Combat and Ruins Progression Guide
In My Time at Sandrock, treat combat the same way you treat your workshop: steady, reliable upgrades beat forcing hard fights. Most repeatable progress happens in two ruin types: Abandoned Ruins (mining spaces for ore, relic pieces, and crafting materials) and Hazardous Ruins (combat dives with hostile enemies, often ending in a tougher final room). If a story fight feels rough, pause story combat for a day or two, mine upgrade materials, improve gear, then return stronger.
For survivability, prioritize total defense and healing uptime before chasing perfect damage. Equip your highest-defense outfit, carry a full stack of recovery items, and use one weapon moveset (the attacks you can land consistently). If you are still learning dodge timing, faster weapons often feel easier to control; heavier weapons can pay off once enemy patterns click. If you are burning through most of your healing before the final room, that is your signal to leave, upgrade, and retry instead of brute-forcing.
Practical progression loop
Use this loop whenever you unlock a harder combat section:
- Run Abandoned Ruins first to stock ore and materials for weapon and armor upgrades.
- Craft or upgrade one weapon and one armor piece at a time; small upgrades add up fast.
- Do one Hazardous Ruins run focused on clean clears (safe, consistent clears), not speed.
- After each run, restock healing items and upgrade your gear before the next push.
- Advance story combat only after your ruin runs feel stable and low-risk.
This approach keeps combat content efficient and low-stress for new players. You spend less time wiping on bosses, keep your workshop schedule intact, and progress through My Time at Sandrock with steady momentum.