Game Tips
RimWorld Game Tips
This guide contains essential tips for surviving and thriving on the Rim. Tips are grouped by category and skill level. Use the table of contents to jump to relevant sections.
Table of Contents
- [Beginner Tips](#beginner-tips)
- [Intermediate Strategies](#intermediate-strategies)
- [Advanced Optimizations](#advanced-optimizations)
- [Combat Tips](#combat-tips)
- [Exploration & Caravan Tips](#exploration--caravan-tips)
- [Resource Management Tips](#resource-management-tips)
- [Base Building & Layout Tips](#base-building--layout-tips)
- [Economy & Trade Tips](#economy--trade-tips)
- [Miscellaneous Tips](#miscellaneous-tips)
- Why: Your starting three pawns set the tone. Choose one with high Construction, one with Plants/Medicine, and one with Shooting/Melee. Avoid pyromaniacs, chemical fascinations, or volatile pawns.
- Example: 8 Construction, 10 Plants, 8 Shooting are great starting values.
- When to use: Always on first playthrough. Later you can experiment with specialised starts.
- Why: Food spoils fast. A freezer (room cooled below 0°C/32°F) preserves meals and raw food. Without it, you'll run out of food before the first winter.
- How: Build a small room (4x4 interior) with a single cooler (set to -10°C). Double-wall it for efficiency. Place a stockpile zone inside with critical priority for food.
- Deeper analysis: A single cooler can keep a 4x4 room cold even in hot biomes if the room is roofed. Use an airlock (two doors) to minimise heat loss.
- Why: Colonists need sleep to avoid mental breaks. A simple barrack (large room with beds) works initially. Keep the room clean to avoid "ugly environment" debuffs.
- When: By night of day 1, have at least three beds (poor quality is fine).
- Tip: Research "Bedroll" early; you can place them outdoors temporarily.
- Why: Hunting is unreliable. Rice grows fastest (3.5 days) and is ideal for early food. Potatoes (9 days) are more resilient in poor soil. Corn (15.9 days) yields more per labour but takes longer.
- How: Plow a 5x5 patch of rich soil (green squares) near your base. Set grow zones to hydroponics? No, too late; use soil. Assign a pawn with high Plants to sow.
- Deeper analysis: Rice is best for early survival because of its speed. Corn is excellent for long-term stability. Do not build hydroponics until mid-game - they require components and power.
- Why: Mental breaks (sad wander, berserk, etc.) can kill a colony. Monitor the "Mood" tab. Keep mood above 25%. Give pawns scheduled recreation (2 hours twice a day).
- When: Always. At risk, assign a pawn to build a table or craft joy items (horsehoes pin, chess table).
- Tip: A table for eating gives +5 mood. A beautiful dining room (+5) is easy to achieve.
- Why: The default AI assigns work inefficiently. Set manual priorities (1-4) to ensure critical tasks like firefighting, patient doctoring, and bed rest are always done first.
- How: Pause -> Work tab -> Click left number toggle. Set Firefight=1, Patient=1, Doctor=1, Bed Rest=1 for all pawns. Then assign Construction, Crafting, etc. based on skills.
- When: After first 10-15 colonists. This is essential for mid-game efficiency.
- Deeper analysis: A pawn set to 1 for a task will drop what they're doing to do it. Use this for emergencies. For example, set Hauling to 2 for all; pawns will haul when no fire/patient needs.
- Why: RimWorld raids scale with colony wealth. A well-designed killbox channels enemies into a narrow corridor where they are mowed down by gunfire and traps. This saves lives and resources.
- How: Build a wall around your base, leaving one gap. Create a long corridor (20+ tiles) with alternating sandbags and stone chunks. Put sandbags at the entrance for enemy cover? No, place them inside for your shooters. Use doors for flanking. Add traps (wood spike or steel) near the entrance.
- When: Once you have 5-6 colonists and passive coolers? No, after the first major raid (about day 30). Use stone walls to avoid fire.
- Deeper analysis: Killboxes don't work against all raids (e.g., sappers, drop pods). Add layered defence: an inner perimeter with turrets and a secondary killbox. For sappers, place IEDs (improvised explosive devices) along likely tunnel paths.
- Why: Colonists need 7 hours of sleep, 2 hours of recreation, and the rest for work. An optimal schedule prevents mental breaks and maximises productivity.
