Cover

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Cover can be anything that has the possibility to stop a fired bullet from hitting the intended target. Cover in RimWorld can be found in several forms. Some examples are: Chunks, Sandbags, Walls, the Saguaro cactus, and even animals.

High cover consists of any wall, constructed or otherwise, which a character can lean around to shoot enemies (if they're standing next to the wall). Any wall counts as high cover, and will stop bullets or other projectiles not just from hitting whoever is taking cover behind them, but prevent them from continuing on to hit anything else. It also blocks explosives.
Low cover consists of sandbags, rock or slag chunks, trees, bushes, animals, some types of furniture and structures, and virtually anything else that a character can shoot over. Low cover does not provide as high a chance of stopping projectiles as high cover, but it's still far better than nothing, and it allows your colonists to shoot over it whereas a wall could block your shooters' line of sight to target completely.
Natural cover is anything that can protect you on a newly generated map.
Artificial cover is anything you build; even debris that you move could potentially count as artificial cover.

Cover is multiplied by a factor of 20-100% depending which direction the attack is coming from. Cover works best against attacks coming straight at it, but doesn't work so well against incoming attacks from the sides.

Cover effectiveness on tiles at each angle

Here's a list of each angle threshold and the corresponding cover effectiveness multiplier in a list - as this doesn't look particularly great in a table:

• a < 15° = 100% effectiveness
• 15° < a < 27° = 80% effectiveness
• 27° < a < 40° = 60% effectiveness
• 40° < a < 52° = 40% effectiveness
• 52° < a < 65° = 20% effectiveness
• a > 65° = 0% effectiveness

Cover is additionally less effective at point-blank range: cover's only 33.33% as effective when the shooter is directly in front of the target's cover, and 66.666% if the shooter is 1 tile away from the cover.

Sometimes multiple sources of cover also work together to block additional projectiles. For example, shooting at a pawn behind low cover from a diagonal angle will result in 2 units of low cover providing protection at once, each at a reduced efficiency.

Contents:	High Cover	Low Cover	other/unknown
Artificial Cover	Door Walls	Sand Bags	Buildings
Natural Cover	Mountain walls Saguaro cactus	Rubble Bushes	Animals

The use of walls to block vulnerable angles of the sniper on the sterile tile: When shot by enemy on red cells, the effectiveness is 72% or lower. The effectiveness against green cells is 78 or 79%, against yellow cells is 75%. Enemies on gray cells cannot hit the sniper.

Natural cover

Natural cover is anything that is generated when the map is created, and is almost everything you can find on a newly generated map.

Walls

Solid walls in general, from mountain walls to walls of ruins scattered across the map, are all capable of providing good cover. Pawns using walls as cover will fire from behind the corner of the wall.

Walls provide up to 75% cover, but is heavily affected by direction.

Chunks

Chunks provide 50% cover.

They are littered all over the map, in the form of stone or steel slag chunks. They will be used by attackers to gain an advantage over you.
You can also use chunks for protection, but their random placement is unlikely to favor you, so it's advisable to use it only during mobile warfare or as a last resort.

Chunks, in combination with a dumping area, can provide a free alternative to sandbag and barricade emplacements in the early game when cloth or solid materials are scarce. Here is how it works:

• Create a dumping stockpile zone in the desired shape (typically 1 square wide).
• The dumping zones accept Chunks and Corpses by default, you can choose only the type of chunk you want.
• Select chunks on the map using the "Haul things" option in the "Orders" tab of the Architect menu.
• Wait for them to be hauled.
• Place Colonists behind this line for cover during a firefight.

Bushes

Bushes provide 20% cover. In general, you'll want to avoid these—especially as they can catch fire very easily.

Trees

Trees provide 25% cover.

Saguaro cactus

A saguaro cactus is a large tree-like cactus with 2 branches. They provide 35% cover.

Animals

A last resort to cover if you have nothing else can be animals. By having animals between your colonist(s) and the attackers, they can actually work as a makeshift barricade (or 'meat shield') by being hit instead of your colonists. Larger animals (e.g. Muffalo) work better for this. However, you shouldn't rely on this, as animals tend to wander off at random. They can, however, become enraged and attack your enemies (or you) if fired upon long enough, so there may be something to it after all.

Pawns

Other pawns can be used to shield your colonist from fire if they are in between them and the attacker. This is a natural shield when going up against a brawler that is backed up by a ranged attacker as their allies will accidentally hit them. Putting one colonist in front of another will also be used as a meat shield for the one behind. A downed pawn can provide cover as long as they're still alive, but once they die they lose the ability to soak up projectiles.

Artificial cover

Artificial cover is anything that you can build. (In a sense, rubble could be counted as artificial cover after you have moved it, and are using it as cover.)

