User:Hordes/Sea ice

The Sea ice is RimWorld's harshest biome, much worse than the extreme desert.

This guide details how to survive and get to a stable position, using the Lost Tribe start, without using any DLC. In particular, the Ideology DLC has features that make sea ice survival significantly easier - even Naked Brutality sea ice is possible if you know how to use it. Details on DLC will be included in the bottom of this guide.

Briefing

The Sea ice is the coldest biome, with almost no animal life, no rock, no soil, and freezing temperatures. Travel by caravan is slow.

You can argue that sea ice isn't hard. Once you get your food, heat, and mood situations stable, a colony in sea ice becomes like any other. Resources are slower, which makes it more tedious than anything.

Food:

• Animals. You might get 3 snowhares at the start, and shouldn't expect more than one snowhare per week. You might also get a polar bear, who you can kill using door exploits.
• Humans. Raiders will come every once in a while. Also, all storytellers have a population intent. If you're at 1 colonist, they'll constantly send new colonist opportunities (drop pods, wanderers), which equate to free human meat.
• Hydroponics are the ultimate long-term goal.

Heat:

• Lost Tribes are stuck using campfires to heat a room. However, wood is finite, so you can't use a campfire forever.
• Warm clothing, like parkas and tuques, will let pawns survive without needing to burn wood.

Mood:

• Use a pawn with great traits.