- How: Use the Schedule tab. Set:
- When: After you have a stable food supply (first winter).
- Tip: Adjust sleep duration if using circadian assistants or bionics.
- Why: Trading is essential for buying components, advanced technology, and rare animals. Caravans can also hunt animals on the map or collect resources from abandoned settlements.
- How: Build a comms console and orbital trade beacon. Ping for traders (silver cost). Also, send caravans to nearby friendly settlements. Load pack animals with trade goods (stone blocks, clothing, organs? - that's evil).
- When: After day 100, or when you need components.
- Deeper analysis: Buy components and advanced components whenever possible. Price markup is 1.5x at settlements but 1.3x at orbital traders. Sell drugs (yayo) or clothing for profit. Maintain +20 goodwill with factions to trigger more trader visits and easier caravans.
- Why: Bionics replace missing or weak body parts, granting massive stat boosts. Archotech exoskeletons, eyes, arms make a pawn near godlike.
- How: Research "Bionics" early, then produce advanced components (need components and advanced component production). Install parts via medical operations.
- When: Mid-to-late game (year 2+). Prioritise for fighters (archotech arms +20% melee damage) and crafters (archotech arms +20% global work speed).
- Deeper analysis: A single archotech eye gives +10% shooting accuracy. Two eyes = +20%. That's like having a level 20 shooter from day one. Pair with a bionic leg for movement speed (kiting enemies). Be careful: bionic limbs increase wealth, which scales raid size. Install them only on defenders.
- Why: With the Biotech DLC, you can create custom xenotypes with tailored genes. Super-strong, fast-growing, or psionic-savvy colonists are possible.
- How: Build a gene-assembly pod, extract genes from prisoners, then implant into own pawns. Use xenotype germline lines for inheritable traits.
- When: Mid-game (after researching gene processing).
- Example: Create a "worker" xenotype: +20% moving, +20% global work speed, +2 plants, +2 construction. Add a major cell instability to offset population cap? No, balance with darkness need (sanguophage).
- Deeper analysis: Gene extraction costs a lot of hemogen (from bloodfeeders). Use sanguophages as gene donors - they are robust. The best genes are:
- Why: A stunning rec room (+6 mood) and impressive dining room (+6) stack. Combined with fine meals (+5), you can keep mood high without drugs.
- How:
- When: After you have a stable economy, mid-game.
- Deeper analysis: Each point of beauty above certain thresholds gives mood. Use art from stone blocks (cheap). A legendary human leather comfy chair? Actually, art from marble or silver is better. The tables need to be within 25 tiles of pawns' work areas to get the "ate at table" bonus.
- Why: Raid size scales directly with colony wealth. If you accumulate too much wealth without military strength, you'll be overwhelmed. Control wealth by limiting stockpiles, destroying expensive items, or investing in military (weapons, turrets, armor) which are counted but buff your defence.
- How:
- When: Late game (year 3+). Essential for Randy Random where raids can be huge.
- Deeper analysis:
- Why: Shooting from behind cover (sandbags, walls) reduces incoming accuracy by 50% (cover). Colonists in the open get hit more.
- How: Build sandbags in a line. Place colonists one tile behind sandbags. For walls, colonists can peek around corners - place a wall with an opening to provide partial cover.
- When: Every fight.
- Tip: Use "Force" position to make colonist stand behind cover. Also use shield belts for melee fighters to absorb bullets.
- Why: Melee pawns can tie up ranged enemies, preventing them from shooting. A single well-armoured melee fighter can hold a chokepoint.
- How: Draft the melee pawn, right-click enemy to attack. Use "Hold" to defend a position. Give them shield belt + plate armor or marine armor. Use blunt weapons (mace, club) to avoid bleeding damage (helps capture prisoners). Sharp weapons (katana, sword) cause bleeding.
- When: Against early tribal raids or mid-game mechanoid clusters.
- Deeper analysis: A melee pawn can also interrupt grenadier throw animations. Use three melee fighters on a single target to stunlock. Pair with a strong shooter behind them.
- Why: Large animals (rhinos, elephants, boomalopes) can tank damage and deal melee damage. They also increase wealth, but their firepower is substantial.
- How: Tame animals (need a handler with 8+ Animals). Train to "Release" in combat. Use multiple war animals to surround enemies.
- When: Mid-game. Wargs, bears, or thrumbos are best. (Thrumbos require 1-2 trainers).
