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Defense structures

2026-07-10T02:49:53Z

Dubious soup: /* Stone chunks */

{{Rewrite|reason=Everything past early-game should to be updated to 1.6, e.g., barricades no longer prevent enemies from using cover}}
{{Image wanted|reason=Most images are from Beta 18, where deadfall/spike traps could be placed adjacent to each other.}}
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{{for|strategies against threats|Defense tactics}}

Raids are frequent and numerous as enemies don't journey towards your base from their bases; they are instead generated into your colony by the [[storyteller]]. Players will need to fight the enemy AI for each type of hostile, but the approach may differ according to gameplay preferences, either face to face for a more combative experience or behind killboxes for a less threatening measure, or both combined.

== Map features ==
Before laying blueprints, first inspect the [[map]] for natural features that can work as defenses, such as [[water]] or a [[mountain]].

=== Water ===
Water and marsh tiles can be used as moats, which will considerably slow down incoming [[Raiders]], giving you some time to shoot and soften the clash before engaging in melee [[combat]]. You can build [[cover]], like [[barricade]]s just in front of the body of water.

If large bodies of water are available, such as rivers or [[lake]]s,{{OdysseyIcon}} then [[bridge]]s can be used to manipulate raider AI by encouraging them to path through the faster bridge.

[[File:Moats.png|500px|thumb|center|Marsh used as moats to slow enemy advance, with little islands full of spike traps.]]

=== Mountains ===
In mountainous and hilly maps, it is possible to build defenses by enclosing the area between two hills. In an actual mountain map, it is often best to mine into the mountain and live inside, but this may be too time-consuming in the early game.

=== Map borders ===
Pay attention when expanding towards the edges of the [[map]], as there's a boundary which your [[colonists]] can not build beyond that is only visible when the [[Structure]] tab is selected.

== Early-game defense ==
At the very beginning, your [[security]] choices include [[spike trap]]s, [[cover]] (including [[barricade]]s, [[sandbag]]s, and [[stone chunk]]s),

=== Stone chunks ===
At the very beginning of the game, colonists will often haul [[stone chunk]]s away to build structures or to clear up a [[growing zone]]. As colonists move stone chunks around, it's recommended to create a [[dumping stockpile zone]] for chunks to cover the perimeter of your base. This is time-consuming, so only a 1-tile-wide line of chunks is enough for the early game.

[[File:Stone chunks at the outer side to prevent fire spree in tropical forest.png|500px|thumb|center|Stone chunks at the outer side to slow wildfires in tropical forest.]]

=== Walls ===
[[Wall]]s alone can fend off early game raids if a colonist's [[Construction]] skill is high enough to repair the wall faster than the raider can break it. A walled room will also completely defend against [[manhunter]] and carnivore attacks, who will not attack if every colonist remains indoors.

Otherwise, walls are nearly essential for luring raiders into the area you want to fight them in. Standard raiders will always try to take the quickest, unobstructed path towards a colonist if such a path exists. This means that ''standard raiders will not try and break walls unless they are unable to reach a target''. This is the key towards most defensive structures, and can be used to construct trap hallways, chokepoints for melee fighters, strategic cover placements, and so on.

'''Material:''' [[Wood]] is cheap and quick to build, but weak and flammable. [[Stone]] is ideal, being cheap, durable, and nonflammable, but time-consuming. [[Steel]] walls are flammable in RimWorld. [[Plasteel]] and [[uranium]] are the strongest walls but are expensive, and should generally be reserved in specific spots.

=== Cover ===
[[Cover]] is vital for firefights as it can block projectiles, reducing the amount of [[damage]] received by your colonists. This is an essential defense as long as colonists or turrets are directly engaging.
* [[Wall]]s provide 75% cover, but pawns need to "lean out" whenever firing, causing the wall to not provide its full cover. In addition, walls block line of fire.
* [[Barricade]]s and [[sandbag]]s provide 55% cover and do not block line of fire.
* [[Stone chunk]]s only provide 50% cover, which is great in the early game, but should be replaced by 55% cover when possible.

The best arrangement of cover is a mix of walls and barricades/sandbags, as a pawn can benefit from barricades whenever they lean out from a wall. The exact ratio will depend on what angles the colonist needs to fire at, as wall tiles will limit how far a colonist can turn. Creating a U shape of cover, or a square around the colonists will ensure that they can engage enemies from multiple angles.
<gallery widths="400px" heights="400px" class="center" mode="nolines">
File:Cover_fire_wall.png|Example of advanced cover, mixing walls and barricades.
File:Sandbag_advanced_cover.png|400px|thumb|right|Example of advanced cover using sandbags only.<br>Allows full range of fire, but less cover overall.
</gallery>

=== Spike traps ===
{{See also|Spike trap}}

The only initially available defense that deals damage. Spike traps are single use and require careful placement. It is best to place spike traps where raiders will naturally walk through, or can be lured into, such as:
* Corners of your base, where enemies will likely make turns.
* Narrow areas even outside your base that receive frequent traffic.
* Chokepoints. If there is only one entrance to a room or the entire colony, raiders will have no option but to walk through it.

If it doesn't seem obvious to you at first, one way to find out is by carefully studying raids pathing from the map borders as they close in towards your base. Watch where they go through and starting laying blueprints but forbidding them (as you are currently being attacked).

When building spike traps, you must also leave free areas so that your colonists and friendlies can pass harmlessly, or they may accidentally step on a spike trap while exiting or trying to rearm them. As such, putting them in a 1-wide corridor is not a good idea.

<gallery widths="400px" heights="400px" class="center" mode="nolines">
File:Trap_choke_14.jpg|'''Trap and fence tunnel'''
File:Defense structures deadfall trap.png|'''Traps in potential enemy cover spots (map border)'''
</gallery>

Instead, a good way to use traps is as shown above: build a 2-wide corridor as the only entrance to the base, with a spike trap, then a [[fence]] next to it. Raiders cannot open the colony's doors and do not see traps, meaning they will walk over the "faster" lane with the traps on it. Colonists will walk through the fences or use the doors.

'''Materials:''' [[Wood]] spike traps are practical for most biomes in the early game. It is flammable, so it is ideal but not close to required to place them in stony or floored areas, or [[roof]] over the area so grass won't grow. [[Stone]] traps are more damaging and nonflammable but take a long time to build. [[Steel]] is faster than stone and more damaging still in case traps are urgently needed or steel is abundant.

=== Bait furniture ===
Attackers will destroy [[furniture]] if there is no unobstructed path to a colonist, and will sometimes even stop to destroy furniture if it is between them and the nearest colonist. They may smash items or set flammable things on fire (particularly crop fields).

Cheap wooden furniture such as a [[stool]] or [[table]] can be used as bait to lure enemies into a position where they can be more easily killed. It can also distract them by drawing a few attackers away from your base, which can help prevent your defenders from getting overwhelmed.

<gallery widths="400px" heights="400px" class="center" mode="nolines">
File:Distraction_tables_2.jpg|'''A raider lured into a dangerous position in the middle of a moat.'''
File:Distraction_tables_3.jpg|'''A mechanoid detoured far away from the base to smash a wooden stool.'''
</gallery>

As a small added bonus, if your outdoor bait furniture consists of a table and stool, colonists completing work tasks far from your base may stop to eat there. This may help avoid the "Ate without table" negative [[thought]].

{{clear}}

== Mid-game defense ==

=== Perimeter wall===
An additional perimeter wall surrounding all the structures and growing areas of your colony is a great defense once the colony has the time to build it. It protects from fire and either concentrate raiders into a specific area (if an entrance is open), or delay raiders and cause them to split up (if no entrance is open).

Keeping an entrance open allows the wall to act as a chokepoint - raiders will funnel through that entrance, allowing strategic placement of cover, traps, turrets, and so on. Alternatively, keeping the entrances closed will cause each raider to choose random tiles to attack, causing them to be split up and delayed. If the entrance is closed, colonists can take pot shots by entering through one doorway, firing at the split up enemies, then retreating and attacking at another direction.

Having [[door]]s placed every 15-25 tiles or so will allow colonists to fire potshots and to venture outside if needed, e.g., to haul items or to deal with [[breacher]] raids. This can be expanded (both in height/width and number of layers) whenever needed. An "airlock" with two+ doors, separated by at least 1 tile, will keep raiders and manhunters out.

==== Multi-layer walls ====
Multiple layers of wall will make it more resistant to attacks, especially against standard, non-breacher/sapper, raiders.

When making a multi-layer wall, it is often best to ''not'' have a gap in-between layers, due to how the raider AI works. If standard AI enemies have no path to a colonist and decides not to attack furniture, they will choose a ''random'' section of accessible wall and attack it, recalculating after destruction. If the walls have a gap in-between, after the first layer is broken, it is much more likely for an enemy to randomly pick the inner wall to target next, as the entirety of the inner wall is accessible. With no gap, the enemy will be unable to access most of the inner layer, meaning they will be much more likely to destroy another outer layer wall.

Having a gap between each layer of walls will make it possible to repair the outermost layer without going outside, and will make the wall somewhat better against explosions, so if not planning to completely close off the wall for combat tactics, having a gap may be better.

=== Chokepoints ===
A chokepoint is an opening in a wall or room that raiders will have to funnel through, due to there only being one open entrance. Building a colony-wide perimeter wall with one open entrance will form an effective chokepoint. From there, it is possible to concentrate firepower there, having colonists, turrets, and traps all in one place. Once the colony has enough firepower or resources, a [[killbox]] can be built at the end of the chokepoint.

* When building a hallway, turns can be used break line of sight. This will prevent long-range raiders from making potshots, although the turn itself can be used as [[cover]]. As of 1.6, placing [[barricade]]s at the turn will not prevent enemies from using walls as cover.
** Turns are a great way to support melee fighters. When building hallways - both in a chokepoint and internally within your base - you may want to build turns so that melee fighters can approach without being shot it.

So long as raiders have a clear path to a colonist, no matter how long or winding it is, they will pass through a chokepoint if it is the only path. This can be used to slow raiders down, giving the colony more time to react.

==== Slowing tunnel ====
[[File:Slowing_tunnel.png|300px|thumb|right|Short slowing tunnel in front of a wall, with alternated sandbags for maximum slowing efficiency and a twist to break line of sight.]]

A simple and cheap tactic to slow down enemies through a chokepoint is by placing [[fence]]s, [[sandbag]]s, [[barricade]]s, or debris in a narrow hallway, alternating them with empty space. Fences/sandbags/etc. should not be placed adjacent to each other, as otherwise they will simply vault over multiple bags at once, reducing their slowing efficiency.

=== Cover removal ===
While proper cover formations (see the [[#Cover|Cover section]] above) already give colonists an advantage over raiders in terms of cover, removing all sources of cover near your base is still very useful when dealing with ranged enemies as they will then have nowhere to hide. If the base is surrounded by an all-encompassing wall, only areas near the combat zone need to be cleared.

*Haul all stone chunks towards a dump behind your defensive lines so enemies can't use them. A [[sniper rifle]] has a [[range]] of 45 tiles, though most raiders can't shoot that far, so removing chunks around 30 tiles away from your defenses can deprive many enemies of suitable cover.
*Remove the flora near combat zones, either by cutting or burning it. To prevent it from regrowing, it is possible to place [[roof]]s (supported by a single [[column]] or [[wall]]), which will also slow down raiders due to the lack of [[light]], and the roof's support can be destroyed to cause roof collapses.
*Watch out for your crop fields, as colonists tend to move and lay out chunks in straight lines when planting on [[Growing zone]] tiles, suitable for raiders to take cover behind.

<gallery widths="400px" heights="400px" class="center" mode="nolines">
Cover removal or baiting.png|Watch where enemies choose to hide and once the battle is over plan for the future.
Wildfire clearing.png|Intentional burning of a tropical rainforest to reduce any cover that raiders might use.
</gallery>
{{clear}}

==== Cover baiting ====
[[File:Flanking_example.png|400px|thumb|right|Early-game example of cover baiting. Notice the stone chunks laid strategically so that shooters can lean out of doors to flank enemies hiding behind them. Enemies that reposition themselves to defend against one angle will be exposed to another, leaving nowhere safe to hide.]]

Once there's no suitable cover nearby, ranged attackers will scramble to find any objects usable as cover. You can exploit this by placing any form of low cover to attract them to a place where they can be dealt with more easily. [[Stool]]s work well, though they wear out quite fast under constant fire.

If the cover is hard to remove (such as plants and trees constantly regrowing in plant-rich biomes), you can manipulate stone chunks in ways that give them a disadvantage. For example, putting gaps between each chunk exposes the enemy behind to fire directed diagonally, or continuous lines allow missed shots to hit nearby covering enemies. If your defense line is big enough, you can bait enemies into taking cover in such a way that leaves them flanked (see picture).

You can put traps behind the bait cover, which makes it slightly easier to trigger, though still less effective than chokepoints (see above).
{{clear}}

=== Pillboxes / Bunkers ===
[[File:Makeshift_pillbox.png|320px|thumb|right|Map ruins converted into a pillbox.]]

A simple early game construct, effective until mid-game. Simply build a room in any shape (or convert them from ruins) and then deconstruct a few sections of wall facing the enemy to make some holes and replace with sandbags -- these will be firing holes for your shooters, where they can use the walls and sandbags for covers.

Bunkers should be built out of stone, as they are durable and are non-flammable. Roof over the enclosure to protect defenders from the rain, and floor can help improve beauty while protecting from fires.

'''Pros:''' Cheap and simple, can be placed throughout multiple locations, can be upgraded.

'''Cons:''' Generally not used with chokepoints (as regular cover is suitable for them), meaning risk of getting encircled or run down by melee attackers. If not placed well, the bunker’s utility will be greatly decreased, and not all map types suit bunkers. Enemies can use bunkers.

Pillboxes can be incorporated into perimeter walls, but make sure that there is no direct entry from there, such as by building a durable door.

=== Secondary cover ===
Besides your main line of cover, you may also build additional cover for various purposes:
#For [[Defense tactics#shield distraction|shield distraction]], building cover for your shield tanks helps them to last longer with their shields.
#Putting lines of sandbags perpendicular to your main cover line allows them to be used to flank enemies. Make sure that they are put a great distance away so enemies can't use it to their advantage.

=== Burning floors ===
You can build flammable floors to set on fire, burning enemies. Once the floors are burnt, they leave behind burnt floors that apply a {{Bad|{{%|{{Q|Burned floor|Move Speed Factor}}}}}} movement factor, and will persist until removed.

=== Roof trap ===
This clever trap is simple to set up and hard-hitting when triggered. It can be considered a giant single-use spike trap.

All you need to do is to erect 1 [[wall]] or [[column]] made of a low-HP material, optimally wood, then build a roof over it. When raiders walk near the wall, destroy it from a distance with long-range guns or by igniting an [[IED trap]]. After the wall is destroyed, the roof will fall, crushing the raiders on the head, neck or torso and dealing up to 20 damage (though armor will negate part of it). It is possible to damaging the wall before combat to make it easier to destroy, while removing the [[home area]] so colonists won't automatically repair it.

This is more of a clever use of game mechanics than an actual trap, so raiders won't detect it, nor will they treat it as one.

'''Pros:''' Large radius, cheap, penetrates shields, no risk of friendly activation. Slows down raiders.

'''Cons:''' Hard to trigger, requires space, low damage.

As a bonus, roofs can be used as firebreaks as they will prevent the growth of grass.

<gallery widths="300px" heights="300px" class="center" mode="nolines">
File:Roof_trap.png|Roof trap before triggering.
File:Roof_trap_triggered.png|Roof trap after triggering, having injured some raiders (some through shields) and left a large pile of rubble.
File:Roof_trap_auto.png|More refined roof trap design with stools to lure the enemy into using them as cover, along with an IED trap to automatically trigger the trap. Significantly more expensive.
</gallery>

=== Damage minimization ===
These are ways to minimize damage done to your base.

[[File:Walled_geothermal_generator.png|200px|thumb|right|Walled geothermal generator. The extra space allows heat to escape without being trapped inside. Note that the entire setup is unroofed.]]

==== Firebreaks ====

2-tile wide strips of concrete, metal or stone tiles are capable of stopping the spread of fires. This can prevent many fires from reaching your base and burning it down. This is more important for plant-rich biomes with large amounts of flammable material.

You can build one surrounding your base, and divide the map into sections in order to control fires. You can also use them to separate crop fields such that a fire won't consume all your crops.

Keep in mind that building such amounts of floors usually requires huge amounts of building materials - if you have stone on hand it is better to build a perimeter wall out of stone instead, with the added advantage of fortifying defenses.

==== Grazing animals ====

Setting lots of grazing animals around the outside of the base helps clear away grass, slowing or stopping the spread of fires towards your base. They may also distract raiders during raids, but at quite a cost.

==== Walling structures ====

You should build an additional wall around your important structures, such as generators, power conduits or cash crops, even if you do have a perimeter wall in place. This causes raiders to prioritize other targets over these, averting destruction.

For geothermal generators, remember to have some exposed roof areas so the heat from the generator can vent out instead of being trapped inside.

==== Power network ====
[[Hidden conduit]]s are totally immune to damage and cannot cause a [[short circuit]], meaning the entire power grid can be secured by building using hidden conduits alone. Even one regular [[power conduit]] can cause short circuits, draining [[batteries]] and potentially disconnecting the base's power grid.

=== Panic room ===
[[File:Panic_room_example.png|400px|thumb|right|Example of a panic room built inside a mountain.]]

You can dig out a panic room deep into the mountains or build one out of very thick walls. This provides a good escape if you know that you can't defeat an incoming group of raiders, or you are losing and need retreat, provided you manage to get to the room in time.<br>
*If you dig one out of the mountains, you gain immunity against mortar shells and some innate temperature control. You will need to make many layers of doors (at least 6) as the raiders will focus down the doors.
*If you build one using thick walls you have more flexibility in its positioning, and you don't need that many layers of wall - 4 layers are OK, since raiders will divert their attention to the walls as well instead of focusing down the doors.

You don't need to make the panic room big enough to accommodate the whole colony, as the point of a panic room is to preserve colonists in a dire situation so you can rebuild later on. Choose the colonists most important to you when it's time to escape to these rooms.

Panic rooms also need the following:
*Enough food to last 1-2 days at full capacity
*Medicine for the wounded, for injury is likely during the retreat
*Joy objects (otherwise colonists may face a huge -20 mood penalty)

If you want, you can put beds and tables to make sure your colonists don't feel too bad while cooped up inside. You can also choose to put building materials to seal up the entrance with cheaper and more durable walls. Putting resources inside also helps with rebuilding, though they take up space.

While inside the room, if you're down on your last door or layer of wall, assign your best builder to hold the door by repairing it, and make sure the others don't go out. Disabling firefighting for covering colonists or restricting them to the panic room can help stop them from leaving. If the doors are unable to hold, use the breach as a chokepoint instead, and take as many enemies down with you.

Consider building multiple panic rooms so your colonists have another panic room within reach if a raid blocks off access to one. You can also choose to build another exit so you can flee to another room should the original be overrun.

