Difference between revisions of "Ice Sheet Guide"

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This guide details how to survive in one of the most hostile environments in Rimworld - an ice sheet. We focus on the [[Scenario_system#Lost_Tribe|Lost Tribe]] start because it is the hardest one to thrive in hostile environments since you have more people to feed and less technology to help you.  
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This guide details how to survive in one of the most hostile environments in Rimworld - an ice sheet. We focus on the [[Scenario_system#Lost_Tribe|Lost Tribe]] start because it is the hardest one to thrive in hostile environments since you got more people to feed and less technology to help you.  
 
  
 
== Introduction ==
 
== Introduction ==
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Ice sheets are the coldest option of cold maps. They have very little animal life and no plants. In fact, you should not expect to find anything more than five [[snowhare]]s in your start. You should also not expect to see more than one new [[snowhare]] every five days and one new [[polar bear]] per month.
 
Ice sheets are the coldest option of cold maps. They have very little animal life and no plants. In fact, you should not expect to find anything more than five [[snowhare]]s in your start. You should also not expect to see more than one new [[snowhare]] every five days and one new [[polar bear]] per month.
  
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In addition to that, they do not have any soil available, so anything that you want to grow must be grown on the stony soil patches- that is if you can even grow anything due to the cold. You will struggle a lot until you get a [[heater]] and a [[sun lamp]], then you can plant something indoors.
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In addition to that, they do not have any soil available, if you want to grow something you would be doing it in stony patches around hills and mountains. But you can not, because it is too cold outside. You will struggle a lot until you get a [[heater]] and a [[sun lamp]], then you can plant something indoors.
  
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Even the warmest ice sheet it really cold. Their average varies from {{Temperature|-20}} to {{Temperature|-40}} and they never have growing periods due to the temperature. You still need to eventually make a [[Colony_Building_Guide#Freezer|freezer]] though, because the summer temperature is hot enough to spoil your food. Expect to have problems with hypothermia during fall, winter, spring and during [[events#cold snap|cold snap]]s in summers.
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Even the warmest ice sheet is really cold. Their average varies from {{Temperature|-20}} to {{Temperature|-40}} and they never have growing periods due to the temperature. You still need to eventually make a [[Colony_Building_Guide#Freezer|freezer]] though, because the summer temperature is hot enough to spoil your food. You should expect to have problems with hypothermia during fall, winter, spring and during [[events#cold snap|cold snap]]s in summers.
  
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== Before the start ==
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== Landing site ==
  
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You can opt to sweeten your survival experience with a combination of well-picked colonists and landing spot, or choose to go hard and randomise everything. The below assumes you are going for the former.
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[[File:icesheetsite.png|300px|thumb|right|Example good landing site.]]
  
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=== Landing site ===
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In all worlds, you should carefully choose a landing site with resources as a priority. You want to build a colony in an area with some of the following characteristics:
  
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[[File:icesheetsite.png|300px|thumb|right|Example of a decent landing site.]]
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* Near to tundra (faster moving around)
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* Near to a friendly faction base (faster trading)
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In all maps you should choose your landing site carefully to increases your chances of survival. You want to build a colony in an area with some of the following characteristics:
 
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* Near a tundra (faster moving around)
 
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* Near a friendly faction base (faster trading)
 
 
* Near a road (faster moving around)
 
* Near a road (faster moving around)
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* Without many mountains around (faster moving)
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* Without many mountains around (faster moving around)
 
* With coast (to turn into large growing areas later)
 
* With coast (to turn into large growing areas later)
 
* With [[caves]] (early food source)
 
* With [[caves]] (early food source)
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Ice sheets do not have roads or rivers, but that does not mean you can not settle close to a road. While you should not be surrounded by mountains, the landing site itself can be mountainous.
 
Ice sheets do not have roads or rivers, but that does not mean you can not settle close to a road. While you should not be surrounded by mountains, the landing site itself can be mountainous.
  
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You do not need to land in an area in all those characteristics, but try to get as many of them as you can.
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Of course, you do not need to land in an area with all those characteristics, but try to get as many of them as you can.
  
