Kenshi.zoneWorld Encyclopedia

Dust BanditsReport

English：Dust Bandits　·　Factions

The best-equipped and best-organised bandit outfit in the Border Zone, running a standardised protection racket under the Dust King, who carries a bounty of thirty-five thousand Cats.

Contents
  1. Bandits in uniform
  2. The economics of protection money
  3. The Dust King
  4. Who they are
  5. Player intervention
  6. See also
"Chumps! Come out and talk to your friendly neighbourhood bandits! We just want to be friends! BEST of friends! Yay!" — Dust Boss, announcing the first base invasion

The Dust Bandits are the bandit outfit entrenched in the Border Zone, where they have operated for years under a mysterious figure known as the Dust King[V1 0:00:45]. Their position on Kenshi's bandit spectrum is unambiguous: not the Starving Bandits, hungry enough to rob you for bread, and not a regular army with a state behind it, but something in between — a group that has genuinely turned robbery into a business, and one of the best-equipped gangs anywhere in the Border Zone[V2 0:00:50].

Bandits in uniform

The easiest way to recognise Dust Bandits is their matching kit. From the lowest ranks up to the Dust Boss leading a squad, they all wear a Spiked Helmet, a Heart Protector, an Armoured Rag Skirt and Samurai Boots. That kind of consistency is rare among Kenshi's bandit factions — most bandits wear whatever they scavenged, while the Dust Bandits' gear is bought, and they can afford it.

The Dust Boss, the Dust Bandits' mid-level commander
The Dust Boss, the Dust Bandits' mid-level commander

Their hierarchy is only three layers deep, simple and effective:

RankNotes
Dust KingThe single supreme leader, far stronger than an average bandit
Dust BossSquad leader with 5–10 Dust Bandits; gear starts at [Standard], with a 10% chance of [High]
Dust Bandit / Dust Bandit BowmanRank and file, mostly armed with rusted low-grade weapons

A standard patrol is 1 Dust Boss, 5–10 Dust Bandits and up to 4 bowmen. Squads at camps run somewhat larger. Those three layers plus one fixed headquarters at Dust King Tower are the whole organisational skeleton of the faction — and the reason they can afford those spiked helmets and heart protectors is the standardised protection money they extract from travellers and settlers[V3 0:13:53].

The economics of protection money

The Dust Bandits' income does not come from random raiding but from systematised extortion, and the game mechanics spell it out in unusual detail.

On the road: when a patrol approaches the player, the leader opens by demanding a "toll". Handing over 500 Cats usually buys safe passage; handing over 300 Cats gets you told it is not enough. There is a trap here, though — if the character talking to them is wearing a backpack, the bandit assumes there is more money hidden inside and demands more even if you paid the full 500 Cats. Conversely, if you speak to a Dust Bandit first, he will sometimes simply ask whether you want a fight, and answering "no" can be enough to avoid one.

On your base: build an outpost inside Dust Bandit territory and you trigger the Bandit Demands event. The conditions are an outpost within 4,500 metres of a Dust Bandit tower or camp, and a Dust King who is not yet dead (actually dead, not merely imprisoned). Within 2,000 metres the daily chance is 20%, scaling down to zero with distance.

Once triggered, one or two armed squads roll up to your gate and a "War Leader" starts shouting outside. The pitch is blunt: 2,000 Cats every two days and we are friends; refuse and we loot the place.

TipOne dialogue option is to simply put a blade through the War Leader's face (or guts) mid-conversation. He screams and his entire army immediately routs — but they will be back a few days later, twice as numerous.
A Dust Bandit squad — numbers over equipment, as always
A Dust Bandit squad — numbers over equipment, as always

The Dust King

The Dust King is the core of the organisation and also the condition of its survival. He is wanted simultaneously by the United Cities, the Holy Nation and the Shek Kingdom, which in Kenshi is a very high distinction.

"Still alive, eh? Looks like I didn't kill you enough last time!" — Dust King

A detail worth noting: his wanted poster reads 30,000 Cats, but the actual payout is 35,000 Cats. The posters go up inside Holy Nation territory, though all three factions will honour the bounty — and thirty-five thousand Cats is the most tempting single payday in the early game, enough to rewrite a new squad's situation outright[V4 0:00:32].

His lair, Dust King Tower, stands on a clifftop overlooking a river valley in the Border Zone, defended by level 3 walls, a single gate and five mounted crossbows. The garrison can reach twenty-plus Dust Bandits plus several Dust Bosses. The tower's third floor is a cell holding the unique recruitable character Cat, who was kidnapped for ransom simply because he had dressed well on his way to a date and the bandits took him for someone rich[V5 0:04:05]. He is a United Cities citizen, but the UC nobles have never heard of him, so nobody ever came to pay; he has been held in the tower indefinitely, long enough that his mind is starting to go[V6 0:04:05]. His story is the best available profile of how the Dust Bandits operate: the business does not target specific people, only anyone who looks like they can pay.

Dust King Tower
Dust King Tower

Who they are

The wiki offers only one indirect clue about the Dust Bandits' origins: racial composition. Their spawn weights are Greenlander 100 and Shek 20 — no Hivers, no Scorchlanders. That combination corresponds almost exactly to the citizenries of the Holy Nation and the Shek Kingdom.

The inference drawn from this is that the Dust Bandits are made up of deserters, outlaws and outcasts from those two states, gathered in the no-man's-land neither one governs: the Border Zone and the neighbouring Skinner's Roam and Shem. The wiki presents this as "likely", not as established fact.

TipAnother, purely speculative clue points at the organisation's personnel. Sinklyde, a prisoner held in Tengu's Vault, carries a twenty-five thousand Cat bounty and was disarmed before being locked up; one video notes that his medium armour is the same set a Dust Boss wears, and infers that he may once have been one of the Dust Bandits' bosses[V7 0:03:22]. The only basis for this is the matching gear; nothing in the game text connects the two.

Their faction relations table lists exactly one special case: −100 towards the United Cities. Everything else uses the bandit default, which is also −100 — in practice, "at war with everyone".

Player intervention

NoteIf you cheat faction relations or use the FCS to make them allies and then enter Dust King Tower, the bandits inside will still verbally accuse you of trespassing, but will never turn hostile or raise an alarm. This is a case of the game's behaviour checks and its dialogue scripts not lining up.

See also

Video citations

  1. Kenshi Colosseum: Dust Bandits VS Black Dragon NinjaHeroInHisHead
  2. History of Kenshi: Minor Powers | Gangs and Bandit CrewsCivilizationEx
  3. History of Kenshi: Minor Powers | DocumentaryCivilizationEx
  4. Kenshi | GOLEMS ARISE!! | Let's Play Kenshi Genesis (Ep. 6)HeroInHisHead
  5. Kenshi: Unique Companions | ScorchlandersCivilizationEx
  6. Kenshi: All Unique CompanionsCivilizationEx
  7. Kenshi: Unique Companions | Shek, Hivers, SkeletonsCivilizationEx
  8. Kenshi | TAKING THE FIGHT BACK TO THEM!! | Let's Play Kenshi Genesis (Ep. 5)HeroInHisHead
SourcesDust Bandits、Dust King、Dust Boss、Dust Bandit、Dust King Tower、Dust Bandit Camp、Bandit Demands、Cat、Trade Ninjas、Video 423em00xCAU、Video I0TiNoNOTWU、Video Rbscv9o0-oc、Video wzTdLwiPthw、Video rpqSzSPBofc、Video Qv4TUVmNUUg、Video 6DuKNUnSl1I、Video HvAPXwnyeXA
Categories: FactionsBanditsBorder Zone