{{clear}}

== Mid-late game defense ==

=== Turrets ===
Turrets are automated defenses which shoot at enemies in range but require materials to reload. There are three main varieties: the [[mini-turret]], [[autocannon turret]], and [[uranium slug turret]]. There are also two unconventional turrets, including [[rocketswarm launcher]]s and [[foam turret]]s.

Turrets should not be relied solely upon for defense. A perimeter wall of turrets will not remain viable for too long, as the turrets will quickly get overwhelmed while not all the turrets are actively helping combat. While turrets are more effective in [[killbox]]es, certain raid strategies like [[drop pod]], [[breacher]], and [[sapper]] will ignore the killbox, so preparing defenses and gearing colonists is important. In addition, a [[solar flare]] will shut down all turrets.

While protecting the outside starting area, you may want to rapidly pause the game during raids and give orders to repair damaged turrets.

Remember that turrets may explode when critically damaged, so get your colonists to run from them.

[[File:Turret_range_comparison.png|1200px|thumb|left|Visualization of effective turret range of all three turrets, from uranium slug turret (top), to autocannon turret (middle), to mini-turret (bottom). <br>
Green is '''80 - 100% of peak accuracy''', blue is '''50 - 80% of peak accuracy''', red is '''below 50% of peak accuracy''' and grey is '''outside range'''. Gold tiles are spaced every 5 tiles.]]

{{clear}}

==== [[Mini-turret]] ====
Mini-turrets fire light bullets at enemies within its range.

With its low firepower it is not a good idea to extensively rely on them, especially in mid-late game. However they do provide decent additional fire to lay on the enemy when combined with gunners, and also serve as a distraction from your more valuable colonists.

'''Pros'''
*Can be uninstalled and re-deployed wherever needed, making their placement slightly less of an issue
*No exclusion zone allows them to fire at touch range
*1x1 size makes it harder to hit and more compact

'''Cons'''
*Inaccurate at long-range

Building turrets out of [[plasteel]] brings their health to 335 (up from 120), making them substantially more durable and slightly less flammable.

==== [[Autocannon turret]] ====
Autocannons deal moderate damage and are long-ranged, but have an exclusion zone making them less effective against close enemies in the frontline.

They are somewhat costly to build and maintain. Despite its long maximum range, it is mainly effective at short-medium ranges due to its accuracy.

'''Pros'''
*Shots deal decent damage
*Somewhat high fire rate
'''Cons'''
*Inaccurate at long-range
*Somewhat high cost per shot

==== [[Uranium slug turret]] ====
A long-range turret that fires a high powered uranium slug.

It is more accurate than the other turrets at long distances and has much longer range, but is more expensive to maintain and performs poorly at close range.

'''Pros'''
*High damage shots
*Extremely high armor penetration, able to negate most all armor on an enemy
*Accurate at long ranges
'''Cons'''
*High cost per shot
*Not good at close ranges

==== [[Rocketswarm launcher]] ====
Rocketswarm launchers must be manually controlled, and fire one barrage of rockets before needing to be reloaded.

'''Pros'''
* Wide AOE.
* Cheaper than autocannons, and reloads using [[chemfuel]] instead of metal.

'''Cons'''
* Requires a colonist to aim it.
* Rockets will destroy structures, meaning the base needs to be designed with rockets in mind.
* Not very effective unless enemies are clumped up. Having enemies clumped up is bad for other types of defenses.

==== Weaknesses ====
Turrets are most vulnerable to the following things:

*Explosives deal immense damage to turrets. All forms of regular explosives wielded by raiders are capable of 1-hitting a steel mini-turret and leaving a plasteel one at less than half health.
*EMP stuns the turrets. Enemy EMP is very uncommon, but friendly fire can disable turrets.
*[[Smokepop pack]]s prevent turrets from locking onto targets within or behind smoke. An enemy equipped with it can create a safe zone from turret harm.
**This is a great issue in killboxes, where turret firepower is often concentrated, as an enemy that activates the belt will essentially be able to nullify a large portion of your defensive firepower.

Turrets can be ignited, and are unable to put themselves out. Given enough time, flames can debilitate the turret.

For the mini-turret, long-ranged gunners can shoot from outside their range without retaliation from the turret. This includes [[lancer]]s with their [[Charge lance]], making them less than ideal for fighting off [[Mechanoid]] incursions.

==== Turret placement ====
* Placing turrets in a [[#Chokepoint|chokepoint]] and/or [[killbox]] is effective, allowing all the turrets to be concentrated into one area instead of having them be spread out. Placing more than 1 line will allow the colonists to fall back in case raiders advance too far.
* Turrets can benefit from [[cover]], so placing [[barricade]]s or [[sandbag]]s in front of the turret will improve its performance.
* Since melee enemies will try to attack turrets, placing traps in front of them is a great way to protect the turret further.
* Turrets will explode, so place turrets at least 3 tiles apart from each other to avoid a chain reaction.

==== On-demand turret deployment ====

For mini-turrets, instead of placing static turrets around the perimeter, you can instead keep them uninstalled and placed in the center of your base. Once raiders come, have a builder install them facing the battlefield, behind your cover. This helps to save power and also allows you to utilize turrets more efficiently as you can keep more turrets engaged on the enemy rather than just sitting there due to lack of contact with the enemy.

This tactic is less effective against melee charges who will swarm your defenders before you have enough time to react.

==== Turret power switch ====
Turrets should be turned off whenever not in use. Turrets can be turned on/off quickly by installing a [[power switch]] that connects all your turrets to the main power grid.

Alternatively, it is possible to build a single unconnected [[hidden conduit]] near the turrets. By using the reconnect gizmo, the turrets will switch from the unconnected "grid" to the main grid, taking no time in the process.

=== Mortars===
A [[mortar]] attack can be effective at forcing [[siege]]s to start attacking directly, culling raiders as they prepare, and dealing with [[crashed ship part]]s and [[mech cluster]]s{{RoyaltyIcon}}. However, mortars are fairly inaccurate, so multiple mortars are often needed to be effective, and their long travel time means hitting moving raiders is difficult. Skilled colonists are more accurate with mortars, but unskilled colonists can still provide supportive fire and they can be effective with large-radius shells like [[EMP shell]]s and [[smoke shell]]s.

Always remember to manually unassign colonists from mortars, or they'll continue standing there until they eventually collapse from exhaustion, starvation, or have a mental break.

An important point to remember is that while your colonists are better at dealing with single or spread-out enemies, mortars are designed for heavily grouped enemies. If you diffuse your enemies, the mortars will not be able to hit the enemies easily.

Don't aim mortars anywhere too close to your colonists otherwise you risk friendly fire.

==== Mortar pits ====
[[File:Mortar_Pit.png|320px|thumb|right|8-mortar battery. Note the separation between the mortars, and walls to block explosions.]]

Mortars cannot be fired through a roof, but they can still be placed indoors for security and colonist happiness. Note that mortars will explode if damaged enough, which, while rare, can happen due to enemy mortar shells. Separating each mortar, as well as the mortar shells, with high HP walls will prevent a chain reaction from destroying the entire mortar pit. Building mortars with [[plasteel]], [[uranium]], or [[bioferrite]]{{AnomalyIcon}} will give mortars high enough HP to survive multiple explosions.

Mortars can't fire at anything within 30 tiles of it, so you will need to place the mortars deep inside your base for maximum coverage.

Keep in mind that your landing mortar shells will blow up anything nearby, including pawns and things of yours that raiders don't commonly target

==== Quantity ====
The number of mortars needed depends on how they will be used:
* For provoking [[siege]]s, one mortar firing [[incendiary shell]]s is often enough so long as fire is allowed to spread. It is also possible to get away with using one mortar firing [[high-explosive shell]]s with a great shooter.
* For stunning mechanoids with [[EMP shell]]s, multiple mortars are needed, especially against [[mech cluster]]s{{RoyaltyIcon}} with [[mech high-shield]]s (which require 1 EMP + multiple regular mortars at minimum).
* For damaging general raids with high-explosive shells, even more mortars are required.

==== Shells ====
There are different shells available to be loaded into the mortar.

*[[High-explosive shell]]s are the go-to ammo for dealing damage to enemies and buildings.
*[[Incendiary shell]]s deal weak damage against pawns, but they can cause an enemy siege's own mortar shells to explode, causing the siege to start attacking directly.
*[[EMP shell]]s stun mechs and break shields, making them useful but highly situational. They have a large blast radius, meaning that their inaccuracy is less of a problem compared to the others. Their ability to break [[mech high-shield]]s {{RoyaltyIcon}} is particularly useful.
*[[Smoke shell]]s will block turrets from locking on and reduce enemy fire, but a [[smoke launcher]] or [[smokepop pack]] are typically better for this role.
*[[Firefoam shell]]s can be used to extinguish fires outside your base, but is useless against any inside, due to the mortar's blind spot.
*[[Deadlife shell]]s{{AnomalyIcon}} revive nearby corpses as [[shambler]]s. More useful as an [[IED deadlife trap|IED trap]] than as a shell, as it is unlikely that corpses will pile up in the area raiders arrive in.

=== Traps ===
As you unlock research, and obtain more manpower and resources, you can lay more traps to debilitate incoming raiders.

==== Understanding AI ====
Raiders cannot use the colony's doors, cannot see traps, and will traverse through the quickest unobstructed path to a colonist. Colonists can step on traps if walking over their tile, but can see traps and will take slower routes or doors to avoid them.

Building [[door]]s and [[fence]]s to give colonists a quicker path, as with a [[#Spike traps|spike trap tunnel]], will allow colonists to travel while funneling enemies into a single chokepoint.

==== [[IED trap]]s ====
Early on, you may want to focus on armed colonist defense with turrets, but as the raiders grow in number, it becomes more efficient to use a bit of metal to kill several at once than to invest a lot of metal in a turret that costs nothing to fire, but will explode rapidly due to large raider groups.

IED traps are extremely effective when used correctly, however in open areas they are mostly useless as the raiders are highly unlikely to step on any of the traps, and even if they do they're usually not tightly packed enough for the trap to cause serious damage. Thus, it is better if you combine traps with funneling to force the raiders together.

1 IED trap can trigger other IED traps in its explosion radius. This may or may not be desirable depending on the situation; you can easily set off a chain reaction to destroy a whole incoming raider horde, but also use up much more resources. They also damage nearby structures, such as walls or spike traps, so don't put too many close to each other.
* Rather than setting more IED traps near existing ones, you can just place the [[Mortar shell]]s themselves, or even some [[Chemfuel]] on the ground for the same effect as a molotov cocktail blast. However, unless you can restrict them to placing just 1 of each it's more expensive to do so.
** Chemfuel has 50 HP, ''just'' within the damage threshold of an IED trap, but the shells have 70, so you will need to pre-damage them or leave them on the ground to deteriorate first if you want to use this tactic.

IED traps have a delay before exploding, allowing some raiders to escape. Raiders will attempt to run from an exploding trap, though the fuse is short enough to catch some of them.

'''Pros'''
*High area damage
*Raiders usually less protected against explosives

'''Cons'''
*High resource cost
*Single-use, non-rearmable
*Requires research
*Does not instantly trigger

==== [[IED incendiary trap]]s ====

A variant of the IED trap that sets enemies on fire. It's a more situational pick compared to the regular trap, due to its incendiary nature.

'''Pros'''
*Distracts enemies while they are on fire
*Penetrates shields

'''Cons'''
*Low damage
*Not effective against [[Mechanoid]]s

Its use requires strong support to be effective. With that, it is a good defensive choice against heavily armored or shielded enemies, with the flames providing good distraction while your colonists shoot them down.

It synergizes great with brawlers, which will prevent the enemy from attempting to extinguish the flames while fighting.

==== [[IED EMP trap]]s ====

A variant of the IED trap that creates an EMP pulse. It's a more situational pick compared to the regular trap, due to its EMP explosion.

'''Pros'''
*Instantly downs shields
*Stuns mechanoids for a long time
*Large blast radius

'''Cons'''
*'''No physical damage'''

Its use requires strong support to be effective as it can't deal any damage. It is excellent against mechanoids or shielded enemies, however.

==== Mountain trap ====
An extreme version of the roof trap using overhead mountains instead of constructed roofs.

To use it, you mine out a whole mountain except a pillar in the center. Then you damage that pillar until it has just a sliver of health left (25 or less for easy activation with a single [[sniper rifle]] shot). Mining out all the rocks at once will result in your colonists getting crushed by the trap.

It is triggered the same way as the regular roof trap, and has the same effect radius except victims are instantly killed and buried.
The collapsed rocks spawned after this trap is triggered can be useful or harmful depending on the situation.

Rearming it is a lengthy process as you will have to mine out lots of rocks. This does provide a decent way to train miners though.

Pros
*'''Instantly kills any enemy'''
*Leaves no corpses

Cons
*Takes much longer and is more dangerous to re-arm
**You have to mine out everything then support the mountain roof with a low-HP wall; compare with regular roof trap which simply requires building the wall and the roofs
**Colonists risk death if you aren't careful
*No loot or capturable downed raiders
*Overhead mountains may not be easily available

In mountainous areas where overhead mountains are abundant, this trap can absolutely destroy any incoming raids, especially when combined with funneling.

=== Reactive firefoam poppers ===

You should have some uninstalled firefoam poppers on hand. When a fire starts and you need to extinguish or control it, you can reinstall them near the fire, and trigger them.

Firefoam on the ground slows movement speed of pawns by about 25%. As it covers a wide area, this can be slightly useful as area denial to slow down charging melee attackers, though it prevents the use of fire against them.

=== Firefoam roof array ===

Due to the slight slowing effect of firefoam, you can deploy a large amount of it to slow down enemies crossing by. However, since rain washes it away, you need to erect a roof to prevent that from happening. You also need to clear home area so colonists leave the firefoam alone.

This has the added effect of creating an excellent firebreak against wildfires, as well as creating a [[#Roof trap|roof trap]] that can damage enemies.

Initial deployment of the firefoam is very expensive without the use of chokepoints so it isn't recommended for open base designs.

== Killboxes ==
[[File:Killzone.png|500px|thumb|right|An example of a killbox. [[Fence]]s spaced 1-tile apart slow enemies down. Barricades near the entrance prevent enemies from standing on the corner. Traps and fences allow colonists to pass unimpeded, but enemies will walk through the traps. Doors can be closed in case of [[manhunter]]s.]]

Killboxes are heavily trapped, armed areas where enemies are funneled into so they can be destroyed easily.

They almost always consist of a funnel which directs raiders into it, like a wall with a single opening, which opens into a zone where your colonists and turrets are located.<br>
Raiders will then trickle in, allowing colonists or turrets to concentrate fire on them, or traps to destroy them while they try to move in to attack. In the killzone, enemies lack cover and are within close range, while your colonists have plenty of cover to fight from.

This is an extremely effective way to defeat most raids, as the enemies will often be overwhelmed by the sheer firepower raining on them. It also allows effective use of traps, as funneling enemies greatly increases the chance one's going to trigger them. A well-built killbox can easily neutralize the threat of many raids, which may make the game less fun for some players.

Note that killboxes aren't a catch-all solution to enemy threats, and you still need tactics to handle drop pod raiders or sappers.

=== Building ===
The entryways should lead to a large 'box' where the killing begins (hence 'killbox'). The box should be surrounded by cover sources (preferably walls plus sandbags) where your colonists fire on the enemy. For increased firepower you may build turrets as well, away from your colonists' firing line and separated from each other by walls, in case they explode.

It's always best to double-wall the "receiving" end of your killboxes as the sheer firepower raining on your enemies will inevitably destroy some of your own walls by accident, allowing raiders to flood in from another direction, bypassing traps and overwhelming your defenders. This is especially true if you use explosives such as frag grenades or IED traps to kill incoming enemies.

{{clear}}

=== Entryways ===

Any entryways of the killbox should not be straight, otherwise raiders will simply fire using the entryway as cover. Instead, you should have a turn to break line of sight, prompting the raiders to enter an area where you can get them easily. For better effect, put a grave or other similar object that raiders can't stand on. The entryway should be single wide to allow the use of [[Defense tactics#Melee blocking|melee blocking]] if necessary.

The below shows the results of different killbox entryways.
<gallery widths="300px" heights="300px" class="center" mode="nolines">
File:Killbox_right.png|Right design of a killbox entryway. Raiders are prompted to move into the killbox, sometimes so close that they prefer to melee attack instead of shoot.
File:Killbox_wrong.png|Wrong design of a killbox entryway. Raiders are bunching up in the entryway, using its walls as cover.
</gallery>

Entryways should be long, but not too long, corridors with [[fence]]s every second tile to slow enemies. Do not place a continuous line of fences, as pawns only slow down when they are vaulting over one. In between the spaces, spike traps can be placed to soften up the raiders (with doors adjacent to the fences so your colonists can replace them). At the end of the corridor, place a T-Shaped fence line (do not alternate with empty tiles like before), as pawns cannot stand on the sandbags and therefore are incapable of using the corridor exit walls as cover. [[IED trap]]s can be used, but should be used sparingly lest they blow up all the walls of the corridor.

Don't make your entryway excessively long, otherwise raiders will think it's not worth it going such a distance and will decide to go for something else instead. Manhunters however will still chase colonists down a long corridor or over extreme distances, so you can have some dedicated anti-manhunter killboxes with extra-long corridors for this purpose.

If your entryway is long then you may need to build doors to allow friendlies to enter without setting off your own traps or having to go through all the obstacles. This door obviously needs to be fortified against enemy attacks.

<gallery widths="300px" heights="300px" class="center" mode="nolines">
File:Slowing_tunnel_long.png|Entryway with alternating sandbags to slow raiders and doors to provide access. Slows raiders but not colonists.

</gallery>

{{clear}}

=== Equipment ===
Different equipment is necessary in different situations.

==== Short-range killboxes ====
Colonists defending in a short-range killbox will be shooting at a large number of targets no more than a few tiles away. Thus, defenders should use close ranged high damage weaponry for firing at raiders.

* [[Chain shotgun]]s inflict extreme pain at killbox range, surpassing the DPS of every other weapon at short range or less.
* [[Minigun]]s are excellent at attacking the bunched-up raiders inside a killbox, but require large amounts of resources to craft ({{Required Resources|Minigun}}).
* [[Charge rifle]]s and [[heavy SMG]]s are second-tier picks, being able to dish out hurt against closely grouped targets at close-mid ranges.
* Long range weapons are not optimal due to low DPS. Instead, use them to pick off survivors outside the killbox.
* Grenades are good if you can time them right. Throw them near the entrance where each explosion can hit a tight group of raiders, especially if they're slowed down with obstacles, but take care not to demolish your own walls.
*Have melee colonists stand nearby as raiders who enter your killbox may decide to melee charge you instead.

==== Long-range killboxes ====
Colonists defending in long-range killboxes will be shooting at bunched up raiders. Thus, defenders should use mid-range, fast firing, and decently accurate weapons to inflict as much damage as possible. Note: It is possible to modify a killbox in a pattern that leverages both long and short range weapons. This can be accomplished by creating a passage that has a 45 degree angle "open to the field" while keeping the main 90 degree passage open to short range fire only.

