A common question from people who are new to WildStar’s housing is “what are FABkits and how do I use them?” So today Gracie’s here to answer your FABkit questions and help spruce up your housing plot.
Meteor Crater FABkit in action
FABkits are in-game items that mysteriously package all the ingredients for a fancy home improvement into a handy, inventory-friendly box. These kits can be earned from challenges, drop from enemies, and can be crafted by experienced Architects. Of course they can also be found on the Auction House as well.
The plot improvements or “plugs” that they contain can range from cosmetic to functional in a variety of flavors. Cosmetic-only FABkits are things like the low-level Meteor Crater kit, which, as advertised, places a crashed meteor on your lawn. These type of kits make your house look cool, but don’t do much else. Similar to these are the biome-type kits, which bring a little piece of your favorite zones back to your yard. These may be slightly more complex than solely cosmetic ones, and often include a handy portal to send you back to that zone. Strictly functional kits, such as the vendorbot, crafting station, or raid portals allow some convenience in trade for taking up some of your real estate.
The menu listing will often tell you if the plug includes a challenge
Challenge-containing kits, such as Shardspire Canyon (obtained by completing specific challenges in Algoroc or Celestion), bring additional gameplay to your housing plot. The challenges available range from simple to frustrating, and usually reward some choices of decor, dyes, or renown. In addition to the challenges, there are also FABkits that contain portals to mini-dungeons. These scale based on the number of people in your group, take between 20-40 minutes to complete and provide you with a reward such as fancy decor at the end. Finally there are resource-generating kits. These give you a small plot that will spawn crafting materials or consumables so you don’t have to brave the wilderness to obtain those goods. Garden plots fall into this category as well, although instead of randomly generating resources you will need to provide seeds for the plants you want to grow.
So now that you know what FABkits are, how do you use them? Once you’ve got a FABkit in your inventory, you can head to your house to decide where to use it. Open up your landscape menu. By clicking on one of the 6 “sockets” around your house you will bring up a list of all the potential “plugs” that can fit there. Anything that you have a FABkit for (or is part of the default options like the moonshiner cabin!) will be highlighted. Your kit may fit into either one of the small or large sockets, so if you don’t see it listed make sure to check the other size. Once you know which sockets are available you can choose the one that you want to use and build your kit!
Now some tricky bits and words of caution. FABkits can only be used once. Unlike decor, you can’t just pick them up and put them down someplace else. If you choose to remove a plug once it is already in place, you’ll have to obtain another FABkit for it if you change your mind later. Another thing to keep in mind is that most functional plugs require some sort of weekly upkeep. Generally it costs a few gold to “repair” your plug after a week of use, and these costs increase with the level and complexity of the plug. If you choose not to repair, the plug will remain on your land and look the same but you will not be able to use any functionality it may have had. This means if you can’t afford to repair today don’t sweat it, your plug won’t disappear and you can fix it up later when you are ready! The need to repair is one of the main sources of confusion for new folks, since the indicator is a subtle “wrench” icon on the socket on your landscape menu. If you try to use your crafting station and it isn’t working, check to be sure it doesn’t need repairs before you submit a ticket!
That’s your lesson for this week. Now you should be a pro at using FABkits and making sure the sockets in your yard are tailored to your specific needs! If you have a housing-related question feel free to ask in the comments. I’m always looking for more future Housing 101 lessons!
Moonshine Mansion 