Stonewards Campfire Healing and Revive

The bastion campfire is easy to walk past when ore piles glow at the blacksmith and the crafting camp demands arrows. That mistake costs co-op runs where one downed defender becomes a permanent four-versus-horn deficit, or solo attempts where chip damage accumulates until the next assault finishes what the last horn started. Banana Tiger Studio positioned the campfire as both a narrative gathering point and a mechanical station: it heals living dwarves between waves and resurrects fallen teammates so the squad returns to full strength before mining again.

Demo patch 0.1.10 specifically addressed multiplayer friction around campfire systems—healing ticks became more reliable, resurrection at the fire clearer, and carrying dead players to campfire received fixes so teams could recover bodies without soft-locking a session. This page explains how those systems work, when to prioritize revive over forge spending, and how post-wave Bonus Cards like campfire regen change your positioning plan.

What the Campfire Does

Between horns, while monsters are absent, the campfire zone provides:

• Passive or active healing for living players who stand near the fire during economy phase.
• Resurrection for teammates who died during the previous assault—restoring them to the fight instead of forcing the squad to continue short-handed.
• A fallback rally point when bonus cards amplify regeneration near the fire.

The campfire does not replace wall repair, crafting camp ammunition, or blacksmith upgrades. It reduces attrition—the slow bleed of health and player count that makes wave eight feel impossible even when ore economy looked fine on wave five.

King death still ends the run instantly. Reviving dwarves protects the team’s ability to defend the monarch; it does not grant the King extra lives.

Stonewards campfire healing and revive

Healing Between Waves

Healing at campfire matters most after messy horns where defenders traded damage on primary lanes without time to fall back. During economy phase, injured players should touch campfire radius before re-entering mines or visiting distant stations. Full-health defenders cover wall repair and crafting while injured players regen—especially valuable when a Bonus Cards vote granted campfire regeneration that accelerates ticks.

Healing priority in co-op:

1. Primary lane anchor regens first if they must hold surface during late economy telegraphs.
2. Flex defender second—they rotate to breaches and need buffer HP.
3. Miner third if they took cave hazard damage, unless horn is imminent and miner must surface immediately.
4. Crafter during camp duty—usually lowest urgency if they stayed behind walls.

Solo players should heal to comfortable threshold before mining. Solo difficulty is publicly high; entering caves at half health with no teammate to cover horn start is a common self-inflicted wipe.

Resurrecting Fallen Teammates

When a dwarf dies during a horn, the run continues as long as the King lives. Dead players become downed states recoverable at campfire rather than immediate session ejects—exact presentation varies by patch, but demo direction is clear: bring them back at the fire before the next assault.

Resurrection workflow after 0.1.10 fixes:

1. Surviving players finish the horn or stabilize spawns enough to disengage.
2. Locate the downed teammate’s body on the battlefield or inner corridors.
3. Carry or escort the dead player to campfire—patch 0.1.10 improved carry interactions so teams are not stuck with unreachable bodies.
4. Initiate revive at campfire during economy phase alongside healing living players.
5. Re-equip and reposition before horn audio ramps—revived players without ammo still fail the team.

Treat revive as urgent station business equal to emergency wall repair. A three-player horn while one corpse lies outside primary lane is a timer bomb.

Carrying Dead Players: 0.1.10 Fix Context

Before multiplayer fixes, co-op groups reported frustration when downed allies spawned in awkward locations—outside repaired lanes, downhill from campfire, or behind choke points still contested by straggler adds. Patch 0.1.10 targeted carry mechanics so surviving dwarves could transport dead teammates toward campfire without abandoning defense entirely.

Practical carry habits:

• Call “carrying [name] to fire” so teammates cover you during transport.
• Clear stragglers on the carry path before committing—dying mid-carry doubles the problem.
• Use inner routes through Bastion Layout corridors when outer lanes are unsafe.
• Do not mine while a carry is in progress unless you are the designated miner and someone else owns transport.