* [[Charge rifle]]s are the best weapon{{Check Tag|Arguable}} for this purpose, shooting 3 semi-accurate high damage charge shots. It also has a decent 26 tile range and an excellent 35 percent armor penetration, essential for killing targets late game, when your killbox is more developed.
* [[Heavy SMG]]s are excellent alternatives to charge rifles. Significantly cheaper but similarly skill friendly and with a solid DPS.
* [[Assault rifle]]s are basically charge rifles with lower damage and armor penetration, but making it up for its longer range and higher accuracy. Higher skilled pawns are required to make use of their range however.
* [[Minigun]]s, [[Chain shotgun]]s, and perhaps [[LMG]]s are second options, excelling at crowd control, especially against tribals.
* Explosive weapons are not advised, as raiders will be moving around the killbox frequently, and grenades have a delay between the grenade hitting the ground and the explosion of the grenade.

=== Turrets ===
You can put turrets in a killbox. They help to provide additional firepower alongside your colonists.

You may also choose to fully arm your killbox with turrets, with enough to single-handedly take out raids especially in tandem with traps. Doing this allows you to defeat raids automatically without the need to divert colonists from other jobs, but eats up power when active and resources to maintain, and is vulnerable to solar flares, EMP grenadiers or smoke, so you will need backup.

Turrets should preferably have their own cover. They should also be connected to a separate grid which can be shut off to deactivate them all, to save power when not active.

Mini-turrets and autocannons are the best choices for killboxes, being able to dish out hurt at killbox ranges. Place mini-turrets close up to the enemy, while place autocannons slightly farther away to keep enemies out of its minimum range.

Alternatively, if you can keep the enemy in one spot, a specially designed killbox can allow uranium slug turrets to function well. Uranium slug turrets are most accurate at 40 tiles or above, achieving a maximum of ~61% accuracy against human enemies, so you will need to place them that far from the entrance, and distract enemies so they do not go closer. Slug turrets are good against tankier pawns, as a uranium slug can easily rip through [[Centipede]] and [[Power armor]].

It is better to 'Hold fire' until the enemies have actually entered the killbox, for all the turrets will focus fire on the first enemy to try and go through the entrance, which is very much overkill.

=== Blocking ===
As [[Defense tactics#Melee blocking|melee blocking]] is more effective than even a killbox used normally against melee only attacks, it's best to have somewhere that you can do this.

Melee blocking can be done at killbox entrances, as long as it is one-tile wide and has sufficient empty space in front. Both the entrance to the killing area and the entrance to the covered area where colonists fire onto enemies will work:
*Doing it in the killing area allows you to spare the turrets from immediate destruction, and they may add firepower.
*Doing it in the covered area entrance allows you to sustain fewer injuries by having the turrets take the damage first.

=== Explosive weapons ===

Enemies carrying explosive weapons can be very damaging towards your killbox and the defenders inside.

[[Centipede]]s with [[inferno cannon]]s can counter killboxes as the fire makes your colonists lose control and run out of cover, and the flames can destroy turrets easily. Having some [[firefoam popper]]s inside your box helps a lot with extinguishing fires and preventing future fires.

Another counter for killboxes are raiders with the [[triple rocket launcher]] and [[doomsday rocket launcher]]. If they manage to shoot inside your box the damage can be massive, and it is hard to distract them in a killbox. You can concentrate fire from your colonists on them, or keep [[psychic shock lance]]s and [[psychic insanity lance]]s near and use them if you see that they will not die fast enough.

=== Fire killbox ===

Besides killing enemies with conventional weapons, roasting them with fire is also an effective choice. You need to lure them inside, light up flammable objects to heat up the killbox, and evacuate colonists so they don't get roasted as well.

Fire killboxes are slightly more complicated to operate than a regular one, where you can simply wait inside and fire; you will need to direct colonists, while others light up fires and then make a break for it. <br>
You can shut off the killbox by either leaving doors open to let enemies in, which you then shut off by disabling "keep open", then directing a colonist through them, or by building walls.

They need to be at least walled to prevent enemies from breaking out, and also to insulate it from the outside so that temperatures rise faster. Stone walls are optimal as they are non-flammable.

== Killhall ==
{{rewrite|section=1|reason=Largely similar to killboxes, should be merged with that section}}
Another possibility is to build a long corridor with traps, that can also be used shoot enemies from cover: a "killhall".

It acts as an active and passive defense:
* If used actively, it allows to kill enemies will little to no harm done to colonists, and with little damage to repair after the attack.
* If used passively, it'll lure enemies into [[spike trap]]s. Only very large or tough groups of enemies may go through (by springing all the traps), or possibly enemies with the "[[nimble]]" trait (that will avoid all of them).

If the first part has many obstacles (e.g. [[stone chunk]]s, [[barricade]]s or [[sandbags]]), and another branch of the corridor is empty and ended with a flimsy door (e.g. a wooden [[door]], or better: an [[animal flap]]), fleeing enemies will try to escape by this seemingly faster exit, but they will fall into another group of spike traps, eliminating the rest of the raid.

A drawback is that last part of the corridor has to be quite long to work properly, i.e. a bit more than the [[Property:Range|range]] of the weapons used (e.g. 30 tiles for [[assault rifle]]s and [[charge lance]]s, 45 for [[sniper rifle]]s).
This is not an issue if it is placed under a mountain, the best location being at the corner of the map.

=== Attack of a killhall ===
An attack will proceed as follows:
# Enemies will be lured into the hall, thinking it is an unobstructed way into the base.
# They are slowed by obstacles, leaving time for colonists to take position inside doors, hidden behind wall corners, waiting for them.
# Enemies are shot one by one by colonists, they are slowed by stone chunks and cannot rush in for a melee attack before they get shot. Enemies who shoot behind their friends others can sometimes hit them by mistake.
# Once half of them are dead, they decide to flee, but instead of going back by the way they used to enter, that looks cluttered by chunks, they try to break the doors on the side of the corridor.
# They are still shot at by colonists, but once they broke a door, it seems that there is only a flimsy animal flap between them and liberty.
# Unfortunately, what seems to be an exit path is littered with spike traps and they get killed one by one by them.
# If some of them still manage not to get killed by the traps, they get shot like clay pigeons in the exit corridor.
# It is now time for the colonists to strip the dead enemies of their possessions and store their corpses for later use...

If colonists decide not to attack the invaders, half of them will be killed by the traps on the entrance way, the other half on the exit way.
If the attackers are manhunting animals or [[mechanoid]]s, they will not try to escape and will all be shot or being trapped.

=== Example of a practical implementation ===

[[File:Killhall.png|500px|center]]

# Entrance and "escape exit".
#* The entrance has a door "held open" and "forbidden", so enemies can enter, but not friendlies.
#* The "escape exit" has an [[animal flap]] (can be substituted by a wooden [[door]]), leading fleeing enemies to think that they can break it to escape quicker.
# "Slowing down" corridor, filled with [[stone chunk]]s spaced one tile apart that will slow down enemies, give time to prepare and make this path look like a slower way to escape.
# "Shooting range" corridor, where enemies will be shot at from distance and will be forced to advance one behind another. It is also filled with stone chunks to slow them while they're being shot at (as chunks may be moved or destroyed during the attack, 1×1 [[stockpile zone]]s allowing only stone chunks should be placed, enabling their quick rearrangement).
#* Above, the "escape exit" corridor, filled with spike traps (doors allow replacing traps without having to walk on them).
#* Below, the "entrance to the base", also filled with traps.
# Part of the hall where colonists will shoot, taking cover with the wall corners. If the enemy has weapons with more range than colonists, they can hide behind the doors and pop out when the enemy is close enough.
# "Entrance to the base" (or at the part that enemies are planning to reach), with wall corners at the end to use as shooting positions (in case some enemies reach this part).
# Human corpses walk-in fridge, to put the bodies after the battle and keep them away from the view of colonists, avoiding the "[[Mood#Observed corpse|observed corpse]]" debuff.
#* It should be quite large, as enemy raids grow in size, and butchering humans should not be done every day, to avoid a permanent [[Mood#I butchered humanlike|I]]\[[Mood#We butchered humanlike|we butchered humanlike]] debuff (see the possible [[Human resources#Mitigation strategies|mitigation strategies]]). It can also hold the [[human leather]] stock, as it takes much space once butchering is done.
#* This can also be a place where corpses are burned, if it is preferred to butchering.
# Human [[kibble]] factory, where [[human meat]] can be processed into kibble (that extends hugely its conservation time, can be sold, or fed to any animal).
# Repair stock, that holds the necessary materials to quickly repair the walls and the spike traps after an attack.
# Hospital for prisoners, to quickly save them if they survive.

Points 6 to 9 are optional, but are great improvements if used.

==== Additional notes ====
* Walls of the parts 3 and 4 should be tough and fireproof. Best would be [[plasteel]], then [[uranium]]; [[granite blocks]] may also be used but will break down faster, and flammable materials are to avoid at all costs.
* Flooring should be put in place to keep the mood of the colonists high when they are in the area.
* Walls and flooring of the parts 2 and 5 doesn't matter, as colonists will very rarely go there, and there shouldn't be much fighting in these parts anyway.
* Spike traps should be made out of [[steel]], as it has the best price-quality ratio for this device (nevertheless, steel is flammable in RimWorld, but here, traps are protected behind the walls and doors).
* Accurate weapons should be preferred for colonists: the narrow corridor will be damaged unnecessarily if explosives are used, or weapons like [[shotgun]]s or [[minigun]]s (not to speak of their reduced range).
* The hall should like an unobstructed path to enter the colony (i.e. no closed door between the outside and the inside of it), but the doors leading to it that will be used by colonists should be strong enough to deter attackers from trying to break them.
* The number of stone chunks in the way is also important: if there are not enough of them, fleeing enemies will just escape by the way they attacked and will not be led into the spike traps on the supposedly quicker escape route.

== Situational ==

=== Crashed ships ===

It is vital to know Mechanoids' behavior:

* Any attack to the ship will trigger its guardians, and they have a long aggro range of around 40 tiles from their spawn point. The larger the map, the easier it can be to deal with them, as long as the ship crashes away from your base. This means that as long as they are far from your base, Mechanoids will still NOT chase you yet.
* When the ship's health falls below 50%, Mechanoids will stop guarding and will instead proceed to attack your base as a normal raid.

You can trigger a ship's guardians from a long distance either by bombarding with mortars or hit-and-run with sniper rifles.

Currently, the best approach is to deal with the Scythers first, followed by their ranged units. There are a variety of alternatives, but the nature remains the same; hinder the melee range closing-in of their shock troops.

==== Preparation ====

Though these ships are "time bombs", instead of immediate action, you can spend a few days building preparations before engaging them.
* Placing a spike trap right in front of your sandbag may be helpful if the need to retreat arises, as mechanoids will very likely want to use the shortcut.
* Always make sure you have a safe path between your walls and your base, so that there's safe cover between your "ins" and "outs"; battles can take a long time if short on numbers.

Building IED traps can also be a good way to hurt the mechanoids, especially if there is a long distance between your colonists and the ship part. High-explosive traps deal hefty damage to incoming scythers and lancers, while EMP traps stun them, making them vulnerable to attack. <br>
If possible, a properly placed antigrain IED trap can obliterate most of the mechanoids, leaving a few heavily damaged centipedes to fight at most.

You may also want to keep a few firefoam poppers nearby. Trigger some of them before combat to prevent fires, and leave a few more to rapidly extinguish a group of burning colonists at once.

After you have finished preparing, you can use EMP shells to stun the mechanoids. Proper firing will make them helpless hunks of metal, once you get used to this technique, you can even preemptively fire EMP shells and then trigger the guardians, so as soon as they pop out, they instantly get hit by EMP shells. The number of manned mortars will factor in, as the chance to miss for each shell is quite large.

==== Cover ====

Use the "fire wall" cover approach detailed above, with melee units stationed behind each sandbag to hold off the scythers while your gunners lay fire on other mechanoids.

Ideally, the cover should be placed a distance from the ship, giving you time to soften incoming scythers with concentrated fire.

<gallery widths="400px" heights="400px" class="center" mode="nolines">
File:CSP v1 new tactics 101-00.png|Zoom out
File:CSP v1 new tactics 101-01.png|Zoom in
</gallery>

However, if you already have all the necessary utilities against mechs: EMP grenades and a good killbox, you may just wall the ship part off, (be aware that mechs will wake up if you build things up close to 2 cells to a sleeping mech, it's 5x5 square radius around any mechanoid) add one-two doors, you may want to add 2 walls deep mini corridor, so random fire from mechs won't hit the door, and a single barricade next to the door, draft your pawns to the entrance, force one to open it, while the door is opened (it must be made of wood) the other pawns will shoot the ship, mechs shouldn't have enough time to aim, the door will close pretty quick (do NOT hold it open), use "Heavy smgs" or other high dps and fast shooting guns, you can also equip frag grenades, a single colonist with grenades is enough, one is throwing it at the ship, while the other one keeps opening the door. As soon as you destroyed the ship just run, the mechs will be smashing the walls and head for your killbox.
<gallery widths="400px" heights="320px" class="center" mode="nolines">
File:Mechshipkillbox001.jpg
</gallery>

=== 'The Purifier' ===

This is a powerful way to burn a massive [[infestation]] to a crisp. Provided that the infestation have no direct access to map edges and unroofed areas.

To start, build a medium-sized room (approx. 5x5) with triple-thick stone walls, next to the infestation. Fill it with [[Straw matting]]s, and flammable objects such as wooden [[barricade]]s, it has good hp which means it will burn for longer and has high flammability, so it will catch fire quickly. Another alternative is to use combustible junk, like tainted clothing or unneeded corpses.

After that, dig a 1-wide tunnel towards the infestation at night when the insects are sleeping. Finally, toss a Molotov into the room.

Once the temperatures reach ({{Temperature|250}}), insects will begin to burn. They will attempt to dig out by rushing towards the purifier, but be set alight by the burning [[Straw matting]], making them unable to dig. Temperatures can rapidly reach {{Temperature|500}} or above, boiling both the insects and the hives. Even those that don't get set alight will eventually succumb to heatstroke.

Although using this method will not yield you valuable [[insect jelly]].
{{Nav|guides|wide}}
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[[Category:Guides]]

Children

2026-07-10T02:32:47Z

Dubious soup: /* Acquisition */

{{Biotech}}
{{About|children of age 3 and up|humans ages 0 to 3|Babies|pregnancy|Reproduction}}
'''Children''' are added by the [[Biotech (DLC)| Biotech DLC]]. They are smaller, slower, and less capable of work when compared to adult pawns, but gain skills as they age.
{{TOCright}}

== Acquisition ==
{{See also|Reproduction}}
* Having a [[baby]] age up to 3 or beyond.
* Purchasing them from [[Trade#Slaver|slavers]].
* Most [[quest]]s and [[event]]s where an adult colonist would join.

Note that [[raid]]s will not have children unless enabled in the [[AI Storytellers#Child enemies|storyteller settings]].

== Summary ==
Children are human pawns from 3 to 13 years old. Younger pawns are [[babies]]. Older pawns, between 13 and 18, are teenagers - considered adults for most purposes.

Children have important growth moments at ages 7, 10, and 13. These give the pawn access to new work types, as well as the choice of [[trait]]s and passions. Giving a child access to Learning increases the possible choices. See [[#Development]] for more details.

=== Age ===
Age is measured both biologically and chronologically. Biological age represents how far a pawn has grown physically and mentally. Chronological age represents how long a pawn has existed since their birth; their "true" age, so to say. Since chronological age has no direct gameplay effects, all listed ages are in biological years unless stated otherwise.

By default, children biologically age at 400% speed. Upon reaching 11, their aging will linearly slow from the [[AI Storytellers#Child aging rate|child aging rate]] until they reach 20, where they'll age at the [[AI Storytellers#Adult aging rate|adult aging rate]], or 100% by default. Their aging can be altered by changing the [[AI Storytellers#Biotech|storyteller settings]].

At the default aging rates, it takes about 3.30 years (~198 days) for a child to grow from birth to age 13, and about 5.38 years (~323 days) to go from birth to age 18. In total, a child takes about 6.91 years (415 days) to go from birth to age 20, of which 2.75 years (165 days) is from birth to age 11.

[[Growth vat]]s can be used to very quickly age pawns up to age 18, after which they will get forcefully ejected. A pawn in a [[growth vat]] will age at a constant 20x speed, unaffected by any other aging factors except for the [[Growth Vat Occupant Speed]] stat,{{IdeologyIcon}} as long as it has access to [[power]] and [[nutrition]]. However, if used to speed up the "Child" stage (ages 3-13), then the vat will impact the child's [[#Development|Development]]. Conversely, the [[ageless]] [[gene]] will linearly slow aging from 13 until stopping entirely at 18.5. Growth vats ignore the ageless gene.

For more explanation of aging rate, see [[#Aging]].

=== Capabilities ===
Children as young as 3 can wield [[weapon]]s and are valid for any [[Reproduction|non-reproductive]] [[surgery]], including [[organ harvesting]]. However, children are limited to child-sized clothing like the [[kid pants]] and [[kid parka]], and can only do certain types of work. They receive penalties to [[Global Work Speed]], [[Move Speed]], and more, scaling with age. Due to their body size, they have less health, can store less [[nutrition]], and receive stronger effects from [[drug]]s. Instead of Recreation, children have [[#Learning|Learning]], which gives them more options for each growth moment.

Teenagers wear adult clothing, have access to all work, and lose their Learning need. However, they can only reproduce once they reach 16. And, teens retain a small penalty to work speed and body size until they reach 18, where they become full adults and all penalties are removed.

See [[#Stats|Stats]] for a full breakdown of stat penalties.

=== Noncombatants ===
Luckily, children (until 13) do not always have to participate in combat. Children who are unarmed and have not been [[draft]]ed in 24 hours are very low priority targets for enemies.{{Check Tag|Verify mechanic|Exact mechanic unknown?}} Adult colonists will virtually always be targeted over a noncombatant. If children aren't in the line of sight of enemy fighters, they won't be hunted down during an attack.

However, children are still ''able'' to be targeted. This is in contrast to [[pen animal]]s, who enemies will never attack intentionally. If a raider has no other targets available, a "noncombatant" child will be attacked. Hungry predators have no regard for this mechanic, and will target your children if they are nearby. In any case, a child in the way of a firefight can be hit by stray shots and [[friendly fire]].

=== Mood ===
Children receive a [[mood]]let for simply being young: at age 3, {{+|16}} '''Childlike joy''', at age 6, {{+|12}} '''Childlike wonder''', age 8, {{+|8}} '''Childlike enthusiasm''', and at age 10, {{+|4}} '''Childlike confidence''', finally lost at age 13. Children are happy when their parents are happy ({{+|6}} for each parent), and parents are happy when their children are (also {{+|6}} for each child). Other than that, most regular moodlets apply to them.

Adult colonists receive a {{+|2}} ''Happy youngsters'' for each child colonist with 60 mood or higher, stacking up to +6. They will receive a -2 mood for each child colonist with 35 mood or less, stacking up to -6. Most receive a {{--|6}} moodlet for killing an innocent child.