- Tip: They don't count for raid scaling? They do count as colony wealth (animal value). But they are effective. Use them as disposable attackers.
- Why: Mech clusters are difficult due to shielded pods, auto-mortars, and large numbers. You must prioritise killing the power node of each building to disable shields.
- How:
- When: Whenever a cluster appears.
- Deeper analysis: The best tactic is to attack immediately before mechanoids wake up. Send a cyborg pawn with shield belt and EMP to disable shields, then focus fire on the structures. If you cannot, run away and wait for the Sun blocker? No, it's a different event. Some clusters have inactivity time.
- Why: The Ancient Danger (a cracked metal structure) contains valuable loot: weapons, armor, plasteel, gold, and possibly cryopods with enemy or neutral pawns.
- How:
- When: After you have 3-4 colonists with decent weapons (bolt-action rifle, pump shotgun).
- Deeper analysis: You can also use trap corridors to lure ancients out. The loot is worth the risk early. However, opening it adds wealth. It's best to open after you have a defensive killbox.
- Why: Caravans must carry enough food and medicine. Use muffalo or donkey for pack capacity. Horses are only for speed (no carrying? Actually horses can't carry trade goods).
- How:
- When: Whenever you need advanced components or want to trade.
- Tip: Draft pawns with high Animals skill to lead the caravan (reduces ambush chances). Also bring a doctor and medicine.
- Why: Some tiles have more resources (jade, gold, plasteel) than others. Use the world map to find tiles with high resource density.
- How: In the travel screen, click any tile to see its resources (listed as "Resources"). Green = high. Avoid tiles with low resources unless you have deep drilling.
- When: Before starting a new colony (if you can pick). For mid-game, you can form a caravan to a new tile, build a mining outpost, and transport resources back.
- Deeper analysis: The resource count is random but influenced by biome. For example, arid shrubland has occasional plasteel; temperate forest has average. Ice sheet gets nothing.
- Why: Colonists waste time walking across the map to retrieve items. Place stockpiles strategically near workbenches. Use critical priority for urgent items (food, medicine) and low priority for trash.
- How: Create zones for each workbench (e.g., stone chunks near stonecutter). Use 'Haul urgently' to move items.
- When: After first few days.
- Deeper analysis: Use shelves to store items - they increase capacity per tile without beauty penalty. For example, steel shelf holds 3 steel stacks.
- Why: Deep drills (research required) tap underground resources infinitely (with geyser-like depots). Quarry mods are modded. In vanilla, use ground-penetrating scanner to find deposits, then deep drill.
- How:
- When: Mid-game when surface resources run out.
- Deeper analysis: Deep drilling produces chunks that must be taken to a smelter. The yield is 750 units of steel per deposit on average. Use multiple drills for efficiency.
- Why: Smelt steel scrap (steel chunks) into steel. Also smelt slag for steel and plasteel. This frees up storage and provides materials.
- How: Build an electric smelter. Set bill to "Smelt steel chunks" and "Smelt slag". The work is fast (50 ticks each).
- When: As soon as you have electricity.
- Tip: Keep a trained hauler (dog, megasloth) to haul chunks to smelter.
- Why: Temperature leaks through walls. Double-wall (two layers of wall) reduces heat loss by 50%. This is essential for freezers and in extreme biomes.
- How: Build inner walls (e.g., wood) then outer layer (stone). Stone doesn't burn, so use that for outer.
- When: For freezer and in cold biomes. Also for greenhouse (sun lamp plus heaters).
- Why: Workshops generate dirt, noise, and ugly environment (dirt, messes). Bedrooms need cleanliness for mood. Place workshops in a separate, central area with good lighting.
- How: Create two sections: a central industrial core (crafting, smelting, research) and residential wings. Use corridors with doors to reduce dirt spread.
- When: After 10 colonists.
- Deeper analysis: Use sterile tiles in crafting room to improve cleanliness (important for steel crafting? Not directly, but clean room improves research speed (0.3% per cleanliness? Actually research speed is not affected by cleanliness directly; but food poisoning from cooking area does). Keep kitchen separate from butcher table (butcher table creates dirt that can cause food poisoning).
- Why: Hydroponics gives 150% fertility (280% with hydroponic basin) but requires sun lamp, power, and constant maintenance. Soil farming is cheap but limited to rich soil.
