The Outpost is the surface base added in Frozen Trail, and it doubles as a progression engine and a second set of storage. You build it room by room, decorate it with furniture, and feed its Research Station toward the new fifth weapon tier. Before any of that, you have to earn it.
Quick answer: Get to Raider Level 18, then access the Outpost tab in Speranza and finish all three stages of the Sheltered Retreat Project. After it unlocks, place weapon racks and shelves to keep guns and trinkets outside your Stash.
Unlock requirements: Level 18 and the Sheltered Retreat Project
You do not get the Outpost for installing the update. It stays locked until your Raider hits Level 18, at which point the Sheltered Retreat Project appears under the Outpost tab at the top of the Speranza hub. Press Start to begin.
Complete the Project’s three stages sequentially; claiming stage three makes the Outpost permanent. You can view all the requirements from the start, so gather Stage 2 materials while you work through Stage 1.
| Stage | Objective | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Research Topside Living Conditions | Photograph a farmland house near Ruined Homestead |  Advanced Camera Blueprint |
| Gather Building Materials | Hand in four crafting materials | Red Light Stick Blueprint |
| Safeguard the Building Site | Damage flying ARC and a Bully | Chair Design, 15 Planks, 5 Durable Cloth, Outpost access |
Stage 1: Photograph a farmland house at Ruined Homestead
The first stage sends you to The Blue Gate with a camera. Standing near a house does nothing. You have to actually take the picture, so bring a working camera before you queue.
The Advanced Camera is sold by Shani for 3,000 Coins. You can also craft one at the Workbench or pick one up as loot during a normal raid. Keep it in your Safe Pocket so you do not lose it if you die on the way to the objective.
Stage 2: Hand in the building materials
Stage 2 requires four common materials. Supplies in your Stash count toward the requirement, so check your stock before farming. Players often get held up by recycling or selling the very items the Project calls for.
| Material | Amount | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
 Planks | 3 | Residential and shop containers, or Celeste for Assorted Seeds |
| Sheet Metal | 5 | Industrial loot areas, or Celeste for Assorted Seeds |
 ARC Alloy | 10 | Looted from destroyed ARC machines |
 Advanced Electrical Components | 3 | Electrical loot zones, or craft at the Refiner with 3 Wires and 2 Electrical Components |
Deliver all four through the Outpost menu to clear the stage and collect the Red Light Stick Blueprint. Hold onto any spare ARC Alloy and Advanced Electrical Components, since they are the slower items to replace.
Stage 3: Deal damage to flying ARC and a Bully
The last stage measures damage dealt rather than kills. Inflict 800 points of damage on flying ARC enemies and 300 damage on Bullies. Flying ARC targets include Wasps, Hornets, Fireflies, Snitches, Spotters, Rocketeers, and Vaporizers; you can damage them over the course of any raid.
This four-legged machine charges its targets and has 3,000 body health. It was introduced on Pendola Pass, where you can also encounter flying ARC during the same run. Attack from a doorway or rooftop with a heavy weapon like a Hullcracker or explosives; dealing damage is enough, so you don’t need to kill it. If you destroy one, collect its Bully Fragmenter, as a later Research Station upgrade requires Bully Fragmenters.
Claiming Stage 3 plays a short cutscene and drops you into your Base Room, which is how you know the Outpost is unlocked. You also receive a Chair Design, 15 Planks, and 5 Durable Cloth.
If every objective is complete but a stage will not advance, open the Outpost tab and look for the Complete button yourself rather than waiting for a prompt.
Store weapons in the Outpost with weapon racks
The fastest way to clear Stash space is to mount weapon racks on your Outpost walls. A rack takes guns out of your regular Stash while keeping them fully built with attachments, and you can pull them back whenever you want.
| Weapon Rack | Holds | Crafting cost |
|---|---|---|
 Battered Weapon Rack | 3 weapons | 10 Sheet Metal |
 Sturdy Weapon Rack | 4 weapons | 10 Sheet Metal |
 Polished Weapon Rack | 4 weapons | 20 Sheet Metal, 10 Plastic Parts |
The Sturdy Weapon Rack is the cheapest way to free four slots, holding the same four guns as the Polished version for 10 Sheet Metal. The Polished rack’s blueprint is unlocked from the start, while other rack designs come from Outpost progression or Topside loot.
Store loaded racks to stretch your capacity
A filled weapon rack keeps its guns even when you move it into Outpost storage, which frees the wall slot for a fresh rack. Place a rack, fill it, select Put in storage, then mount another rack and repeat. Players stacking wall racks, base-room racks, and stored racks have reached room for roughly 60 guns.
Moving loaded racks into storage is an undocumented interaction, so confirm the weapons stay attached after each move and expect it could change in a future patch.
Store trinkets and collectibles on shelves
Shelves and display furniture handle everything that is not a gun. When you hover over a furniture design, the Attached Slots number tells you how many items it can hold. One slot can take a full stack of a trinket, which is a large win for inventory management.