== Development ==
=== Learning ===
Children have a '''Learning''' [[need]], which replaces Recreation. They satisfy the need by satisfying one of their [[#Learning desires|learning desires]], which they usually have 2. The need gives mood buffs or debuffs, [[Recreation#Recreation_thresholds|analogous to Recreation]] at the same level, and, most importantly, it increases their [[#Growth score|growth score]].

When a child decides what to do in accordance with their [[schedule]], they may choose learning. The following conditions should be met for the child to actually start learning:
* The current schedule hour is set to anything but "Work". Notably, for the "Sleep" schedule assignment, learning has a higher priority than sleeping (unlike adults, who go to sleep if the Sleep need is below {{Bad|75%}}, children prefer learning to sleeping, if possible (see other limitations)).
* Learning need is below {{Bad|90%}}.
* A learning desire can be satisfied (see descriptions of individual desires for possible limitations). If both desires can be satisfied, one is randomly selected.
* Food need is {{Good|≥34%}} and Sleep need is {{Good|≥38%}}.

The mood level doesn't matter.

Once learning begins, it will continue until either Learning need reaches {{Good|99.9%}} (visible as {{Good|100%}} due to rounding), or it is interrupted (by the child needing to eat or sleep, or being drafted, or the Learning type becoming invalid—e.g., for work watching, if all adults have stopped doing any watchable work types). After an interruption, if their Learning is below 90%, they may resume learning, but if it's above 90%, they won't—instead doing work or idling, until it drops below 90% again.

Learning is '''not''' interrupted if the child loses desire for the currently performed learning type.

The speed with which children fulfill their Learning need is affected by the [[Learning Rate Factor]] stat.

=== Learning desires ===
At any one point, a child has 1 or 2 of the learning desires, listed below. They are shown as pictograms above the Learning need bar. When a baby reaches age of 3 and becomes a child, they get the first desire which is randomly selected. Then, they repeatedly gain a random new desire in random time intervals ranging from {{ticks/gametime|20000}} to {{ticks/gametime|40000}}, averaging to 2 desires daily. The desires form a queue with a maximum length of 2 (the new desire is added to the end of list, and if the number of items exceeds 2, the first item is removed).

When a new desire is selected, it never repeats an active one (including the one that is to be removed from the queue). Also, ''Radio talking'' isn't chosen before [[Microelectronics]] is researched; this is the only safeguard against choosing a desire which is currently impossible to satisfy. Desires which are not ruled out by these restrictions have equal probability of being chosen, except ''Lesson taking'', which has {{Good|x2.5|normal}} higher weight (probability) than the others. It is perfectly possible to get a learning desire which is impossible to satisfy. Each of them has a number of blocking conditions, and the mentioned Microelectronics research thing is the only condition that is consciously avoided.

==== Floor drawing ====
Children draw pictures on the floor in various places. This does not require any additional supplies and can occur on anywhere within or near home area. The drawings can be cleaned up the same way as any other dirt. Unlike other types of filth, however, it does not have any effect on [[beauty]].

==== Lesson taking ====
Requires an awake adult that is capable of teaching (a teacher). The child (student) will sit at a [[school desk]]. The teacher can be prioritized to teach the child on a currently usable skill (e.g., when age 4 this can be Shooting, Melee, or Social), increasing the child's respective skill level. The speed at which the child learns can be increased by up to 60% by adding up to 3 [[Blackboard]]s near the school desks at which the lesson takes place. It also trains the teacher's Social skill.

Teaching lessons improves the child's opinion of the teacher, for {{+|8}} ''Taught me a skill''. The teacher will additionally raise their opinion of the child: {{+|4}} ''Listened to my lesson''.

A colonist can be a teacher if they:
* Are an adult
* Are awake
* Have Food need {{Good|≥34%}} and Sleep need {{Good|≥38%}}
* Are capable of childcare and has it enabled in the Work menu
* Can [[Talking|talk]]
* Belong to the player's faction (neither [[guest]] nor quest lodger)
* Can reach the child avoiding deadly dangers{{Check Tag|Clarify|What dangers exactly?}}
* Are not [[drafted]]
* Are neither in a [[mental break]] nor [[Mental break#Special|mental state]]
* Are not [[downed]]
* Are not burning
* Don't have a lord{{Check Tag|Clarify|This condition is checked in the game's code, but it is unclear how a colonist may have a lord.}}

==== Nature running ====
Children run around outside, similar to the adult "Going for a walk" activity. Care must be taken as nearby predator hunt or potential raid can occur near them, as they tend to run outside the safe zone near the edge. Children can ignore [[allowed area]]s while "running", but will quickly go back.

Experimentation seems to indicate that{{Check Tag|verification needed}}:
* It needs to be a number of tiles away from anything player-owned (floors don't count), 43 tiles of space is enough but less is possible using a very specific pattern (see image)
* These tiles need to be as empty as possible, ideally when building under overhead mountain a collapsed rocks or unmined tile 6 spaces away from any other is sufficient (it's unclear how much wiggle room is there)
* There's no need for this tile to be outdoors, however dev placed natural tiles such as collapsed rocks are counted as artificial somehow

The dimensions of the image are 36x36, 41x36 (vertical) and 48x36 (horizontal). 41x48 and possibly 48x41 should work as well with minimal wasted space.

==== Radio talking ====
The desire doesn't appear before [[Microelectronics]] is researched, which is required for building the [[comms console]]. A console is used by the child for chatting with people over the radio. The child will stop radio talking if the console is used for other purposes, such as trading with a trade ship or contacting another faction.

The child uses the nearest comms console, which is:
* Powered
* Allowed
* Reachable, avoiding deadly dangers{{Check Tag|Clarify|What dangers exactly?}}
* Not reserved by another pawn

If no such console is found, the desire cannot be satisfied.

==== Reading ====
{{stub|section=1|reason=Lack of mechanics - also propagate to [[books]] and the pages for the types of books.
Reports that:
* The normal effects of books still apply to children reading books - they gain skills from textbooks and provide research from schematics
* That because you can force children to read, unlike other learning types, so when their learning is lagging you can force them to read to catch up.}}
Children can read [[books]] to fulfill their learning need. If you notice a child is behind in learning progress, wait until reading appears as one of their learning needs. As reading can be forced manually, you can keep the child’s learning at 100% (with smaller dips for eating and sleeping) by forcing reading even when learning is above the 90% threshold.

The normal effects of a book still apply to children, allowing them to increase their skills they have access to while reading, allowing their skills to be even more developed.

==== Sky dreaming ====
Children lay on the ground and watch the sky, much like adults that are cloud watching.

Bad [[weather]] does '''not''' prevent sky dreaming.

Experimentation results suggest that for a spot to be viable for sky dreaming it must have no artificial tiles or objects in the ground within 36 tiles (floors are fine so concrete can be used to get them away from danger faster). This distance seems to be direct (as the crow flies) rather than via squares (manhattan distance) so it might be difficult to adjust perfectly outside trial and error for a "skydreaming shelter" for children.{{Check Tag|Verification needed}}

==== Work watching ====
Children that are work watching will follow an adult, who does standard work, and slowly gain the corresponding skill (e.g. Plants when watching plant work). Children will only watch work types that use a skill they can use themselves (e.g. children under 7 will only watch Social work, such as childcare and wardening; they ''do'' watch wardening even though they can't perform it until age 10). Children gain skill even when watching the unskilled parts of skilled work (e.g. they gain Crafting skill when watching stonecutting and Medical skill when watching a doctor feed patients).

=== Growth score ===
Each day, children will raise their growth score (shown at the bottom of the screen when a child is selected) proportionate to their Learning need. Growth points are not gained when the Learning need is frozen, such as in a [[growth vat]] or [[cryptosleep casket]].

The growth score can pass through 8 tiers of learning, and each will grant more rewards during a child's growth moment. Tiers give you more flexibility in choosing a child's next trait and gives more passions. Once a growth moment has passed, the child's growth tiers will reset to 0, and you'll need to keep them learning to gain more rewards. A child with constantly fully-satisfied Learning need would achieve a hypothetical maximum of 180 growth points, but 162 is the highest value displayed.

Growth point gain is directly proportional to the time spent between growth moments, so that average Learning for each growth tier remains constant. Under the default settings, children from 3-7 gain up to 3 growth points per day, and children from 7-10 and 10-13 gain 4 growth points per day. Changing the child aging rate in storyteller settings adjusts the growth point gain accordingly. Changes to [[Global Learning Factor]], such as [[Fast learner]], have no impact on growth points or the Learning need.

The [[precept]]{{IdeologyIcon}} ''Child Labor: Disapproved'' increases Learning gain by 20%. It doesn't directly improve growth point gain, but makes it easier to keep the Learning need high.

Note that the displayed growth points are always rounded down to avoid confusion regarding thresholds.

{| class=wikitable
|+ Growth Tiers and Rewards
|-
| Tier || Points || Traits || Passion || Min Av Learning
|-
| 0 || 0 || 1 from 1 options || - || -
|-
| 1 || 30 || 1 from 2 options || - || 17%
|-
| 2 || 55 || 1 from 3 options || - || 31%
|-
| 3 || 80 || 1 from 4 options || - || 44%
|-
| 4 || 100 || 1 from 4 options || 1 from 1 options || 56%
|-
| 5 || 120 || 1 from 4 options || 1 from 2 options || 67%
|-
| 6 || 135 || 1 from 4 options || 1 from 3 options || 75%
|-
| 7 || 150 || 1 from 4 options || 2 from 4 options || 83%
|-
| 8 || 162 || 1 from 6 options || 3-4 (50-50 chances) from 6 options || 90%
|}

A perfectly educated child, who is always ready to begin a learning task when Learning drops to 90%, and never gets interrupted, will have Learning oscillate between 90% and 100%, averaging 95%. This gives a margin for error with respect to the maximum growth tier goal of "average Learning ≥ 90%".

The table below shows linear values required for a child to hit 162 by the next Growth Point. As the first Growth Period (3 to 7) is longer but grants fewer points per day.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="3"| Age 3-7 !! colspan="3"| Age 7-10 !! colspan="3"| Age 10-13
|-
! Years !! Days !! Average Points !! Years !! Days !! Average Points !! Years !! Days !! Average Points
|-
| 3 || 0 || 0 || 7 || 0 || 0 || 10 || 0 || 0
|-
| 3 || 15 || 10 || 7 || 15 || 14 || 10 || 15 || 14
|-
| 3 || 30 || 20 || 7 || 30 || 27 || 10 || 30 || 27
|-
| 3 || 45 || 30 || 7 || 45 || 41 || 10 || 45 || 41
|-
| 4 || 0 || 41 || 8 || 0 || 54 || 11 || 0 || 54
|-
| 4 || 15 || 51 || 8 || 15 || 68 || 11 || 15 || 68
|-
| 4 || 30 || 61 || 8 || 30 || 81 || 11 || 30 || 81
|-
| 4 || 45 || 71 || 8 || 45 || 95 || 11 || 45 || 95
|-
| 5 || 0 || 81 || 9 || 0 || 108 || 12 || 0 || 108
|-
| 5 || 15 || 91 || 9 || 15 || 122 || 12 || 15 || 122
|-
| 5 || 30 || 101 || 9 || 30 || 135 || 12 || 30 || 135
|-
| 5 || 45 || 111 || 9 || 45 || 149 || 12 || 45 || 149
|-
| 6 || 0 || 122 || 10 || 0 || 162 || 13 || 0 || 162
|-
| 6 || 15 || 132 || colspan="3" |
| colspan="3" |
|-
| 6 || 30 || 142 || colspan="3" |
| colspan="3" |
|-
| 6 || 45 || 152 || colspan="3" |
| colspan="3" |
|-
| 7 || 0 || 162 || colspan="3" |
| colspan="3" |
|}

== Growth moments ==
{{Stub|section=1|reason=Can a child ever have a backstory or trait that disables a work type?}}
[[Babies]] become children at 3, and children experience growth moments at 7, 10, and 13, allowing them to gain traits and passions. When a child hits the biological age for a growth moment, a notification will pop up that informs the player what work types the child is now capable of doing and the player to pick additional traits and passions. The number of skills and traits available to choose from increases according to the Growth tier reached by that growth moment (see above table).

What skills are chosen is completely random; working one type of work over another or what learning types are used to fill the Learning bar have no effect. A child can even gain a passion in a skill in which they have awful [[Genes#Aptitudes|aptitude]], so it's not possible to exclude undesired skills via genetic modification.

Two restrictions technically apply to the skill pool from which passion gain options are picked:
* skills disabled by backstories are removed from the pool, unless the child is enslaved at the time of the growth moment
* skills disabled by already-possessed traits are likewise removed, unless that trait is suppressed by a gene at the time of the growth moment

Only one passion can be added to a skill at a time, but passions are additive - selecting the same skill in two growth moments will result in a double passion.

Passions chosen for skills the child cannot yet use will be hidden and not appear on the bio tab, but ARE properly applied, and will become visible once the child reaches an age that allows them to use that skill. For example, if you choose to give a child a passion for Shooting, Construction, and Intellectual on their 7th birthday, the Shooting passion will be immediately visible (as children of ages 3 and up can shoot), whereas the Construction passion will not appear until the child's 10th birthday, and the intellectual passion won't until their 13th, as those are the ages at which those skills become available to children.

Only one trait can be selected per Growth moment. Traits that are mutually exclusive with previously selected traits or Genes will not appear on future Growth moments. When at least three traits are available to be chosen from, there's a 35% chance that one of the available options will be "no trait". This option can be selected if no trait is preferable to the traits offered.

You may choose their traits/passions within 48 hours of the birthday, and view their bio/health from the selection screen. During a growth moment, your child may randomly receive a new nickname, such as John Doe gaining the nickname '''Johnny''' (becoming John 'Johnny' Doe). Like other colonists, you can always change their nickname from their bio.

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|+ Capable work types
! Age || Firefight || Patient || Doctor || Bed Rest || Childcare || Basic || Warden || Handle || Cook || Hunt || Construct || Grow || Mine || Plant Cut || Smith || Tailor || Art || Craft || Haul || Clean || Research
|-
! 3
| {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}}
|-
! 7
| {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}}
|-
! 10
| {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}}
|-
! 13
| {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}}
|}

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|+ Learnable skills
! Age || Shooting || Melee || Construction || Mining || Cooking || Plants || Animals || Crafting || Artistic || Medical || Social || Intellectual
|-
! 3
| {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}}
|-
! 7
| {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}} || {{Cross}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}}
|-
! 10
| {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Cross}}
|-
! 13
| {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}} || {{Check}}
|}

==== Age 3 ====
At 3, your [[Babies|baby]] transitions to childhood and additionally undergoes a growth moment. Now that your pawn is a child, they can walk and talk, wear clothes, and do basic activities. Their Play need is also replaced with a new Learning need. Because babies haven't learned anything yet, this "growth moment" does not come with traits or passions.

On their birthday, you will receive up to 2 notifications. The first is "Growth moment for <Pawn>", which may include a new nickname for your child that you'll have 48 hours to change. Both of these decisions can be postponed until their deadlines.

'' Baby '''<BABY NAME>''' has grown up and become a child! (S)He is now old enough to do the following work: <LIMITED WORK> Children do various type of work. As they get older, they become able to do more work types. They also do various child-specific recreational activities. Children need to wear specific child-size apparel. ''

With [[Ideology]],{{IdeologyIcon}} you'll get a second notification, "<Pawn> became a child". The child will now follow one of the [[Ideoligion|ideoligions]] your colonists currently believe in, randomly determined from weightings based on who interacted with the child and how. For further details, see the [[#Ideoligion|Ideoligion]] section.

In addition, you'll have 12 hours to decide whenever to make the child a colonist or a [[slave]],{{IdeologyIcon}} depending on their birth mother, they will be a colonist or slave by default, for prisoner births they will be a colonist due to having been adopted.

'' '''<BABY NAME>''' has decided to become a follower of the ideoligion '''<MAJOR COLONY IDEOLIGION>'''. By tradition '''<BABY NAME>''', born to '''<MOTHER NAME>''' of '''<COLONY>''' (and) '''<FATHER NAME>''' of '''<COLONY>''' / unknown parents, is a colonist/tribesman/slave, but exceptions can be made... Should '''<BABY NAME>''' remain a colonist/tribesman/slave? ''

Children and their caretakers maintain any [[opinion]] modifiers that [[Reproduction#Social|arose]] during infancy, but these wear off over time. They immediately become aware of any pawns on the map that they hadn't met while babies, and gain the normal opinion modifiers for every pawn, like those based on [[Beauty (Pawn)|beauty]], [[traits]], and [[ideoligion]].

3-year-olds gain the Childhood background '''Child''': ''The story of [their] childhood is still being written.'' They also gain the ability to learn the shooting, melee, and social skills, although they start with 0 experience in them. If you started as a [[New Tribe]], then children will gain the ''Natural'' [[meditation focus]].{{RoyaltyIcon}}

==== Age 7 & 10 ====
Ages 7 and 10 are ordinary growth moments. Your child will gain a selection of passions and traits, with available choices corresponding to the [[#Development|Learning]] need. They will remain a child after either age threshold, but will gain access to more work types in the process.

==== Age 13 ====
When a child turns 13, you will receive the notification: "Child" became an adult. They are not full adults yet, but are now considered adults (or teenagers) throughout the game, and have access to all work types.

They wear adult clothing, dropping their too-small child's clothes if wearing any. Their Learning need is immediately replaced by Recreation, removing any mood effects from learning. In addition, they finally lose their {{+|4}} ''Childlike confidence''' [[mood]]let. [[Genes#Drugs|Drug dependency genes]] take effect at this age, as if they last took the drug on their birthday. They also have a chance to gain a [[Traits#Asexual|sexuality trait]], separate from the growth moment trait choice (if they receive none, they will be considered heterosexual). Some kids get special changes upon turning 13.

Children will receive the childhood [[background]] of Tribal Child or Colony Child, dependent on if you started as a [[New Tribe]] or as [[New Arrivals]]. Alternatively, they will receive Vatgrown Child if they spent enough time in a [[growth vat]] - this removes the Natural [[meditation|meditation focus]], if it was present. Their adult backstory will be set to Tribe Member or Colonist, respectively.

== Stats ==
Children and teens have various penalties to speed and effectiveness. Specifically, they have a multiplier to the following stats: [[Move Speed]], [[Aiming Time]] & [[Melee Hit Chance]] (thus, {{DPS}}), [[Arrest Success Chance]], [[Global Work Speed]], [[Market Value]], and [[Body Size]]. Each trait is affected differently by age: Global Work Speed rises steadily until adulthood, whereas Move Speed changes in jolts by life stage.

Children also have penalties to melee damage and [[Shooting Accuracy]],the stat factor [[Shooting Accuracy Multiplier (Child)|ShootingAccuracyChildFactor]] limits the maximum ShootingAccuracy of child. the meleeDamageFactor(not the stat factor of [[Melee Damage Factor|MeleeDamageFactor]]) defined in LifeStage limits the Melee Damage for Children and teens,The rates are as follows: children(3–8):0.7, preteens(9–12):0.725, teens(13–17):0.75, adult(18-): 1 . the Melee Damage will be multiplied by the meleeDamageFactor.

