The best early Sanctum is a pit stop: storage, production and a clean reset for the next expedition.
Storage comes before decoration
Wildwood fills the character with equipment, materials, food, Spellbook items and boss drops. Add storage before encumbrance starts deciding which rewards you leave behind; construction can draw from stored materials in the tested build.
Build the Water Well early
The Water Well periodically produces water, removing a recurring collection chore from later trips. It has more practical value early than another decorative wall or unfinished house expansion.
Recruit NPCs when the offer appears
A new recruit can open crafting, production, facilities, quests or follower management. When an NPC offers to join the Sanctum, accept before starting another long route and check what the new resident changed.
Treat Facility Center as a functional unlock
The Facility Center is described as the hub for upgrading and repairing facilities. Prioritize it over purely cosmetic expansion when materials are limited.
Assign followers to the bottleneck
A completed production building may still need a follower assigned before it produces anything. Move workers toward the resource currently blocking the next useful upgrade instead of spreading them evenly by default.
Home Uplift can wait
The launch report reached later story progress with an unfinished foundation, so Home Uplift should not hold the campaign hostage. Return when one trip can unload inventory, collect production, rest and apply an affordable upgrade.
Co-op infrastructure belongs to the host World
Buildings, recruits and production are World-owned. Put expensive Sanctum infrastructure in the World your group intends to keep advancing; characters can still carry their personal progress between Worlds.