Frostpunk 2’s Story Mode kicks off with the prologue scenario, The Wanderers. It’s a great way to learn the ropes of gathering resources and keeping your people alive, but it’s not exactly a tutorial. It’s entirely possible to fail The Wanderers if you aren’t careful, even on the lowest difficulty settings. When you do succeed, it’ll be a nail-biter as the timer nears zero.
If getting enough food to survive the Whiteout is proving to be an insurmountable challenge, or if you just want to plan ahead for whatever dangers Frostland has for you, this guide has everything you need to know about The Wanderers.
This guide was developed by playing on Officer difficulty. You may need to adapt or streamline your strategy to succeed on higher settings.
Getting Started
Before you’re able to do anything else, you need tosecure a source of Oilandactivate the Furnacein the wrecked Dreadnought spanning the canyon at the center of the map.Frostbreakyour way to the wreckedOil Carjust east of the Dreadnought, making sure to dig out the tile with the Oil icon itself. Since you can break up to eight tiles at a time, you canalso break out the Prefab Parts tile to the southwhile you’re at it to save some resources.
Unlike most maps, you can get away with Frostbreaking in snakelike lines; with the exception of your Housing Districts (see below), there’s no real need to group buildings together in clumps.
Once anExtraction Districtis completed on the Oil Car, you canturn on the Furnaceby clicking on the Dreadnought and toggling the switch on theGenerator Tab.Unlikethe original Frostpunk, there isno need to wait for your fuel stockpile to build up.
Next,build another Extraction Districton the Prefab Parts tile; while it’s being built,Frostbreak the area around the Dreadnought, both to the northeast toward the ravine and on the western side of the canyon.
Best Housing Layout
Once you’ve made a little extra room north of the Dreadnought,build two Housing Districts. The first should havethree tiles touching the Dreadnought, and the second should havethree tiles touching the first Housing District.Building them this wayprovides a Heating bonus, which saves precious Oil and keeps your people healthy. Eventually, you’ll need a third Housing District to ensure that everyone has shelter; when the time comes,follow the same rules, Frostbreaking more space if you have to.
Pause the game any time you’re making a decision or building something. You can’t afford to waste any time with the Whiteout coming.
How To Get Enough Food
The main objective of the scenario is tostockpile 40,000 Foodbefore the Whiteout arrives. You can always see how much time you have left in theupper left corner of the screen.As soon as your basic needs are met,start building Extraction Districts on Food Tiles- as many as you can, as quickly as you can. The sooner they’re completed, the sooner you can start stockpiling.
You needat least two Food Districts active at onceto feed your people and have enough of a surplus left over to stockpile.
There arefive Food tiles on the map;three on the canyon’s western ridge, one in the canyon itself to the north, and one at the mouth of the canyon to the south.You’ll need all fiveto come up with forty thousand, but due to your limited resources - namely Workforce - you can only realisticallyoperate three Food Districts at a time.The rest of your Workforce will need to go toproducing Oil, Prefabs, and Materialsto keep the colony running.
In peak conditions, your Colony should havethree Oil Districts, three Food Districts,andone each Prefab and Material Districtsin operation if you want all your needs to be met and still be able to build when needed.
Your initial Prefab District, and eventually your Food Districts,will run out of resourcesbefore the end of the scenario. Keep an eye on how much they have left and do your best tohave a replacement builtbefore they are fully depleted. Once a District is out of resources, it’s worthless;demolish itto get back some Scraps and Prefabs.
How To Increase Food Production
Even with several Food Districts operating, you still won’t make it to 40,000 before the Whiteout; you can see an estimate ofhow long it will take to save upunder the timer. To make sure you meet the goal, there are two harsh but necessary measures you’ll have to take:
How To Increase Food Storage Capacity
Your basic Food Storage canonly hold 10,000 units, meaning it’s impossible to stockpile 40,000 without some upgrades. You’ll need to buildtwo Food Stockpilesto bring the capacity up to exactly 40,000; as nice as it would be to go higher, youprobably can’t afford more than that.
Food Stockpilesreduce the Workforce needed by nearby Food Districts, so build them with the bonus in mind. It’s a small benefit, but you need every advantage you’re able to get!
Important Events And Decisions
There are several decisions that you’ll need to make as part of events that crop up during the scenario.
A Mysterious Symbol: The Captain’s Legacy
Around Week 33, your people will find the body of a scout from New London, the settlement from the original Frostpunk. This event allows you tochoose which path New London took in 1887; the path of Order, focused on militant discipline and ceaseless toil, or the path of Faith, built around devotion to a new religion.
The decision you take here won’t affect anything in the current scenario, but it willdetermine the starting factions of New Londonwhen you progress to Chapter One. While most of the population will consist of civilian New Londoners and Frostlanders, a minority faction of more fanatical citizens will also be present, and may affect votes in the Council, based on your choice. Your decision also determine which Laws you can pass to cement your rule.
The Whiteout Draws Near: A Sacrifice
If the timer is starting to run low and you haven’t yet built up enough Food, you’ll receive an event that lets youchoose an emergency decision.
Choosing either emergency decisionreduces the morale of the peopleand prevents you from getting the scenario’s best ending, but otherwise has no real effect on the campaign.