Sandbags and barricades

Sandbags and barricades are the easiest and cheapest method of protection, offering substantial survivability potential while maintaining maximum angles of fire — great for shooters that need to cover a wide area of approach. U-shapes are good for one character to hide in. Zigzag patterns will allow multiple characters to cover close together, which is handy if you want to focus fire on a few attackers. They can also be combined with walls to provide additional cover from more angles.

Sandbags and barricades both provide 55% cover. Barricades differ from Sandbags in that they are made from solid materials such as stone, wood and metals, while sandbags use textiles. This allows barricades to be made slightly earlier in game as textiles can sometimes be difficult to find early on, however wood and steel are flammable and not particularly strong. Once stonecutting comes online however, stone barricades are cost effective and fireproof low cover.

Walls

Walls can be used as cover as well. Characters will lean around them to shoot. Natural walls work in the same way, and will almost always have more durability than any artificial wall.

Door

A door can be used as a high cover if it stands alone so a colonist can lean around it.

Buildings

Most things that you can build can also stop bullets, although they take damage and will eventually be destroyed, catch fire or explode, if not repaired in time.

• Battery
• Nutrient paste dispenser
• Geothermal generator
• Comms console
• Solar generator
• Wind turbine
• Mini-turret (will explode in a 3 tile radius if too damaged!)
• Research bench
• Hydroponics basin
• Stool
• Dining chair
• Table
• Shelf
• Bed
• Plant pot (low cover)
• Torch lamp (low cover)
• Sun lamp (low cover)
• Standing lamp (low cover)

Not cover

The following things do not provide cover.

• resources and items that can be picked up (i.e. steel, wood logs, stone blocks)
• plants (except for trees, Saguaro cactus, bushes, and raspberry bushes)
• minified items
• power conduit; power switch
• graves
• dead bodies
• spots (i.e. sleeping spot, crafting spot)

Full list

The following expandable table lists all objects that provide cover, sorted by cover effectiveness, then name.