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=== Starting colonists ===
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== Starting colonists ==
  
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Ice sheet is so harsh that you will have to resort to cannibalism, so you may want to have a crew that can tolerate that. That means having one butcher that does not mind butchering people and everyone resistant to mental breaks.
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Ice sheet is so harsh that you will have to resort to cannibalism, so you want to have a crew that can tolerate that. That means having one butcher that does not mind butchering people and everyone resistant to mental breaks.
  
 
{{see also|Traits}}
 
{{see also|Traits}}
  
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Your butcher should be either Cannibal, Bloodlust or Psychopath.
+
Your butcher should ideally be either Cannibal, Bloodlust or Psychopath.
  
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All your crew should ideally be either Cannibal, Sanguine, Optimist, Iron-Willed, Steadfast or Masochist with scars. Couples also enjoy extra happiness so try to bring couples instead of bachelors, likewise Beautiful and Pretty colonists are also good since they are more likely to fall in love with someone.
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And all your crew should ideally be either Cannibal, Sanguine, Optimist, Iron-Willed, Steadfast or Masochist with scars. Couples also enjoy extra happiness so try to bring couples instead of bachelors, likewise Beautiful and Pretty colonists are also good since they are more likely to fall in love with someone.
  
 
Surely you do not need to have all five starting colonists with those characteristics, but the more resistant colonists you have the better.
 
Surely you do not need to have all five starting colonists with those characteristics, but the more resistant colonists you have the better.
  
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== The first step ==
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== Base area ==
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Once you choose your landing site and colonists you should '''immediately pause the game'''. This gives you time to make decisions.
 
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=== Base area ===
 
  
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[[File:icesheetarea.png|400px|thumb|right|Good starting area near the geyser.]]
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Once you choose your landing site and colonists you should also choose your base area. It is important to notice that this area does not need to be final, it is just the area where you are more likely to survive the early game.
  
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You need to choose your base area wisely. It is important to notice that this area does not need to be final, it is just the area where you are more likely to survive the early game.
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You want to find an area with the characteristics: '''near steam geysers''', '''near steel''', '''more growing areas''' and '''more easily defendable'''.
  
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You want to find an area with the characteristics: '''near steam geysers''', '''near steel''', '''more growing areas''' and '''easily defendable'''.
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More growing areas mean more stony patches and a more easily defendable area is an area with few entrances where you are going to lay down your traps. Your priority is steam geysers. You have to make the base on top of a steam geyser, otherwise, you will die of hypothermia very fast.  
  
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More growing areas means more stony patches and an easily defendable area is an area with few entrances where you can lay down traps. Your priority is steam geysers. You have to make the base on top of a steam geyser, or else you will die of hypothermia very fast.  
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Since you do not have trees, you can not build a big base yet. You can then either take a ruin, make a cave or make a small steel base. It all comes down to what you have near the steam geysers. If you have a ruin, take it. If you have a hill, make a cave. If you have none of these, make a small steel base.
  
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Since you do not have trees, you can not build a big base yet. You can either take a ruin, make a cave or make a small steel base. It all comes down to what you have near the steam geysers. If you have a ruin, take it. If you have a hill, make a cave. If you have none of these, make a small steel base.
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[[File:icesheetarea.png|400px|thumb|center|Good starting area near the geyser.]]
  
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=== Work ===
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== First agenda ==
  
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Analyze your team, set their priorities. Haul everything towards your chosen ruin and don't use wood at all except for the campfire.
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* Get some easily accessible [[steel]] and use it to build your stuff, so you do not have to use [[wood]].
 +
* Make your starter base on top of a steam geyser. Give people a place to sleep, eat and play.
 +
* Hunt those [[snowhare]]s before they leave the map.
 +
* Kill your starting animals.
 +
* Only use [[wood]] to make [[campfire]]s, either for cooking or heating up. Make sure your [[wood]] is forbidden so they do not refuel it unnecessarily.
 +
* Get rid of some colonists.
  
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Start mining steel as your main construction material or begin caving in. Play as minimalistic as possible. Gather enough steel to build walls by setting everyone to mine. Use terrain features to get the smallest home you can make besides any nearby structures.
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=== Notes ===
  
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If you have researchers, rush electricity research. You don't need to build a fortress yet, and electricity can be extremely helpful in survival.
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Now you are going to be struggling for food for a long time. If you have [[caves]] in your map, it will help a lot. You want to keep the insects alive, so make sure to seal off the [[caves]] so that they do not freeze during winter and the [[hive]] does not dies due to lack of maintenance. Enjoy while it is warm and go visit your nearby friendly base to trade whatever you can for food. For that, you gotta get something you can trade:
  
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=== Animals & Hunting ===
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* You can mine expensive things like [[component]]s, [[plasteel]], [[uranium]], [[jade]], [[silver]] or [[gold]].
 +
* You can open the [[ancient shrine]] and sell whatever you find there.
  
