Is there a building tree for Die2Nite?

8/10/2011 Update: This is based on version 1 of the game. Much has changed in version 2, so don't take this as gospel unless someone updates it.

Key to the "Awesome" column:

♦     Not useful         U - Can be upgraded -- see below.
♦♦    Meh                ! - Only lasts one night! Waste of resources.
♦♦♦   Nice to have       
♦♦♦♦  Get it if you can  N - number of nuts and bolts required
♦♦♦♦♦ MUST HAVE ASAP     D - number of defensive objects required
N/A   Purely defensive upgrade - awesomeness depends on your choices
                                 and what you have in the bank.

Workshop

Tech              Use                                          N D Awesome  AP
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Workshop          Convert scrap to building material for 3 AP  - 1 ♦♦♦♦♦ U  25
└┬ Diary          Improve construction logs                    - 1 ♦        15
 ├ Butcher        Convert pets in food                         - - ♦♦       40
 │ └─ Cremato-cue Convert corpses in 4× human flesh            - - ♦        45
 ├ Def. Focus     Increase defensive value of defensive items  6 - ♦♦♦♦♦ U  50
 ├ Factory        -1 to workshop costs                         3 - ♦♦♦♦♦    40
 ├ Screaming saws +40 defense                                  - - N/A      65
 ├ Gallows        Hang next citizen receiving 8 complaints     - - ♦        65
 └ Cannon mounds  +10 defense                                  - 1 ♦♦       50
   └┬ Plate gun   +50 defense                                  5 3 N/A      35
    ├ Perforator  +45 defense                                  4 - N/A      30
    ├ Stone can.  +60 defense                                  - 3 N/A      45
    └ Breaker     +12 defense                                  - - N/A      15

Portal Lock

Tech              Use                                          N D Awesome  AP
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Portal lock       Stop gate from reopening 20' before attack   - - ♦♦       16
└┬ Piston lock    Automatically close gate 30' before attack   4 - ♦        25
 └ Armour plating +12 defense                                  - - N/A      35

Foundations

Tech              Use                                          N D Awesome  AP
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Foundations       Nothing, but unlocks epic projects           - 2 ♦        30
└┬ False town     +210 defense                                10 - N/A     600
 ├ Mega pump      +150 water in well                           - 3 ♦♦♦♦    170
 ├ Big rebuild    +180 defense                                 - 5 N/A     800
 └ Plumbing       Refill water weapons (and def?) for free     4 - ♦♦♦♦♦   130

Pump

Tech              Use                                          N D Awesome  AP
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Pump              +10 water, can extract 2 ration/day/person   - - ♦♦♦♦♦ U  25
└┬ Water turrets  +60 defense, but needs water in well (?)     - - N/A   U  60
 ├ Water purifier +8 water per jerry can                       - - ♦♦♦♦♦    50
 │ └┬ Veg. plot   +3 regular food/day; +3 7 AP food/day (ca)   - - ♦♦♦♦♦    60
 │  └ Watermine.  +75 defense for 1 night                      - - N/A   !  25
 ├ Hydraulic net. +15 water in well                            5 - ♦♦♦♦     40
 │ └┬ Sprinklers  +95 defense                                  - - N/A      50
 │  ├ Macerator   +45 defense                                  - 2 N/A      55
 │  └ Washer      +50 defense                                  1 - N/A      50
 └ Drilling rig   +40 water in well                            - - ♦♦♦♦♦    60
   └─ Eden proj.  +70 water in well                            - - ♦♦♦♦♦    65