Name	Cover effectiveness	Hit points
Ancient container	0.75	500
Animal flap	0.75	20
Autodoor	0.75	160
Bioferrite generator	0.75	400
Bioferrite harvester	0.75	200
Chemfuel powered generator	0.75	300
Climate adjuster	0.75	1,500
Collapsed rocks	0.75	500
Compacted machinery	0.75	2,000
Compacted plasteel	0.75	8,000
Compacted steel	0.75	1,500
Cooler	0.75	100
Corrupted obelisk	0.75	3,000
Crashed mechanitor ship	0.75	200
Door	0.75	160
EMI dynamo	0.75	1,500
Electric crematorium	0.75	300
Electric inhibitor	0.75	100
Electroharvester	0.75	250
Fence gate	0.75	20
Fleshmass spitter	0.75	300
Geothermal generator	0.75	500
Gold ore	0.75	1,500
Granite	0.75	900
Infinite chemreactor	0.75	200
Jade	0.75	1,500
Limestone	0.75	700
Marble	0.75	450
Mech assembler	0.75	260
Mech booster	0.75	150
Mech capsule	0.75	180
Mech high-shield	0.75	200
Mech low-shield	0.75	200
Mech node	0.75	50
Noctolith	0.75	1,000
Nutrient paste dispenser	0.75	350
Ornate door	0.75	250
Pod launcher	0.75	200
Psychic droner	0.75	1,500
Psychic suppressor	0.75	1,500
Sandstone	0.75	400
Security door	0.75	800
Sensor cluster	0.75	100
Ship computer core	0.75	150
Ship engine	0.75	400
Ship reactor	0.75	500
Ship structural beam	0.75	400
Silver ore	0.75	1,500
Slate	0.75	500
Smoke spewer	0.75	1,500
Smoothed granite	0.75	900
Smoothed limestone	0.75	700
Smoothed marble	0.75	450
Smoothed sandstone	0.75	400
Smoothed slate	0.75	500
Spacedrone	0.75	1,000
Sun blocker	0.75	1,500
Toxic spewer	0.75	1,500
Toxifier generator	0.75	300
Twisted obelisk	0.75	3,000
Uranium ore	0.75	4,000
Vent	0.75	100
Void monolith	0.75
Wall	0.75	300
Warped obelisk	0.75	3,000
Watermill generator	0.75	400
Weather controller	0.75	1,500
Wood-fired generator	0.75	300
Ancient fence	0.55	50
Barricade	0.55	300
Sandbags	0.55	300
Ancient ATM	0.5	200
Ancient air conditioner	0.5	200
Ancient band node	0.5	500
Ancient basic recharger	0.5	500
Ancient car	0.5	600
Ancient car frame	0.5	350
Ancient comms console	0.5	250
Ancient concrete barrier	0.5	500
Ancient cryptosleep casket	0.5	250
Ancient cryptosleep pod	0.5	200
Ancient display bank	0.5	250
Ancient dropship	0.5	4,000
Ancient dropship engine	0.5	2,000
Ancient engine block	0.5	350
Ancient equipment blocks	0.5	200
Ancient exostrider cannon	0.5	2,000
Ancient exostrider head	0.5	1,500
Ancient exostrider leg	0.5	1,000
Ancient exostrider midsection	0.5	3,000
Ancient generator	0.5	250
Ancient giant wheel	0.5	300
Ancient hydrant	0.5	200
Ancient jet engine	0.5	2,000
Ancient kitchen sink	0.5	200
Ancient large crate	0.5	220
Ancient large mech gestator	0.5	1,000
Ancient locker bank	0.5	200
Ancient long crate	0.5	180
Ancient machine	0.5	300
Ancient macro-engine block	0.5	600
Ancient mech gestator	0.5	500
Ancient microwave	0.5	200
Ancient oven	0.5	200
Ancient pipeline section	0.5	400
Ancient pipes	0.5	50
Ancient pod car	0.5	600
Ancient postbox	0.5	200
Ancient refrigerator	0.5	200
Ancient ruined APC	0.5	2,000
Ancient ruined tank	0.5	2,000
Ancient security turret	0.5	100
Ancient shopping cart	0.5	150
Ancient small crate	0.5	150
Ancient standard recharger	0.5	500
Ancient storage cylinder	0.5	250
Ancient stove	0.5	200
Ancient tank trap	0.5	500
Ancient toilet	0.5	200
Ancient toxifier generator	0.5	450
Ancient troop carrier	0.5	1,800
Ancient truck	0.5	600
Ancient vending machine	0.5	250
Ancient warspider remains	0.5	4,000
Ancient warsprinter remains	0.5	1,800
Ancient warwalker claw	0.5	2,000
Ancient warwalker foot	0.5	600
Ancient warwalker leg	0.5	2,000
Ancient warwalker shell	0.5	2,000
Ancient warwalker torso	0.5	4,000
Ancient washing machine	0.5	200
Ancient wheel	0.5	150
Art bench	0.5	180
Auto charge turret	0.5	180
Auto inferno turret	0.5	180
Autocannon turret	0.5	380
Bioferrite shaper	0.5	180
Biofuel refinery	0.5	200
Biosculpter pod	0.5	250
Brewery	0.5	180
Butcher table	0.5	180
Comms console	0.5	250
Cryptosleep casket	0.5	250
Deep drill	0.5	300
Defoliator	0.5	400
Drug lab	0.5	120
Dryad cocoon	0.5	150
Electric smelter	0.5	180
Electric smithy	0.5	180
Electric stove	0.5	180
Electric tailor bench	0.5	180
Fabrication bench	0.5	300
Fueled smithy	0.5	180
Fueled stove	0.5	180
Gaumaker pod	0.5	150
Gibbet cage	0.5	150
Grand altar	0.5	350
Grand sculpture	0.5	300
Grand stele	0.5	400
Growth vat	0.5	500
Hand tailor bench	0.5	180
Hi-tech research bench	0.5	250
