Surviving the unforgiving cold and managing your city in Frostpunk 2 can be a daunting task. With each chapter of the campaign presenting unique challenges, strategic planning is essential.
Below, we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide to help you navigate each part of the game, from constructing efficient districts to mastering the political landscape.
Use these tips when you need tangible help, but remember that finding solutions on your own can be the most rewarding part of the journey.
Prologue: The Wanderers
The opening chapter of Frostpunk 2 is all about establishing a foothold in the frost-ravaged wasteland. Here are some key strategies to help you get started:
- Stockpile Food Early: Construct as many Food districts as possible to ensure you can accumulate enough resources before the impending whiteout. Be proactive about building Food Stockpile Hubs to avoid running out of storage capacity, as any delay can be costly.
- Locate Optimal Food Sources: Some areas have larger food deposits than others. Hold the left ALT key to highlight these deposits and position your Food district accordingly.
- Manage Prefabs Wisely: Prefabs are essential for construction, but they deplete quickly. Build an Extraction district over a new deposit before the old one runs out, or demolish existing districts to recover some Prefabs.
- Secure Extra Scraps: If you’re short on Scraps, interact with the Wanderers community and use the ‘Take Scraps’ action found in the Favours tab.
Chapter 1: Scraping the Barrel
Heat and fuel are crucial for your city’s survival. Here’s how to effectively manage these resources:
- Maintain a Steady Coal Supply: Your city cannot survive without Heat, so ensuring a continuous supply of Coal is vital. Monitor the remaining Coal in your Extraction Districts and set up new ones before deposits run out.
- Expand Extraction Districts: If there’s another Coal deposit nearby, expand your Extraction District to access it. Remember, you’ll need to use the Frostbreaker to make the deposit accessible.
- Explore the Frostland: Sending exploration teams into the frostland can uncover new fuel sources or additional Coal, which could be crucial in times of crisis.
- Produce Coal from Wood: With the right research, you can convert Wood into Coal. Research a Sawmill, then unlock the Charcoal Plant to initiate production.
- Efficient District Placement: When building Extraction or Food districts, try to cover as many resource fields as possible, creating a larger resource deposit that will last longer. Place Hubs strategically to provide bonuses to multiple districts.
- Fulfill Goods Demand: Meeting Goods demand early prevents Crime from rising and boosts your Heatstamps income. Use the Favours tab to accumulate more Heatstamps if you’re running low.
Chapter 2: Ambition
As your city grows, you’ll face the full fury of the whiteout. Here’s how to brace for the challenge:
- Prepare for the Whiteout: The arrival of the whiteout will increase the Heat Demand across all districts and buildings. Stockpile enough fuel to handle the surge in demand, and ensure you have a robust supply chain for Food.
- Expand Your Frostland Teams: Increasing the number of Frostland Teams is key to maintaining supply lines. Expand Logistics districts or construct specialized buildings to support more teams.
- Upgrade Outposts to Settlements: Upgrading your Outposts to Settlements provides a stable resource income and allows them to withstand whiteouts after a second upgrade.
Embrace the Frost Path
- Adaptive Pumps for Versatility: Upgrade the Generator with Adaptive Pumps to allow it to run on both Oil and Coal, providing flexibility in fuel choices.
- Fortitude Base: Locate Fortitude Base in the frostland and investigate its potential. Establishing a settlement here can help scale up frostland operations.
Defeat the Frost Path
- Increase Oil Production: Focus on boosting Oil production in Old Dreadnought and transferring it to New London to ensure prosperity.
- Skyways and Freight Docks: Resource transfer between New London and Old Dreadnought is limited by connection capacity. Increase capacity by building Skyways and Freight Docks, which can be unlocked in the Idea Tree.
- Efficient Fuel Usage: Once the Generator is upgraded with Oil pumps, Coal can no longer be used as fuel. Consider researching Coal Liquefactors to convert Coal into Oil or exploring the frostland for unique conversion locations.
