There's a lot to do at the beginning of a campaign in Frostpunk 2. Whether you're playing in Story Mode or Utopia Builder, your city will be in a tenuous position. Nearly every resource will be in deficit, and without careful planning and execution you're only a few years away from defeat.
RelatedFrostpunk 2: Complete Guide To The Council
One of Frostpunk 2’s biggest additions is the Council, which allows you to enact laws in New London. Here’s how to use it to your advantage.
PostsOne great way to close the gap and stabilize from the starting situation is to pass Laws in the Council. If you aren't sure which proposals to put forth, or which ones are worth negotiating with hesitant delegates for, consider the following picks.
1 Foraged Additives / Chemical Additives
Survival Laws
A good issue to bring to the Council straight away is how to extend the city's food supplies. Both options are useful, so it's usually best to pick the one that aligns with the Cornerstone you plan to pursue. Alternately, you can start with Foraged Additives, then switch to Chemical Additives once you have several Food Districts up and running.
Law
Cornerstone
Effects
Strategy Notes
Foraged Additives
Adaptation
- Provides a small bonus to Food income proportional to the population.
- The food bonus isn't enough to make up for the amount that people eat, so it's best thought of as a stopgap to make up for a lack of production.
- Useful early in the game before Food Districts have been built and upgraded.
Chemical Additives
Progress
- Efficiency of buildings and districts that produce Food is increased.
- Inflicts a small amount of Disease on the city.
- Stacks with other efficiency bonuses.
- Combines well with Hothouses.
- The Disease penalty is negligible. Don't let it deter you.
2 Paid Essentials
City Laws
The next time the Council convenes, go to the City Laws section and propose Paid Essentials. It's far from the most empathetic choice, but this isn't that kind of game. Passing this law gives you a boost to Production Efficiency across the board and, more importantly, an increase to your weekly Heatstamp income.
That income bonus is especially important because, until you can produce enough Goods to satisfy your city's demand, you'll actually be suffering an income penalty. Passing Paid Essentials as early as possible helps offset that.
Later in the game, when you aren't as strapped for cash, you can switch to Free Essentials for a quick increase in Trust. This can save you from the dreaded Vote of Confidence if things are going poorly otherwise.
3 Machine-Centric Shifts
Resource Ideas
Eventually, you'll need to start researching new Laws from the Ideas Tree. These still need to be voted on once they're researched, so be ready to make some concessions if you have to. The first Law Idea that you should take is usually Machine-Centric Shifts, which plans your workforce's schedules around automaton maintenance.
Choosing Machine-Centric Shifts reduces all Workforce requirements, letting you staff more districts and buildings with the same amount of people. This is critical in the early game, when you might have trouble growing your population at first. It's well worth the small increase to Squalor you'll suffer once the Law passes.
4 Heat Recycling
Resource Ideas
Once you've unlocked Machine-Centric Shifts, the next node on the Resource Ideas Tree will be available. It has one of the most efficient Ideas in the game, so it's well worth going straight for it and pushing a vote through immediately.
RelatedFrostpunk 2 Review - Child Miner Simulator, Civil War Edition
Frostpunk 2 is a hefty sequel that takes the best parts of its predecessor and scales them way up.
PostsHeat Recycling reduces the Heat Demand of all Housing Districts in the city. Considering how many of them you'll build, that leads to a considerable savings in fuel. As an added bonus, this Adaptation Idea makes a nice bone to throw any factions upset over Machine-Centric Shifts.
On higher difficulties, Heat Recycling may spawn an event that causes it to also generate Disease, but it's still worth it - after all, a lack of heating generates much more Disease, and worse.
5 All Do Maintenance / Unproductive Do Maintenance
CloseCity Laws
By this point, you'll probably be hurting for Materials and suffering some Squalor penalties. You can get a few extra weeks out of your remaining stockpiles - and support your eventual Industrial Districts - by reducing your overall need for Materials. Choosing a Maintenance Law is a quick way to make that happen.
As with your Food Additives Law, your choice can reflect your eventual Cornerstone preference, or you can choose based on how bad your current Materials deficit is.
Law
Cornerstone
Effects
Strategy Notes
All Do Maintenance
Equality
- Significantly decreases citywide need for Materials.
- Best if you are suffering from severe Squalor or need to conserve Materials.
Unproductive Do Maintenance
Merit
- Slightly reduces citywide need for Materials.
- Increases Production Efficiency of all districts.
- Best if you have ready access to Materials and would rather have the Efficiency bonus.
6 Family Apprenticeships
Society Laws
Once things start stabilizing, you'll usually get an event requiring you to pass a Childhood Law or suffer a steady increase to Crime in the city. Of the two options, Family Apprenticeships is generally better unless you really, really want to push the city toward Reason early.
Having enough Workforce will be an issue throughout the game, and Family Apprenticeships increases the percentage of your population that can work. While the bonus to Research Speed offered by Mandatory Schools is certainly attractive, the Heatstamps penalty it carries is a tall ask, especially on Steward difficulty and higher where your base income is low to begin with.
7 Dutiful Youth
Society Ideas
Once you've got the kids set up learning job skills, you can go one further and research an advanced Childhood Law. While picking Family Apprenticeship and then going straight into Dutiful Youth does skew your city towards Tradition early, it gives you even more Workforce and a hefty reduction in Crime to boot!
8 Harvesting Funerals
Society Laws
One last Law will bring you out of the early game and establish the foundations of your new city - deciding what to do with the dead. The Reason Cornerstone has been a bit neglected, but any factions that follow it will be happy to see you pick Harvesting Funerals.
Organ transplants help reduce the city's Disease rating and also give you a small boost to Research Speed. It's a great Law overall. The only real reason to switch to Ceremonial Funerals would be if you're expecting a lot of deaths, perhaps because of an impending Whiteout or because you're about to enter Winterhome in the Story Mode campaign. You can use Ceremonial Funerals to reduce the Trust penalty from those casualties, then switch back.
RelatedFrostpunk 2: Complete Guide To Frostland Exploration
Send your Frostland Teams in search of valuable resources in Frostpunk 2.
Posts
