check out all 25 houses in Dune: Awakening. You’ll find guides to other games in the Crimson Desert, Dune: Awakening and Game guides sections.