If you've ever stepped into a level 2 shroud zone only to get one-shot by a stray wolf or raider, you know how important solid defense is in Enshrouded. Many new players skip basic defensive upgrades until they hit a wall with tough enemies, but one of the most useful early and mid-game crafting items you can make is padding. That's where the question of how do you make padding in Enshrouded comes in, especially if you're looking to craft your first set of reinforced armor or add extra protection to your build. I've put over 80 hours into Enshrouded across multiple playthroughs, and I always make padding a priority within the first two hours of starting a new save, because it pays off way more than hoarding materials for fancy weapons first.
What You Need Before Crafting Padding in Enshrouded
You won't unlock the padding recipe the second you start your game, so there are a few small prerequisites to check off first. First, you need to have built a level 1 Workbench at your base, as this is the only station you'll need for basic padding crafting. Second, you need to rescue the Hunter NPC from the Forgotten Shrine in the starting Springlands region, as she unlocks all basic armor crafting recipes including padding when you bring her back to your base. If you haven't completed that rescue quest yet, you can still collect the required materials ahead of time so you can craft padding immediately after you unlock the recipe.
The materials for basic padding are easy to farm in the first hour of play, even if you're still using basic stone tools. You'll need:
You don't need a higher tier crafting station for basic padding, but if you want to make upgraded padded liners for late-game armor, you'll need access to the Tailor's Table later on. Don't waste your rare upgraded materials on basic padding, it's only meant for early to mid-game use.
Step-by-Step Process to Make Padding in Enshrouded
Now that you have all your materials and prerequisites sorted, the actual crafting process takes less than a minute if you're at your base. First, walk up to your Workbench and interact with it to pull up the crafting menu. Navigate to the Armor tab, then scroll down to the Components subheading – you'll see padding listed as one of the first options there, as long as you've unlocked the Hunter's recipe set. When you're learning how do you make padding in Enshrouded, it's easy to miss the Components subheading if you're scrolling too fast, so take your time looking through the menu if you don't see it right away.
If you don't see the padding recipe, double check that you've turned in the Hunter rescue quest to your base, and that you're using a standard Workbench, not a smaller field crafting station. Field stations only let you craft basic consumables and building materials, so you won't find armor components there. If you have all the required materials in your inventory or in a nearby storage chest linked to your base, you can just click the craft button to make as many pieces of padding as you need.
I usually make 4 to 5 pieces at a time when I'm first starting out, because I use it for my first armor set, plus extra to add to my shield upgrades early on. If you're short on Cloth, you can farm Plant Fiber really quickly by hitting the tall grass patches around your base with a sickle – you can get 50+ pieces in 10 minutes, which is more than enough for all the padding you'll need for your first 10 hours of play. Pro tip: If you're playing in co-op, ask a friend who has already unlocked the Hunter to craft padding for you if you're still working on the rescue quest – crafted items are tradeable, so you don't have to wait to get that extra defense.
Top Uses for Padding in Your Enshrouded Playthrough
A lot of new players write off padding as a random intermediate crafting material, but it's actually one of the most versatile early-game items you can make. Once you know how do you make padding in Enshrouded, you'll find yourself using it for way more than just armor upgrades. First, it's a required component for all Reinforced Armor sets, the first decent armor you can get that gives more than 5 physical defense per piece. Wearing a full set of reinforced armor with padding inserts cuts damage from basic bandits and wolves by almost 60%, which makes exploring the first shroud zones way less stressful.
Second, you can use padding to upgrade your first wooden and iron shields, adding extra damage absorption so they don't break after a couple of hits. I've had runs where I forgot to upgrade my shield with padding and got taken out by a single raider's heavy attack, so I never skip this step now. Third, padding is a required material for building the Tailor's Table later on, which unlocks all late-game light and medium armor sets. If you hoard 6 to 8 pieces of padding early, you won't have to farm all the materials again when you're ready to upgrade your crafting stations.
You can also sell extra padding to NPCs for 15 coins each, which is a decent way to make quick cash early if you have extra materials lying around. Just don't sell more than you need for your own upgrades, because it's way more valuable to use than to sell for small change. I learned this the hard way when I sold 10 pieces of padding early on, then had to spend an hour re-farming materials when I was ready to build my Tailor's Table.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Crafting Padding
I've made every mistake possible when it comes to crafting early-game materials in Enshrouded, so you don't have to. The first big mistake is wasting Processed Leather on basic padding. A lot of new players mix up Raw Hide and Processed Leather, but Processed Leather is a rarer material you need for late-game armor, so save it for those recipes instead of using it on basic padding. The game won't stop you from using Processed Leather as a substitute, but it's not worth the waste.
The second mistake is making way more padding than you need. You only need 4 pieces for your first full reinforced armor set, 2 for early shield upgrades, and 6 for the Tailor's Table – that's 12 total for the entire early and mid-game, so don't make 50 pieces and waste all your Cloth and Raw Hide. Cloth is also used for bandages, which you'll need constantly for healing, so you don't want to use all your stock on unnecessary padding.
The third mistake is waiting too long to craft your first set of padding. A lot of players focus on upgrading their pickaxe or sword first, but even a single piece of padding added to your chest armor cuts damage by 15%, which is way more useful than a 5% damage boost on your weapon when you're still learning enemy attack patterns. I made this mistake on my first playthrough, I spent 2 hours farming iron for a better sword, and still got one-shot by a shroud wolf. Once I crafted padding and made a reinforced chest plate, I could take three hits before needing to heal, which made exploring way faster. Important note: Padding doesn't give any elemental defense, so don't rely on it for exploring fire or poison shroud zones later on. You'll need to swap to elemental-specific armor inserts for those areas, but padding works perfectly for all non-elemental zones in the early and mid-game.
At the end of the day, figuring out how do you make padding in Enshrouded is one of the first big crafting milestones that makes surviving the game's tougher areas way more manageable. It doesn't require rare materials or complicated unlocks, and the payoff for investing 10 minutes to farm the required materials is huge, especially if you're playing on higher difficulty levels. Don't sleep on this small but powerful crafting component – it'll save you from dozens of unnecessary respawns and make your early game experience way more fun. If you have other Enshrouded crafting questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below.