Progression Guide for Build and Defend Your Raft
Hour 1 plank to Hour 100 fortress — the verified path through gathering, crafting, and defending.
Build and Defend Your Raft follows a predictable arc: you start on a tiny wooden plank, harpoon junk, expand the deck, upgrade the Crafting Table, then either hold what you built or raid someone who did not. The arc is simple. The order matters. This page is that order, broken into five stages that a live server actually supports. It does not invent recipe counts, hidden keybinds, or Frank spawn maps. Where the HUD is the source, we quote it.
Released 28 July 2026, online PvP, max 18 players, Saturday patches. Start here if you just spawned and do not know what to do first.
Stage 1 — The first ten minutes
Land on the starter raft and read the HUD before you sprint anywhere. Left: red basket Shop. Top: countdown timer and purple Crew button. Center: Click to shoot harpoon when junk is in range. Objectives look like Gathered 0/5. Right: a claimable Free Reward cannon.
None of those are decoration. Shoot the harpoon at floating junk until the gather counter fills. Open Shop once to see Scrap packs (50 / 150 / 500 for 49 / 249 / 499 Robux) and the Redeem Codes field. Close it. The harpoon is more important than shopping right now.
Joining grants the Welcome badge. Meet Frank is a separate badge earned by roughly 55 percent of players as of late August 2026. Do not hunt Frank in stage 1 — wall the loot first.
Stage 2 — First deck expansion
Once the gather counter shows progress, find the Crafting Table and read what it offers. The official Roblox description is direct: upgrade the table to unlock better gear. Feed it Scrap before you add decorative floor.
The first build rule is footprint discipline. Empty wide decks look impressive in screenshots and fail in live raids. A compact core — walls around the chest and table, spikes on the lip — beats a mansion with loot on the outer deck.
Place floor tiles only where they serve a function: storage access, cannon angle, or harpoon perch. Every extra tile is a climb path for a raider. Read how to build for the full footprint logic before you expand.
Stage 3 — Defense before vanity
Official thumbnails contrast a starter raft with a multi-story fortress labeled Hour 1 versus Hour 100. Your Hour 1 job is not to copy the fortress — it is to survive long enough to afford one.
The defense priority in stage 3:
- Walls around the loot chest — if the chest is on an open deck with no cover, a raider walks onto it in a straight line.
- Spikes on the deck lip — spikes slow boarding and create a cost for anyone who tries to climb onto the outer deck.
- Cannon covering the approach angle — point cannons at where a raider would enter, not at empty water behind the raft.
- Someone on Crew watching — the purple Crew button is the roster. A compact defended raft with one person home beats a mansion with nobody watching.
Read how to defend for the full shell. The short version is: loot covered, then spikes, then cannons, then a named sitter.
Stage 4 — Upgrade the Crafting Table
The Crafting Table is the progression engine. Every Scrap spent on the table unlocks better gear for gathering, defense, and raids. The Crafting Table page has the full upgrade path; the stage 4 version is one sentence: if the table can eat Scrap, feed it before you add a second story.
After a Saturday patch, recheck the table before you trust last week’s upgrade order. Raft Pirates ships updates weekly, and a new unlock can change which piece you want first.
Stage 5 — Raiding with a defended home
The title of the game is the loop: build, defend, raid. Stage 5 is when you leave a defended raft to steal from someone who did not do stages 1–4.
A raid checklist before you jump:
- Someone is named sitter on Crew
- Loot is in the inner core, not on the outer deck
- Spike lip is intact
- Cannon covers the approach
- Timer has enough left to get back
Read how to raid for the approach, board, and escape sequence. A perfect raid that leaves your own loot on the water is a net loss. Do not board unless the home deck is actually defended.
The Saturday habit
Raft Pirates advertises NEW UPDATES EVERY SATURDAY. After each patch:
- Open Shop. Confirm pack prices and redeem field.
- Walk the Crafting Table. Look for new rows.
- Check defenses against how to defend.
- Recheck codes.
- Favorite the Roblox page.
A Saturday that adds new table rows can shuffle which stage you are in. Treat every patch as a potential stage reset.
What this page will not invent
No recipe counts we have not seen in the UI. No Frank spawn map. No secret keybind. No guaranteed code string. The progression is gather → table → walls → defended home → raid. That order does not change regardless of what a thumbnail shows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common raft, raid, and code questions.
What do I do first in Build and Defend Your Raft?
Stage 1: harpoon junk until the gather counter fills, open Shop once to see the panel, then find the Crafting Table and feed it before you expand the deck.
Should I build big or defend first?
Defend first. A compact core with walls, spikes, and a cannon beats a wide deck with no coverage. Walls around the loot chest come before a second story.
When should I start raiding?
Only after stages 1–4 are done: loot covered, table upgraded, spike lip intact, and someone named as sitter on Crew. A raid that leaves your own chest open is a loss.
How do Saturday patches change progression?
Recheck the Crafting Table after every Saturday. New unlock rows can change which gear you want first. Treat each patch as a potential stage reset.
What is the Meet Frank badge?
Meet Frank is earned by roughly 55 percent of players as of late August 2026. The exact trigger is unpublished. Do not pay for a Frank carry — play sessions and check badges naturally.