Every placed blueprint fills a circle from 0 to 100%. What most players miss is that the circle does not fill evenly: hits on the yellow X marker that floats over the piece count for roughly 10% each, body hits for 1 to 2%. A player who chases the marker finishes a HESCO wall in a fraction of the time, earns seven times the Support XP per swing and gets paid six dollars a hit instead of one.
The yellow X
| Hit | Progress | Support XP | Cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body hit anywhere on the piece | 1–2% | 1 | $1 |
| Yellow-X hit | ≈ 10% | 7 | $6 |
| Completion bonus | – | +15 | +$15 |
The marker moves after each hit and jumps to a new spot at every 25% threshold. Two consequences:
- Marker lock: stand at maximum hammer range. The marker stops wandering and stays where you can reach it.
- Unreachable marker: if the X sits on the far side of a tall piece, keep landing body hits until the next 25% threshold. The marker respawns somewhere else.
Animation cancel
Holding the left mouse button swings at the hammer’s built-in rate. Releasing the button the moment the head lands and pressing again skips the recovery animation. Players report close to double the strike rate; it works with every hammer and there is no penalty. Clicking instead of holding achieves the same.
Stacking builders
Hits from different players add up, and each player earns their own XP and cash per hit. Four hammers on one wall finish it four times faster and all four get the completion bonus. Combined with the placer/finisher split (only the Support 8 player needs the Large hammer, everyone finishes), the fastest base crews look like this:
- One placer walks ahead seeding blueprints in build order.
- Pairs of finishers follow, each pair on one piece, chasing the X.
- The Driver drops pallets in the zone and finishes pieces between runs.
A 13×13 ring of HESCO walls with four builders is a ten-minute job; alone it is closer to forty.
Where hits do not help
Builders cannot shoot while hammering, and a player on a tower ladder or a platform is a target. Rules that keep the crew alive:
- Build the threat side first and the console box before everything.
- Finish walls to 100% before stacking on them; an unfinished base piece blocks the second layer.
- Never hammer from outside the ring once it is closed; use the door.
The CIWS and Talon exception
The two anti-air emplacements barely progress on body hits: they need yellow-X hits, and the X on those pieces is high up and moves across the platform. Bring two builders, place the gun on a finished platform, and expect five to ten minutes even with both on the marker. A Talon on a tower deck has the same problem plus the ladder climb, so the deck crew should carry Build supplies for repairs and stay up there.
Speed checklist
- Small hammer for outer works, Medium for walls, Large only where required.
- Stand at max range for marker lock.
- Release on impact.
- Two per piece for anything with a disputed or large menu cost.
- Place ahead, finish behind.
Strike counts per structure and per hammer tier are not documented anywhere; timing them with a stopwatch is on our in-game verification list, and the numbers will land on the structure pages when they do.
Sources: steam-skivin · steam-cheekbuster · allthings-cluster · yt-rockit14-60s · fobplans-research