Note. The melee hit chance multiplier is applied not to the hit chance itself, but to the bonuses and penalties imposed on it. That is, a 3-year-old child will have ~ 50% +-5% chance of hitting both having the maximum skill level + Go-juice, and having severe traumas that reduce work and vision to 0%.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Aiming Time]] Multiplier by Age
|-
| {{Graph:Chart
|width=400
|height=100
|type=line
|x=3, 4, 12, 13, 18
|y=180, 180, 110, 100, 100
|xAxisTitle = Pawn age (years)
|yAxisTitle = Aim Time Multiplier (%)
}}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Melee Hit Chance]] Multiplier by Age
|-
| {{Graph:Chart
|width=400
|height=100
|type=line
|x=3, 4, 12, 13, 18
|y=5, 5, 80, 100, 100
|xAxisTitle = Pawn age (years)
|yAxisTitle = Hit Chance Multiplier (%)
}}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Arrest Success Chance]] Multiplier by Age
|-
| {{Graph:Chart
|width=400
|height=100
|type=line
|x=3, 3, 13, 18
|y=5, 5, 80, 100
|xAxisTitle = Pawn age (years)
|yAxisTitle = Arrest Chance Multiplier (%)
}}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Global Work Speed]] Multiplier by Age
|-
| {{Graph:Chart
|width=400
|height=100
|type=line
|x=3, 4, 12, 18
|y=20, 20, 80, 100
|xAxisTitle = Pawn age (years)
|yAxisTitle = Work Speed Multiplier (%)
}}
|}
The [[precept]]{{IdeologyIcon}} ''Child Labor: Encouraged'' increases Global Work Speed by {{+|20%}} until 13.

==== Move speed ====
{| class=wikitable
!'''Age'''
| 0-2 || 3-9 || 9-13 || 13-18 || >18
|-
! '''Speed Factor'''
| x0.2<ref>As defined in the game defs, however in practice not applicable due to babies being unable to move.</ref> || x0.75 || x0.85 || x0.95 || x1
|-
! '''Move Speed'''<ref>Assuming no other effect that alters move speed</ref>
| ''N/A'' || {{#expr:{{Q|Human|Move Speed Base}} * 0.75}} {{CS}} || {{#expr:{{Q|Human|Move Speed Base}} * 0.85}} {{CS}} || {{#expr:{{Q|Human|Move Speed Base}} * 0.95}} {{CS}} || {{Q|Human|Move Speed Base}} {{CS}}
|}
<references/>

==== Market value ====
{| class=wikitable
| '''Age''' || 0-2 || 3-9 || 9-13 || >13
|-
| '''Value Factor''' || x0.5 || x0.9 || x0.95 || x1
|}

==== Body size ====
{{Recode|section=1|reason= Graphs/Tables of values correlated to body size}}
Certain traits are indirectly affected due to a child's smaller body size. These include health, [[drug]] effectiveness, [[Carrying Capacity]], [[Meat Amount]] / [[Leather Amount]], and [[nutrition]] capacity. Stats that ''don't'' differ for teenagers include food consumption, Maximum/Minimum comfortable temperatures, and Filth rate. Note that teenagers also have a 1.25 multiplier on maximum nutrition, which offsets the 0.8 multiplier from their reduced body size, resulting in the same nutrition capacity as an adult.

{| class=wikitable
| '''Age''' || 0-2 || 3-8 || 9-13 || 13-18 || >18
|-
| '''Size Factor''' || x0.2 || x0.35 || x0.58 || x0.8 || x1
|}

=== Aging ===
Aging starts to linearly slow from biological age 11 to 20. Assuming that the adult aging rate is 100%, the deviation in biological age and chronological age is displayed in the below chart.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Child age over time
|-
|{{Graph:Chart
|width = 300
|height = 300
|xAxisTitle = Biological age (years)
|yAxisTitle = Chronological age (years)
|legend = Child age rate
|type = line
|x = 0, 3 ,11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22
|y1 = 0, 3 ,11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22
|y2 = 0, 1.5 ,5.50, 6.01, 6.55, 7.14, 7.76, 8.42, 9.14, 9.93, 10.78, 11.73, 13.73
|y3 = 0, 1 ,3.66, 4.01, 4.38, 4.79, 5.24, 5.74, 6.30, 6.95, 7.70, 8.60, 10.60
|y4 = 0, 0.75,2.75, 3.01, 3.29, 3.61, 3.96, 4.36, 4.82, 5.37, 6.03, 6.89, 8.89
|y5 = 0, 0.60,2.20, 2.40, 2.64, 2.89, 3.18, 3.52, 3.91, 4.38, 4.98, 5.80, 7.80
|y6 = 0, 0.50,1.83, 2.00, 2.20, 2.41, 2.66, 2.95, 3.29, 3.70, 4.25, 5.03, 7.03
|y7 = 0, 0.15,0.55, 0.60, 0.65, 0.70, 0.75, 0.80, 0.85, 0.90
|y8 = 0, 0.15,0.43, 0.46, 0.50, 0.54, 0.57, 0.61, 0.65, 0.68
|y1Title = 100% (Real-time)
|y2Title = 200%
|y3Title = 300%
|y4Title = 400% (Default)
|y5Title = 500%
|y6Title = 600%
|y7Title = 2000% (Growth vat)
|y8Title = 2600% (Vat w/ precept)
|xGrid =
|yGrid =
|interpolate=monotone
|colors=#c8c8c8,#b4b4b4,#8c8c8c,#646464,#3c3c3c,#141414,#00aacc,#00ddff
}}
|}

Increasing the growth rate lowers a pawn's chronological age at any given biological age. For example, at 200% aging, it takes ~10 years to reach age 18, and at 400% aging, it takes ~5.4 years (assuming 100% adult aging speed).

A pawn with the [[ageless]] [[gene]] will linearly age slower after 13, before coming to a complete halt at 18.5. With this gene and the default rates, a pawn will take 429 days (7.15 years) between ages 13 and ''17'', then a further 362 days (~6 years) to reach age 18. A growth vat can be used to decrease this time, if so desired.

The fastest a pawn can age is in a growth vat from birth with the '''Growth vats: Essential''' [[Precepts#Growth vats|precept]],{{IdeologyIcon}} where they reach adulthood in only ~40.5 days, after which they will age according to the set aging rate. Note that these values won't be accurate if a pawn has the ageless gene, spends time both in and out of growth vats, or the aging rates are altered in the storyteller settings mid-gameplay.

== Wearable clothing ==
Being much smaller than adults, children can only wear a limited selection of clothing, mostly consisting of headwear:

<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Lifestage::~Child*]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC
}}
</div>

== Ideoligion ==
{{Ideology|section=1}}
{{Stub|section=1|reason=Worked example}}
Babies have no [[ideoligion]] of their own, however when a baby becomes a child at age 3, an ideoligion is assigned to the child based on a weighted random selection.

These weights are assigned to the ideoligions of the pawns that interact with the baby. For the purposes of this calculation, this is specifically:
* {{+|0.5}} for any social interaction.
* {{+|1.0}} for carrying the baby for one hour.
* {{+|1.0}} for breastfeeding the baby for one hour.
* {{+|1.0}} for feeding the baby [[baby food]] for one hour.
These interactions are remembered forever until the baby transitions into a child.

As with all weighted selections, the more that pawns from a given ideoligion interact with the baby, the more likely the baby is to choose that ideoligion, however ultimately there is always a chance selects any ideoligion to which it was exposed.

== Analysis ==
When raised naturally and with lots of Learning time, children can very easily become powerful colonists. With the ability to choose from up to 6 [[traits]] per growth moment, the likelihood for at least one "great" trait, like [[Jogger]], [[Industrious]], or [[Quick sleeper]], per growth moment is significant. A child is very likely to have multiple ''good'' traits by the time they become a teen. Passion choice is also excellent - burning passions in any desired field are quite common. Needless to say, it'd be very rare for a randomly generated adult to match a colony raised child.

Child rearing mainly comes at a cost of time, with slightly more than 2.5 years spent in the child stage on default Child Aging Rate settings. Children do not actually require much adult supervision to grow and learn. Set an [[allowed area]] so that they won't wander too far from your base, and children will develop to become a fairly powerful colonist. However, to reach the highest growth level of 8, you need to ensure that their average learning need is at least 90% (even while sleeping). As children will not start learning unless their learning need is already below 90%, this requires more careful management, especially for children under the age of 7.

To fulfill their learning, you may need to:
* Build a [[comms console]], a [[school desk]] with 3 [[blackboard]]s, allow the child outside, and get at least 1 [[book]] to cover all possible Learning types. In practice, you can skip out on 1-2 types, and still reach growth level 8, just hope that the types you skip don't come up together at the same time.
* Constantly monitor your child's learning need and their desired activities. Sometimes they will not start learning even though their need has dropped below 90%, you'll need to diagnose the problem before it cause them to miss the growth target. If you notice a child is behind in learning progress, wait until reading appears as one of their learning needs. As reading can be forced manually, you can keep the child’s learning at 100% (with smaller dips for eating and sleeping) by forcing reading even when learning is above the 90% threshold.
* When the child is sleeping and their learning need drop below 90%, wake them up so that they can bring it up to 100% before sleeping again.
* Try not to interrupt the child before their learning need reach 100%, because they won't start learning again for a while.
* Work watching: children age 3-7 can only do work watching on social tasks, so consider ordering an adult to attempt to recruit a prisoner when a child need to work-watch.
* Lesson taking: children will not start learning unless there is an awake adult who is capable of teaching. Wake you teacher up when the child need to take lessons.
* Skydreaming: sometimes you need to draft the child and move them outside for them to start this activity

Older children that join your colony will be comparatively worse off.

===Baby stage===
As opposed to the proper child stage, the [[baby]] stage, which lasts for 45 days (3/4ths of a year), requires a notably higher amount of colonist labor. Feeding babies takes a surprisingly long time, especially if breastfed. The base duration of feeding a baby from empty is {{ticks/gametime/hours|5000}}, and babies need to be fed roughly twice a day. Between this and caring for her own needs, a mother tasked with caring for her baby can spend over half her waking hours, every day, for those 45 days. On the plus side, feeding and playing with babies can be done by children as young as age 3.

[[Growth vat]]s can be used to skip the baby stage, at the cost of nutrition and a slight mood penalty to parents. Babies don't learn, so this comes at no cost to a child's development.

=== Vats ===
{{Main|Growth vat}}
[[Growth vat]]s can turn children into working machines. It still takes a long time to grow a person - 9 days for the embryo to be born in vat, another 39 days to reach age 13, and then a further 15 days to reach 18 (if desired), for a total of 63 days from embryo to 18 (~ 52.6 days with a pro-vat [[ideoligion]]{{IdeologyIcon}}). In the meantime, the vat consumes a lot of food. Growing an embryo requires a total of 54 [[nutrition]] - 60 simple meals, or 4 colonists of food for 9 days - while a pregnant mother would consume an extra 30% nutrition for 18 days. Growing the child thereafter requires 2 colonist's of nutrition per day. Unlike with most colonists, you can use undesirable foods like [[human meat]] and [[kibble]] with no penalty.

Vatgrown pawns have 0 passions, barely any skills, and 3 random traits. Despite this, extra bodies can always be useful for tasks like Hauling and Cleaning, or fighting in general. While any [[Events#Wanderer joins|wanderer]] or captured [[raider]] is likely to be better, all three [[storyteller]]s have a population intent. As you have more people, it becomes harder to recruit more colonists. Children ignore this mechanic entirely. Therefore, growing children becomes more viable for larger colonies.

[[Gene]] modding can make vatgrown children much more powerful. For example, the [[Great shooting]] gene provides 8 Shooting skill, added on top of the pawn's "true" skill level, and a passion. If planted immediately after birth, the extra passion will nearly triple the Shooting skill bonuses from the vat. This can provide late-game colonies with a functionally infinite supply of soldiers, ignoring the game's natural population curve, and limited only by food production (and possibly lag).

Note that using vats to speed up the baby stage (0-3) and teen stage (13-18) does not penalize the pawn in any way. Babies don't learn or work, and speeding up this phase comes mostly at the cost of [[mood]]. Speeding up a teen to adulthood removes their work speed and body size penalties, though they could've done work in the meantime. However, teens in growth vats do not apply a mood penalty to their parents, as they are not "kids" anymore. Also note that unlike with [[cryptosleep]], colonists in vats have absolutely no penalty applied to them when they exit the vat. If you need them for an emergency (such as a dangerous incoming raid), they can be removed from the vat at a moment's notice.

== Version history ==
* [[Biotech DLC]] Release - Introduced. In Core RimWorld, the minimum human age is 14, where they are treated as adults.
* [[Version/1.4.3524|1.4.3524]] - Children no longer get adult body types from genes.
* [[Version/1.4.3525|1.4.3525]] - Fix: Temporary work restrictions affect growth moment passion choices.
* [[Version/1.4.3527|1.4.3527]] - Growth moment flavor text doesn't appear when a pawn becomes a child.
* [[Version/1.4.3528|1.4.3528]] - "My child is happy" and related thoughts now can trigger if a pawn is being carried.
* [[Version/1.4.3529|1.4.3529]] - Fix: Growth tier gizmo displays incorrect percent value on bar.
* [[Version/1.4.3530|1.4.3530]] - Fix: Children gain growth points in cryptosleep.
* [[Version/1.4.3531|1.4.3531]] - Children can now do Basic work at age 3. Allow children to wear shield belts
* [[Version/1.4.3555|1.4.3555]] - Children now deprioritized if not holding a weapon and not drafted. Teen (11-20) aging rate now smooth scales from child age rate to adult age rate. Added [[precept]]s{{IdeologyIcon}} relating to child labor. Fixed "Tribal Child" not giving Natural meditation focus. Added an option for selecting “no trait” on growth letters some of the time if there are more than two trait choices.
* [[Version/1.4.3558|1.4.3558]] - Tribal babies becoming children get [[psyfocus|natural meditation focus]]{{RoyaltyIcon}} at 3.
* [[Version/1.4.3563|1.4.3563]] - Round growth points down on UI for clarity. Children now recalculate their life stage immediately when they become an adult instead of waiting for their next growth tick. Fix: Children generated at [[New Tribe|tribal game start]] don't have [[Psyfocus|natural meditation focus]].{{RoyaltyIcon}}
* [[Version/1.4.3580|1.4.3580]] - Fix: Radiotalking doesn't adhere to child's allowed area.
* [[Version/1.4.3613|1.4.3613]] - Fix: Child prisoners attempt to wear adult clothing, causing it to disappear.
* [[Version/1.4.3641|1.4.3641]] - Fix: If a child goes through a growth moment expecting passion increase choices, but there are no available passions, the UI will lock. Fix: Errors when trying to bring a baby to a mom inside a container to breastfeed.
* [[Version/1.5.4062|1.5.4062]] - Fix: Exception getting growth points for dead pawn.

{{Biotech navbox}}
[[Category:Animals|#Children]]

Rituals

2026-07-02T03:36:50Z

Dubious soup: /* Ideoligious ritual additional rewards */

{{Split|reason= Individual pages for each ritual ala psycasts with a primary table providing the basics and links to it. This is too disjointed. Nav template also necessary}}
{{Stub|reason=Role change ritual. Also rituals are not ideology-specific mechanics. Should non-ideology related rituals have a separate page? Adapt the empty sections at the bottom of page}}
{{About|regular rituals|Psychic Rituals added by the [[Anomaly]] DLC|Psychic ritual}}
'''Rituals''' are primarily options for [[ideoligions]],{{IdeologyIcon}} with a handful available through other DLC.{{RoyaltyIcon}}{{BiotechIcon}}{{OdysseyIcon}} They allow pawns to participate, with a variety of props, in the hope of eliciting some outcome. These outcomes range from simple but significant mood boosts to attracting new recruits to the colony.

== Mechanics ==
{{Stub|section=1|reason=General mechanics.}}
Every ritual has a Quality, expressed as a percentage, associated with it. This value is influenced by a set of factors unique to each ritual type and determines the chance of positive and negative outcomes, with some ritual effects scaling to the outcome tier and others applying only at specific tiers.

Do note that Quality is '''not''' the chance of success. 100% Quality only means that the chance of success cannot be improved further.

The exact relationship between quality and success chance is not known, however the following approximation has been created through testing.

Quality expressed as a number between 0 and 1; so 100%=1; 50%=0.5;
* Terrible: 1/(4+(16×Q))
* Boring: 3/(4+(16×Q))
* Fun: 3×Q/(1+(4×Q))
* Unforgettable: Q/(1+(4×Q))

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; text-align:center;"
|{{Graph:Chart|width=400|height=220|xAxisTitle=Quality|yAxisTitle=Probability|legend=Result|type=stackedarea|
|x=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1
|y1=0.25, 0.178571429, 0.138888889, 0.113636364, 0.096153846, 0.083333333, 0.073529412, 0.065789474, 0.05952381, 0.054347826, 0.05
|y2=0.75, 0.535714286, 0.416666667, 0.340909091, 0.288461538, 0.25, 0.220588235, 0.197368421, 0.178571429, 0.163043478, 0.15
|y3=0, 0.214285714, 0.333333333, 0.409090909, 0.461538462, 0.5, 0.529411765, 0.552631579, 0.571428571, 0.586956522, 0.6
|y4=0, 0.071428571, 0.111111111, 0.136363636, 0.153846154, 0.166666667, 0.176470588, 0.184210526, 0.19047619, 0.195652174, 0.2
|y1Title=Terrible|y2Title=Boring|y3Title=Fun|y4Title=Unforgettable|colors= #80000A, #ff8000, #93c47d, forestgreen}}
|
{| class="wikitable sortable text-valign:center mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+ Ritual Outcomes by Quality
|-
! rowspan=2| Ritual<br/>Outcomes !! colspan = 11 |Q
|- style="background-color:#Fa33300"
!0% !! 10% !! 20% !! 30% !! 40% !! 50% !! 60% !! 70% !! 80% !! 90% !! 100%
|-
!Terrible
| 25.00% || 17.86% || 13.89% || 11.36% || {{0}}9.62% || {{0}}8.33% || {{0}}7.35% || {{0}}6.58% || {{0}}5.95% || {{0}}5.43% || {{0}}5.00%
|-
!Boring
| 75.00% || 53.57% || 41.67% || 34.09% || 28.85% || 25.00% || 22.06% || 19.74% || 17.86% || 16.30% || 15.00%
|-
!Fun
| {{0}}0.00% || 21.43% || 33.33% || 40.91% || 46.15% || 50.00% || 52.94% || 55.26% || 57.14% || 58.70% || 60.00%
|-
!Unforgettable
| {{0}}0.00% || {{0}}7.14% || 11.11% || 13.64% || 15.38% || 16.67% || 17.65% || 18.42% || 19.05% || 19.57% || 20.00%
|}
|}

=== Ritual roles ===
Every ritual has one or more roles for pawns to fill - some are required for the ritual to occur, such as the gladiators in the [[Rituals#Gladiator duel|gladiator duel]], others are optional and either increase the quality of the ritual, apply the potential bonuses to the attending pawns, or both. Some ritual roles can be filled by multiple pawns at the same time, while others are limited to one pawn.

