Arid shrubland
Arid shrubland
A dry region, but not dry enough to become a true desert. Open plains with grasses and bushes give way to scattered groves of trees. Plants are hardy and there is a moderate density of animals, but arable soil is hard to find.
Base Stats
- Type
- Biome
- Texture on World Map
- Allows colonies
- Yes
- Allows Roads and Rivers
- Yes
- Animal Density
- 1.8
- Plant Density
- 0.24
- Disease MTB Days
- 65 days
- Movement Difficulty
- 1[Note]
- Forageability
- 50%
- Wild Plant Regrow Days
- 27 days
- Min Temperature
- -10 °C (14 °F)
- Max Temperature
- N/A
- Rainfall range
- 600mm – 2000mm
- Swampiness range
- N/A
- Max Fish Population
- 480
- Clear
- 18
- Fog
- 1
- Rain
- 2
- Foggy rain
- 1
- Dry Thunderstorm
- 1
- Rainy Thunderstorm
- 1
- Soft snow
- 4
- Hard snow
- 4
- Gray Pall
- 1
- Sandstorm
- 2
Arid shrubland is a hot and dry biome in RimWorld.
Summary[edit]
It features hot temperatures, frequent patches of low fertility terrain, a moderate amount of wildlife, and a sparse amount of trees.
In the lists below the number in brackets represents the relative commonality.
Flora[edit]
Agave (0.2)
Berry bush (0.1)
Bush (0.7)
Dandelions (0.8)
Drago tree (0.2)
Grass (7)
Pincushion cactus (0.6)
Saguaro cactus (0.26)
Gray grass 
(5)
Pebble cactus (0.6)
Reeds (1)
Fauna[edit]
Bison (0.1)
Boomalope (0.5)
Boomrat (0.5)
Cougar (0.15)
Donkey (0.2)
Dromedary (0.7)
Elephant (0.5)
Emu (0.7)
Fennec fox (0.15)
Gazelle (0.7)
Guinea pig (0.017)
Hare (1.3)
Horse (0.1)
Iguana (0.7)
Megasloth (0.1)
Ostrich (0.7)
Rat (1.3)
Rhinoceros (0.5)
Armadillo (0.2)
Flamingo (0.5)
Hippo (0.25)
Monitor lizard (0.5)
Quail (0.5)
Sparrow (0.5)
Vulture (0.5)
Additionally, these animals can spawn in coastal maps:
Hermit crab (0.1)
Sea turtle (0.1)
Stone crab (0.1)
If the map is polluted, then the game may choose to spawn in wild animals from this list instead:
Diseases[edit]
Arid Shrubland has a disease MTB of 65 days. The following diseases can occur in a Arid Shrubland:
| Disease | Commonality |
|---|---|
| Flu | 100 |
| Plague | 100 |
| Gut worms | 60 |
| Muscle parasites | 60 |
| Fibrous mechanites | 30 |
| Sensory mechanites | 30 |
| Animal flu | 100 |
| Animal plague | 80 |
| Organ decay | 10 |
Fish[edit]
 |
This section relates to content added by Odyssey (DLC). Please note that it will not be present without the DLC enabled. |
The table below contains the list of all of the fish that can be caught - as well as where they can be caught.
| Fish | Water body | Rarity |
|---|---|---|
| Tilapia | Freshwater | Common |
| Catfish | Freshwater | Uncommon |
| Bluefish | Saltwater | Common |
| Tuna | Saltwater | Uncommon |
Analysis[edit]
Arid shrublands are one of the easier biomes in the game for a few reasons, with a few significant challenges. Abundant in natural resources except water and plants.
Disease - Moderate[edit]
Wild healroot does not grow in the arid shrubland.
Disease would seem at first to be less of a concern here, with a reduced mean-time occurrence than in temperate or colder climates. But no matter what biome, injury and infections occur frequently, and independently of any pathogen clock.
With no wild healroot, your colony requires skilled growers (at least level 8) to produce more medicine, other than what you might expect to find in trade or looting. Better doctors can make medicine go further, and do without to some extent, but without medicine, your colonists will heal slower after fights and battles, spend more time sick, and simply not have as many options when it comes to lifesaving medical interventions. A lack of medicine won't kill immediately, but does kill unexpectedly.