Watchtower

Tech              Use                                          N D Awesome  AP
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Watchtower        Estimate tonight's attack, +3 defense        - - ♦♦♦♦♦ U  12
└┬ Enh. map       Get zombie counts per tile                   - - ♦♦♦♦♦    15
 ├ Catapult       Fire objects in the desert for 4AP           - - ♦        40
 │ └─ Enh. cat.   -2 to catapult cost                          - - ♦        30
 ├ Search tower   Detects, improves desert regeneration        - - ♦♦♦♦♦ U  30
 ├ Scanner        -50% to people required for best estimation  1 - ♦        20
 │ └─ Predictor   Predict tomorrow's attack from tower         - - ♦♦♦      20
 └ Emergency sup. +5 defense, unlocks emergency projects       - - ♦♦       40
   └┬ Explodage   +35 defense for 1 night                      - - N/A   !  18
    ├ Rub. heap   +10 defense for 1 night                      - - N/A   !  10
    │ └─ Mt. Kill +50 defense for 1 night                      - - N/A   !  35
    ├ Guerilla    +45 defense for 1 night                      2 - N/A   !  21
    ├ Baited trap +45 defense for 1 night                      - - N/A   !  18
    ├ Em. defense +40 defense for 1 night                      - - N/A   !  26
    └ Spike trap  +25 defense for 1 night                      - - N/A   !  11

Great Wall Strengthening

Tech              Use                                          N D Awesome  AP
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Gr. Wall Stength. +7 defense                                   - - ♦♦♦♦♦    30
└┬ Barbs          +9 defense                                   - - N/A      20
 │ └─ Lure        +10 defense for 1 night                      - - N/A   !  10
 ├ Barricades     +25 defense                                  5 - N/A      50
 ├ Great pit      +20 defense                                  - - N/A   U  80
 │ └┬ Spiked pit  +50 defense                                  - - N/A      60
 │  └ Moat        +45 defense                                  - - N/A      50
 ├ Zombie grater  +75 defense                                  5 3 N/A      60
 ├ Old sch. traps +30 defense                                  - - N/A      65
 ├ Razor wall     +40 defense                                  5 - N/A      40
 └ Ramparts       +5 defense                                   6 - ♦♦♦♦♦    40
   └┬ Über Wall   +70 defense                                  - 2 N/A      50
    ├ Beams       +25 defense                                  2 - N/A      55
    ├ Interior W. +70 defense                                  - - N/A      65
    ├ Upgrade. W. +15 defense                                  0 1 N/A   U  65
    └ Spiked W.   +50 defense                                  4 - N/A      35

Projects of the day

Keep in mind all of the projects of the day start from "level" 0.

Project          Improves                   Level 0    1    2    3    4    5
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Workshop         Construction costs             100%  93%  86%  79%  72%  65%
Watch tower      Detection range                  ?    3km  6km 10km 10km 10km
                 Enter town if closer than*       0    0    0    0    1km  2km
Search tower     Regeneration chance per tile     ?   37%  49%  61%  73%  85%
Great pit        Defense                         20d  33d  54d  86d 119d 170d
Upgradeable wall Defense                         15d  51d  86d 123d 182d 243d
Pump             Water in well (one time)       +10w +20w +20w +30w +30w   ?
Defensive focus  Defense value of def. item     2.5d 3.2d 4.4d 5.8d 6.6d 8.0d
Water turrets    Defense                         60d 108d 156d 204d 252d 300d
                 Water/day consumed               0    2w   4w   6w   9w  12w

*If you are closer than this range from the town, you may enter the town gates

Awesomeness:

  • Workshop upgrades only really help with the epic projects. The gains for the rest are negligible.
  • Watch tower upgrades up to level 3 are practically required for worry-free expeditions. The rest is nice to have.
  • Search tower upgrades are important to always have nearby undepleted areas.
  • Great pit upgrades are pretty meh. Upgrade the upgradeable wall instead, if you can.
  • Upgradeable pit upgrades are nice, but finite. Even 51 defense is nothing to sneeze at, but they only help you so much.
  • Defensive focus upgrades are pretty much a must-have. When everything is built and everything is upgraded, only defensive focus keeps improving your defense with every single defensive item. They outscore upgradeable wall after the 42nd defensive item circa.
  • Pump upgrades are nice to have but hardly earth-breaking.
  • Water turret upgrades seem to do more harm than good...

The French do not agree with my assessments and see getting a level 5 workshop as a requirement for a successful city.


This Die2Nite wiki has a list of everything that can be built, what it costs, and what it does.

And this other wiki has a list of the building tree along with the AP costs at each level of workshop upgrades. Which might be a useful tool to convince people not to do workshop upgrades...