Some ritual roles have additional requirements, such as the pawn being of the correct ideoligion, being the correct ideoligious [[role]], not being [[downed]], or having sufficient [[capacity]].

Pawns can spectate any ritual, regardless of whether their ideoligion matches that of the ritual itself.

=== Ideoligious ritual additional rewards ===
{{Ideology|section=1}}
{{Stub|section=1|reason=Details}}
When creating a ritual for an ideoligion, you have the option of adding a custom additional reward. If the ritual achieves either of the two positive outcomes (fun or unforgettable, or their equivalents), the bonus reward will trigger in addition to the ritual-specific rewards.

None of the additional rewards can be applied to the funeral ritual. {{Check Tag|Verify}}

{| class="wikitable"
! Reward !! Description !! Required Meme
|-
| None
| ''Adding an additional reward is optional.'' || ''Any''
|-
| Nearby faction goodwill
| ''You will gain goodwill from the nearest faction base.''
* Gain [[goodwill]] from the [[faction]]{{Check Tag|Non-hostile?|What if the closest faction base is a perma-hostile faction like pirates?}} that owns the nearest [[faction base]]{{Check Tag|Verify|Check work sites & quest maps}} to the site of the ritual.{{Check Tag|Verify|E.g. If I have two colonies, can they affect different factions, if I do this on a non-colony map (e.g. ambush or site map) }}.
** The amount of goodwill gained depends on the quality of the ritual - {{+|10}} for Fun and {{+|20}} for Unforgettable.{{Check Tag|Verify Numbers}}
| ''Any''
|-
| Random recruit
| ''50% chance of random recruit of the same ideoligion joining your colony.''
* A 50% chance that a pawn of your ideoligion will join from the map edge.{{Check Tag|Detail needed|What pawnkind? What Equipment? How Soon? etc}}
| ''Any''
|-
| Discover ancient complex
| ''You will discover the location of an ancient complex nearby.''
* Grants an [[ancient complex]] quest.
* Won't trigger if you already know the location of any type of unexplored complex.{{Check Tag|All types?|Including relic hunt. Not sure about random quest ones. Mechanitor complex?}} The ritual window will warn you if that is the case.
| ''Any''
|-
| Farm animals wander in
| ''A group of farm animals will be attracted and join the colony.''
* A group{{Check Tag|How many?|Ideally include range}} of tamed 'farm animals' (such as [[cows]], [[sheep]], [[chickens]] or [[goats]]) will join from a map edge. Farm animals don't spawn in the wild and can only be found through trade or ritual rewards.
| <ul><li>[[Rancher]]</li><li>[[Animal personhood]]</li><li>[[Nature primacy]]</li></ul>
|-
| Gauranlen pod sprout
| ''A [[Gauranlen pod]] will sprout at a random location on the map, if it can.''
* Cannot spawn in extreme biomes.{{Check Tag|Detail Needed|Where? What radius? When? Etc}}
| <ul><li>[[Tree connection]]</li><li>[[Nature primacy]]</li></ul>
|-
| Insect jelly
| ''Insect jelly deposits will be deposited from underground.''
* The amount of [[insect jelly]] received depends on the quality of the ritual - 26 for Fun and 40 for Unforgettable.{{Check Tag|Verify Numbers}}
* {{Check Tag|Detail Needed|Where? What radius? When? Etc}}
* Note: The [[Insectoid]] faction must be enabled.
| <ul><li>[[Tunneler (meme)|Tunneler]]</li></ul>
|-
| Psyfocus recharge {{RoyaltyIcon}}
| ''The psyfocus of all participants will be recharged to full.''
* The [[psyfocus]] of all participants with a [[psylink]], regardless of role, is set to 100%.
** There is no effect on pawns without [[psylink]].
| ''Any''
|}

== Overview table ==
{{Ritual table}}

== Analysis ==
=== Funeral ===
This is the only ritual involving the (possible) non-player caused death. It is generally considered the worst ritual, as it requires the death of a pawn - an expensive cost when other rituals are available with the same effects.

Please note, you start a funeral by selecting your priest (or equivalent) and right clicking on the grave containing the deceased. The priest must be the same ideology as the deceased to access this.

=== Social festival ===

=== Dance party ===
This is tied with "drum party" for the most "success bonuses" and shortest cooldown.

=== Drum party ===
This is tied with "dance party" for the most "success bonuses" and shortest cooldown.

=== Skylantern festival ===
<gallery>
Skylantern Festival.png|Pawns celebrating the Skylantern festival by releasing skylanterns.
</gallery>
As the quality depends only on number of participants, this is arguably the best ritual for farming development points in the early game.

Strategy:
With 4 participants at Very Low expectations, the quality will be 80% giving a 57% chance of 6 points and 19% chance of 8 points as the only (scheduled) ritual. This can be achieved with the [[Quests#Noble_Wimp|Noble Wimp]]{{RoyaltyIcon}} quest on Day 8 in any scenario with 3 starting colonists.
The remaining points can be easily obtained by raiding a work site (+3, requires Raiding: Respected) or enslaving and converting a prisoner (+2, requires Slavery:Honorable, note there is no downside to this precept at Very Low colony expectations); both precepts are available to any ideoligion.

While reforming, the ritual can be immediately re-scheduled to the next day. Note that this requires some luck in aligning the initial date with the starting date of your colony.

=== Christmas tree ===

=== Symbol burning ===

=== Smokeleaf circle ===
The ritual indirectly results in your colonists getting the [[Smokeleaf joint#Stoned on smokeleaf|stoned on smokeleaf]] condition, which applies to them for approximately 18 hours. This results in a -30% consciousness debuff, making participants slow and ineffective workers or combatants. An unforgettable festival gives only a +8 mood buff (plus a short-lived mood buff from Stoned on Smokeleaf), so it is less effective for mood than dance or drum festivals. Furthermore, costing {{Icon Small|Smokeleaf leaves}} 150, the [[Burnbong]] is the equivalent of 37.5 smokeleaf joints.

=== Cannibal feast ===

=== Scarification ===
{{Stub|section=1|reason=Can be done on prisoners? dev points?}}
Is a ritual that will add scarification to a random part of the person who will get the scarification will get a mood buff of 'Got scarified' depending on what intensity of scarification in the ideology.

=== Blinding ceremony ===
This ritual causes significant pain, enough to incapacitate a Wimp. If the target gets incapacitated by the painshock, the ritual will be canceled. Giving a Wimp target go-juice before the ritual will prevent painshock and allow the ritual to proceed.

=== Animal sacrifice ===
Animal sacrifice does not cause the violent death penalty for butchering, and is thus an alternative to slaughtering.

=== Prisoner sacrifice ===
?

=== Gladiator duel ===
This ritual always has 100% quality if one of the fighters dies. There are a number of ways to maximize the chances of that happening:
* Give the fighters [[go-juice]] or [[yayo]]. Getting downed by pain shock will end the ritual with a lower score. A [[war mask]], [[veil]], or [[cultist mask]] would also help. You can also use [[Painblock]].
* Place a single melee weapon in the ring. One of the duelists will have an advantage and there will be a {{+|20%}} ''Weapon used'' quality bonus even if nobody dies. Note that duelists must have a [[manipulation]] [[capacity]] greater than 0% to pick up a weapon. [[Body part weapons]] do not count for this bonus.
* Choose one fighter with a high and the other with a low [[Melee]] skill to give the first one an advantage.
* Remove '''one''' of the weaker fighter's hands. Do not remove both as pawns with 0% Manipulation cannot participate in the ritual.

You can also minimize the chance of that happening:
* You'll want to increase the [[pain]] level and lower the [[pain shock threshold]]. Give the fighters a [[torture crown]] or a [[mindscrew]]. Maybe some scars. Send a couple wimps to fight. Send a couple people that are already close to being downed, with no injuries to critical organs or the head.
* If you do give them weapons, give them something blunt with low maximum damage, like a wood [[club]].
* Give them some serious armor.

Strip both gladiators before battle to prevent any clothes becoming [[tainted]] when they die. You can also pre-equip them with [[tainted]] clothes so that's not a problem.

As adding the [[Ideoligion#Raider|Raider]] or [[Supremacist]] memes to an ideoligion automatically adds the Gladiator Duel ritual, it can be used to exceed the normal limit of 6 rituals. Simply have 6 non-gladiator duel rituals already enabled, and add the relevant meme either at creation or using a fluid ideoligion. Note that if you remove a ritual at any time, you will have to restart the process as it will still attempt to impose the 6 ritual limit.

[[Wild man|Wild men]] cannot be used in gladiator duels, even if imprisoned.

[[Child]]{{BiotechIcon}} [[slave]]s cannot be used, nor can child [[prisoner]]s.

Duelists will not interacting while in ritual.

Abilities such as [[fire spew]]{{BiotechIcon}} will not be used.

The duel will end if a duelist has a mental break.

If the duel is cancelled, then the duelists will drop any weapons they have picked up.

=== Prisoner execution ===
Execute a prisoner. Increases the suppression of [[slaves]].

When Ideology is disabled, even with the "Satisfying" outcome, some pawns will get negative impressions (-2 Justified execution) **in addition** to the positive mood buff. This downside does not trigger for pawns with [[Bloodlust]] or guest pawns belonging to the [[Empire]] faction. {{Check Tag|Detail Needed|Spectacular affected too? Other traits?}}

=== Trial ===
''"Charge someone with a terrible wrongdoing and initiate a trial where they will be either convicted or exonerated. If the target is convicted, they can be freely imprisoned, executed or banished without penalty. The chance of conviction depends on the social abilities of the accuser and accused."''

A trial is a good way to get rid of a colonist without a mood penalty, since the colonist will be considered guilty if the trial succeeds.

=== Conversion ritual ===
Reduce a pawn's [[certainty]], or outright convert a pawn to your ideoligion.

=== Tree connection ===

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Ritual conversion ritual interface.png|Interface for starting a ritual showing the quality factors, expected outcomes, duration and participants
Ritual_funeral_in_progress.png|Funeral ritual taking place after a dead colonist was interned in a jade sarcophagus
Ritual tree connection in progress.png|Gauranlen tree connection/linking ritual in progress
Ritual skylantern festival in progress.png|Skylanterns being let go during a skylantern festival
Ritual scarification in progress.png|Scarification ritual after the subject has been cut
Ritual animal sacrifice in progress.png|Toxalope animal sacrifice aftermath
Ritual cannibal feast in progress.png|Cannibal feast
Ritual trial in progress.png|Trial in progress for a captured raider
Ritual conversion ritual in progress.png|Conversion ritual attempting to convert a prisoner to the colony's ideology
Ritual blinding ceremony in progress.png|Colonist after they have been blinded in a blinding ceremony
Ritual prisoner sacrifice in progress.png|Prisoner after being killed during a prisoner sacrifice ritual
Ritual gladiator duel in progress.png|Two prisoners made to fight during a gladiator duel
Ritual symbol burning in progress.png|Effigy set ablaze in a symbol burning ritual
Ritual smokeleaf circle in progress.png|Smokeleaf circle ritual in progress including colonists downed due to their consciousness being dropped by the smokeleaf high
Ritual social festival in progress.png|Social festival
Ritual drum party in progress.png|Drum party with the maximum number of effective drums
Ritual christmas tree in progress.png|Christmas tree
Ritual dance party in progress.png|Dance party with the maximum number of effective speakers
Ritual role change in progress.png|Role change
</gallery>

== Version history ==
* [[Version/1.3.3066|1.3.3066]] - Throne speeches have been re-tooled into rituals.
* [[Version/1.3.3067|1.3.3067]] - Fix: After a gladiator duel, the downed prisoner will be carried back to their bed but they won't actually be put in the bed, they will remain downed on top of the bed instead. Fix: Typo on anima tree linking ritual. Fix: If you design an ideoligion which has two words in its pawn "noun" you will not be able to bring people to trial.
* [[Version/1.3.3087|1.3.3087]] - Fix: Blood from animal sacrifice automatically cleans itself before ritual even completes.
* [[Version/1.3.3101|1.3.3101]] - Fix: [[Wild man|Wild person]] can be used in gladiator duels, causes manhunter revenge. Wild man prisoners are no longer allowed to be used as duelists. Fix: Duelists can pick up weapons during the duel even if they have no manipulation capacity. Fix: Scarification ritual now accepts prisoner targets again and doesn't break when target is a prisoner. Fix: You can start conversion ritual with a moral guide that can't speak. Fix: Non-colonist can be chosen as scarification target.
* [[Version/1.3.3117|1.3.3117]] - Ritual setup dialog now says what ideoligion the ritual comes from. Fix: Ritual timings are 1 day off. Pawns of any ideo can now spectate any ritual, even if it's not of their own ideo.
* [[Version/1.3.3200|1.3.3200]] - Fix: Blood from scarification is from cutter, not cuttee. Fix: Psyfocus ritual reward does not recharge psyfocus to max.
* [[Version/1.4.3523|1.4.3523]] - Fix: Ritual spectators will stand on beds or in doorways.
* [[Version/1.4.3555|1.4.3555]] - Fix: Prisoners can refuse to attend their own execution due to temperature in the ritual area.
* [[Version/1.4.3580|1.4.3580]] - Fix: Duels continue indefinitely if the duelists don't have beds.
* [[Version/1.5.4062|1.5.4062]] - Fix: Pawns can be rescued in rituals. Fix: Required roles can leave rituals. Fix: Pawns participating in duels can equip weapons they are otherwise unable to do so (bladelinked, biocoded, bonded, etc). Fix: Duelists interacting while in ritual. Fix: Ensure duelists drop their weapons if the duel is called off/canceled. Fix: Duels and misc ritual saving/loading. Fix: Abilities are used during duels. Fix: Slaves are unable to attack in duels without having an aggressive reaction set. Fix: Duel not ending if a fighter starts a mental break. Fix: Public Execution Ritual error. Fix: Errors on beginning conversion ritual. Fix: Loading a save during public execution causes an error, ritual never completes. Fix: Missing graphic in “begin ritual” window without ideology active. Fix: Spectators can reserve altar interaction spots during rituals.

[[Category:Game mechanics]]

Grassland

2026-06-29T16:48:29Z

Dubious soup: /* Summary */

{{Odyssey}}
{{Infobox biome
| name = Grassland
| image = Grassland.jpg
| type = Biome
| texture = GrasslandsTexture.png
| canbuildbase = Yes
| allowFarmingCamps = Yes
| animal density = 3.7
| plant density = 1.0
| movement difficulty = 1
| forageability = 1
| wild plant regrow days = 13
| disease mtb days = 50
| min temperature = -10
| max temperature = 55
| min rainfall = 800
| max rainfall = 2500
| description = An open expanse dominated by tall grasses. These areas are good for farming and ranching, except when there's a drought. The lack of trees and other vegetation means there's always a steady breeze. Steam geysers never appear here due to low geothermal activity.

| clear = 12
| fog = 1
| rain = 2
| dry thunderstorm = 1
| rainy thunderstorm = 1
| foggy rain = 2
| hard snow = 1
| soft snow = 1
| gray pall = 1
| windy = 4

| max fish population = 540
| freshwater_common_bass = Yes
| freshwater_uncommon_catfish = Yes
| saltwater_common_bluefish = Yes
| saltwater_uncommon_flounder = Yes
| saltwater_uncommon_marlin = Yes
}}
'''Grasslands''' is a warm [[biome]] in RimWorld added by the [[Odyssey DLC]].

== Summary ==
Grasslands never have any [[steam geyser]]s. Grasslands may have [[drought]]s occur with a minimum of 40 days between them. It will never spawn in mountains.

In the lists below the number in brackets represents the relative commonality.

=== Flora ===
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Plant]] [[Lives In Grassland::>>0]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Grassland
}}
</div>{{#set:Flora Commonality Sum | {{#expr: {{#ask: [[Type::Plant]] [[Lives In Grassland::>>0]] | ?Lives In Grassland = | mainlabel=- | sep=+ }} }} }}

=== Fauna ===
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Grassland::>>0]] [[Coastal Animal::false]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Grassland
}}
</div>{{#set:Fauna Commonality Sum | {{#expr: {{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Grassland::>>0]] [[Coastal Animal::false]] | ?Lives In Grassland = | mainlabel=- | sep=+ }} }} }}

Additionally, these animals can spawn in coastal maps:
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Grassland::>0]] [[Coastal Animal::true]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Grassland
}}
</div>

If the map is [[polluted]],{{BiotechIcon}} then the game may choose to spawn in wild animals from this list instead:
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Grassland (Polluted)::>0]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Grassland (Polluted)
}}
</div>

=== Diseases ===
Grassland has a disease {{MTB}} of 50 days. The following diseases can occur in a grassland:
{| {{STDT|c_07 sortable}}
! Disease
! Commonality{{#set:Disease commonality sum|{{#expr:100+100+100+50+30+30+50+100+100+10}} }}
|-
| [[Flu]] || 100{{#set:Flu commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Plague]] || 100{{#set:Plague commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Malaria]] || 100{{#set:Malaria commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Gut worms]] || 50{{#set:Gut worms commonality|50}}
|-
| [[Fibrous mechanites]] || 30{{#set:Fibrous mechanites commonality|30}}
|-
| [[Sensory mechanites]] || 30{{#set:Sensory mechanites commonality|30}}
|-
| [[Muscle parasites]] || 50{{#set:Muscle parasites commonality|50}}
|-
| [[Flu#Animals|Animal flu]] || 100{{#set:Animal flu commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Plague#Animals|Animal plague]] || 100{{#set:Animal plague commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Organ decay]] || 10{{#set:Organ decay commonality|10}}
|}

=== Fish ===
The table below contains the list of all of the fish that can be caught - as well as where they can be caught.
{| {{STDT|c_23 sortable}}
! Fish
! Water body
! Rarity
|-
| [[Bass]] || Freshwater || Common
|-
| [[Catfish]] || Freshwater || Uncommon
|-
| [[Bluefish]] || Saltwater || Common
|-
| [[Marlin]] || Saltwater || Uncommon
|-
| [[Flounder]] || Saltwater || Uncommon
|}

=== Droughts ===
{{See also|Drought}}

Grasslands may have [[drought]]s. This is separated into two events:
* The Drought (initial) event always occurs first, lasts 4 days, and is hidden from the player. During drought (initial), [[rain]] cannot occur for 4 days - this includes the [[firewatcher]] that naturally encourages rain when [[fire]] is present.
* The proper Drought event disables rain and causes all crops outside [[hydroponics]] to grow at 30% speed, and lasts from 6 to 10 days.

Droughts have a 40 day cooldown before they can fire again.

== Summary ==
The Grasslands are a relatively easy biome with some caveats. Crops grow year-round, and there's plenty of arable soil and live [[grass]] for livestock to feed on. However, droughts can be challenging for inexperienced players or new colonies. The lack of [[geothermal generator|geothermal power]] can also present a difficulty, as [[geothermal power]] is normally a great way to get consistent power. This counters the lack of proper winters, which makes food preservation less urgent.

