Your first raid in Build a Base and Steal is a milestone moment, and how you approach it determines whether raiding becomes a reliable income source for you or a frustrating expense that sets you back. Most beginners either avoid raiding entirely because they are afraid of failure, or they jump in unprepared and lose their first few attempts, which shakes their confidence. The right path is a deliberate preparation process that maximizes your chance of success on the very first try, and this guide walks you through that process from target selection all the way through to the extraction.
Why Your First Raid Matters
The first raid is not about the loot. It is about proving to yourself that you understand the raid mechanics well enough to execute a successful attack. A successful first raid, even a small one, builds confidence and starts the positive feedback loop that turns raiding into a regular activity. A failed first raid, especially if it was avoidable, can discourage a player from raiding for weeks, which means they miss out on one of the most important income sources in the game.
The second reason the first raid matters is that it sets your habits. Players who prepare carefully for their first raid tend to prepare carefully for their second, third, and tenth raids. Players who wing it on the first raid tend to wing it on subsequent raids, and the inconsistency shows up in their success rate. The cost of preparation is small (an extra 10 to 15 minutes before the raid), and the payoff is large (higher success rate, better loot, faster progression).
Step 1: Choose a Beginner-Friendly Target
The first step in any raid is choosing a target, and the first raid should target a base that is significantly weaker than your own. The strength of a base can be estimated from the outside: walls, traps, and visible pet count. A base with one wall layer, no visible traps, and three to five visible pets is a beginner-friendly target. A base with multiple wall layers, visible traps, and a dozen or more visible pets is not.
Beyond the visual estimate, the raid interface also shows some metadata about the target, like its rough defense level and its rough loot value. The defense level is a numeric estimate that combines wall tier, trap count, and base size. The loot value is a numeric estimate of the cash and pets in the base. For your first raid, look for a target with low defense level (under 3) and moderate loot value (between 1,000 and 5,000 cash equivalent). These targets are designed to be raided by new players, and the success rate is high.
Avoid the temptation to raid a high-value target on your first attempt, even if the loot would be transformative. The probability of success is low, the cost of failure is high (you will lose the gear you used), and the psychological impact of a failed first raid is disproportionately negative. There will be plenty of high-value targets to raid in the future, once you have the experience and the gear to handle them.
Step 2: Prepare the Right Gear
Once you have chosen a target, the next step is to prepare your gear. The gear you need depends on the target's defenses, but for a beginner-friendly target, the basic loadout is sufficient. The basic loadout includes one weapon (the basic blaster or whatever starter weapon you have), one tool (a basic breaching charge), one support item (a basic shield), and one consumable (a basic damage boost).
The gear you bring should be appropriate for the target. Bringing your best gear to a beginner target is wasteful, because you will use up the durability on a raid that did not require it. Bringing your worst gear is risky, because a failure could have been avoided with slightly better tools. The right call is to bring gear that is one tier above the minimum required for the target, which gives you a margin of safety without wasting your best equipment.
Check your gear before you launch the raid. The weapon should be fully charged or have full durability. The tool should be unexpired (some consumables expire after a certain time). The support item should be ready to use. The consumable should be unused. Launching a raid with depleted gear is a common cause of failure, and it is easily avoided by a 30-second check.
Step 3: Approach the Target Base
When you launch the raid, you spawn at the entrance to the target base. Take a moment to survey the base from the spawn point before you move. Note the location of the walls, the entrance, any visible traps, and the location of the pets if they are visible. The 10 to 15 seconds you spend observing at the spawn are worth far more than the time you save by rushing in, because they let you plan your approach instead of reacting to obstacles.
The approach should be cautious but not slow. Move at a moderate pace, watch for traps (which usually have a visible trigger zone on the ground), and use cover when available. Most beginner-friendly targets do not have complex trap layouts, but they may have a single trap near the entrance to deter casual raids. Watch the ground in front of you as you move, because trap trigger zones are visible as a slight color change or texture difference.
If the base has a single entrance, that is the only path to the loot. If the base has multiple entrances, you can choose the one that looks least defended. Multiple entrances usually mean the defender split their defensive budget across more areas, so each entrance is weaker than a single entrance on a smaller base. Take the weakest entrance and push through quickly.