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Set an animal zone away from your food, you don't want them eating your food as you can't win the game with pets alone. Let them all die of starvation, sorry. Starving pets are excellent lures for predators and while wild animals attack your pets, they won't turn their hunger rage towards you and you can attack them without danger, so long as their target is mid to big size (terriers die in a bear hit or two).
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Regardless, you still will not have enough food for five people for so long, you simply have to get rid of some of them. The best way is to put some of them inside the ancient [[cryptosleep casket]]s.
  
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[[File:Terrier bait to lure a cougar.png|400px|right|Using starting pets to lure predators.]]
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[[File:meatshield2.png|400px|thumb|center|Opening the ancient structure is dangerous! Bring them one by one and use your animals as meat shield.]]
  
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Hunt every time you see meat, as animals have the tendency to leave the map and won't remain roaming around for long. When you find one snowhare, you find the others. Double click on zoomed out view to reduce the time spent on searching.  
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You can also send some people out while it is warm to raid the closest base outside the ice sheet, try to not raid your closest friendly neighbor. Hunt the animals and harvest the plants around the base and run back to your base. You can make peace with them later. You have to bring the colonists back in the beginning of next season before it gets too cold.
  
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Always keep an eye on the polar bear food bar- you will need to know when it will strike.
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Another more undesirable option is to sell some colonists. They are usually worth a lot, but do not expect to see them again.
  
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=== Steam geysers ===
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Likewise, another even worse option is to kill some colonists, but they are not worth many meals.
  
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Now that you've selected somewhere to settle, the next step is to build a decent base.
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But you gotta do something, feeding five people will not happen. Three people is about what you can you feed.
  
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You should settle on the steam geyser due to the heat source. Living on top of a geyser provides warmth enough up to 10 degree Celsius, just to escape hypothermia. If your colonists complain about "sleeping in the cold", you tell them to man up. The only two reasons to build a campfire are to cook and an emergency extra source of heat when hard snow hits during Winter or a cold snap. Build a wall around it(10x10, the geothermal power plant is 6x6 so between the wall and the steam, the 8x8 line will become a one tile surrounding corridor just enough to place beds around), either by emulating a heater in the center of your room or by pulling a one tile corridor towards your home, even possibly digging a tunnel depending on the terrain altitude map of choice.
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[[File:icesheetminibase.png|400px|thumb|center|Base on top of geyser. Two colonists were sent on a raid mission.]]
  
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Eventually, you should ideally repeat the same geyser-room procedure with other steams in proximity, this is because cold and starvation will not kill you, but mental breaks will. For example, having more than two characters on berserk. Sometimes, two geysers may be close to each other, allowing you to use them at both ends while you build everything else in between. This lucky situation can allow to start building individual rooms for your people and get rid of the barrack penalties.
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== Second agenda ==
  
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=== Cannibalism ===
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* Make a [[Colony_Building_Guide#Killbox|killbox]].
 +
* Make [[steel]] [[spike trap]]s.
 +
* Eat any raider that shows up.
 +
* Eat any [[Events#Wanderer joins|wanderers that decides to join]].
 +
* Eat anyone who arrives in a [[Events#Escape Pod|escape pod]].
 +
* Offer help to any [[Events#Refugee Chased at (Settlement)|refugee being chased]]. Then eat them. Also eat the raiders following him.
 +
* Wear their tainted [[parka]]s and [[tuque]]s.
 +
* Buy [[cloth]] from your neighbors.
 +
* Make your [[research bench]] and start researching complex clothing. Once that is done, make [[parka]]s and [[tuque]]s with your [[cloth]].
 +
* Make [[human leather]] [[bedroll]]s.
 +
* Make lots of [[duster]]s with all the [[human leather]] and sell it.
  
