Getting into research and its Idea Tree inFrostpunk 2should be one of your first priorities when starting a new game. However, with dozens of options to choose from right at the starting gate, it can be overwhelming to narrow down just what your city needs to survive before all else.
Thankfully, no matter what city you have, there are always a select few research options and ideas that you can invest in during the early game to set you off on a strong start. If you can manage to unlock the following ideas quickly, you’ll have everything you need to build the foundation of a strong mid-game play.
Effect
Increase Housing district capacity by 10 percent, Increase Heatstamp income
Although locked behind the Housing Blocks tree (which is also useful to know), getting to this tree early will help you both fund projects with increased heatstamp income and conserve resources as you cut down on the amount of required housing.
This requires no resources to implement other than the 50 heatstamps required to research it, making this a very low-cost, high-reward research option. Yes, it does require a law to be passed in order to enact it, but passing it will help increase trust further among factions and allow you to build relations while you’re reaping the rewards.
Proteans, Pilgrims, Frostlanders
Substantially Reduce Exploration Time and Decrease Territory Threat Level by one stage
To Build
x400 Workforce, x120 Heatstamps, x60 Prefabs
Compared to the Scouts' Headquarters, the Survivalists' Headquarters does everything it can do but better. While exploration time is decreased by two stages in the regular version, the Survivalists' decrease exploration time by three whole stages at no extra cost.
Unlocking the headquarters as soon as possible is crucial to expanding the area you’re able to search in the Frostlands. The construction of just two of these buildings (or one with the Pathfinder Scouts Idea) will unlock the entirety of the Frostlands for your perusal.
x300 Workforce, x100 Heatstamps, x50 Prefabs
While having any hospital is a good idea, the Teaching Hospital is extra special thanks to its incredible bonus of significantly increasing research speed for each placement. Likewise, it has a higher disease reduction effect than the normal hospital.
The only downsides the Teaching Hospital poses are its slightly higher workforce requirement and, eventually, its ability to slightly increase tension. However, the tension effect is so slight that one would have to build several Teaching Hospitals across their city to see any real effect.
The construction cost and workforce requirements of this building can be lowered during theBeacon of Hopein Utopia Builder.
Substantially Decrease Work Requirement, Minorly Increase Squalor
For low-cost research that requires no building, Machine-Centric Shifts is a great early-game investment to help build trust while also helping you manage your workforce when staffing districts is at its most tenuous state.
This requires you to pass a law to fully enact it, which means you can always repeal it later if you find yourself struggling with squalor or find a better idea for your playstyle. In the meantime, this law is a great thing to research when you have the time to spare.
x600 Workforce, x120 Heatstamps, x90 Prefabs
x500 Workforce, x120 Heatstamps, x80 Prefabs
x600 Workforce
x500 Workforce
Having any Logistics Bay in the early game is a good idea as Frostlander Teams (or scouts) will be crucial to yourexploration of the outside world, and the more scouts you have, the faster you will be able to explore and the more resources you will be able to bring home.
As no area in the Frostland requires less than ten scouts to explore, and Logistics Districts provide only 15 scouts to begin with (without expansion), you will often have to choose between exploration and outpost resources unless you build a second Logistics District or install a Logistics Bay.
x10 Frostland Teams; 50 Heatstamps, 20 Prefabs per segment
Transport Amount
600 each way; 1200 total
Skyways are crucial in your development of the Frostlands. Getting this early might seem expensive - and it is, but Skyways pay off their construction costs by substantiallyincreasing the amount of resources that can be transferredfrom outposts and colonies.
Another important factor for Skyway construction is that Skyways can reach further and into areas that Trailways cannot. Around mountainous areas, Trailways may end up costing more to build in the long run due to the required number of segments to connect one route to another. By building Skyways early, you end up saving more resources and overall planning in the long run.
Heating, Housing Insulation and Advanced Housing Insulation
None
Ability to insulate Housing districts; +1/+2 Temperature to insulated districts (normal/advanced)
x50 Heatstamps, x50 Prefabs
Housing Insulation provides such a large benefit for a small investment. By insulating districts, you will be greatly preserving the amount of resources needed toheat your cityas well as reducing any building costs for hospitals to counteract disease caused by chilly (or lower) temperatures.
The best part about researching into Housing Insulation is that once insulation is installed, you do not need to update your Housing with the new insulation for additional costs. The Advanced Housing Insulation will automatically apply to any previously-insulated districts at no cost.
Drastically reduce Materials demand
Materials are an incredibly important resource to have as their abundance will dictate the output and operation of other crucial districts. For almost no cost and the enacting of a law, you can substantially reduce the amount of materials needed to run your city.
There are no negative drawbacks to researching this idea, other than whatever impact it may have on your faction relationships, not even a workforce requirement. Therefore, so long as you’re maintaining good relations with your factions, investing in this research is a no-brainer.
x400 Workforce, x180 Heatstamps, x90 Prefabs
Getting off the ground with goods and prefabs is crucial to your city’s stability and your ability to continue construction. This building provides you with a method of manufacturing both prefabs and goods in the early game.
This factory will help raise your heatstamp income by providing goods materials while taking some of the burden of prefab production from your early-game extraction districts. In essence, this building can be your key to keeping your building and progress on the move at all times.
