What Vessels Are (and Aren't)
Vessels — also called constructs when they're built or unlocked at the Outpost — are the wooden bodies your Living Spark inhabits. They are deliberately fragile: they splinter, collapse and catch fire. Each vessel type has its own movement feel and ability set, so swapping bodies mid-run genuinely changes how you play, not just how you look.
Important distinction: vessels are your body; weapons and tools come from Outpost inventory tiers; and construct blueprints for Outpost furniture/blockers come from the artifact gacha pipeline. Community sites sometimes use "construct" for both — context tells you which.
How to Unlock New Vessels
- Loot glowy artifacts in the ruins (deeper = better quality).
- Convert them at the Outpost into artifact coins via Murch's pipeline.
- Roll the gacha ball machine for random artifacts.
- Feed artifacts into the unlocker/opener machine for permanent blueprint drops.
- Build and deploy the new construct — wardrobe and hat cosmetics are purely for style.
The Five-Question Vessel Evaluation
No official stat sheet exists for every vessel, so experienced crews judge any body — owned or freshly possessed mid-run — with five questions:
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| How many hits to break? | Durability is your baseline survival budget — a paper vessel changes your routing |
| How fast does it move? | Speed = scavenging rate + extraction safety |
| What does the ability do? | Defines your role: demolition, hauling, stealth or brawling |
| How does it handle fire? | Everything burns in GRAIN ROT — some bodies burn faster than others |
| What did it cost to unlock? | Opportunity cost against rooms and blueprints; expensive vessels should earn their keep |
Learn Many, Main None
The strongest meta advice from demo veterans: build familiarity across several constructs rather than maining one. Possession is opportunistic — when your body breaks, you take whatever's nearby. A crew whose members can instantly pilot three or four archetypes turns every wipe scare into a reroll. See the four proven archetypes in the vessel builds guide: Grappler, Hauler, Ghost and Sacrifice.
Any site listing exact vessel names and stats from the demo is working from community speculation — official per-vessel data hasn't been published. Trust frameworks over tier tables until post-launch patches settle, and treat every list (including community wikis') as a snapshot, not gospel.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many vessels are in GRAIN ROT?
The demo alone featured 20+ unlockable constructs, each with a distinct ability set, and the 1.0 launch expands the roster through Outpost progression and blueprint unlocks.
How do you unlock new vessels in GRAIN ROT?
Loot glowy artifacts underground, convert them to artifact coins at the Outpost, roll the gacha ball machine, then feed artifacts into the unlocker machine for permanent blueprint drops.
Are GRAIN ROT vessel names and stats official?
No — per-vessel names and stat sheets haven't been officially published. Community lists are demo-era speculation; judge vessels by durability, speed, ability, fire handling and unlock cost.