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It's inevitable. Just be very selective when butchering other humans as the character performing the action will receive mood penalties that can easily set it to mental breaks. It is okay if your characters complain of hunger. Again, keep your food supply on check and only feed your people when starvation kicks in, unless of course, their mental break is too dangerous to risk keeping them unhappy. When butchering human corpses it's best to set one same character to chomp many at once so that all the penalty goes to just that one guy, and performing the action on same day will keep the penalty length shorter instead of extending after each consecutive day. Best if the penalty wears off all at once.
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=== Notes ===
  
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Remember that [[human leather]] is worth a lot and it is better to make something with it first, then sell it. First, give your colonists [[bedroll]]s to sleep, then make [[duster]]s since they are more profitable than anything else. Cannibal and Bloodlust colonists will want to wear human leather clothes, give them human leather [[button-down shirt]]s and [[pants]], but not [[parka]]s as the material is just too bad at insulating.
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Now for the cannibalism.  You will eat anyone that is not one of your starting colonists or from a friendly faction, unless you manage to lose most of your colonists that is. That includes anyone who tries to join your colony. It also means offering help to refugees just so you can eat them later. You also better be sure you got clothes before fall starts.
  
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== The second step ==
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You will not have time to make your own clothes, you will have to use the raider's tainted clothes. Try to get some of them alive, drop them near your base, strip them and kill them. That way, their clothes will not be tainted. But you should also buy [[cloth]] to ensure everyone has a [[parka]] and a [[tuque]].
  
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=== Research ===
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[[File:earlyraiders.png|400px|thumb|center|Early raid. Time to feed!]]
  
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After electricity, go for Batteries, Solar panels and then Stonecutting so that you can start building plantation-rooms. [[Sun lamp]]s consume large amounts of electricity and you should by then have enough power and stored energy so that your crops grown steady. [[Solar generator]]s will not perform to their maximum capacity due to the short solar cycles common in polar regions as oppose to equatorial regions.
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Since you are going to often offer help to refugees, you better make a proper [[Colony_Building_Guide#Killbox|killbox]] with lots of [[spike trap]]s. The fighting starts outside though, with all the ice and snow the raiders are going to be really slow. Shot them while they are approaching because it takes a while for them to move to cover. Then once they are in cover, go back to your [[Colony_Building_Guide#Killbox|killbox]].
  
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If you are not in a hurry, you can include complex furniture research, so you can make beds, as well as stonecutting so you can use the more abundant stone.
+
Remember that [[human leather]] is worth a lot and it is better to make something with it first, then sell it. First give your colonists [[bedroll]]s to sleep, then make [[duster]]s since they are more profitable then anything else. Cannibal and Bloodlust colonists will want to wear [[human leather]] clothes, give them [[human leather]] [[button-down shirt]]s and [[human leather]] [[pants]], but do not give them [[human leather]] [[parka]]s. The material is just too bad at insulating.
  
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=== Opening ancient shrines ===
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[[File:returnfromicemission.png|400px|thumb|center|Colonists sent to raid mission barely came back before freezing.]]
  
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You can open the [[ancient shrine]]. They contain people which can be either killed for food or recruited into your ranks, as well as some items that can be sold.
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== Third agenda ==
  
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Ancient shrines are dangerous; make sure you are suitably armed.
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* Research complex furniture. Once you done, make [[steel]] [[bed]]s.
 +
* Go get [[Events#Item Stash Opportunity (Time Remaining)|item stashes]] so you can hunt and harvest in the area.
 +
* Go help [[Events#Incapacitated refugee|incapacitated refugees]] so you can hunt and harvest in the area. Then eat him.
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* Go [[Events#Prisoner rescue opportunity|rescue prisoners]] in outposts so you can hunt and harvest in the area. Then eat them all.
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* Go [[Events#Bandit camp opportunity|destroy enemy outposts]] so you can hunt and harvest in the area. Then eat them all.
 +
* Replace the less insulating [[parka]]s for [[cloth]] [[parka]]s.
 +
* Research stone cutting so you can start using stone instead of [[steel]].
  
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After you clear the shrine, you can build furniture in it to live in; you can also send your people to cryptosleep to extend your food stocks.
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=== Notes ===
  
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=== Bartering ===
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Once you have your colonists with [[parka]]s and [[tuque]]s you should take every opportunity available to go to another map. If you placed your colony near tundra, then it is likely that the quests will appear in tundra maps and that they will have much more resources than your frozen home.
  
