Bellwright is Donkey Crew's medieval survival and town-building RPG, in Steam Early Access since 23 April 2024 and still in Early Access as of August 2026, with a full release the studio has targeted for 2026. You start as an outlaw with a knife in the region of Karvenia, and you finish as the head of a settlement that other people work in. Seven village capitals sit on the map, Haerndean, Padstow, Bradford, Farnworth, Blackridgepool, Horndean and Crasmere, and each one only hands over recruits once you have earned its Trust. The 2026 Summer Update brought a performance overhaul and console versions, while the Maiden Voyage update added the Halmare Isles as a second landmass.
Starting Bellwright can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Bellwright is a survival game built around Village Trust and Renown recruiting and Villager jobs and work priorities. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Worker | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Companion | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Guard | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Hauler | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Crafter | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Companion. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Crafter as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Village Trust and Renown recruiting
Each of the seven village capitals tracks its own Trust in you, raised by doing the odd jobs its people ask for: setting traps, clearing the wolves, running deliveries. Higher Trust unlocks better recruits, and the recruits themselves cost Renown. That double gate is why a player who only builds and never talks to villagers ends up with a beautiful empty settlement.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Village Trust and Renown recruiting works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Haerndean
One of the two lowest-threat village capitals and a standard first stop. It has a blacksmith among its professions, so early tool and weapon work can be done here while you are still building Trust.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Two handed axe: it's the most accessible early upgrade. The highest damage per swing and the fastest way to drop an armoured bandit, at the cost of a shield slot and a stamina bar that empties in a handful of attacks.
Step 4: Understand Villager jobs and work priorities
The Population screen assigns each villager a role as Worker, Companion or Guard, then sets job priorities across gathering, hauling, crafting and combat. Priorities matter more than headcount. A settlement with twelve villagers who all prefer woodcutting will starve while logs pile up outside the storage hut.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Padstow
The other low-threat starting village, with a carpenter among its professions. Between Padstow and Haerndean you can cover the two crafting lines that matter most in the first dozen hours without walking into anything that can kill you.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Village Trust and Renown recruiting
Each of the seven village capitals tracks its own Trust in you, raised by doing the odd jobs its people ask for: setting traps, clearing the wolves, running deliveries. Higher Trust unlocks better recruits, and the recruits themselves cost Renown. That double gate is why a player who only builds and never talks to villagers ends up with a beautiful empty settlement.
Villager jobs and work priorities
The Population screen assigns each villager a role as Worker, Companion or Guard, then sets job priorities across gathering, hauling, crafting and combat. Priorities matter more than headcount. A settlement with twelve villagers who all prefer woodcutting will starve while logs pile up outside the storage hut.
Production chains and research
Nothing useful is one step. Logs become planks at the sawmill, wood becomes charcoal at the coal burner, ore plus charcoal becomes iron at the smelter, flax becomes cloth at the weaver hut, and iron feeds the toolmaker. Research unlocks each tier, so the order you spend research on decides whether your first winter is spent eating or shivering.
Liberating bandit camps and villages
Bandit camps carry a difficulty rating from easy to very hard, and clearing them is how territory opens up. Liberating a village capital pulls it out from under the Crown and into your control, which changes who trades with you and where your squads can safely walk.
Stamina based melee with companions
Combat is stamina-driven and directional. Attacks, blocks and sprints all draw from one bar, and running it flat leaves you unable to defend. Companions you bring along fight with their own gear and their own stamina, so a squad of three badly equipped villagers loses fights that two well-armed ones win.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Building a large settlement before recruiting anybody
Buildings do not staff themselves, and empty stations produce nothing.
2. Leaving job priorities on default, which produces a village where everyone chases the same task and the rest of the chain starves
3. Attacking a very hard bandit camp in starting gear because the map marker looked close
4. Ignoring village quests and then wondering why the Elder will not offer better recruits
Trust only moves through those odd jobs.
5. Sending companions into fights in whatever rags they arrived in
Unarmed villagers die and take their Renown cost with them.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Village Trust and Renown recruiting and Villager jobs and work priorities
- Choose Companion as starting build
- Clear Haerndean main content
- Acquire Two handed axe or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Padstow
- Trust and Renown are two separate gates. Trust decides which recruits a village will offer, Renown pays for them. Grinding one without the other stalls your population either way.
- Assign a job priority the moment a villager joins. Unassigned villagers idle or default to whatever station is nearest, and a settlement of thirty idle people eats as much food as a settlement of thirty working ones.
Tips for New Players
- Trust and Renown are two separate gates. Trust decides which recruits a village will offer, Renown pays for them. Grinding one without the other stalls your population either way.
- Assign a job priority the moment a villager joins. Unassigned villagers idle or default to whatever station is nearest, and a settlement of thirty idle people eats as much food as a settlement of thirty working ones.
- Build the sawmill and the coal burner before anything cosmetic. Planks and charcoal are inputs to nearly every later station, and skipping them stalls the whole research tree.
- Melee skill experience comes from hitting human enemies, not wildlife. If your one-handed skill is stuck, the answer is a bandit camp, not another deer.
- Agility experience comes mostly from ranged combat, so even a dedicated melee player should carry a bow and use it on the approach to every fight.
- Bandit camps show a difficulty rating from easy to very hard. Read it before you commit, because the gap between an easy camp and a very hard one is measured in whole gear tiers, not a few percent.
- Companions fight with the gear you give them. Arming three villagers with spare iron weapons changes squad fights more than any personal upgrade you can buy at the same moment.
- Haerndean and Padstow are the gentlest places to plant a first settlement. Blackridgepool and Crasmere are where late-game players go, and arriving there early is the most common way to lose a run's worth of gear.
- Research order decides your first winter. Food preservation and basic tools before decorative buildings, every time.
- The game is still in Early Access after two years, and updates such as Maiden Voyage and the 2026 Summer Update have changed balance and added the Halmare Isles. Check the patch notes before following any guide written more than a few months ago.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bellwright finished?
No. It entered Steam Early Access on 23 April 2024 and is still in Early Access as of August 2026, with the developers targeting a full release in 2026. Console versions arrived alongside the June 2026 Summer Update.
How many villages are there?
Seven village capitals in Karvenia: Haerndean, Padstow, Bradford, Farnworth, Blackridgepool, Horndean and Crasmere. Each has its own Trust level, its own professions and its own surrounding territory.
How do I recruit villagers?
Raise a village's Trust by completing the small jobs its residents ask for, such as trapping and clearing wolves, then pay Renown per recruit in the hire panel. Higher Trust unlocks better recruits from that village.
Can I play Bellwright solo?
Yes. Co-op exists and console co-op arrived in 2026, but the whole recruitment and settlement loop is built so that a solo player commands villagers instead of relying on other players.
What should I build first?
Storage, a sawmill and a coal burner. Planks and charcoal feed the smelter and the toolmaker, and every later tier of tools, weapons and buildings runs through that chain.
More Bellwright Guides
- Bellwright Bellwright Overview
- Bellwright Best Builds
- Bellwright Tier List
- Bellwright Walkthrough
- Bellwright Tips & Tricks
- Bellwright Weapons Guide
- Bellwright Combat Guide
- Bellwright Boss Guide
- Bellwright Maps & Locations
- Bellwright Crafting Guide
- Bellwright Classes & Characters
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- ARK: Survival Evolved Beginner's Guide: survival game with similar mechanics
