Frostpunk 2: Complete Faction Guide

Frostpunk 2 adds a political layer to the original's post-apocalyptic survival city-building with the introduction of communities and factions. Nothing is ever easy in the Frostlands, though, so you can expect your people to start arguing - or even fighting - as soon as their political lines are drawn in each playthrough.

Frostpunk 2: 8 Beginner Tips

Even if you survived the original, Frostpunk 2 is an entirely different beast.

At the beginning of the game, you have a limited amount of control over which parties form within the city. You can use this to your advantage, but know that there will always be an opposition ready to fight for their beliefs, no matter how good your intentions.

Communities And Factions

Your city's populace are divided into communities and factions, visible at the bottom of the screen. Every member of the populace belongs to exactly one of these groups. By hovering over each group's icon, you can see what percentage of your people follows them, as well as what they currently think of your rule as the Steward.

A population's votes in the Council are proportional to their percentage of the population.

Communities are everyday civilians, and for most of your playthrough will make up the bulk of your population. A community is aligned to a single Cornerstone; their Delegates will usually vote in line with that guiding principle, but can go either way on other issues. Delegates from communities also tend not to be hardliners, and can usually be negotiated with if you need them to vote against their Cornerstone.

Factions are organized political parties, aligned to three Cornerstones instead of just one. Unlike communities, they will refuse to vote against their beliefs, and can't be negotiated with in the Council. They will also organize Rallies or Protests if their relations with the Steward are sufficiently high or low, respectively. While factions are more likely to cause trouble if they aren't getting their way, there are more options for interacting with them, including benefits for keeping them happy.

When a faction gains members, they will be drawn from a community that shares that faction's beliefs. When a faction loses members, they will return to their original community.

Communities And Factions In Story Mode

The population of New London starts the game divided into two pre-existing communities and a single faction, depending on the event decision you make during the prologue. No matter what, the civilian population will always consist of:

• New Londoners, a community focused on Progress, consisting of those who have lived in the city their entire lives.
• Frostlanders, a community focused on Adaptation, consisting of those who have until recently eked out an existence in the frozen wilderness.

Your starting faction will be the Stalwarts if you chose Order in the prologue, and the Faithkeepers if you chose Faith. As the story progresses, a second faction will arise, directly in opposition to the first. Hence, if the Stalwarts are present, they'll be opposed by the Pilgrims, while the Faithkeepers will be challenged by the Evolvers.

New London Factions

Faction

Cornerstones

Ability

Evolvers

• Adaptation
• Merit
• Reason

Enhance Workers: Increases Production Efficiency citywide.

Faithkeepers

• Progress
• Equality
• Tradition

Evening Prayers: Increases Trust.

Pilgrims

• Adaptation
• Equality
• Tradition

Deploy Guides: Speeds up expedition time in the Frostlands.

Stalwarts

• Progress
• Merit
• Reason

Recruit Enforcers: Provides additional Guard Squads.

Frostpunk 2: How To Move Resources Between Colonies

Unsure how to transfer your newfound Oil from the Old Dreadnought to New London? Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough.

Communities And Factions In Utopia Builder

In Utopia Builder, Frostpunk 2's sandbox mode, your city always starts with three communities and no factions. There will always be two communities with opposite Cornerstones, and a third community selected at random.

You can choose who the two opposing communities are during setup, or you can let the game decide randomly. The third community is always random, no matter what.

All Utopia Builder Communities

Community

Cornerstone

Opposed By

Foragers

Adaptation

Machinists

Laborers

Equality

Merchants

Machinists

Progress

Foragers

Merchants

Merit

Laborers

Nobles

Tradition

Thinkers

Thinkers

Reason

Nobles

A faction will form once your city has made steps toward a Cornerstone on all three axes. The faction will base itself on whichever three principles are currently ahead, as seen at the bottom left of the screen. This means that by carefully selecting your laws and ideas, you can push your city toward getting the faction (and opposition) that you want.

Once the first faction forms, their opposition faction will arrive a short while later. The opposition is always the faction with the exact opposite Cornerstones as the first one. In most cases, the opposition will start with a lower opinion of the Steward, but you are free to work with them to repair relations or even support their ideals.

Since there are three communities but only two factions, one faction will always have more potential support from the populace than the other. Whether that translates into support from the Steward is up to you.

All Utopia Builder Factions

Faction

Cornerstones

Opposed By

Ability

Bohemians

• Adaptation
• Equality
• Reason

Overseers

• Mindshaping (Active): Increases Trust.
• Trust Fostering (Passive): Randomly boosts relations with communities while the Bohemians are happy.

Icebloods

• Adaptation
• Merit
• Tradition

Technocrats

• Volunteer Expeditions (Active): Increases Food output by 80.
• Hunting Trips (Passive): Increases overall Food production while the Icebloods are happy.

Legionnaires

• Progress
• Equality
• Tradition

Proteans

• Raise Prefabs (Active): Instantly provides Prefabs.
• Guard Recruitment (Passive): The city has extra Guard Squads while the Legionnaires are happy.

Menders

• Adaptation
• Equality
• Tradition

Venturers

• Rescue Operations (Active): Increases population by rescuing survivors from the Frostland.
• Exploration Support (Passive): Expeditions are faster while the Menders are happy.

Overseers

• Progress
• Merit
• Tradition

Bohemians

• Overdrive Output (Active): Increases Production Efficiency.
• Voluntary Patrols (Passive): Crime is reduced while the Overseers are happy.

Proteans

• Adaptation
• Merit
• Reason

Legionnaires

• Coordinate Patient Care (Active): Returns sick patients to the workforce instantly.
• Healthcare Assistance (Passive): Disease is reduced while the Proteans are happy.

Technocrats

• Progress
• Equality
• Reason

Icebloods

• Optimize Research (Active): Increases research speed.
• Maintenance Optimization (Passive): Materials Demand is reduced while the Technocrats are happy.

Venturers

• Progress
• Merit
• Reason

Menders

• Finance Mercenaries (Active): Recruits additional Guard Squads.
• City Investment (Passive): Heatstamp income is increased while the Venturers are happy.

Frostpunk 2: Best Laws To Enact First

Putting Laws into place early will help get your city on track in Frostpunk 2.