Loot is the whole game: you collect it, raiders steal it. This guide ranks every defense tool by what it actually prevents and assembles the pieces into layouts that survive contact with a real raid. For piece-by-piece mechanics see the cannons and turrets guides; for the panic buttons see lock & shield.
Defense priority: what actually keeps loot
Ranked by real raid outcomes, not by how scary pieces look:
| Rank | Defense | What it stops |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chest placement | The only “defense” that can’t be outgunned — a chest deep inside can’t be grabbed in a drive-by |
| 2 | Closed wall ring + one door | Most raids are opportunistic; a closed ring makes them move on |
| 3 | Reinforced walls | Low-level cannons struggle vs even wood walls; reinforced shrugs off broadsides |
| 4 | Automatic cannons | Perimeter denial — forces raiders to commit or flee |
| 5 | Turrets | Boarding crews die on the deck instead of in your hallway |
| 6 | Nets (as defense) | Passively re-earn what raids cost you |
| 7 | Lock Raft / Shield | Emergency only — cooldowns mean they can’t be your plan |
| 8 | Spikes, fences, flags, towers | Deterrence and cosmetics; spikes slow but don’t stop |
New in the September 6 patch: Mortar & Tesla Coil
The game’s biggest update added two defenses that change the priority board:
- Mortar — a close-range defense that lobs homing explosive shells at enemies who board your raft. It requires open sky, so a roofed chest room is off-limits; give it deck space with clear air above. Its shells track, which makes it the best answer yet to the “land and sprint to the chest” playstyle.
- Tesla Coil — chains lightning onto nearby enemies. Walls block the beam, so placement is a real decision: put it on the open approach lane, not buried in your build. Chain damage shines against crews that board together.
- Both upgrade through the Hammer, and Tier III versions are in the store. Destroyed defenses now rebuild themselves instead of disappearing forever — a lost fight no longer costs you the piece. The staff answer in the official Discord questions channel narrows it down: only defenses rebuild — trap pieces like barbed wire and spike traps stay destroyed, so plan to replace those by hand after a raid.
Where they rank: the Tesla Coil takes the anti-boarding slot next to turrets, and the Mortar covers the deck space turrets can’t. Both are worth building before more spikes or cosmetic walls. The official Discord agrees — asked point-blank which defense wins between the Tesla Coil, the Mortar and the Heavy Turret, a staff member’s one-word answer was “tesla” (September 24).
The chest room is the actual game
Every defense exists to buy time for one thing: making your chest hard to reach. Raiders can carry the entire chest off your raft — so the design goal is maximizing the distance and doors between the water and your chest.
The proven chest room pattern:
- Center of the raft, or upper deck with reinforced stairs.
- Reinforced walls on every side, one reinforced door.
- A turret covering the approach.
- Nothing valuable displayed on outer decks — that’s bait furniture.
Layout archetypes
The Box (solo players). Square deck, full wall ring, single door, cannons on two open corners, chest in the middle. Boring, effective, cheap to repair.
The Fortress (crews). Two decks: ground floor with cannons and turrets, upper deck with the chest room behind reinforced stairs. One player drives, one shoots, one guards the vault. This is the hour-100 raft from the promo art in functional form.
The Decoy (raiders). Deliberately scruffy outside, turrets and cannon broadside inside. Looks like a free lunch; boards into an ambush. High risk, high entertainment.
What raiders actually exploit
Audit your raft the way an attacker would:
- Count your doors. Every extra door is a planned entry route for someone else. One player found an opponent’s spare doors detachable mid-raid — attackers will open your raft from the inside.
- Check your cannon sightlines. Your own walls take cannons out of the fight. If a cannon can’t see open water, it’s decoration.
- Look for the uncovered side. Raiders circle and enter from the flank with no cannon silhouette.
- Mind your ladders and stairs. A second floor with no hatch control drops defenders on your head — or you on theirs.
After every Saturday patch
The dev ships updates weekly and hotfixes near-daily. Defensive metas shift when wall HP, cannon damage or snap points change. The post-patch ritual: screenshot your raft before updating, then walk the ring, open the Crafting Table, and test-fire one cannon. See the updates page for the current patch timeline.
Related pages
- Defense tier list — every piece ranked
- Building guide — piece catalog and the raft size cap
- How to raid — the attacker’s playbook, to reverse-engineer