Hearths

From Against the Storm Official Wiki
A Hearth Fully Upgraded

Hearths

Hearths are the heart of the Settlement. Every Settlement starts with an Ancient Hearth and can construct other Small Hearths from the "City Buildings" menu. Hearths are a Icon Spec Fire 64x64.png Warmth specialization building that employs a single Firekeeper to keep the Hearth lit by burning Fuel. Every Villager takes their breaks at the nearest lit Hearth to warm themselves, eat, and fulfill their needs. By upgrading the community around each Hearth you can unlock up to 3 tiers of stackable benefits.

Corruption

Blightrot infects Hearths, and the more Blightrot and Cysts a Viceroy generates from Rain Punk Engine use, the higher the amount of Corruption in their Hearths. Every Storm Season when Blightrot Cysts open up, the Hearth will become progressively more Corrupted per minute, until it reaches a Corruption Limit and kills 3 random Villagers. The higher a Hearths' Corruption resistance is, the more Corruption it will take to fill the bar and kill off Villagers.

Hearthcorruption.png

Fuel

Main page: Fuel

You can decide which type of Fuel will be burned in each Hearth by selecting it and using the checkboxes next to the fuel types in the selection UI.

  • Each Coal Coal burns for 0:40 seconds
  • Each Sea Marrow Sea Marrow burns for 0:40 seconds
  • Each Oil Oil burns for 0:25 seconds
  • Each Wood Wood burns for 0:12 seconds

Villager Breaks

Every few minutes, workers take breaks and return to a nearby Hearth to eat and rest. During a break, they consume at least one item of food and try to fulfill all their needs. If a Villager has multiple complex food needs enabled for consumption, they will consume more than one meal. If a Villager is disallowed complex foods for consumption, or there are none available they will consume a raw food. Villagers will also consume Service Good for each allowed Service.

Species Beaver circle.png
Beaver
Fox circle.png
Fox
Harpy circle.png
Harpy
Human circle.png
Human
Lizard circle.png
Lizard
Break Interval 02:00 02:00 01:40 02:00 01:40

Hearth Upgrades

Decorations Needed

Upgrading to level 2 and 3 requires you to unlock levels of the Brass Forge. Click on the Hearth to see what is required to Upgrade. As seen on the image on the right, we still need 4 Comfort Decorations (Green) and 4 Aesthetic Decorations (Blue) before the Hearth Upgrades.

  • Houses and Decorations need to be placed within the Hearth Radius for it to count towards the Upgrade.
  • The Hearth Upgrades itself automatically once all the requirements are fulfilled.
Upgrades Name Requirements Bonus Description
HearthT0.png
Base Level
- - -30 to Hostility -
Icon UI Encampment.png
Level I
Encampment 8 Housed Villagers
4 Comfort Decorations
+2 to Global Resolve
+150 Corruption resistance
Gathered around the blazing fire, folks keep each other's spirits high.
Icon UI Neighborhood.png
Level II
Neighborhood (Unlocked with Brass Forge 1)
14 Housed Villagers
8 Comfort Decorations
4 Aesthetics Decorations
+10% to global production
+150 Corruption resistance
Some viceroys say aesthetics don't matter out in the wilds, but you know better than that.
Icon UI Disctrict.png
Level III
District (Unlocked with Brass Forge 3)
20 Housed Villagers
1 Service Building
16 Comfort Decorations
8 Aesthetic Decorations
4 Harmony Decorations
+10% to global double production chance
+150 Corruption resistance
The town is booming with activity and industry thrives.

Every Settlement starts with an Ancient Hearth which must always remain lit. If the fire goes out, all Villagers will lose 20 Resolve. To keep the flame burning, a Firekeeper and a steady supply of Fuel is needed. Your choice of Firekeeper in the Ancient Hearth will grant your Settlement a specific bonus.

Firekeeper Bonus

Species Bonus Effect Description
Beaver circle.png
Beaver
Pragmatic Frugality Fuel burns 20% longer Beaver firekeepers know a lot about burning techniques.
Fox circle.png
Fox
Forest Affinity -6 Hostility from opened Glades. Fox firekeepers have an unusual ability to calm the forest.
Harpy circle.png
Harpy
Light as a Feather +5 to global carrying capacity Harpy firekeepers can teach villagers how to be more nimble and agile.
Human circle.png
Human
Beacon Queen's Impatience grows 25% slower Human firekeepers create a special link with the Citadel.
Lizard circle.png
Lizard
Sacred Pyre +1 to global Resolve Lizard firekeepers are very adept at ancient rites.

Sacrificing

During especially hard times, you can sacrifice additional goods in the Ancient Hearth to temporarily gain positive effects.

Each Fuel type grants different boons:

  • Wood Wood → 53 units per minute can be sacrificed to give -50 Hostility
  • Coal Coal → 27 units per minute can be sacrificed to give -80 Hostility
  • Sea Marrow Sea Marrow → 27 units Sea Marrow per minute can be sacrificed to give +25% Glade Event working speed
  • Oil Oil → 20 units per minute can be sacrificed to give +25% global production speed

You can have up to 3 stacks of each Fuel being sacrificed at a time.

Hearth Types

Ancient Hearths

The heart of the colony is protected by the Holy Flame. Villagers gather here to rest, eat, and receive clothing. If the fire goes out, people will lose hope.

Small Hearths

Small Hearths cannot be built to close to the Ancient Hearth or to each other - the ranges of your Hearths (approx. radius of 9 squares) may never overlap.

Small Hearths are identical to Ancient Hearths, except you do not receive a Firekeeper bonus and you cannot sacrifice Fuel. It is OK if Small Hearths go out, but Villagers will be unable to rest or fulfill their needs at an unlit Hearth and will instead travel to the nearest available lit Hearth.

Hearth Tips

Since Firekeepers in Small Hearths don't offer a species-specific bonus like they do in the Ancient Hearth, you can take advantage of its Warmth specialization synergy with Lizards.

It is generally a good idea to have a Main Storage icon.png Warehouse very near to each Hearth because Villagers on break will need to visit a Warehouse in order to gather food and service goods and then return to the Hearth to take their break.