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You will need to barter for some resources that are hard to get.
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[[File:iceoutpost.png|500px|thumb|center|Look at all those delicious-looking [[animals]] and people.]]
  
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Aim for [[wood]] and [[cloth]]. To gather money to buy them, you can mine expensive things like [[component]]s, [[plasteel]], [[uranium]], [[jade]], [[silver]] or [[gold]].
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Whenever you reach a quest location, you want to look for [[berries]], [[healroot]], [[animals]] and [[wood]]. [[Animals]] should be butchered before leaving, if the [[meat]] is too heavy and you still have time you can use the local [[wood]] to make lots of [[campfire]]s and turn all into [[meals]] to reduce weight.
  
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=== Greenhouse ===
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Winter is coming, it is going to be so cold that not any [[parka]] will do. Anything with worse insulation than [[cloth]] should be replaced by [[cloth]]. [[Cloth]] is average in insulation but really cheap to buy.
  
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After you have researched Electricity, Batteries, Solar Panels and Stonecutting AND crafted lots of stone blocks is when you can start building your first plantation room. Since the biome has scarce fertile tiles, you can easily select to mark a Grow zone and just drag your cursor on a 50x50 tiles area so that the game automatically marks where there is a "large" concentration of farmable area. Then just select the Sun lamp so that you can have the radius on your cursor ready to match such area. If you happen to lack said farmable tiles anywhere close to your base, you can fill in the blanks with hydroponic basins later on.  
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[[File:icerescuefail.png|400px|thumb|center|We are here to rescue you... not.]]
  
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<center>[[File:Plantation room.png|800px]]</center>
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== Fourth agenda ==
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{{clear}}
 
  
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Then use "Delete zones" to remove all growing zones that were created during the scan for farmable tiles, and use the "order" to "plan" to draw a cross of 11 tiles with tile number six (the crossing), being the location where the Sun lamp will be located. This will give you the radius of the lamp so that you can start setting the structure plans. Do use double walls for better insulation and with an airlock system as well.
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* Replace the [[cloth]] [[parka]]s for better insulating [[parka]]s.
 +
* Use stone to reinforce your walls with a second layer for better insulation.
 +
* Research electricity.
 +
* Research [[battery]].
  
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<center>[[File:Plantation room 2 double walls.png|800px]]</center>
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=== Notes ===
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{{clear}}
 
  
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Once everything within the plantation room has been built, click the sun lamp and press "'''H'''" for the sun lamp itself to create a growing zone for you (instead of the conventional manual way). Start with rice, and harvest enough so that you can bring everybody else who has been in cryptosleep all this time for your colony to start running in full strength. Remind yourself that once temperature starts to drop again in Winter, you will need to install several '''[[heater]]s''' or plants will die.
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Now it is cold, so cold that even [[cloth]] [[parka]]s are not enough.  
  
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<center>[[File:Plantation room 3.png|800px]]</center>
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Try to replace your '''[[cloth]]'''(cold insulation 18) for '''[[bearskin]]'''(cold insulation 20), '''[[bluefur]]'''(cold insulation 20), '''[[foxfur]]'''(cold insulation 20), '''[[devilstrand]]'''(cold insulation 20), '''[[alpaca wool]]'''(cold insulation 22), '''[[synthread]]'''(cold insulation 22), '''[[wolfskin]]'''(cold insulation 24), '''[[muffalo wool]]'''(cold insulation 24), '''[[megasloth wool]]'''(cold insulation 26), '''[[hyperweave]]'''(cold insulation 26),'''[[chinchilla fur]]'''(cold insulation 30), '''[[heavy fur]]'''(cold insulation 30), '''[[thrumbofur]]'''(cold insulation 34).
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{{clear}}
 
  
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In the meantime, there's no need to rush directly your research towards hydroponics. You can go through Complex clothing, Drug production, Penoxycyline and then Hydroponics. Of course each player will play different stories, so adjust to circumstances as needed.
+
Likewise, now you should only send people out on quests if you got a strong insulating [[parka]] for them.
  
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<center>[[File:First harvest in 75 days.png|800px]]</center>
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Raiders are now more numerous and if you keep doing quests you should have enough food to feed five people.
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{{clear}}
 
  
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In this demonstration, the first harvest takes place 75 days after start. Now you have both shelter and food. From here on, it's all up to you. Good luck!
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[[File:hypothermiaraiders.png|300px|thumb|center|So so cold... that raiders might freeze before start attacking.]]
  
