One of the biggest decisions you’ll make in DIVE or DIE: Children of Rain isn’t what weapon to craft—it’s which building to upgrade first.
Resources are limited during the early and mid-game, and it’s impossible to max everything immediately. Upgrading the right buildings first makes exploration much easier, unlocks better equipment sooner, and speeds up your overall progression.
The good news is that every building is worth upgrading eventually. By the end of your playthrough, you’ll have enough materials to fully develop your settlement. The real question is simply what gives you the biggest advantage first.
Below is the upgrade priority I’d recommend after finishing the game.
DIVE or DIE Children of Rain Building Guide – Upgrade
| Priority | Building | Why Upgrade It? |
|---|---|---|
| ★★★★★ | Workshop | Unlocks stronger weapons, tools and equipment. |
| ★★★★★ | Diving Deck | Lets you reach deeper areas much earlier. |
| ★★★★★ | Altar | Required for Blessings, Idols and late-game progression. |
| ★★★★☆ | Lighthouse | Unlocks better recruitment and expeditions. |
| ★★★★☆ | Memorial | Grants powerful Conditions and Traits through tributes. |
| ★★★☆☆ | Town Hall | Expands your population limit. |
| ★★★☆☆ | Library | Improves map information and survivor progression. |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Fishing Hut | Provides passive Nutrition and Morale. |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Infirmary | Helps restore Health and Sanity. |
Workshop (Highest Priority)
If you only focus on one building early, make it the Workshop.
Nearly every major progression milestone depends on unlocking stronger gear, improved tools, and better crafting recipes. A stronger weapon often makes a bigger difference than another passive camp upgrade.
Tier 1
Unlocked by default.
The Workshop allows you to craft equipment, upgrade tools and prepare for increasingly dangerous dives.
Tier 2
Unlocks
- Additional Workshop upgrades and recipes.
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Iron Ore | ×5 |
| Copper Ore | ×5 |
| Plank | ×3 |
| Aluminium | ×3 |
Tier 3
Unlocks
More advanced equipment becomes available.
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Power Saw | ×1 |
| Plank | ×4 |
| Lithium | ×1 |
| Aluminium | ×3 |
| Gold | ×1 |
Tier 4
Unlocks
Final Workshop upgrades.
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Many-Faced Egg | ×1 |
| Blessed Aluminium | ×2 |
| Gold | ×4 |
| Living Wood | ×4 |
| Blood Crystal | ×3 |
Diving Deck (Highest Priority)
The Diving Deck controls almost everything related to exploration.
Every upgrade helps you access deeper parts of the world much sooner, making future resource farming significantly easier.
Tier 1
Unlocked by default.
This is where you prepare your diver before each expedition.
Assigning a survivor with the Quartermaster perk here provides:
- +1 Consumable Slot per perk level.
- At maximum level, Tools and Consumables become weightless.
Tier 2
Unlocks
- Access to additional dive locations.
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Iron Ore | ×3 |
| Carbon | ×3 |
| Aluminium | ×2 |
| Plank | ×3 |
Tier 3
Unlocks
A Young Warper begins appearing during dives, allowing fast travel into deeper regions.
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pashing Egg | ×1 |
| Blessed Iron Ore | ×4 |
| Gold | ×2 |
| Rain Rot | ×3 |
Tier 4
Unlocks
The Young Warper evolves into an Adult Warper, letting you travel even deeper.
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Crystallized Rain | ×2 |
| Living Wood | ×4 |
| Blood Crystal | ×3 |
| Rainium | ×1 |
| Blessed Gold | ×2 |
Altar (Highest Priority)
The Altar doesn’t seem especially important at first, but it becomes essential later.
Blessing biomes is required for several late-game mechanics, including farming Crystallized Rain.
Tier 0
Available from the beginning.