- How:
- When: Only after you have stable power (geothermal or wind+solar+battery). Hydroponics are fragile: one solar flare or power outage destroys food. Always have backup power.
- Deeper analysis: In temperate forest, you don't need hydroponics. In tundra, you do. But consider greenhouse (heated soil room with sun lamp) which is cheaper and less power-hungry (just heater and lamp). Soil in a roofed room with lamp will grow crops year-round even in snow.
- Why: Art is the most efficient way to turn resources into silver. A masterwork marble sculpture (1500-2000 beauty) sells for ~600 silver. Good quality sculptures sell for 200-400.
- How:
- When: Mid-game when you have excess stone.
- Deeper analysis: The profit margin: 100 stone blocks (100 silver value if sold raw) become a sculpture worth 600+ silver. That's 600% profit. Also, sculptures improve environment mood.
- Why: Drugs have high market value per weight. Yayo (1 silver per unit cost) sells for 24 silver. Flake is even more profitable per volume but addictive.
- How:
- When: After you have stable food and power. Be careful: drug production increases wealth significantly. Also, colonists may become addicted if they have chemical interest trait.
- Tip: Set drug policies to restrict consumption to "medical use only" to prevent addiction.
- Why: High goodwill with factions brings more caravans and cheaper prices. Reach +100 to unlock trade deals.
- How:
- When: Early game start with +20 natural. Increase gradually.
- Deeper analysis: Each faction has a cap of +100. Use gifts wisely: a single masterwork sculpture can push a faction from 0 to +100. But don't overdo; you can also sell to them later.
- Why: Joy wire is a surgery that installs a soother in the brain, providing a +4 mood buff permanently. It costs no components? Actually, it requires advanced components (uncommon). But it's cheap once you have them.
- How: Research "Cyborgization", produce joy wire (requires 1 advanced component). Install via operations in a hospital bed.
- When: For colonists with frequent breakdowns (due to high expectations or childhood trauma).
- Tip: Joy wire also reduces consciousness slightly by 2%, which reduces work speed and movement. Only install on pawns with high baseline consciousness (e.g., bloodlust) or as a last resort.
- Why: RimWorld is designed for story generation. Commitment Mode (one save, no reloads) makes losses permanent. Save scumming reduces tension but ruins the narrative.
- How:
- When: Your choice. For this guide, we assume normal mode where you can save scum.
- Deeper analysis: The best RimWorld stories come from failures. A colonist dying to a manhunting squirrel is memorable. If you reload, you lose that.
- Why: Thousands of mods improve UI, performance, add content, or fix issues. Essential mods include: Allow Tool, Prepare Carefully, RimHUD, Miniaturisation, and QualityBuilder.
- How: Use Steam Workshop. Subscribe to mods. Ensure compatibility (check community lists).
- When: After a few vanilla playthroughs.
- Tip: Use mod manager (e.g., RimPy) to sort load order.
---
Beginner Tips
1. Start with a Balanced Colonist Trio
2. Build a Freezer Immediately (Your First Day)
3. Prioritise Beds and a Base Structure
4. Set Up a Simple Farm
5. Manually Control Moods
Intermediate Strategies
6. Master the Work Tab Priority System
7. Killboxes and Defensive Chokepoints
8. Efficient Colonist Schedule: Work, Sleep, Recreation
- 0-2: Sleep (any)
- 2-5: Anything (work)
- 5-7: Recreation
- 7-9: Sleep
- 9-14: Work
- 14-16: Anything (work)
- 16-18: Recreation
- 18-24: Work
9. Trade and Caravan Management
Advanced Optimizations
10. Bionics and Archotech Overhaul
11. Genetic Engineering and Gene-Assembly
- Superfast Healing: Regenerate wounds quickly.
- Fire Resistant: Prevent pawns from burning.
- Cold/Heat Tolerant: Survive extreme biomes.
- Psychic Sensitivity: Required for psionics.
12. Optimised Rec Room and Dining Room Bonuses
- Dining room: At least 25 tiles, one large table, fine stone floor (or carpet), a few art sculptures (good quality+), at least 4-5 chairs. Keep clean (cleanliness adds beauty).
- Rec room: Separate room (or combined if large enough) containing pool table, chess table, poker table, TV (with entertainment channel), and telescopes. Add art.