Temperature - Moderate[edit]
Heatwaves - Moderate[edit]
Heatwaves are the most obvious challenge.
Against heatwaves, passive coolers are the first suitable temperature-reducing response.
After creating a power grid, the only other option is the electrically powered wall-replacing variant. Put them centrally to your colony, like in a main shelter, barracks or hospital, so that colonists or faction members downed from the heat can be rescued and cool off while they rest. The only other ways to reduce heatstroke (without already researching, constructing, refueling and enclosing sheltered coolers) are heat-comfortable clothes, insulated rooms under mountains, travelling away from the tile for the duration, or the somewhat unreliable swimming recreation type.
Heat-suitable clothing is a good option in the arid shrubland for preparedness long-term, but has a long lead time.
A single piece of heat comfortable clothing requires already having researched complex clothing, constructed a tailoring workbench, and the time, work and resources taken to turn textiles into clothing. Camelhide or Plainleather are good local options, but if you can't or won't hunt or slaughter and then butcher animals, you'll have to rely on other options while you wait for cotton to grow or wool from the very rare bison and megasloths to be sheared. Because it consumes no resources once finished, heat-comfortable clothing is possibly the best option long term, but not if a heatwave is already serious.
Region-specific temperature alternatives
Passive underground insulation
If your colony is in a mountainous arid shrubland region, walled-off caves or tunnels deep into overhead mountains will be naturally cooler in the event of a heatwave. This is highly dependent on the local environment, as the biome is not unique to mountainous or hilly regions. It must be at least walled off, since the effect is somewhat limited, and only works indoors, like a naturally occurring passive cooler. This still requires construction.
Swimming
Colonists that already have a heatstroke can reduce it by recreationally swimming. Since it only reduces heatstroke that's already happening, This is not a full heat-protection method. Colonists will only swim if they can find water, have the desire to do recreation (and choose to swim), and aren't already suffering from dangerous levels of heatstroke. A colonist can carry another incapacitated colonist to a cool room, make them wear protective clothing, or even load them into a transport vehicle, but swimming requires a colonist's own capability to reach the water. Water is not normally found in arid shrublands without other distinct landmarks or biomes connected.
Event specific evacuations
Partially or completely evacuating a map because of specific events is sometimes a good idea, but doing so because of a heatwave is just a little bit funny. It's not always safe to leave, and finding certain resources like food and comfort are much harder on the move. Some events impact an entire region beyond the borders of your home tile, and must be dealt with by travelling directly to them. Heatwaves aren't (usually) one of them, and sometimes the wider world will be equally hot, so it's often better to just wait it out.
Cold Snaps - N/A[edit]
Arid shrublands have no significant cold periods and rarely reach temperatures below (283 K)
Fires - Easy[edit]
Arid shrubland's lower flora density reduces severity of natural fires. Rain is less common. [Factcheck]
Predators - Easy[edit]
Fewer natural human-hunting predators than temperate forest.
Cougars are dangerous to humans but can be fended off with the right weapons, armor, or skilled colonists. Arid shrubland wildlife is relatively infrequent, large, and hardy, so can be dangerous if it turns aggressive, but not singularly so compared to other biomes.
Other challenges - N/A[edit]
Few other unique challenges to living in the arid shrubland. It's not an easy place to live, but not uniquely so.
Difficulty Rating[edit]
Viability summary : Easy-Moderate
Stable if overly warm temperatures, year-round or very long growing seasons, easy to traverse. Full raw resources productivity. Reduced rich soil growing zones. Moderately dangerous heatwaves. Moderately dangerous disease incidence. Easy-Moderate.
Trivia[edit]
Arid Shrublands were the only biome in the game until Alpha 6.
Gallery[edit]
An Arid Shrubland
Arid shrubland's texture on the world map
Version history[edit]
- 0.6.532 - Added
- Temperate
- Temperate forest • Temperate swamp • Scarlands
- Hot
- Tropical rainforest • Tropical swamp • Arid shrubland • Desert • Extreme desert • Glowforest • Grassland • Lava field
- Cold
- Boreal forest • Cold bog • Tundra • Ice sheet • Sea ice • Glacial plain • Orbit
- Water
- Lake • Ocean
- Pocket map
- Underground • Labyrinth • Metal hell • Undercave • Insect lair