Tier 1
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Iron Ore | ×3 |
| Plank | ×2 |
Tier 2
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Holy Egg | ×1 |
| Blessed Leech Gland | ×3 |
| Plank | ×4 |
| Rain Rot | ×3 |
| Insectoid Blood | ×3 |
Tier 3
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Crystallized Rain | ×2 |
| Blessed Leech Gland | ×8 |
| Living Wood | ×4 |
| Blood Crystal | ×3 |
| Rain Scale | ×1 |
Lighthouse (High Priority)
The Lighthouse is worth upgrading fairly early because it improves recruitment and expedition efficiency.
A stronger roster means more flexibility when assigning survivors around camp.
Tier 1
Unlocked by default.
Tier 2
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Iron Ore | ×3 |
| Copper Ore | ×3 |
| Plank | ×3 |
Tier 3
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| All-Seeing Egg | ×1 |
| Copper Ore | ×3 |
| Blessed Aluminium | ×2 |
| Plank | ×4 |
| Blood Crystal | ×1 |
Tier 4
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Crystallized Rain | ×2 |
| Living Wood | ×6 |
| Rainium | ×1 |
| Blessed Insectoid Blood | ×3 |
| Blood Crystal | ×2 |
Memorial (High Priority)
The Memorial is often overlooked, but it unlocks one of the strongest progression systems in the game.
By burning tribute items, survivors can gain unique Conditions and Traits, including powerful XP bonuses like Mentor Spirit and Dark Spirit.
If you’re planning efficient levelling or specialised survivor builds, upgrading this building sooner rather than later is a great investment.
Town Hall (Medium Priority)
The Town Hall determines how many survivors your settlement can support.
If you’re happy managing a small group, it isn’t an urgent upgrade. However, once you start expanding your workforce, extra population becomes much more valuable.
Tier 1
Unlocked by default.
Tier 2
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Iron Ore | ×5 |
| Web Coral | ×2 |
| Plank | ×3 |
Tier 3
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Kahr’Keenos Egg | ×1 |
| Iron Ore | ×5 |
| Aluminium | ×5 |
| Plank | ×6 |
| Blessed Rain Rot | ×2 |
Tier 4
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Crystallized Rain | ×2 |
| Blessed Iron Ore | ×10 |
| Living Wood | ×4 |
| Blood Crystal | ×2 |
| Rain Scale | ×2 |
Library (Medium Priority)
The Library isn’t as exciting as unlocking new weapons, but it gradually becomes more useful.
It improves access to information like the world index and maps while also increasing the minimum level of recruited survivors, reducing the amount of training they’ll need.
Tier 0
Available from the beginning.
Tier 1
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Carbon | ×2 |
| Algae Tissue | ×2 |
| Plank | ×2 |
Tier 2
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Rain Rot | ×3 |
| Algae Tissue | ×3 |
| Plank | ×3 |
Tier 3
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Forbidden Egg | ×1 |
| Gold | ×1 |
| Carbon | ×3 |
| Blessed Algae Tissue | ×3 |
| Plank | ×4 |
Tier 4
Materials Required
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Crystallized Rain | ×2 |
| Blessed Gold | ×1 |
| Rain Scale | ×2 |
| Blessed Rain Rot | ×3 |
| Living Wood | ×4 |
Fishing Hut (Lower Priority)
The Fishing Hut provides a steady supply of passive Nutrition and Morale, helping keep your settlement stable over long campaigns.
It’s certainly useful, but compared to unlocking stronger equipment or deeper exploration, it can comfortably wait until the mid-game.
Infirmary (Lower Priority)
The Infirmary allows survivors to recover Health and Sanity more efficiently after difficult dives.
Although it’s nice to have, it generally isn’t essential during the early game. As your settlement grows and survivors begin returning with heavier injuries, upgrading it becomes much more worthwhile.
By the time you’re hunting Crystallized Rain and crafting the game’s strongest equipment, you’ll naturally have enough resources to fully upgrade every structure. Early on, though, focusing on the buildings that directly improve exploration and gear will make the rest of your journey much smoother.