Put a shelf in an open spot on a wall or floor, select Decorate, and place eligible items on it, such as trinkets, Rubber Ducks, or instruments. Shelves hold collectibles and decorative objects, not ammunition, healing supplies, or standard crafting materials. Here are a few capacities to aim for:
- Sturdy Shelf: 24 slots
- Diner Cupboard: 16 slots
- Chambers Shelf: 12 slots
- Cafeteria Table: 10 slots
- Den Shelves — capacities: 2 for Battered, 3 for Sturdy, 6 for Polished, and 7 for Ornate
Expand the Outpost with more rooms
The Base Room sets your Outpost at Level 1. You can then select three additional rooms from four designs, bringing the total to four. Extra rooms create more wall and floor area for racks and shelves, while also raising the Research Station’s level cap. The price is determined by the room’s slot—second, third, or fourth—rather than its design, so make your choice according to looks and available furniture slots. Room placement is permanent, with no option to move or exchange one afterward.
| Room | Furniture slots | Availability |
|---|---|---|
 Base Room | 42, plus 8 station slots | Starting room |
 Panoramic Room | 22 | Rooms 2 and 3 |
 Timeless Room | 22 | Rooms 2 and 3 |
 Chalet Room | 22 | Rooms 2 and 3 |
 Studious Room | 22 | Room 4 only |
Each expansion uses crafting supplies, so your stockpile determines how quickly you can proceed. Adding each room costs more than the previous one.
| Expansion | Materials |
|---|---|
| Level 1 → 2 | 3 Steel Cable, 20 Sheet Metal, 3 Cable Strippers |
| Level 2 → 3 | 3 Epoxy Buckets, 35 Planks, 3 Hand Drills |
| Level 3 → 4 | 40 Sheet Metal, 3 Laser Levels, 3 Insulation Rolls |
Steel Cable is the first material bottleneck. It can be found lying out at the Railyard or in the Fallen Emperor on Pendola Pass, but never in containers. Celeste will also trade it for Assorted Seeds if you prefer to buy it. Most other upgrade materials are laid out on shelves, desks, and train seats around Pendola Pass; productive stops include the Freight Terminal by the Railyard and Cielo Sereno Observatory.
Research Station upgrades and amplified weapons
Put the Research Station ahead of cosmetic upgrades: it’s the sole Outpost upgrade that affects combat power. It provides blueprint crafting, design crafting, and amplified research. Every level calls for a matching number of installed rooms plus the materials for that upgrade.
| Level | Rooms | Materials |
|---|---|---|
| I | 1 | 3 Mini Pumps, 35 Planks, 5 Battered Paperbacks |
| II | 2 | 3 Calculators, 3 Raider Logbooks, 5 Skulker Targeters |
| III | 3 | 3 Differential Microphones, 3 Exodus Technical Handbooks, 6 Bully Fragmenters |
| IV | 4 | 3 Thermal Shakers, 3 ARC Data Modules, 1 Frigate Inductor |
ARC components are the main bottleneck. Skulker Targeters come from the gun half of a destroyed Skulker, while Bullies near Railroad Junction and the Commissary Supermarket drop Bully Fragmenters. The Level 4 set comes from the Frigate event on Pendola Pass and The Blue Gate.
A Level 4 Research Station isn’t enough to amplify weapons; the Gunsmith also needs to reach Level 4. Upgrade it with 3 Radial Presses, 3 Magnetic Accelerators, and 1 Emperor Modulator, retrieved from within the downed Emperor at Pendola Pass. Once each bench is Level 4, you can use Amplified Research to bring 15 weapons to the fifth quality tier. Choices include a full-auto Burletta, a scoped Renegade, or a Rattler fitted with incendiary rounds or a larger magazine.
Amplification cannot be undone. Dying with an amplified weapon in your possession drops its durability to 10 percent.
Upgrade your regular Stash alongside the Outpost
Outpost furniture frees slots, but you can also raise your core Stash cap to 328 slots. Open your inventory in Speranza, find the Expand button above the Stash grid, and buy the next tier. Each upgrade adds 24 slots, and these are permanent, with no Outpost required.
| Upgrade | Cost | Added slots |
|---|---|---|
| 280 → 304 | 750,000 Coins | 24 |
| 304 → 328 | 1,500,000 Coins | 24 |
Two other systems add temporary or situational slots. After Level 25 you can trade ARC parts with the Nomadic Envoy, Cassio, for a First Expansion worth 12 slots at 200,000 in eligible parts and a Second Expansion worth another 12 at 400,000. Those reset when you depart on an Expedition. Expeditions themselves grant 12 permanent slots each, up to a 60-slot bonus across five, though Expeditions are currently paused. Between a maxed Stash, stacked weapon racks, and shelves full of trinkets, the Outpost and its surrounding systems give you far more room than the underground Den ever did.