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== The third step ==
+
== Fifth agenda ==
  
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=== Expanding to the world ===
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* Make your first [[Colony_Building_Guide#Greenhouse|greenhouse]] with a [[sun lamp]] and [[heater]]s.
 +
* Plant [[potatoes]].
 +
* Research air conditioning.
  
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You can start to do world quests for factions, once you stabilised your food supplies.
+
=== Notes ===
  
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* Go get [[Events#Item Stash Opportunity (Time Remaining)|item stashes]].
+
Winter is gone and summer is coming, you should get ready to make a [[Colony_Building_Guide#Freezer|freezer]] so your food will not spoil.
−
* Go help [[Events#Incapacitated refugee|incapacitated refugees]].
 
−
* Go [[Events#Prisoner rescue opportunity|rescue prisoners]].
 
−
* Go [[Events#Bandit camp opportunity|destroy enemy outposts]].
 
  
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You can also choose to raid enemy faction outposts. They can contain food stocks that you can loot.
+
Finally, you are ready to make a [[Colony_Building_Guide#Greenhouse|greenhouse]] and plant [[potatoes]]. Ideally, try to connect your [[Colony_Building_Guide#Greenhouse|greenhouse]] to your steam geyser.
  
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Whenever you reach a quest location, you wanna look for [[berries]], [[healroot]], [[animals]] and [[wood]]. [[Animals]] and marginally other humans should be butchered before leaving, if the [[meat]] is too heavy and you still have time you can use the local [[wood]] to make lots of [[campfire]]s and turn all into [[meals]] to reduce weight.
+
Since you got a reliable food source, you can now accept more people. You are not free of cannibalism yet, but you can stop offering help to [[Events#Refugee Chased at (Settlement)|refugees]] and stop going to quests just to get more food.
  
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=== Slighly more advanced technology ===
+
[[File:icegreenhouse.png|400px|thumb|center|First [[Colony_Building_Guide#Greenhouse|greenhouse]].]]
  
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Once you research nutrient paste, you can make food efficiently for your people. This also frees a cook to do other things.
+
== Sixth agenda ==
  
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If you have enough power, hydroponics basins can also be helpful in feeding your people. This allows you to build greenhouses freely instead of being restricted to growing food in the stony soil patches.
+
* Research [[hydroponics basin|hydroponics]].
 +
* Research [[nutrient paste dispenser]].
  
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== Emergency measures ==
+
=== Notes ===
  
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If the game is bearing down on you, you can use these measures to prolong your colonists' lives. These can ruin the true experience of an ice sheet survival though, so make these a last-ditch measure.
+
With [[hydroponics basin]]s you may make [[Colony_Building_Guide#Greenhouse|greenhouses]] without having to stick to stony patches. Getting anything planted here is expensive, so you should make a [[nutrient paste dispenser]] to save on food, once you got one you may stop doing cannibalism.
  
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=== Cryptosleep ===
+
Since the worse is gone, you can now move to a proper area, a more central location where you can build that huge colony you always dreamed of.
  
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If you come across an [[ancient shrine]], you can put your colonists to sleep inside. This helps to extend your food stocks when you fall on hard times.
+
[[File:dreambig2.png|550px|thumb|center|Moving out.]]
  
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=== Caravaning ===
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Finding a large pond is much easier than finding a large stony patch. If happen to have a large pond in a central location or your map has coast you should focus on [[moisture pump]]s, with them you can create larger crop fields so you do not need to stick to stony patches around mountains.
  
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Another alternative is to escape while you still can- the ice sheet just isn't for you. Gather whatever food you can, along with some supplies, then break for it.
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[[File:icecrops.png|500px|thumb|center|Before a pond (left) and later a greenhouse (right).]]
  
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{{Nav/guides}}
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{{nav/guides}}
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[[Category:Gameplay]]
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[[Category:Guides]]

Latest revision as of 18:08, 18 July 2024

This guide details how to survive in one of the most hostile environments in Rimworld - an ice sheet. We focus on the Lost Tribe start because it is the hardest one to thrive in hostile environments since you have more people to feed and less technology to help you.