* '''Growing and Food: Moderate''' - When not in a drought, growing is comfortable with year-round growing seasons. Animals are fairly common, too. Droughts slow food growth, though, so more crops need to be grown than normal. Also, crop destruction and [[blight]] are more harmful due to the slower growth speed. [[Hydroponics]] are immune to drought. Trees are less common than in other temperate biomes.

* '''Disease: Easy''' - Grassland is identical to [[temperate forest]]. For a year-round growing biome, it has a relatively low disease frequency, and [[wild healroot]] grows naturally.

* '''Temperature: Easy-Moderate''' - Temperatures are warm and normally comfortable. [[Heat wave]]s can present an issue for unprepared colonists.

* '''Fires: Difficult''' - Grassland is filled with flammable ''[[grass]]'', and [[drought]]s disable the game's natural [[firewatcher]] for 10-14 days. Installing 2-tile wide firebreaks of non-flammable material around important areas, and using non-flammable materials construction, is recommended.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Grassland.jpg|A fully generated grassland
GrasslandsTexture.png|Grassland's texture on the world map
</gallery>

== History ==
* [[Odyssey DLC]] Release - Added.

{{nav|biomes|wide}}
[[Category:Biomes]]
[[Category:Hot Biomes]]

Events Guide

2026-07-02T03:07:03Z

Dubious soup: /* Basics */

{{Merge|destination=Events|reason=Redundant with [[Events]], but this page should be checked thoroughly for any useful and up-to-date information that can be salvaged for Events before conversion to redirect to [[Events]]}}
{{TOCright}}

This '''Events Guide''' is about surviving natural [[events]] and other non-raider hazards that the game throws at you. To defend your base against [[major threat|offensive threats]], see [[Defense tactics]].

== Basics ==
A successful colony should be able to stand up against most events without problem. This includes several aspects.

=== Crops and food ===
Cold temperatures, [[blight]], and [[toxic fallout]] can kill plants, as well as [[fire]] if it is allowed to spread. On the other hand, [[heat]] can't kill crops under default temperature settings, but can stifle their growth. Light levels are another major factor in plant growth. Crops can't grow in places with light level below 50%, and some events can lower light levels.

Having a [[greenhouse]] (enclosed room with a [[sun lamp]] + [[heater]]s) will protect your crops from every event except [[blight]] while letting you grow food in winter, which keeps your food production stable. Although [[Hydroponics basin]]s are not required, hydroponics can make food output more stable by making crops grow faster.

In the early game before a greenhouse is made, keeping a stockpile of food is useful in case of hard times. Stock up at least 20 days of food, with more the shorter the growing season, so you can survive the winter or extended events such as volcanic winters. A [[cooler|freezer]] will be essential for storing meat and animal products; crops last for 40 days unfrozen, so a freezer is not necessary for them.

Consider the animals when stocking food, as outdoors plants may be rendered inedible, or it's not safe to go outside for food.

=== Power ===
Generally, [[Solar panel]]s and [[wind turbine]]s are unreliable sources of power unless your colony is on a tile with permanent summer. Otherwise, [[Batteries]] are a must when using solar or wind, yet even with batteries, the power can occasionally run out. Solar panels, whilst reliable in most cases, can go out during an [[eclipse]]. Wind is inherently variable. While both are unreliable alone, using solar and wind together will reduce the chance of the colony being completely powerless.

Other sources of power like the [[wood-fired generator]], [[geothermal generator]], etc. are generally independent of events. In the early game, before geothermal is researched, you may want to have a wood-fired generator but turned off unless the colony runs out of power.

== Blight ==
[[Blight]] infects crops, resulting in the crops generating no yield and spreading the blight other crops. The only option is to remove the blighted plants. Blight is unavoidable unless you're in [[orbit]].{{OdysseyIcon}} Cutting the plants is the simplest solution when this occurs happens.

Keeping your crop fields separated with at least a 4-tile gap will prevent blight from spreading between them. Blight will only strike one field at a time, as long as they are sufficiently separated. [[Devilstrand]] and [[tree]]s are immune to blight and won't spread it, so to save space, it is possible to to place 4-tile rows of blight-immune crops between your fields. It is also a good idea to have multiple growing zones for important plants, so that one blight doesn't wipe out your production.

== Cold snap ==
A cold snap sends temperatures plummeting, reducing temperatures by 20 °C for 1.5 to 3.5 days. It has a 30 day cooldown.

The main threat of cold snaps is [[hypothermia]], which strikes early-game bases much harder. [[Campfire]]s and [[heater]]s will improve the indoors temperature. To protect colonists from the cold while outside, make [[jacket]]s, [[duster]]s, or in harsher conditions, [[parka]]s, and give them to colonists who spend the most time outdoors. While you can rotate your ill-equipped workers to allow recovery from the cold, it's not recommended to do so due to frostbite.

Crop death is also an issue, and can disrupt bases that lack greenhouses. When a cold snap starts, immediately harvest any viable crops exposed to the outside, as crops that have reached 65% maturity can provide some produce from harvesting it. Crops begin to die at -10C/14F. Crops in a greenhouse won't be affected, assuming the [[heater]]s are enough to warm up the room they are in.

=== Food ===
When all your crops are culled by the cold, you will need some time before you can harvest from your next batch of crops. Thus, keep a plentiful food storage on hand.

Grazing animals may also starve as the grasses shrivel up, rendering them inedible. To combat this, keep [[haygrass]] or [[kibble]] handy, and forbid them, only allowing animals to eat them when crises arise.

Any animal except wargs can eat [[simple meal]]s. So you can feed simple meals to grazing animals even if you have only meat available.

== Eclipse ==
A short-lasting event that causes the outdoor brightness to greatly lower over its duration. This event does not cause much harm on its own, however when combined with other events it can complicate matters.

It has a great impact on colonies reliant on [[solar panel]]s, which will barely function during an eclipse. To counter this, have alternate sources of power like [[wind turbine]]s. [[wood-fired generator]]s, [[chemfuel powered generator]]s, and [[geothermal generator]]s available. Building additional [[battery|batteries]] to help collect power when sunlight is plenty may ease the situation a little.

Crops grown outdoors are slightly slowed, which will have minimal impact on well-stocked bases, but can be dangerous for a base critically low on food.

== Flashstorm ==
During flashstorms, lightning rapidly strikes a small area, setting it on fire. In plant-rich areas, the fire can spread across the map, potentially causing great damage. It also delays the presence of rain, giving time for the fire to spread before being put out.

Some ways to help manage the fire before it goes out of control include:
*'''Proactive extinguishing:''' It may be possible, but time-consuming, to extinguish the fires as soon as the lightning hits, preventing its spread. Draw a home area over the area affected by the flashstorm, and colonists will automatically go and put out the fires. If they are fast enough, the 3x3 squares of fire left behind by the lightning will be contained without much spreading. Be sure to remove home area afterwards, or else you may find your janitors out in the hinterlands cleaning dirt. [[Firefoam pop pack]]s make this easier.
*'''Firebreaks:''' The best way to prevent fire from impacting your base is prevention. Having a 4-tile gap of fireproof floor, e.g., [[concrete]] or [[flagstone]], will prevent fires unless a direct lightning strike occurs.
*'''Firefoam:''' [[Firefoam popper]]s, [[firefoam pop pack]]s, and [[foam turret]]s can protect essential rooms from fire. Keep in mind that firefoam poppers are rather costly and one-use, and the latter two require [[chemfuel]].

== Heat wave ==
The opposite to a cold snap, this causes temperatures to rise by up to 17 °C for a few days.

In the early game or during a power outage, [[passive cooler]]s can work, but require an enclosed room to function. Electric [[cooler]]s can be established once Electricity is available. [[Duster]]s can protect your colonists from heat outside, although cannot be established immediately.

In the early game, it is possible to partially or fully leave the colony for a while, although doing so because of a heatwave is just a little bit funny. It's not always safe to leave, and recreation and food are more difficult in a caravan. Swimming can reduce heatstroke levels if heatstroke is present, but colonists cannot manually be ordered to swim and swimming does not reduce the actual temperature.

Freezer failure can be dangerous if you're relying on meat or pre-frozen meals, or dangerous if your food is close to spoiling. The most straightforward solution is to build more coolers, at the cost of resources and power. Having the coolers set to different temperatures (e.g., one at {{Temperature|-5}} and another at {{Temperature|-10}}) will save power, as one will be in low-power mode. In addition, double walling the freezer will provide more cold insulation. Grown crops should not require freezers due to their 40 day shelf life.

== Psychic drone ==
This event causes the mood of humans of a selected sex to drop by {{--|12}} to {{--|40}} mood, depending on the drone intensity, and then multiplied by their [[psychic sensitivity]], over a few days. While low drones are not harmful, even the lowest drones can be very dangerous if the colony took massive damage, is on the verge of breaking, or both.

* Social [[drug]]s and [[lavish meal]]s can help counter smaller mood debuffs. Don't give too many drugs or they'll risk addiction. [[Yayo]] and/or [[flake]] can help in mood emergencies but always risks addiction and overdose.
* Give colonists more recreation hours and spread them throughout the day. Setting your pawns to a ''polyphasic'' schedule (e.g., 4 hours of sleep, 4 hours of recreation, repeating 3 times) will maximize sleep, comfort, and recreation, making it an effective way to prevent especially vulnerable (naturally grumpy and psychic sensitive) pawns from breaking.
* Using anesthetic or [[cryptosleep casket]]s (which can be found in [[ancient shrine]]s) is another way to preserve pawns, at the cost of incapacitation. For [[sanguophage]]s,{{BiotechIcon}} [[deathrest]] is another way to avoid the psychic drone.

[[Psychic foil helmet]]s are a niche item, that, if already obtained, can help with drones (especially for psychic sensitive pawn).

== Solar flare ==
A highly disruptive event that shuts down all electrical devices with electromagnetic pulses. Its disruptive potential is magnified should another event coincide with it, such as heat waves, and the fact that it cannot be countered (i.e. no ways to prevent shutdown of electronics in the basegame) does not help either. Devices not using power are immune.

It chiefly affects all colonies that have electric appliances in them. Colonies extensively reliant on electricity, such as those using hydroponics farming or [[turret]]s, are especially affected.

=== Crops ===
Plants in a shut down hydroponics system will die over time in case of power cut, but time required for them to die exceeds the time of solar flare, so this is not a problem you should worry about. The more dangerous problem for plants is cold, from which they die almost instantly. To avoid this, in advance put a campfire (prohibit refueling) with a stack of wood stored near it in hydroponic room. When a solar flare appears, manually order any pawn to fill a campfire. It has been tested in practice that one campfire is enough for a room of 20 hydroponic farms at -40 outside. Plants growing in a sheltered greenhouse with a sun lamp but not hydroponics just won't grow during the power outage, but still can die from cold.

=== Fueled alternatives ===
Some production buildings have a fueled variant that consumes wood instead of power, and are immune to solar flares. Keeping them unfueled, then turning them on when a solar flare happens, allows for production to continue during solar flares. However, these all take up additional space, so they may not be worth building. If you are encountering additional power issues then they may be worth a try.

=== Freezers ===
Freezers do not function at all in a solar flare, and [[passive cooler]]s are unable to refrigerate food. While the maximum duration of the solar flare is not long enough to cause meat to rot, it can significantly impact the remaining rot time of the stored food, rot food that has not been immediately frozen after collection, and if the freezer cannot be brought down to temperature rapidly enough, rot can still occur after the solar flare has finished.

Double-walling freezers will help keep in the cold for slightly longer.

=== Temperature control ===
If temperatures are outside comfortable range, you can remedy this using the more traditional campfires or passive coolers. However, since solar flares don't last too long, this may be worth the effort only if colonists are at serious risk of hypothermia or heatstroke.

=== Turrets and mechanoids ===
Colonies that rely on [[turret]]s and [[friendly mechanoids]]{{BiotechIcon}} for their main combat power are most vulnerable to solar flares in the event of a raid. Turrets will not fire.

Combat mechanoids{{BiotechIcon}} will still function, but may go out of control if relying on [[band node]]s, which are turned off. Although the duration of the solar flare is not enough for them to go wild and become hostile, while it is going on the mechanoids will wander aimlessly around the settlement without the possibility of control. If the remaining [[bandwidth]] allows, you can disconnect from non-combat mechanoids to free up space for combat ones.

== Toxic fallout ==
A persistent event that poisons the atmosphere with toxic dust, slowly sickening animals and humans - inflicting [[toxic buildup]], killing plants, as well as slightly reducing brightness outside. This is a dangerous event across most stages of the game, severely punishing outdoor activity and killing crops. It lasts between 2.5 and 10.5 days, will not occur before Day 60 of the colony, and will not reoccur for 90 days.

=== Stay indoors ===
Unless necessary, you should have everyone (including animals) stay underneath a roof so they won't be affected by the toxic fallout. For those that do need to get out, make sure to limit their exposure and give them plenty of time to recover.

[[Face mask]]s will allow pawns to stay outside longer, and can be worn with [[simple helmet]]s and [[flak helmet]]s. [[Gas mask]]s{{BiotechIcon}} and [[vacsuit helmet]]s{{OdysseyIcon}} provide even more protection. Late game colonies can use [[detoxifier lung]]s,{{BiotechIcon}} [[detoxifier kidney]]s,{{BiotechIcon}} or tox-related [[gene]]s{{BiotechIcon}} so that pawns are protected or immune to the fallout.

=== Hunt quickly ===
For approximately the first day of toxic fallout, wildlife can still be hunted and butchered. When the animals' toxic buildup gets too high, they will instantly rot upon death. After the first few days any surviving wildlife will flee the map entirely. Get all the meat you can while it's still possible to do so. Note that [[boomrat]]s and [[boomalope]]s will not flee the map and can be hunted later, as they are not affected by toxic fallout.

=== Plan ahead ===
Set up a "roofed" [[allowed area]] '''before''' this event occurs. A roof extending one or two tiles around the edge of your base, and roofed walkways supported by pillars leading out to your crop fields or perimeter wall, will be a lifesaver. Any pawn whose toxic buildup goes from "initial" to "moderate" should be restricted to the roofed zone.

If possible, have a dirt-floor greenhouse set up and ready to go. You can build a sunlamp in the middle of a sunlamp-shaped crop field and make sure it is turned off until you need to build a roof over it and turn it on. You could also build a backup sunlamp, uninstall it and keep it in storage. This will allow you to quickly build a roof and power up a sunlamp over an existing crop field as soon as toxic fallout arrives.

Although it's best to surround a greenhouse with walls for protection from raiders, it's not strictly necessary. Even if you've just moved your colony to a brand new tile and get a long toxic fallout immediately upon arrival, you can throw down a couple roof support pillars, a sunlamp and a growing zone and start planting.

=== Crops ===
You can still continue to grow crops outdoors, but less successfully. To maximize the chances of successful harvest, grow fast-growing crops such as rice and harvest them quickly.

For a tribal colony that has not yet researched electricity, this may be the only option. However, most tribes will be able to research electricity within the first two or three years; toxic fallouts should not last more than a quadrum or so during that time.

=== Fallout retreat colony ===
Just make a quick caravan or [[passenger shuttle]]{{OdysseyIcon}} trip and move your people to another nearby world map tile, even 1 space away will work. This allows you to completely avoid the effects of toxic fallout. However, this also exposes your base to attack as there will be nobody left to defend. This requires raising the colony limit to 2 in the main game options menu.

== Volcanic winter ==
A long-lasting event where volcanic ash obscures the sun, slowly causing daylight level to drop to 86% of normal values. Because of this, plants will grow slower, solar panels will not generate as much electricity and temperatures will drop. Volcanic winters will last between 7.5 and 40 days, will not occur before Day 60 of the colony, and will not reoccur for 140 days.

=== Crops ===
[[File:Volcanic winter sunlamp.jpg|thumb|In an extreme desert, rain is rare and soil is scarce. In other biomes, you should roof your emergency sun lamps.]]
Volcanic winters won't kill plants outright, but it still has the potential to kill plants should the temperatures drop. You may want to expand your growing zones so you can keep up food production.

Like cold snaps, building warmed and lit greenhouses can help with crop growth during volcanic winters.

==Short circuits==
Short circuits (Zzztt events) can occur if your colony has regular [[power conduit]]s or if certain buildings like [[batteries]] are not [[roof]]ed. They will cause [[fire]]s and drain the batteries of the colony.

Short circuits can be avoided entirely by using [[hidden conduit]]s and keep applicable buildings roofed, so they are not a threat as of 1.5.

Pre-1.5, short circuits can be dangerous if the power's out when a raid occurs. Using fireproof walls and installing [[firefoam popper]]s will help with the fire risk, and using stable power will help with batteries. Having a grid of batteries disconnected to the main grid via [[power switch]] can help for short-term outages.

==Gray pall==
{{Anomaly|section=1}}

[[Gray pall]] reduces the mood of colonists for 1-2 days. The mood loss is only -6 if unroofed, and halved if roofed, so gray pall is rarely dangerous unless the pawn is already in a bad mood.

== Legacy events ==
=== Tornado ===
For those still playing Beta 18, a tornado can occasionally cut a path of destruction across the map, damaging everything in its way.

It is capable of wreaking havoc on even well-prepared bases, making it dangerous to face across all stages of the game. However, mountain bases are spared the wrath of the tornado as it can't get through the layers of overhead mountain.

Obviously you need to get your colonists out of the way of the tornado. It is easily outpaced by healthy colonists. Incapacitated colonists lying in bed should be moved elsewhere before they are stricken.

{{Nav|guides|wide}}
[[Category:Guides]]

Extreme desert

2026-06-29T17:02:51Z

Dubious soup: /* Analysis */

{{Infobox biome
| name = Extreme desert
| image = ExtremeDesert.png
| type = Biome
| texture = ExtremeDesertTexture.png
| canbuildbase = Yes
| allowFarmingCamps = false
| animal density = 0.1
| plant density = 0.002
| movement difficulty = 1
| max rainfall = 340
| min temperature = 4.82 
| forageability = 0
| wild plant regrow days = 35
| disease mtb days = 90
| description = An extremely hot, dry area, devoid of almost all life. Searing heat and a near total lack of arable land make it very difficult to survive here.<br/>Searing heat and a near total lack of arable land make survival here a challenge.
| Extreme Biome = true

| clear = 18
| rain = 1
| dry thunderstorm = 1
| rainy thunderstorm = 1
| hard snow = 1
| soft snow = 1.5
| gray pall = 1
| sandstorm = 2

| max fish population = 240
| freshwater_common_guppy = Yes
| freshwater_uncommon_tilapia = Yes
| saltwater_common_bluefish = Yes
| saltwater_uncommon_tuna = Yes
}}
'''Extreme desert''' is a hot and dry [[biome]] in RimWorld.

