The Mechanitor Guide

In the Mechanitor scenario, you start with a single colonist possessing the Recluse trait, 1 Lifter, 1 Constructoid, and various other supplies.

This scenario is considered by the game to be difficult.

Scenario Parameter

Summary: One Mechanitor and a few servant mechanoids.
Description: You knew you could only achieve greatness with help. People were too unreliable, so you chose to take on mechanoids as your servants, workers, and warriors. As you gained strength, others became fearful. It became clear you needed to get away from the influence of humanity. Now you've migrated to this sparsely-populated Rimworld with some of your metallic helpers. Finally, you have the space to grasp your true potential!

Starting colonist

Your colonist should be capable of most tasks, even if they aren't good at them. A colonist incapable of Caring can and will die to a single bleeding wound (and is unable to recruit transport pod crashes or raiders). It is certainly possible to rely on spike traps at the start, but being incapable of Violence is ill-advised.

Skills you need

• Mining You want a pawn with good mining above all, since you will need the resources for all game stages.
• Crafting is next, since you will want to be able to craft the new gear, and components later on. Also it is the base skill for mechanitor work like repairing.
• Intellectual is helpful, but a decent pawn can do a better job later on.
• Medical is helpful, but keeping your mechanitor hidden behind an army is ideal so they won't take any damage at all.
• Social is helpful for recruiting and trading faster, but as long as it's not blocked you will be ok.
• Ranged can help supplement a mech army, but mechs will easily overcome a bad shooting skill. Avoid melee since it makes your mechanitor likely to take damage.

Traits

Your colonist will always start with the recluse trait, giving a +8 mood bonus when no other colonists are present but a -8 mood penalty when multiple colonists are present.

• As the mood penalty from recluse is not severely crippling you should not be hesitant to accept a colonist should they have desirable traits.

Starting Out

You start with a Constructoid and a Lifter. Get the infrastructure to recharge and gestate an Agrihand as soon as possible. A second Agrihand will help a lot for making you money in the short term (more wood to sell in chemfuel or other good forms).

For power, a wood-fired generator is okay to start with, but if you are fine with the extra pollution a toxifier generator is more powerful and scaleable, very good for this scenario. Wind turbines might seem good, but you will have to sink components into batteries if you want to go that route. Chemfuel powered generators are good once you have the tech and lifters to cut wood. Even though you have the research, avoid batteries, since you need those components elsewhere.

Next you will want a research bench. You can build an advanced one, but you may find the 10 components it requires are better spent elsewhere. Go with a simple one, unless you intend to rush for fabrication.

A second gestator helps but isn't necessary if you can afford to wait. Get a subcore encoder to build more than 5 small mechs. Once you have 1 Constructoid, 1 Lifter, and 1-2 agrihands, the best way to spend your remaining 5-6 BW is on Militors, since they've got guns.

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Guides

Progression

Quickstart Guides • Basics • Intermediate Midgame Guide • Advanced Endgame Guide • Ending the game

Scenarios

Lost Tribe Guide • Rich Explorer Guide • Naked Brutality Guide • The Mechanitor Guide

Survival

Extreme Heat Guide • Extreme Cold Guide • Extreme Desert Guide • Ice Sheet Guide • Sea Ice Guide • Events Guide

Combat

Defense tactics • Offense tactics • Weapon Guide

Construction

Colony Building Guide • Defense structures

Production

Food production • Money making guide

Other

Skill Training • Permadeath save conversion guide •
Ideology Min-Maxing