Overview
Tips for completing The Refugees on Survivor to get the achievement in the latest update (much harder than it was a long time ago). This is done while accepting the Lords into the city. Also several general case tips for completing the game on Survivor in other scenarios, but I’ve found this is still the hardest to master.
Introduction
This is a guide with proven tips to complete the Refugees on Survival, consistently, and getting the achievement. I’ve completed the scenario twice now, both times, accepting the lords, improving on my second run. In both cases, once I got the starting pattern down, it was actually easy as the scenario does start to snowball in your favor as long as you get the first 10 or so days down correctly.
It took me a lot of retires until I developed a working pattern as this scenario is the hardest to complete on Survival in my opinion, and you can start making fatal mistakes as early as Day 1.
General Frostpunk Hard Mode Tips
This guide will detail the “musts” for completing this scenario. However, it does assume some greater expertise in how to best complete a Frostpunk scenario on Survivor. If you haven’t completed a New Home or Arks (Arks is also super challenging to get the “good ending”), you should because you will learn invaluable techniques. I am going to list some of the concepts below that you need to be expert at in Frostpunk to complete this scenario and assumed that you fundamentally understand them.
1) Resource Snowball
The primary goal of every Frostpunk scenario is to create the Resource Snowball (aptly named!). If you thought the game was about trivial matters such as “surviving” or “completing a scenario”, I recommend you more generalize your concept.
The goal of the game is to snowball your resource production to great heights such that as the scenario progresses, you are just swimming in resources. This is the point where the snowball will just blow through the rest of the scenario for you, and you are basically on easy street for the rest of the scenario. Once you got the snowball to an appropriate size, you can relax, decisions become less important, almost trivial, and you can make lots of mistakes and still win.
How do you resource snowball?
– Unless you have no choice, always be aiming to increase your resource inputs with more and more tech and buildings. This should be done in lieu of almost anything else. (Steel, Wood, Food, Coal… all are resources). Heat is actually “survivable” for quite a long while with appropriate Overdrive management (see below) and Hospitals. I get heat “as I need it”, and otherwise, constantly going “hmm…. research insulation… or upgraded food… no brainer!”
– Build multiple wood inputs. Wall Drill + Lumber. You don’t need to upgrade either. More efficient. (You may upgrade Wall Drill late in this scenario though)
– Food is “get as much as you need” not more. In this scenario, Hothouses are the only way to win.
– Coal. Always be producing more than you need for the day (to keep it growing up). I prefer Thumpers in almost all cases, you can do mines, but they are harder to centralize for heat.
Here’s the mentality:
“I really need heaters… my buildings will be chilly w/o them… or I can research Steel…. what to do… STEEL everytime”
“Steel upgrade or next level for boiler? Steel!”
Build At Night Where Possible
Trying to build during the day takes people out of commission for a long time. They meander around, have to walk to the location, stop to eat, stop to chat… no idea what they are doing. But building during the day is EXPENSIVE because it takes the workers out of the work flow. Always try to plan to build and upgrade at night.
The only exception to this rule is when you have a bunch of free labor who aren’t assigned to doing anything… which should only be the case when you are trying to build the very buildings that labor will be working at as soon as it is built.
Range basically is bad. It works “decently” in some scenarios, but most of the time is worse.
Build Compactly and Clustering
Plan your builds before you do them to all fit tidily within a Range 1 Steam Hub. Cluster Homes (and home upgrades like Churches or Fighting Arenas) together. Cluster working buildings (like thumpers, research labs, hothouses, gathering stations) all together.
THIS IS A CRITICAL SKILL FOR THIS SCENARIO. YOU MUST MASTER THIS LAYOUT DESIGN TO WIN HERE.
Why?
Home Hubs need to run all day. Work hubs need to run ONLY during working hours. Thus, at night, you can turn off the hubs you aren’t using to conserve coal.
Further, to win this scenario, you are going to physically run out of space to build because you need to house a ludicrous 600+ people and have jobs for them. No automatons! You must be compact to make this work and not run out of coal while you are doing it.
I’m not saying you need to be all “learn most efficient layouts for steam hubs to cram as much stuff in as possible”… but I AM saying if you do that, this scenario will be a LOT easier (as will Frostpunk in general). But you can wing it, I do! Just remember, cluster houses and work buildings.
Scouts ARE Resource Gainers
Scouts qualify as “tech you research to get more resources”.
You need Extra Scouts. You need Lighter Sleds. You can skip the other stuff. For note, I’ve read in this scenario on older guides that they like to setup Outposts… you don’t need them at all. Snowball those resources!
Discontent is a Free Resources
Basically, if your Discontent bar isn’t “nearly full” all the time, you are doing something wrong. It should be hovering between 50% and full revolt pretty much constantly. The only time this is not the case is when a random “demand” pops up that would push me into “revolt”… and sometimes, I’ll just let them go into “revolt” and then bring it down the next day anyways.