Introduction[edit]

See also: Biomes#Ice Sheet

Ice sheets are the coldest option of cold maps. They have very little animal life and no plants. In fact, you should not expect to find anything more than five snowhares in your start. You should also not expect to see more than one new snowhare every five days and one new polar bear per month.

In addition to that, they do not have any soil available, if you want to grow something you would be doing it in stony patches around hills and mountains. But you can not, because it is too cold outside. You will struggle a lot until you get a heater and a sun lamp, then you can plant something indoors.

Even the warmest ice sheet is really cold. Their average varies from -20 °C (-4 °F) to -40 °C (-40 °F) and they never have growing periods due to the temperature. You still need to eventually make a freezer though, because the summer temperature is hot enough to spoil your food. You should expect to have problems with hypothermia during fall, winter, spring and during cold snaps in summers.

Landing site[edit]

Example good landing site.

In all worlds, you should carefully choose a landing site with resources as a priority. You want to build a colony in an area with some of the following characteristics:

  • Near to tundra (faster moving around)
  • Near to a friendly faction base (faster trading)
  • Near a road (faster moving around)
  • Without many mountains around (faster moving around)
  • With coast (to turn into large growing areas later)
  • With caves (early food source)

Ice sheets do not have roads or rivers, but that does not mean you can not settle close to a road. While you should not be surrounded by mountains, the landing site itself can be mountainous.

Of course, you do not need to land in an area with all those characteristics, but try to get as many of them as you can.

Starting colonists[edit]

Ice sheet is so harsh that you will have to resort to cannibalism, so you want to have a crew that can tolerate that. That means having one butcher that does not mind butchering people and everyone resistant to mental breaks.

See also: Traits

Your butcher should ideally be either Cannibal, Bloodlust or Psychopath.

And all your crew should ideally be either Cannibal, Sanguine, Optimist, Iron-Willed, Steadfast or Masochist with scars. Couples also enjoy extra happiness so try to bring couples instead of bachelors, likewise Beautiful and Pretty colonists are also good since they are more likely to fall in love with someone.

Surely you do not need to have all five starting colonists with those characteristics, but the more resistant colonists you have the better.

Base area[edit]

Once you choose your landing site and colonists you should also choose your base area. It is important to notice that this area does not need to be final, it is just the area where you are more likely to survive the early game.

You want to find an area with the characteristics: near steam geysers, near steel, more growing areas and more easily defendable.

More growing areas mean more stony patches and a more easily defendable area is an area with few entrances where you are going to lay down your traps. Your priority is steam geysers. You have to make the base on top of a steam geyser, otherwise, you will die of hypothermia very fast.

Since you do not have trees, you can not build a big base yet. You can then either take a ruin, make a cave or make a small steel base. It all comes down to what you have near the steam geysers. If you have a ruin, take it. If you have a hill, make a cave. If you have none of these, make a small steel base.

Good starting area near the geyser.

First agenda[edit]

  • Get some easily accessible steel and use it to build your stuff, so you do not have to use wood.
  • Make your starter base on top of a steam geyser. Give people a place to sleep, eat and play.
  • Hunt those snowhares before they leave the map.
  • Kill your starting animals.
  • Only use wood to make campfires, either for cooking or heating up. Make sure your wood is forbidden so they do not refuel it unnecessarily.
  • Get rid of some colonists.

Notes[edit]

Now you are going to be struggling for food for a long time. If you have caves in your map, it will help a lot. You want to keep the insects alive, so make sure to seal off the caves so that they do not freeze during winter and the hive does not dies due to lack of maintenance. Enjoy while it is warm and go visit your nearby friendly base to trade whatever you can for food. For that, you gotta get something you can trade:

Regardless, you still will not have enough food for five people for so long, you simply have to get rid of some of them. The best way is to put some of them inside the ancient cryptosleep caskets.

Opening the ancient structure is dangerous! Bring them one by one and use your animals as meat shield.

You can also send some people out while it is warm to raid the closest base outside the ice sheet, try to not raid your closest friendly neighbor. Hunt the animals and harvest the plants around the base and run back to your base. You can make peace with them later. You have to bring the colonists back in the beginning of next season before it gets too cold.

Another more undesirable option is to sell some colonists. They are usually worth a lot, but do not expect to see them again.