== Summary ==
The hot temperatures can cause problems for colonists and tamed animals. Its warm enough for growing plants outdoors, but it has to be done in stony patches around hills and mountains. Even though [[potatoes]] grow better in stony soil, you need to plant [[rice]] first so you will not starve while waiting for [[potatoes]]. [[Berries|Strawberries]] are also a good idea since there is no wood for cooking. Later [[Hydroponics basin|hydroponics]] can be used instead of ground. This biome has patches of soft sand which prevent building, but can be removed with [[moisture pump]]s. Animal migrations may occur, about once every other year.

In the lists below the number in brackets represents the relative commonality.

=== Flora ===
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Plant]] [[Lives In Extreme Desert::>>0]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Extreme Desert
}}
</div>{{#set:Flora Commonality Sum | {{#expr: {{#ask: [[Type::Plant]] [[Lives In Extreme Desert::>>0]] | ?Lives In Extreme Desert = | mainlabel=- | sep=+ }} }} }}

=== Fauna ===
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Extreme Desert::>>0]] [[Coastal Animal::false]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Extreme Desert
}}
</div>{{#set:Fauna Commonality Sum | {{#expr: {{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Extreme Desert::>>0]] [[Coastal Animal::false]] | ?Lives In Extreme Desert = | mainlabel=- | sep=+ }} }} }}

Additionally, these animals can spawn in coastal maps:
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Extreme Desert::>0]] [[Coastal Animal::true]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Extreme Desert
}}
</div>

If the map is [[polluted]],{{BiotechIcon}} then the game may choose to spawn in wild animals from this list instead:
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Extreme Desert (Polluted)::>0]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Extreme Desert (Polluted)
}}
</div>

=== Diseases ===
Extreme Desert has a disease {{MTB}} of 90 days. The following diseases can occur in a Extreme Desert:
{| {{STDT|c_07 sortable}}
! Disease
! Commonality{{#set:Disease commonality sum|{{#expr:100+80+40+40+20+20+100+80+10}} }}
|-
| [[Flu]] || 100{{#set:Flu commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Plague]] || 80{{#set:Plague commonality|80}}
|-
| [[Gut worms]] || 40{{#set:Gut worms commonality|40}}
|-
| [[Muscle parasites]] || 40{{#set:Muscle parasites commonality|40}}
|-
| [[Fibrous mechanites]] || 30{{#set:Fibrous mechanites commonality|30}}
|-
| [[Sensory mechanites]] || 30{{#set:Sensory mechanites commonality|30}}
|-
| [[Flu#Animals|Animal flu]] || 100{{#set:Animal flu commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Plague#Animals|Animal plague]] || 80{{#set:Animal plague commonality|80}}
|-
| [[Organ decay]] || 10{{#set:Organ decay commonality|10}}
|}

=== Fish ===
{{Odyssey|section=1|No category}}
The table below contains the list of all of the fish that can be caught - as well as where they can be caught.
{| {{STDT|c_23 sortable}}
! Fish
! Water body
! Rarity
|-
| [[Guppy]] || Freshwater || Common
|-
| [[Tilapia]] || Freshwater || Uncommon
|-
| [[Bluefish]] || Saltwater || Common
|-
| [[Tuna]] || Saltwater || Uncommon
|}

== Analysis ==
{{See also|Extreme Desert Guide}}

The extreme desert is one of the harshest biomes in the game, although a standard extreme desert is not as difficult as the [[sea ice]]. There is arable land, natural stone, ores, and natural structures to take advantage of, making it easier to reach stability. The following difficulty analysis is for regular extreme deserts:

* '''Food and Growing: Difficult''' - Food can be an issue when starting out due to the lack of animals and poor soil. However, arable land exists, and growing can be done year-round (with normal temperature settings). Once the first batch of crops finishes growing, a small colony's worth of food can be sustained.

* '''Disease: Easy-Moderate''' - Disease events are uncommon, although no [[wild healroot]] grows there, and growing space is limited for regular healroot.

* '''Temperature: Difficult (regular settings) to Extreme (hot world temperature)''' - Extreme desert is not nearly as hot as the [[sea ice]] is cold. Average summer temperatures are typically below {{Temperature|36}}, the normal [[heatstroke]] threshold, although heatstroke can still occur during the daytime and from [[heat wave]]s. The near total lack of [[wood]] makes building an emergency [[passive cooler]] harder. Once electric [[cooler]]s and/or [[duster]]s are established, temperature should no longer be an issue. If the global temperature is increased in the world-generation settings, extreme deserts can become hot enough to prevent crops from growing.

* '''Fires: Easy''' - There is basically no plant life, so [[flashstorm]]s are not a concern unless lightning hits your colony directly, and wildfires essentially don't exist. Rain is rare, so if a manhunting [[boomalope]] or a raider lights your flammable base on fire, it is unlikely that rain will naturally happen.

* '''Predators: Easy''' - The only natural predator is the [[fennec fox]], which is half the size of an adult human and has equal speed to a base human.

Extreme desert is overall a difficult biome. While it is not difficult to reach stability, the extreme desert remains unforgiving if/when something goes wrong, especially during the early game. Once a sufficient [[hydroponics]] farm can be established, the average difficulty is similar to other biomes, and arguably easier due to the reduced diseases.

=== Dune survival ===
In the [[dunes]],{{OdysseyIcon}} there is no soil and no ores to mine. Food is limited to hunting the few animals around, trading, and [[cannibalism]]. Cannibalism is the main reliable food source in the early game. Raids happen at the usual rate, and with a colonist count of 1, the storyteller's [[population intent]] will kick in to provide more food via potential recruits. [[Fishing]]{{OdysseyIcon}} is possible if a dunes tile generates on a coast.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
ExtremeDesert.png|An Extreme Desert

ExtremeDesertTexture.png|Extreme desert's texture on the world map
</gallery>

== Version history ==
* [[Version/0.13.1135|0.13.1135]] - Added

{{nav|biomes|wide}}
[[Category:Biomes]]
[[Category:Hot Biomes]]

Tropical rainforest

2026-06-29T07:02:50Z

Dubious soup: /* Summary */

{{Infobox biome
| name = Tropical rainforest
| image = TropicalRainforest.png
| type = Biome
| texture = TemperateSwampTexture.png
| canbuildbase = Yes
| allowFarmingCamps = Yes
| animal density = 6.5
| plant density = 0.99
| movement difficulty = 2
| min average temperature = 15
| max average temperature = 30
| min temperature = 15
| min rainfall = 2000
| forageability = 0.75
| wild plant regrow days = 13
| disease mtb days = 35
| description = A thick, moist jungle, buzzing with animal life and infested with disease. Despite its visual beauty, this is a very dangerous biome. Choking overgrowth, aggressive animals, and constant sickness are why some explorers call this the "green hell".

| clear = 18
| fog = 1
| rain = 2
| dry thunderstorm = 0.3
| rainy thunderstorm = 1.7
| foggy rain = 1
| hard snow = 4
| soft snow = 4
| gray pall = 1
| blind fog = 1
| overcast = 2
| torrential rain = 0.5

| max fish population = 720
| freshwater_common_tilapia = Yes
| freshwater_uncommon_piranha = Yes
| saltwater_common_bluefish = Yes
| saltwater_uncommon_tuna = Yes
| saltwater_uncommon_flounder = Yes
}}
'''Tropical rainforest''' is a hot [[biome]] in RimWorld.

== Summary ==
The Tropical Rainforest is both loved and loathed by the Rimworld community. Tropical Rainforests are famous for their diseases, including [[Sleeping sickness]]: a slow-progressing, long-lasting disease exclusive to the tropics. Rapid plant growth makes it difficult to clear and maintain land. However, Tropical Rainforests also grow crops year-round and are rich in wood, fertile soil, and wild animals.

In the lists below the number in brackets represents the relative commonality.

=== Flora ===
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Plant]] [[Lives In Tropical Rainforest::>>0]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Tropical Rainforest #
}}
</div>{{#set:Flora Commonality Sum | {{#expr: {{#ask: [[Type::Plant]] [[Lives In Tropical Rainforest::>>0]] | ?Lives In Tropical Rainforest = | mainlabel=- | sep=+ }} }} }}

=== Fauna ===
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Tropical Rainforest::>>0]] [[Coastal Animal::false]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Tropical Rainforest
}}
</div>{{#set:Fauna Commonality Sum | {{#expr: {{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Tropical Rainforest::>>0]] [[Coastal Animal::false]] | ?Lives In Tropical Rainforest = | mainlabel=- | sep=+ }} }} }}

Additionally, these animals can spawn in coastal maps:
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Tropical Rainforest::>0]] [[Coastal Animal::true]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Tropical Rainforest
}}
</div>

If the map is [[polluted]],{{BiotechIcon}} then the game may choose to spawn in wild animals from this list instead:
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Tropical Rainforest (Polluted)::>0]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Tropical Rainforest (Polluted)
}}
</div>

=== Diseases ===
Tropical Rainforest has a disease {{MTB}} of 35 days. The following diseases can occur in a Tropical Rainforest:
{| {{STDT|c_07 sortable}}
! Disease
! Commonality{{#set:Disease commonality sum|{{#expr:100+100+160+140+80+30+30+80+100+100+10}} }}
|-
| [[Flu]] || 100{{#set:Flu commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Plague]] || 100{{#set:Plague commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Malaria]] || 160{{#set:Malaria commonality|160}}
|-
| [[Sleeping sickness]] || 140{{#set:Sleeping sickness commonality|140}}
|-
| [[Gut worms]] || 80{{#set:Gut worms commonality|80}}
|-
| [[Fibrous mechanites]] || 30{{#set:Fibrous mechanites commonality|30}}
|-
| [[Sensory mechanites]] || 30{{#set:Sensory mechanites commonality|30}}
|-
| [[Muscle parasites]] || 80{{#set:Muscle parasites commonality|80}}
|-
| [[Flu#Animals|Animal flu]] || 100{{#set:Animal flu commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Plague#Animals|Animal plague]] || 100{{#set:Animal plague commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Organ decay]] || 10{{#set:Organ decay commonality|10}}
|}

=== Fish ===
{{Odyssey|section=1|No category}}
The table below contains the list of all of the fish that can be caught - as well as where they can be caught.
{| {{STDT|c_23 sortable}}
! Fish
! Water body
! Rarity
|-
| [[Tilapia]] || Freshwater || Common
|-
| [[Piranha]] || Freshwater || Uncommon
|-
| [[Bluefish]] || Saltwater || Common
|-
| [[Tuna]] || Saltwater || Uncommon
|-
| [[Flounder]] || Saltwater || Uncommon
|}

== Analysis ==
While food is rarely an issue, fertile land is common, and many tiles have comfortable temperatures year-round, the tropical forest is rife with disease and predation.

* '''Food and Growing: Easy''' - Growing seasons are often year-round, while it is densely populated with both animals and plant life.

* '''Disease: Difficult''' - Diseases are very common in the rainforest, with the only biome having more diseases being the [[tropical swamp]]. In addition, wild [[healroot]] does not grow in the tropical rainforest, making medicine supply an issue unless there is a grower with Plants 8+.

* '''Temperature: Moderate (regular settings) or Extreme (hot world)''' - Cooler rainforest tiles should be fairly comfortable to live in except during [[heat wave]]s. Warmer tiles can cause heatstroke during the warmer months, but [[passive cooler]]s are easy to make due to the abundance of wood. If the world's temperature setting is increased past normal, tropical rainforests can have dangerously hot temperatures year-round. They have no significant cold periods, although [[cold snap]]s can happen in cooler tiles.

* '''Fires: Difficult''' - Tropical rainforests are filled with trees and other flora, making fires near your base difficult to contain. The game's [[Weather|firewatch]] will typically contain large fires, but various conditions can disable the firewatch and significant damage can occur before it contains the fire regardless. For more information, see [[Weather]]. Surrounding your base and growing fields with firebreaks such as stone walls, two-tile-wide non-flammable flooring, or sections of roof over soil to prevent plant growth will make fires less of an issue.

* '''Predators: Moderate, but common''' - While there are no large predators like [[grizzly bear]]s, predators like [[cobra]]s and [[panther]]s are common, and will sometimes decide to hunt colonists. Colonists who venture far away are at greater risk than usual, while small animals and [[children]]{{BiotechIcon}} are especially vulnerable.

Overall difficulty is moderate. It is relatively easy in the early game due to having year-round growing periods and plenty of wood. Past the early game, when food and temperature are no longer issues, the rainforest is somewhat more difficult than most other biomes due to its disease frequency. The added diseases are annoying and will slow down production, and while rarely life-threatening, an outbreak can be a death sentence for a struggling or just-recovering colony.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
TropicalRainforest.png|A Tropical Rainforest

TropicalRainforestTexture.png|Tropical Rainforest's texture on the world map
</gallery>

== Version history ==
* [[Version/0.7.581|0.7.581]] - Added

{{nav|biomes|wide}}
[[Category:Biomes]]
[[Category:Hot Biomes]]

Scarlands

2026-06-29T06:59:39Z

Dubious soup: /* Analysis */

{{Odyssey}}
{{Infobox biome
| name = Scarlands
| image = ScarlandsWide.png
| type = Biome
| texture = ScarlandsTexture.png
| canbuildbase = Yes
| allowFarmingCamps = Yes
| animal density = 1.0
| plant density = 0.4
| movement difficulty = 1
| min temperature = -10
| min rainfall = 600
| forageability = 1
| wild plant regrow days = 20
| disease mtb days = 50
| max fish population = 0
| description = Ruins of an ancient city which was destroyed by weapons of mass destruction. Water here is toxic and scaria runs rampant among the animals. Mechanoids lurk among the shattered buildings, waiting to awaken and kill again.

| clear = 12
| fog = 1
| rain = 2
| dry thunderstorm = 1
| rainy thunderstorm = 1
| foggy rain = 2
| hard snow = 2
| soft snow = 2
| gray pall = 1
| tox rain = 1
| overcast = 6
}}
'''Scarlands''' is a temperate [[biome]] in RimWorld added by the [[Odyssey DLC]].

== Summary ==
{{Stub|section=1|reason=Pollution integration with Biotech? Address evem if no existent. Also link to toxic water}}
Scarlands [[biomes]] have multiple unique traits compared to other biomes. All water bodies in Scarlands are toxic, and [[tox rain]] can occur, which will cause [[toxic buildup]] to exposed pawns. Though they share properties such as temperature, growing season, and rainfall with other temperate biomes, scarlands have a significantly lower amount of wild [[plants]] and [[animals]], the latter of which have a 50% chance to spawn with [[scaria]]. Additionally, soil is scarce and [[rich soil]] does not spawn{{Check Tag|Verify}}, which when combined with the lack of food sources makes this biome a challenge to settle in.

Players entering Scarlands will be greeted by a large complex of ancient ruins. Most buildings are empty, though some contain treasures, traps, or dormant [[mechanoid]]s.

In the lists below the number in brackets represents the relative commonality.

=== Flora ===
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Plant]] [[Lives In Scarlands::>>0]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Scarlands
}}
</div>{{#set:Flora Commonality Sum | {{#expr: {{#ask: [[Type::Plant]] [[Lives In Scarlands::>>0]] | ?Lives In Scarlands = | mainlabel=- | sep=+ }} }} }}

=== Fauna ===
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Scarlands::>>0]] [[Coastal Animal::false]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Scarlands
}}
</div>{{#set:Fauna Commonality Sum | {{#expr: {{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Scarlands::>>0]] [[Coastal Animal::false]] | ?Lives In Scarlands = | mainlabel=- | sep=+ }} }} }}

Additionally, these animals can spawn in coastal maps:
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Scarlands::>0]] [[Coastal Animal::true]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Scarlands
}}
</div>

If the map is [[polluted]],{{BiotechIcon}} then the game may choose to spawn in wild animals from this list instead:
<div class="ul-column-width-200">
{{#ask: [[Type::Animal]] [[Lives In Scarlands (Polluted)::>0]]
| format = template
| template = Icon List
| link = none
| sort = From DLC, Name
| default = None.
| ?Lives In Scarlands (Polluted)
}}
</div>

=== Diseases ===
Scarlands has a disease {{MTB}} of 50 days. The following diseases can occur in a scarlands:
{| {{STDT|c_07 sortable}}
! Disease
! Commonality{{#set:Disease commonality sum|{{#expr:100+100+100+50+30+30+50+100+100+10}} }}
|-
| [[Flu]] || 100{{#set:Flu commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Plague]] || 100{{#set:Plague commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Malaria]] || 100{{#set:Malaria commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Gut worms]] || 50{{#set:Gut worms commonality|50}}
|-
| [[Fibrous mechanites]] || 30{{#set:Fibrous mechanites commonality|30}}
|-
| [[Sensory mechanites]] || 30{{#set:Sensory mechanites commonality|30}}
|-
| [[Muscle parasites]] || 50{{#set:Muscle parasites commonality|50}}
|-
| [[Flu#Animals|Animal flu]] || 100{{#set:Animal flu commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Plague#Animals|Animal plague]] || 100{{#set:Animal plague commonality|100}}
|-
| [[Organ decay]] || 10{{#set:Organ decay commonality|10}}
|}

=== Fish ===
Water bodies spawned inside of scarlands do not contain fish.

== Analysis ==
{{Stub|section=1|reason=More detail, strategies, and general cleanup needed}}
The Scarlands present a unique risk/reward dilemma.

The risk is the hostile enviorment. Much of the arable soil is replaced with tile, there are no naturally grown trees or edible plants, and the few animals that exist are often infected with [[scaria]]. Additionally, while the buildings can provide shelter and resources, they also can contain deadly [[mechanoids]] and [[hunter trap]]s that can easily kill or cripple unprepared colonists. If the [[Biotech DLC]] is active, [[pollution]] will be present in the Scarlands. This pollution causes acidic smog every ~200 days, inflicts the [[toxic buildup]] debuff on unmasked colonists, slows plant growth, and taints the water.

The reward is what you can scavenge. The buildings can be used for free shelter to settle into from day one, and contain valuables like [[component]]s, [[steel]], and [[chemfuel]] scattered throughout. The Scarlands also offer an interesting shift from typical gameplay. Instead of building a base from scratch, the base becomes a "fixer-upper" project, which can be novel and rewarding for some players.

In terms of strategy, a player’s biggest concern in the early game is food. Due to the low-fertility soil, [[potatoes]] (or [[toxipotatoes]], depending on the level of [[pollution]]) are a player’s best crop, as they grow independently from soil fertility. Players will have to rely on trade, raiding, or cannibalism while waiting for crops to grow. Maddened animals will hunt pawns often, so have good quality weapons, armor, and well-placed traps as soon as possible. Furthermore, ranged weapons are recommended over melee for the distance between pawns and [[scaria]]-infected animals in combat.

Overall, the Scarlands offer unique challenges and rewards compared to other biomes; however, survival can prove overwhelming for new or learning players.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
ScarlandsWide.png|A scarlands
ScarlandsPolluted.png|A [[polluted]] scarlands {{BiotechIcon}}
Scarlands.jpg|A fully generated scarlands
ScarlandsTexture.png|Scarlands's texture on the world map
</gallery>
== Version history ==
* [[Odyssey DLC]] Release - Added.

{{nav|biomes|wide}}
[[Category:Biomes]]
[[Category:Temperate Biomes]]