Chapter 3: Return to Winterhome
Re-establishing Winterhome is a significant undertaking. Take your time to prepare:
- Don’t Rush: Only initiate the colony in Winterhome when New London is fully prepared, with sufficient resources and Cores.
- Shape Society: Your interactions with communities and factions will determine the kind of society you build. Use available actions to strengthen or weaken relations based on your goals.
Chapter 4: Voracity
Balancing time and resources is critical when reclaiming Winterhome:
- Manage Toxic Fumes: Toxic fumes will gradually increase, causing severe consequences over time. Construct a Fume Filtration district to mitigate their effects.
- Combat Disease: Build Hospitals to reduce high Disease levels and ensure your citizens’ well-being.
- Apex Workers Law: Introducing the Apex Workers law allows you to create a specialized frostbreaker, providing significant benefits in Winterhome.
- Geothermal Springs Extraction: Establishing an Extraction district on Geothermal Springs deposits can stabilize Winterhome and support its development into a functional city.
Chapter 5: A Dream of Utopia
This chapter presents different paths for you to choose from, each with its unique challenges and rewards:
Path of All Paths
- Managing Faction Tensions: High faction fervour can escalate conflict. Work with independent communities to reduce faction size and fervour, which can help keep peace.
- Enforce Martial Law if Necessary: If maintaining order becomes impossible, declare Martial Law to mobilize Guard Squads, watchtower guards, and prison wardens, helping secure your rule.
Path of Banishment
- Round-Up Ability: Use the Round-up ability to quickly eliminate problematic factions, and consider outdoor detention to expedite the process.
- Deportation Colonies: Meeting the needs of deportation colonies depends on the number of banished faction members. Reduce these numbers to simplify your objectives.
Path of Reconciliation
- Positive Relations Are Key: Maintain good relationships with communities and factions to pass the final peace vote. Keeping promises will significantly improve relations and help secure votes.
- Promote Friendly Factions: Supporting a faction that favors you can gain a few extra peace votes. Passing laws from the ‘Rule’ category can also make peace easier, provided you’re willing to walk that line.
Path of Order
- Utilize High Tension: If tensions are high, independent factions may be more willing to pass previously rejected laws. Alternatively, gather Guard Squads to prepare for a coup.
- Secret Police: Use the secret police to prevent factions with negative relations from voting, making it easier for you to seize power.
Final Thoughts
Frostpunk 2 presents a variety of ways to tackle its unique challenges, and each choice you make can dramatically change the outcome of your city.
From managing scarce resources to navigating political landscapes, every decision matters. Whether you embrace or defeat the frost, remember that the fate of thousands of lives rests on your shoulders. Good luck, and may your city endure the cold.
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Frostpunk 2
Summary
Frostpunk 2 is the sequel to the highly acclaimed, BAFTA-nominated society survival game. The age of steam has passed and now, oil leads the way as humanity’s newest salvation. However, with new threats on the horizon, the future of the city looks even grimmer than before.
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Companies: 11 bit studios (Developer, Publisher)
Critic Rating: 86.3/100 (5 critics)
Frostpunk 2 is the sequel to the highly acclaimed, BAFTA-nominated society survival game that blended city building, strategy and management gameplay, creating a brand new genre. Its successor takes place 30 years after the apocalyptic blizzard storm, and Earth is still overwhelmed by the icy climate of neverending frost and harsh weather. You play as the leader of a resource-hungry metropolis where the expansion and search for new sources of power is an unavoidable reality. After the age of coal, conquering Frostland for the oil extraction industry is expected to be the new salvation of what’s left of humanity. However, change does not come easily, and not everyone in this new multi-layered society will welcome this new direction. Demands and expectations of various factions will raise tensions and evoke conflicts, but will a cold-blooded rule and a Machiavellian approach to politics be necessary? As the everlasting cold continues its grip on the city and outside threats arise, you’ll need to make sure your people are united, driven, and ready for difficult, unavoidable sacrifices!