Step 4: Breach and Engage
Once you are at the first wall, use your breaching charge to open a path. A basic breaching charge destroys one wall segment in a single use, so a base with one wall layer requires one charge. A base with two wall layers requires two charges, which is why beginner-friendly targets usually have only one wall layer.
After the breach, move through the opening and engage any defenses. Beginner-friendly targets may not have active defenses, but some have automated turrets or pet-based guards. These can be dispatched with your weapon, but use cover and your shield to minimize the damage you take. The shield is most valuable in the first few seconds of engagement, when the turret or guard is most accurate.
If you encounter a trap inside the base, slow down and look for the trigger. Traps are visible if you know what to look for: a slightly different floor texture, a small object on the ground, or a brief glow when you are close. The trigger is usually a tile or a small radius around an object. Step around the trigger, and the trap will not activate. If you cannot avoid it, take the damage and keep moving, because standing still in a trap is worse than moving through it.
Step 5: Extract Your Loot
Once you reach the pets, the extraction is the final step. Loot extraction works automatically when you touch a pet, but the time it takes depends on the pet's rarity. Common pets extract in 2 seconds. Uncommon pets take 4 seconds. Rare pets take 8 seconds. Legendary pets take 15 seconds. The longer extraction times for higher-rarity pets are a built-in risk, because a defender or a counter-raider can interrupt the extraction.
Beginners should focus on extracting commons and uncommons first, because they are fast and the cumulative value is meaningful. If you have time after collecting the low-rarity pets, move to the next highest value. If the raid timer is running low (you usually have 60 to 90 seconds for a basic raid), extract what you have and exit through the same path you entered.
Do not try to extract a legendary on your first raid, even if one is visible. The extraction time is long, the risk of interruption is high, and the failure would set you back significantly. There will be other legendaries in other raids. Your first raid is about building the habit of successful completion, not about hitting a home run.
Step 6: After the Raid
After a successful raid, take a moment to review what worked and what did not. The loot you extracted is your reward, but the lesson you learned is more valuable. If the raid went smoothly, you have validated your target selection and your gear choice. If the raid was harder than expected, you have learned something about the target's actual difficulty that will inform your future choices.
The post-raid review should be quick. Note the target's actual defense level (which the raid interface shows you after completion), the time it took, and any close calls you had. This data feeds into your next target selection, and over time it builds a mental model of which bases are easy, which are hard, and which are not worth the cost. Players who review their raids consistently improve faster than players who just collect the loot and move on.
See Also
Quick Stats Reference
| Element | Typical Value | Best Use |
|---|---|---|
| Cash per minute | 50 - 500 | Track in your daily log |
| Rolls per hour | 20 - 80 | Budget for events |
| Walls per layer | 4 - 8 | Defensive core design |
| Pets per base | 12 - 25 | Income + defense mix |
| Raid attempts/day | 3 - 10 | Energy and target rotation |
FAQ
How long does it take to see results from this strategy?
Most players see meaningful results within one to two weeks of consistent application. Patch after patch, this principle remains true even as the specific numbers change, which is exactly why it is worth internalizing now rather than rediscovering it later.
Does this strategy work for both solo players and teams?
Yes. The strategy is described for solo players as the default. This insight separates casual players from the dedicated grinder crowd, and it shows up clearly in monthly leaderboard resets where the same names keep appearing at the top.
What should I do if the strategy stops working after a patch?
Review the patch notes for any changes to the relevant systems. This is the kind of meta-strategy that does not appear in any specific guide, but it is what the most successful players in the first raid area of the game have all learned to do.
Where can I find more detailed information about this topic?
Check the community wiki, the official Discord, and the developer blog for first raid updates. Players who learn this lesson early save themselves weeks of trial and error, and they tend to climb the leaderboard faster than players who learn it through repeated mistakes.
How does first raid interact with the trading economy?
first raid and trading are deeply connected. Your first raid output drives your trade options. Keep this principle in mind as you make decisions, and you will find that the first raid content in this guide becomes easier to apply in practice because the principle provides a framework for choosing between options.