Likewise, another even worse option is to kill some colonists, but they are not worth many meals.

But you gotta do something, feeding five people will not happen. Three people is about what you can you feed.

Base on top of geyser. Two colonists were sent on a raid mission.

Second agenda[edit]

Notes[edit]

Now for the cannibalism. You will eat anyone that is not one of your starting colonists or from a friendly faction, unless you manage to lose most of your colonists that is. That includes anyone who tries to join your colony. It also means offering help to refugees just so you can eat them later. You also better be sure you got clothes before fall starts.

You will not have time to make your own clothes, you will have to use the raider's tainted clothes. Try to get some of them alive, drop them near your base, strip them and kill them. That way, their clothes will not be tainted. But you should also buy cloth to ensure everyone has a parka and a tuque.

Early raid. Time to feed!

Since you are going to often offer help to refugees, you better make a proper killbox with lots of spike traps. The fighting starts outside though, with all the ice and snow the raiders are going to be really slow. Shot them while they are approaching because it takes a while for them to move to cover. Then once they are in cover, go back to your killbox.

Remember that human leather is worth a lot and it is better to make something with it first, then sell it. First give your colonists bedrolls to sleep, then make dusters since they are more profitable then anything else. Cannibal and Bloodlust colonists will want to wear human leather clothes, give them human leather button-down shirts and human leather pants, but do not give them human leather parkas. The material is just too bad at insulating.

Colonists sent to raid mission barely came back before freezing.

Third agenda[edit]

Notes[edit]

Once you have your colonists with parkas and tuques you should take every opportunity available to go to another map. If you placed your colony near tundra, then it is likely that the quests will appear in tundra maps and that they will have much more resources than your frozen home.

Look at all those delicious-looking animals and people.

Whenever you reach a quest location, you want to look for berries, healroot, animals and wood. Animals should be butchered before leaving, if the meat is too heavy and you still have time you can use the local wood to make lots of campfires and turn all into meals to reduce weight.

Winter is coming, it is going to be so cold that not any parka will do. Anything with worse insulation than cloth should be replaced by cloth. Cloth is average in insulation but really cheap to buy.

We are here to rescue you... not.

Fourth agenda[edit]

  • Replace the cloth parkas for better insulating parkas.
  • Use stone to reinforce your walls with a second layer for better insulation.
  • Research electricity.
  • Research battery.

Notes[edit]

Now it is cold, so cold that even cloth parkas are not enough.

Try to replace your cloth(cold insulation 18) for bearskin(cold insulation 20), bluefur(cold insulation 20), foxfur(cold insulation 20), devilstrand(cold insulation 20), alpaca wool(cold insulation 22), synthread(cold insulation 22), wolfskin(cold insulation 24), muffalo wool(cold insulation 24), megasloth wool(cold insulation 26), hyperweave(cold insulation 26),chinchilla fur(cold insulation 30), heavy fur(cold insulation 30), thrumbofur(cold insulation 34).

Likewise, now you should only send people out on quests if you got a strong insulating parka for them.

Raiders are now more numerous and if you keep doing quests you should have enough food to feed five people.

So so cold... that raiders might freeze before start attacking.

Fifth agenda[edit]

Notes[edit]

Winter is gone and summer is coming, you should get ready to make a freezer so your food will not spoil.

Finally, you are ready to make a greenhouse and plant potatoes. Ideally, try to connect your greenhouse to your steam geyser.

Since you got a reliable food source, you can now accept more people. You are not free of cannibalism yet, but you can stop offering help to refugees and stop going to quests just to get more food.

First greenhouse.

Sixth agenda[edit]

Notes[edit]

With hydroponics basins you may make greenhouses without having to stick to stony patches. Getting anything planted here is expensive, so you should make a nutrient paste dispenser to save on food, once you got one you may stop doing cannibalism.

Since the worse is gone, you can now move to a proper area, a more central location where you can build that huge colony you always dreamed of.

Moving out.

Finding a large pond is much easier than finding a large stony patch. If happen to have a large pond in a central location or your map has coast you should focus on moisture pumps, with them you can create larger crop fields so you do not need to stick to stony patches around mountains.

Before a pond (left) and later a greenhouse (right).
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 GuideContent added by the Biotech DLC
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 Content added by the Ideology DLC

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