Walkthroughs Field Manual 01 10 min read

Boot Camp Bay to Clawline Crossing: early campaign walkthrough

The first three missions teach you everything the campaign will later test — if you let them. This walkthrough turns the early game into a foundation instead of a formality.

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// In this manual

FILED UNDER Walkthroughs

Most commanders autopilot the first missions and pay for it around mission six. Run them properly instead: the early game is where lane discipline, economy pacing and hero positioning get installed. Do it right here and Smogstack Row never gets the chance to humble you.

Mission 01: Boot Camp Bay

One lane, generous pads, and waves that politely announce themselves. Resist the urge to overbuild — place a single damage tower at the first bend, park your starter hero at the leak point, and let the mission teach you the economy rhythm. The real lesson is sell-and-rebuild: practice it now while mistakes are free. Bank the first-clear bonus and resist spending it immediately; mission two wants tower variety more than upgrades.

Mission 02: Rustwater Docks

Two lanes converge at the pier — the first real grid puzzle. The trap is defending both lanes separately; the answer is building where they merge. A frost projector at the merge point buys more effective range than any second tower. Watch the wave mix: the docks introduce the first armored crawlers, which is your cue to learn the damage-type matrix early. Kinetic bounces, energy melts. Our tower guide covers the full matrix if the tooltips left you cold.

Field note

Sell-and-rebuild refunds most of a tower's cost — treat placements as rentals, not commitments. The commanders who stall are always the ones emotionally attached to their first railgun.

Mission 03: Clawline Crossing

The first genuine skill check — split lanes that punish single-lane thinking. Here's the doctrine: your hero IS the second tower grid. Place towers to cover the lane your hero isn't watching, rotate them on wave calls, and never let both resources idle. A Recon hero trivializes this mission; an Assault requires tighter tower coverage. Beat this cleanly and you've learned the core OTTTD loop — everything after is elaboration.

The tutorial missions aren't the boring part — they're where the game teaches you the habits that save your life at mission twenty.

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// Battle Summary

Key takeaways

Short on time? This is the manual condensed to a sticky note for your monitor.

Build at merge points, not per-lane — coverage math beats tower count
Your hero is a mobile tower; leave them idle and you're halving your defense
Frost projectors multiply every other tower's effective range
Sell-and-rebuild mid-wave is a core mechanic, not a panic button
Learn the damage matrix at the docks — armored crawlers are the warning shot

// Continue Reading

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// Follow-up Questions

Asked after this manual

The questions commanders send the desk after reading this guide.

Not until you've hit a wall later. Early mission farming is the least efficient grind in the game — mutator replays and first-clears of new missions pay far better.

Assault + Medic carries the entire first act. Add Recon for split lanes once Clawline Crossing teaches you why mobility exists.

Yes, and it's worth doing — early S-ranks build the economy buffer you'll want before the Cannery. Flawless means zero leaks plus the budget bonus.

// Apply the Doctrine

Ready for the real lanes?

Theory's installed. Now grab the Recruit Pass and put a second hero on the roster before Clawline asks for one.

Recruit Pass — $14.99 Mission board