If carry fails repeatedly, review Wave Defense positioning—dying far from campfire usually means defenders fought too forward without fallback plan.

When to Revive vs When to Forge

Revive and forge spending compete for economy phase seconds, not always ore directly—but opportunity cost is real.

Revive first when:

• Downed player is your primary lane anchor or only crafter.
• Next horn includes elite or boss pressure from Bosses and Elites.
• Team is already below four players in co-op.
• Bonus card granted campfire regen that only helps living players near fire—you need bodies there to benefit.

Defer revive briefly when:

• King lane is actively breached and immediate wall repair prevents run-ending damage—never defer if revive takes ten seconds and horn is thirty seconds away; sequence matters.
• Downed player was flex who can rejoin after others stabilize stations—still revive before horn if possible.

Never skip revive to gamble blacksmith when the result is a permanent three-player horn. One ring choice does not outvalue an entire teammate.

Campfire and Bonus Card Synergy

Post-wave lobby votes can grant campfire regeneration or healing-adjacent team buffs. When your squad picks these cards:

• Fight closer to campfire side during economy phase so regen applies while crafting.
• Position injured anchors near fire before visiting distant Camps and Stations.
• Defer one cycle of armor forge upgrades if regen covers survivability—fund Ammo and Crafting instead.
• In endless mode after wave eleven, regen cards compound—campfire becomes strategic real estate, not flavor.

Cards are team votes; campfire mechanics are station actions. Both stack.

Solo Campfire Considerations

Solo players cannot revive themselves after death—the run ends on dwarf death unless future patches add solo-specific rules. Campfire healing still matters for solo attrition management between horns.

Solo workflow:

• Heal to full or near-full before mining windows.
• Do not treat campfire as optional when chip damage stacks from Monster Types ranged harassment.
• Pair healing time with crafting camp visits nearby so you are not idle.

Public previews describe solo as hard specifically because one body must cover mining, crafting, repair, and defense—campfire healing is one of the few forgiveness tools available without teammates.

Co-op Communication Lines

Short callouts reduce revive failures:

• “Down behind primary—need carry”
• “Reviving at fire—cover lane”
• “Heal at fire before mine”
• “Hold horn—missing [name]”
• “Regen card active—stack fire”

Pair with How to Co-op in Stonewards role assignments so everyone knows who owns carry duty when multiple players drop.

Campfire vs Other Healing Sources

Demo builds may include consumables, forge upgrades, or ring effects that restore health. Campfire healing is free between waves if you use the station—consumables should be reserved for mid-horn emergencies when leaving the lane is impossible.

Blacksmith armor upgrades reduce damage taken but do not replace campfire recovery after you already lost HP. Stack both: armor prevents chunk damage; campfire clears residual attrition.

Positioning During the Next Horn

After revive and heal, reposition for the coming assault:

• Revived players need ammo from crafting camp before horn—not just HP.
• Reassign lanes if the revived player was primary anchor and lost time to re-equip.
• Keep a fallback path to campfire in mind during messy horns when bonus regen is active—controlled retreats beat dying again far from fire.

Read Bastion Fallback when outer walls fail but campfire remains reachable.

Common Campfire Mistakes

• Ignoring downed teammates until horn starts short-handed.
• Carrying through active add packs without clearing path.
• Healing while primary lane unrepaired—monsters next horn ignore your full HP bar if walls are open.
• Skipping campfire after voting regen bonus card.
• Solo mining at low HP because “healing can wait.”

Related Pages

• Combat Hub — Wave defense and boss pressure.
• Bonus Cards — Campfire regen votes.
• Camps and Stations — Full station priority order.
• How to Defend the King — Lane discipline that prevents deaths far from fire.

Staying Current

Campfire heal rates, carry range, and revive cast times may change in Early Access patches. Core loop—heal living players, resurrect dead ones at fire, carry bodies after 0.1.10 fixes—matches Banana Tiger Studio’s co-op recovery design. Update numbers from Steam news; keep priority logic from this page.