Hive	0.5	130
Hopper	0.5	100
Large altar	0.5	250
Large mech gestator	0.5	350
Large sculpture	0.5	150
Large stele	0.5	200
Machining table	0.5	180
Mech gestator	0.5	250
Mechanoid slag chunk	0.5	300
Medium altar	0.5	150
Megascarab cocoon	0.5	150
Megaspider cocoon	0.5	150
Multi-analyzer	0.5	200
Sarcophagus	0.5	250
School desk	0.5	75
Security crate	0.5	400
Serum lab	0.5	180
Shard inhibitor	0.5	100
Ship chunk	0.5	300
Ship cryptosleep casket	0.5	200
Simple research bench	0.5	250
Skullspike	0.5	150
Small altar	0.5	50
Solar generator	0.5	300
Spelopede cocoon	0.5	150
Stasis Cocoon	0.5	150
Steel slag chunk	0.5	300
Stone chunk	0.5	300
Stonecutter's table	0.5	180
Styling station	0.5	120
Terror sculpture	0.5	150
Tool cabinet	0.5	100
Transport pod	0.5	250
Uranium slug turret	0.5	380
Wastepack atomizer	0.5	500
Wind turbine	0.5	150
Fermenting barrel	0.45	100
Ancient bed	0.4	140
Ancient system rack	0.4	250
Armchair	0.4	120
Auto mortar	0.4	260
Band node	0.4	150
Battery	0.4	100
Bed	0.4	140
Billiards table	0.4	250
Bookcase	0.4	100
Chess table	0.4	100
Couch	0.4	160
Deathrest accelerator	0.4	200
Deathrest casket	0.4	200
Double bed	0.4	200
Drape	0.4	100
Dresser	0.4	120
End table	0.4	75
Foam turret	0.4	100
Glucosoid pump	0.4	200
Grand meditation throne	0.4	350
Ground-penetrating scanner	0.4	200
Heater	0.4	100
Hemogen amplifier	0.4	200
Hemopump	0.4	200
Hermetic crate	0.4	250
Holding platform	0.4	500
Hospital bed	0.4	150
Long-range mineral scanner	0.4	250
Meditation throne	0.4	150
Mini-slugger turret	0.4	100
Mini-turret	0.4	100
Mortar	0.4	180
Passive cooler	0.4	80
Poker table	0.4	250
Psychofluid pump	0.4	200
Reliquary	0.4	350
Rocketswarm launcher	0.4	200
Royal bed	0.4	200
Shelf	0.4	100
Sleep suppressor	0.4	200
Small bookcase	0.4	50
Small shelf	0.4	50
Table (1x2)	0.4	75
Table (2x2)	0.4	100
Table (2x4)	0.4	150
Table (3x3)	0.4	175
Tactical turret	0.4	100
Timbershroom	0.4	200
Tube television	0.4	100
Urn	0.4	40
Vanometric power cell	0.4	200
Ancient mega-cannon platform	0.35	1,200
Dining chair	0.35	100
Drum	0.35	100
Flatscreen television	0.35	80
Lectern	0.35	100
Lightball	0.35	100
Loudspeaker	0.35	100
Megascreen television	0.35	85
Pew	0.35	100
Saguaro cactus	0.35	130
Small sculpture	0.35	90
Snowman	0.35	50
Unstable power cell	0.35	200
Void sculpture	0.35	90
Ancient barrel	0.3	100
Ancient crate	0.3	100
Ancient nav beacon	0.3	50
Ancient operating table	0.3	140
Ancient unstable fuel node	0.3	50
Egg box	0.3	50
Firefoam popper	0.3	50
Fleshbulb	0.3	35
Hydroponics basin	0.3	180
Mechband antenna	0.3	80
Mechband dish	0.3	150
Slab bed	0.3	140
Slab double bed	0.3	200
Subcore encoder	0.3	200
Subcore ripscanner	0.3	250
Subcore softscanner	0.3	250
Toy box	0.3	50
Ancient lamppost	0.25	300
Ancient mechanoid shell	0.25	150
Anima tree	0.25	400
Bamboo tree	0.25	200
Birch tree	0.25	200
Cecropia tree	0.25	200
Cocoa tree	0.25	200
Column	0.25	160
Count-down activator	0.25	100
Cypress tree	0.25	200
Drago tree	0.25	200
Fence	0.25	40
Gauranlen tree	0.25	300
Harbinger tree	0.25	230
Maple tree	0.25	200
Mech drop beacon	0.25	100
Neural supercharger	0.25	100
Oak tree	0.25	200
Palm tree	0.25	200
Pebble cactus	0.25	200
Pine tree	0.25	200
Poplar tree	0.25	200
Proximity activator	0.25	100
Proximity detector	0.25	100
Teak tree	0.25	200
Willow tree	0.25	200
Agave	0.2	120
Alocasia	0.2	120
Ancient enemy terminal	0.2	200
Ancient lamp	0.2	50
Ancient terminal	0.2	200
Autobong	0.2	80
Berry bush	0.2	120
Bonsai pot	0.2	80
Burned stump	0.2	100
Bush	0.2	120
Campfire	0.2	80
Chopped stump	0.2	100
Clivia	0.2	120
Flood light	0.2	120
Game-of-Ur board	0.2	90
Giant rafflesia	0.2	120
Glow pod	0.2	50
Plant pot	0.2	75
Psychic emanator	0.2	100
Sleep accelerator	0.2	100
Smashed stump	0.2	100
Standing lamp	0.2	50
Stool	0.2	75
Sun lamp	0.2	50
Vitals monitor	0.2	100
Wall lamp	0.2	35
Ancient mech drop beacon	0.15	50
Ancient mega-cannon barrel	0.15	900
Animal bed	0.15	140
Animal sleeping box	0.15	75
Blood torch	0.15	75
Brazier	0.15	80
Darklight brazier	0.15	80
Darktorch	0.15	75
Fungus darktorch	0.15	75
Moisture pump	0.15	50
Orbital trade beacon	0.15	75
Pen marker	0.15	100
Shard beacon	0.15	100
Ship landing beacon	0.15	75
Telescope	0.15	75
Torch lamp	0.15	75
Wall torch lamp	0.15	50
Ancient razor wire	0.1	30
Kneel pillow	0.05	20
Kneel sheet	0.05	40
Bonsai tree	0.01	85