Thralls Are the Backbone of Efficient Farming
Capturing and deploying thralls is the defining mechanic that separates a struggling base from a thriving one. Thralls fight, craft, haul resources, and guard your walls, and they enter your service through five paths: capturing hostile NPCs, freeing prisoners from cages, recruiting at taverns, purchasing from merchants, and completing companion quests. Capturing remains the most common approach and offers the widest selection.
The Wheel of Pain Conversion Process
Capturing a thrall means knocking an enemy unconscious with a Truncheon or blunted ammunition (never lethal weapons, or you'll kill them instead of capturing them), binding them with rope, hauling them to a Wheel of Pain, and supplying the wheel with food (Gruel) until conversion completes. Stock Gruel before starting the process, not halfway through, to avoid a stalled conversion.
Named Thralls Are Worth the Extra Effort
Named thralls (unique NPCs with their own identity, as opposed to randomized generic ones) have significantly higher stats than regular captures. A named Blacksmith reduces crafting material costs by up to 50%, and a named Taskmaster cuts thrall conversion times in half — the time invested finding and capturing named thralls compounds across every future thrall you break.
Alchemical Base for Endgame Crafting
Alchemical Base, crafted at the Firebowl Cauldron from gold, silver, and ichor, is one of the most important crafting ingredients for endgame gear. Stockpiling it early, well before you actually need it for a specific recipe, avoids a resource bottleneck when you're ready to craft higher-tier equipment.
Building Material Tiers Affect Raid Resistance
Conan Exiles has three building material tiers: T1 Sandstone (cheapest, weakest), T2 Stonebrick or Insulated Wood (moderate), and T3 Reinforced Stone or Black Ice (strongest), with higher tiers resisting significantly more damage from purges and PvP raids. Farming the right materials for a T3 upgrade before your base becomes a target is worth prioritizing over cosmetic expansion.
Common Farming Mistakes
The most common mistake is engaging a target thrall with lethal weapons instead of switching to a Truncheon first, killing the very NPC you meant to capture. The second is starting a Wheel of Pain conversion without stocking Gruel ahead of time. Third, don't neglect Alchemical Base stockpiling — it's needed constantly at endgame and easy to run short on if you wait to farm it reactively.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I capture a thrall without killing them?
Switch to a Truncheon or blunted ammunition before engaging — lethal weapons will kill the NPC instead of knocking them unconscious for capture, undoing the whole process.
What makes named thralls worth the extra effort to capture?
They have significantly higher stats than regular thralls — a named Blacksmith cuts crafting material costs by up to 50%, and a named Taskmaster halves future thrall conversion times, compounding across your whole base.
Why should I stockpile Alchemical Base early?
It's one of the most important crafting ingredients for endgame gear, made from gold, silver, and ichor at the Firebowl Cauldron — farming it before you actually need a specific recipe avoids a bottleneck later.