Kenshi is one of those PC games that offers a ton of depth behind a relatively simple concept. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to survive a post-post-apocalyptic scenario? This game lets you live out that nightmarish concept. And yes, this means the world of Kenshi has gone trough two different total collapses of each
With a vast open world, there are so many things to do. It’s a brutal world out there, and you will have to fight to survive. But sometimes, you’ve reached the top of the food chain in a late-game save and want a fresh start. In other games, this would be called New Game+, here’s it’s a Kenshi Game Import.
The world in Kenshi is constantly changing based on various World States. These States trigger when important NPCs die or settlements are destroyed. And when you import an existing save, these World States are reset. This allows you to keep your basic progress in terms of stats and items, but be moved into a fresh world.
What the Game Import Settings Mean
When creating a Kenshi Game Import, you need to choose the save file you wish to import. The default setting will move your Squads, stats, money and a few basic items into a new save. There are a few basic options you can toggle when importing to change the way the feature works.
Reset Squad Positions
This will reset the position of every member in your squad. This will move your whole collection of characters to a new start location. If you’re starting over from a ruined base or something, use this to make sure characters don’t get stuck in a broken spawn.
Import Buildings
This setting will import all the purchased and built buildings belonging to the player. This includes buildings inside settlements, in whatever state they were in during construction.
Import Research
If you want to keep any buildings or tech options you have unlocked, use this option. If left unchecked you will have to restart your technology tree from the beginning.
Import Dead NPCs
This will keep any dead or kidnapped NPCs from previous World States in their disabled state. Checking this option will keep the old world state from your save. Unchecking this will reset the world state to the default as if it were a brand new save.
Importing Dead NPCs means that all NPCs you have killed, imprisoned, or that have died while in your squad will stay dead as well. You could also recruit various Unique NPCs in your new save if you uncheck this as well. So if you lost Burn, you can go get him once again by leaving this unmarked.
Import Relations
Factions relations for all characters and factions can be preserved with this setting. You will remain hostile or friendly with the relevant faction if you leave this checked when importing. This also applies for any relation state changes. For example, if you have allied the Anti Slavers by talking to Grey, you will gain +75 to the Anti Slavers faction and -30 to the United Cities, Slave Traders, and Trader’s Guild. If you check this when importing, that trigger will remain in place and active.
The various advanced settings found at the bottom, by clicking the Advanced Settings button include:
- Hunger time – How fast or slow hunger decays, based on the higher or lower value respectively.
- Chance of death – Affects how lethal wounds are. Makes it easier or harder to survive grievous wounds based on the value.
- Global damage multiplier – The higher the number, the more damage any attack deals.
- Production speed – The higher the number, the faster any non-specfic job takes to complete.
- Research speed – The higher the number, the faster any Science job takes to complete.
- Building speed – The higher the number, the faster any Engineer job takes to complete.
- Number of nests multiplier – Increases the number of animal nests spawned with higher values.
- Bandits loot the player – Bandits will steal your items when they down you, with this on.
- Easy prospecting – Makes prospecting faster and it has greatly increased range.
Now that you know what each setting does, let’s answer the basic question; when should I import in Kenshi?
When should you import your Kenshi game?
When you need to use a Kenshi Game Import, there might be a few reasons to do so.
When your characters are stuck
When you find a character bugged out or stuck in some place they shouldn’t be, the “reset squad positions” is an ideal solution. You can simply import and keep the correct settings to recreate your save without that bug or issue. This can also help remove a bugged out NPC or other character from your world.
You just want a fresh start
If you find your base is too well-defended, and want a greater challenge, this might be a valid option. Players who want to take on a new roleplaying schtick might also choose to import. If you wanted to take your super powerful solo player and roleplay as a wandering trader or merc, this is one way to accomplish that.
Resetting the current state of the world
If you find a favorite faction or location has been wiped out, an import can help. Let’s say you’re tired of working with the United Cities or Holy Nation; and instead want to wage a guerilla war against slavers, this is the option to take. If you find that certain NPCs or cities need a second chance, here’s your answer.
When the game has received an update
Anytime a patch has been released, you will likely need to reset your saves. There can be unintended bugs that happen with long-running saves, so an import can help alleviate that. If you find that certain older features or bases are bugged, try an import to fix it.
The same is true for mods. Kenshi has a very active modding scene, and sometimes mods break. When you don’t implement your load order correctly, or install new mods in the middle of a game, you might run into some issues. Features in mods can break with old saves, so importing your save anytime you change mod configurations is a good habit.
