XPSlaves Gaming · Icarus Reference

Your Icarus
survival kit.

Role breakdowns for a co-op crew, a talent build for every role, a Cleanser conversion table, and the beginner tips that actually matter — everything you need before dropping onto the surface.

4
Crew roles
4
Reference guides
3–6
Player scaling

Four roles.
One ecosystem.

Every person has a purpose. No one is just along for the ride — the group only functions if every role is pulling its weight.

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ROLE 01
The Foreman
Gatherer · Builder
  • Establish and upgrade the team base — walls, storage, furnaces, workbenches
  • Primary wood, stone, ore, and fiber harvesting
  • Manage crafting queues for the whole group
  • Build defensive perimeters before storms hit
  • Coordinate oxygen supply and shelter upgrades as planets escalate
Habitation: Building Habitation: Tools Survival: Resources 1 player minimum
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ROLE 02
The Homesteader
Farmer · Cook
  • Establish and maintain crop plots — seeds, fertilizer, water management
  • Cook stat-buffed meals for the whole team (stamina, health regen, carry weight)
  • Manage food preservation to prevent rot between sessions
  • Process and store herbs, berries, and gathered flora
  • Support base defense during harvests
Survival: Cooking/Farming Adventure: Exploration Best for methodical players
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ROLE 03
The Tracker
Hunter · Fisher
  • Hunt meat, pelts, bones, and chitin for the crafting pipeline
  • Fish to supplement food supply in biomes with sparse wildlife
  • Scout ahead of the group on missions — identify threats first
  • Serve as combat anchor in dangerous territory
  • Clear predator spawns around the base perimeter
Survival: Hunting Adventure: Fishing Combat: Bows or Firearms Loves action + exploration
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ROLE 04
The Geneticist
Animal Scientist · Breeder
  • Capture, tame, and breed animals — Moa mounts, combat bears, and more
  • Manage genetics traits to breed optimal offspring over time
  • Provide trained mounts for faster map traversal
  • Produce creature byproducts (eggs, milk, hide) for the cook and builder
  • Unlock side quests via Cultivation and Predator Specialist NPCs
Adventure: Genetics Adventure: Husbandry Adventure: Exploration For the theorycrafters

Works for 3–6 players

The four roles are the foundation. Here's how the crew adapts based on who shows up that week.

3–4
Core squad
Each person owns one role. At 3 players, merge Homesteader + Geneticist into one "Base Scientist," or Foreman + Tracker into an "Outrider" — see the combined builds below.
5
Full roster
Add a second Foreman (doubles build speed) or second Tracker (stronger combat presence, faster hunting). Great for keeping the base defended while others run missions.
6
Six-stack
Add a dedicated Combat Specialist (Firearms + Blades trees). Turns the group into a machine on hard missions — Nightfall, Ironclad, the Great Hunts.

How each role levels.

Suggested talent point allocation by role and progression phase. Each character earns 90 points by level 60, plus up to 18 bonus points from milestone missions.

◆ Open the Talent Builder → Dial in any role’s build live — all five talent trees with real in-game icons, prerequisites, and shareable links.
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The Foreman
Early — first 20 points
Lumber Yield 3 Wood Breakdown Carry On 4 Iron Miner 3 Discount Wood 2 Discount Stone 2 Lumberjack Endurance 3 Speed Chopper 3
Mid-game — points 20–50
Peerless Lumberjack Slinging Stone 4 Fortified Wood Fortified Rod Enhanced Defences Stone Hauling I & II Weatherproof Cladding
◆ Load this build →
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The Homesteader
Early — first 20 points
Green Thumb 2 Sturdy Stalks 2 Seed Master 2 Speed-Gro 2 Bumper Crop 2 Naturally Preserved 3 Filling Meals 2
Mid-game — points 20–50
Prolific Crop 2 Superfoods 2 Food Pyramid Long Lasting Effects 3 Fresh is Best Field Medic 2
◆ Load this build →
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The Tracker
Early — first 20 points
Trained Hunter 3 Careful Skinner 2 Fine Butcher I Easy Draw 3 Arrow Damage I 3 Bullseye 2 Natural Angler 2 Fisher's Haul
Mid-game — points 20–50
Sense Megafauna Big Game Hunter Fine Butcher II Arrow Damage II Wounding Shot Soft Spot I & II
◆ Load this build →
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The Geneticist
Early — first 20 points
Rapid Adoption Efficient Feeding 2 Hardy Diet 3 Well Cared For 2 Ranger's Sense 3 Beast Whisperer 3 Rapid Breeder 3
Mid-game — points 20–50
Guided Growth 3 Forced Evolution 2 Seeing Double 2 Wildcard 3 Kill Command 4 Prime Variants 3 Like the Wind
◆ Load this build →
⚡ Bonus talent point tracker — 18 total available
Olympus: Nightfall +2
Olympus: Quarrite +2
Styx: Ironclad +2
Styx: Extinction +2
Prometheus: Null Sector +3
Prometheus: Glaciation +2
Elysium: Reckoning +3
Elysium: Trials +2

Combine roles for smaller crews

Every build above leaves headroom under the 90-point cap. At 3 players, fold two roles into one character instead of stretching four roles thin — here are two combos that actually make sense together.

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The Base Scientist
Homesteader + Geneticist · 73 / 90 pts
Farming and genetics run on the same rhythm — both are about tending something over time at base. This spends the full Homesteader build above plus the full Geneticist build, with 17 points still spare for whichever tree needs it more on a given run.
◆ Load this build →
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The Outrider
Foreman + Tracker (early) · 79 / 90 pts
The two "out in the field" roles — gathering and hunting share the same map time. This spends the full Foreman build above plus the Tracker's early-game hunting kit (skip the mid-game bow refinements for now, or swap in the Tracker's mid-game picks once you're not also carrying the base).
◆ Load this build →

More reference

Two more pages worth bookmarking once you're past the basics.