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Frostpunk 2’s third chapter sets New London on a risky course to ensure its survival; sending expeditions to the toxic ruins of Winterhome in search of Steam Cores with which to enhance the Generator. While this is typically one of the easier chapters as there aren’t any looming disasters that you have to deal with immediately, it’s likely to be your last chance to build without also handling major problems at the same time.
It’s a good idea to take your time in Chapter Three, and to a certain extent the game forces you to do so; read on to find out how to make the best of the calm between the storms.
This guide was developed by playing on Officer difficulty; you may need to adjust your strategy to survive on Steward, Captain, or Survivor.
How To Recover From The Whiteout
The main objective of Chapter Three is tofind and colonize Winterhome, but before you can do that, you need to ensure that your city can support such an endeavor.
Even if you did everything right in the first two chapters, there’s a pretty good chance that the Whiteout at the end of Chapter Two will haveemptied your stockpiles of Food and Oil.Before you do anything else, you should prioritizegetting back to a positive net incomefor both.
Re-activate any Food Districts that you shut off during the storm, andmake sure that Oil shipments have resumedfrom the Old Dreadnought.If you’re short on workers,reduce the Workforce in other Districts temporarilyto get Food production back on track. you may alsosend Frostland Teamsto harvest food from sites to the west, like the Fishing Village and the Whale Mine.
Thehilly areas to the southwesthave Coal deposits that can either besettled as permanent Outpostsorgathered in a large lump sum. If you haven’t already done so,research and build Coal Liquefaction facilitiesto convert Coal into Oil; this should keep the city well-heated, especially withLaws like Housing Insulationon the books.
During this time, the faction whose idea you rejected in Chapter Two will start protesting, which willshut down districts. You can try changing your Laws or granting them funding and Agendas to get them to stop, but this is only the beginning of increased tensions that will follow you through the rest of the game.
Where To Find The Winterhome Ruins
The Winterhome Ruins are found in a region called theCursed Valley, northeast of New London. Before setting out, be sure to haveall three Logistics Districts built and expanded, with Survivalists' Headquarters toreduce Expedition time and danger.Otherwise, you’ll be sending some of your scouts to certain death.
If you’re negotiating to pass a Law during this chapter, look for factions that want research from theFrostland Ideas Tree.These will help you reach Winterhome, regardless of which faction they benefit, so promising them as a concession in exchange for votes is really a win-win.
You can’t actually send Frostland Teams to Winterhome right away,even if you already discovered it in the previous chapter.You’ll be able to see on the map that the storm is still passing over Frostland in the northeast - it will still bea year or twobefore you can interact with that half of the map again. Since you can’t actually complete your main objective,use this time to stabilize the city’s economy, mollify angry factions, and build up stockpiles.
By the time the storm has fully dissipated, you should have the following:
How To Colonize Winterhome
Once the Winterhome Ruins are no longer blocked by the storm and you haveconnected them via trailto New London, you cansend colonists to settle the sitejust like you did with the Dreadnought in Chapter One.
Trails are the minimum requirement, but you’ll need toship a lot of suppliesfrom New London to Winterhome to keep the colony viable; it’s strongly recommended that youaccept the extra expense of building Skywaysand maybe a Logistics Bay to ensure that the colonists have enough Food, Oil, and Materials.
When you send the colonists on their way, you’ll be given two important choices:
Should You Send The Radical Leaders To Winterhome?
By this point, one of the factions in your city will have been causing trouble, expressing discontent with your choices. You have the opportunity to silence them bysending their leaders to Winterhome; a banishment in all but name. Doing so willcause protests to stop in New London, but may cause problems additional problems in the colony.
If Tension is dangerously high in New London, it might be worth sending the radical leaders away. This will buy youthree to four monthsto get things under control while the colony is set up, but you’ll need to have a plan for managing sabotage in Winterhome. If you haven’t researched Watchtowers and Prisons,do so now.
On the other hand, if the radical faction is small or you’ve got a handle on things in New London, there’s no point in sending the leaders away. Simplychoose to recruit equally from all populationsand continue as you have been.
Should You Salvage Or Settle Winterhome?
This is one of thebiggest decisions in the game, and it directly affects how Chapter Four will play. Your city’sProgress-focused factionwants you to Salvage Winterhome, destroying the ruins to extract the Steam Cores as quickly as possible, while theAdaptation-focused factionwill want you to Settle Winterhome, closing the geothermal fissures and creating a permanent, livable colony.
The faction whose plan you reject here will fully radicalize and rebel in Chapter Five,no matter what else you do. With all else being equal, the smart play might be to go with whichever choice has the most supporters among the population.
If youSalvage Winterhome, you’ll have toquickly Frostbreak to its Steam Core cachesand extract them to get enough to build the final Generator upgrade. Once you do so,the settlement will be abandonedand you won’t be able to return or otherwise interact with Winterhome for the remainder of the campaign.
If youSettle Winterhome, you’ll be tasked withturning the ruins into a permanent colony, which you’ll be able to continue to grow and develop in Chapter Five. This process willtake longer and require more resources, but has the potential to better support New London in the endgame.
Once you make your decision,Chapter Four beginsand you can start whichever project you selected.