13. Raid Point Manipulation (Wealth Management)
- Sell excess goods quickly (turn into silver; silver counts as wealth).
- Do not hoard raw resources beyond 1000 of each.
- Build defences like turrets and traps - they add to wealth but increase raid points less than raw wealth.
- Use expensive furniture only in bedrooms if you can defend.
- When wealth is too high, intentionally destroy or gift items to allied factions.
- Formula: Pawn points = (wealth points + colonist points + building points) * difficulty multiplier. Each 2000 wealth adds 1 point. A well-armoured pawn adds ~20 points. So a legendary charge rifle (wealth ~2000) adds same as a rifle but less defence than a cheaper weapon? Actually, weapon quality increases wealth. For good weapons, craft excellent/legendary only if you have good shooters. Otherwise, keep normal weapons.
- Strategy: Keep wealth low until you have a killbox and 10+ good pawns. Then scale up.
- Tip: Trade pawns for slaves then sell? No, that increases colonist count. Better to send extra pawns on suicide missions or release prisoners (no goodwill? No, it removes them from wealth).
Combat Tips
14. Use Cover and Shoot from Bunkers
15. Draft and Micro-Manage Melee Fighters
16. Use Animals in Combat (Zoo Defence)
17. Dealing with Mechanoid Clusters
- Approach with a shielded pawn (smoke can block turret targeting? No, use EMP grenades to stun mechanoids).
- Build a smoke launcher to provide cover (mechanoids have 50% vision penalty in smoke).
- Use mortars with high explosive shells to destroy the cluster from range (mortar accuracy is poor, so use multiple mortars).
Exploration & Caravan Tips
18. Scavenge Ancient Danger Early
- Build a triple-layer wall around the structure before opening.
- Open with a pawn with good shooting and shield belt. The cryopod may contain hostile pawns (e.g., ancients) - be ready to kill or recruit.
- There are also centipedes in some. Use EMP grenades.
19. Caravan Logistics: Food and Pack Power
- Pack animal capacity: Muffalo = 75kg, Alpaca = 48kg. Each pawn eats ~1.6 nutrition per day. Bring pemmican (10 days) or packaged survival meals (30 days).
- Load goods to trade (stone, clothing, drugs). Use caravans to visit settlements and orbital traders.
20. Settling on a Resource-Rich Tile
Resource Management Tips
21. Stockpile Zones and Critical Priorities
22. Mining Deep Drill vs Quarry Mod
- Research "Deep Drilling".
- Build a ground-penetrating scanner, assign a scientist to scan.
- Once a deposit is found (steel, plasteel, components, jade), build a deep drill over it.
- Assign a pawn to drill; it produces items continuously until depleted (after large amount).
23. Smelting and Refining
Base Building & Layout Tips
24. Use Double Walls for Insulation
25. Separate Workshop from Bedrooms
26. Hydroponics vs Soil Farming
- Use hydroponics for high-yield crops (rice, cotton, devilstrand) in biomes with poor soil (ice sheet, desert).
- Build basins in a room with sun lamp (6x6 or 9x9 basin layout). Each sun lamp covers 11x11 area.
Economy & Trade Tips
27. Art and Sculpture Economy
- Use stone blocks (cheapest) to produce large sculptures.
- Assign a pawn with high artistic skill (10+) to craft sculptures exclusively.
- Sell to traders or send via caravan.
28. Drug Farming (Yayo, Flake, Smokeleaf)
- Grow psychoid leaves (need 5 days) -> process into psycoid -> refine into yayo (requires smelter? No, drug lab).
- Have a dedicated drug lab with two drug labs (if possible).
29. Trade Routes and Goodwill
- Send gifts (sculptures, drugs, gold) via caravan or drop pod.
- Accept refugees (quest) for goodwill.
- Release prisoners after healing (no organ harvesting) for +8 goodwill each.
Miscellaneous Tips
30. Manage Mental Breaks with Joy Wire
31. Save Scumming vs Commitment Mode
- Load previous save if you lose a key pawn? In commitment mode you can't.
- For new players, play on "Reload anytime" mode (default) to learn.
32. Modding for Quality of Life
---
This guide covers essential tips for all stages of RimWorld. Remember: the AI storyteller will challenge you precisely based on your wealth and pawn count. Use these tips to tip the odds in your favor. Good luck, and may your colony thrive (or at least burn dramatically).