Extended Workshift ALL THE TIME. Especially on Research Labs, Gathering Posts, always on Steel Mills and Wood buildings. In this scenario, Hothouses too!
An extra 4 hours is a HUGE boost in resource gain.
Managing Heat and Sickness
Being cold isn’t really all that bad. What it does is cause people to get sick more often. So it’s a big deal if you got truckloads of workers being sick instead of working, but “Chilly” is often “good enough”.
How to manage heat:
1) Overdrive from 21-22:00 till 6. Why 6? Because you should be having everyone on Extended Shifts and they start working then lol!
You can repeat this for many days in a row before you need to skip.
2) Let the houses be cold during the day.
3) Try NOT to let the Workplaces be chilly if you can manage the coal. People get sick and overdrive keeps them from getting so sick at night.
General Plan for this Scenario
Here’s the plan. Like all other scenarios. Master the first 1-10 days. Spend Days 11-20 finalizing your resource snowball. Skate through the rest of the scenario without making horrific choices, and you win!
Here’s the genera plan:
1) Rush Hothouses (I’ve tried everything else, nothing else works consistently… just believe me)
2) Early Sawmill. Put it with another work cluster. (Probably gathering posts or research labs)
3) Thumper to utilize same Gathering Posts as what were gathering from wood piles
~ Tents if you need.
4) Scouts
~ Tents if you need
5) Heat + Second Saw Mill + Wall Drill + Steel Mills + Tents as you get it.
6) Snow ball
7) Accept the Lords, whatever. Skate through the scenario.
Almost everyone other scenario looks like
1) Rush Scouts
This one IS NOT that scenario. This will not work consistently and kill you. This “used to be” the way to win this Scenario too, but it is not in the latest update. You will lose.
Days 1 – 3
I now look at this span of time as a “single block” more or less, because this is the critical time for this scenario. You will win or lose right here.
Step #0) Get very fast with mouse.
Step #1 Every day, during the day. Turn off the generator! Conserve coal. no need to heat empty space.
Day 1
Now, do this as soon as game starts.
– 15 Workers wood pile south of generator.
– Rest workers + Engineers on Steel Pile west of generator.
– Immediately sign child labor.
– 15 kids onto 2nd south wood pile.
You should be able to complete this in < 20 minutes “game time”. Be fast, yes it really does matter. That “1 extra wood” actually matters lol.
Next — Go take a break for the rest of the day! (seriously…)
When work shift is about to end, here’s what you build:
– Research Lab (build close to left coal + steel next to road… we are starting a WORK CLUSTER here)
– Cookhouse (yes, I know sounds dumb! just do it) build near east Wood+Core+Coal piles setting up a second WORK CLUSTER.
– Remove 5 engineers from steel pile and put into Research Lab.
If you did this right, you will have JUST OVER 50 Wood. (like 52-54).
– Overdrive at 21:00 to help keep sick numbers low.
– At around 2 AM, laws will come up. Emergency Shift and immediately trigger it on Research Lab. Start Researching Tier 1 Upgrade. Should be underway by 2:30 AM.
– Take 2 children and put them in the cookhouse so they will start preparing food in the morning. When they prepare it all, switch them back to wood pile immediately.
** Why the cookhouse? Why not wait another day?**
Because the ‘Fugees who come in during Day 2 come in already hungry. They switch to starving mode at night on Day 2, and start eating your Raw Food because you can cook it. You NEED that food to be properly coverted to Rations.
Day 2
– You will end up with ~5 sick people. Oh well. Nothing to be done.
– You will be researching Tier 1 all day.
– Goals for the day:
** Have enough wood to start research on Hothouses.
** Have enough wood to lay down medical facility at night
** Have enough wood + steel to do the above and build 2 Gathering Posts (both near each other on east resource piles, near cookhouse… again we are clustering a WORK ZONE.
**Depending on how fast you are, you may get another Gathering Post, put it on North Steel and move the Steel Gathers to it.
***IMPORTANT***
As soon as the first wave of Refugees shows up, immediately slam them into the Steam Core pile at either east or north. Don’t care. You need to get 2 Steam Cores out of that pile over the next day or so.
Remember that 1 wood I said was important? That will be the difference right now between building that last Gathering Post or not lol.
Day 2 – 3
– Extended Shifts as soon as it comes up.
– Extended Shifts on Research Labe and Gathering Posts and Steam Core Pit. Even on wood piles if you have discontent.. it’s going to get COLD on Day 3 and you have no houses.
– Overdrive at 21:00 again to 6:00 (should have extended shifts starting now on Day 3).
– Your 3 extra engineers go into the medical facility to try and keep people from dying.
– You goign to end up with another 5 sick people outside the facility. Oh well.
Day 3
– Cold. Doh!
– Goals:
** Get enough resources to build 2 Hothouses. Hothouses will go around generator
** Get enough resources to research Saw Mills.
** Gathering posts 1 north for steel, one west for coal.
** Make sure if you can to shift people to Gathering Posts out of piles so they don’t get as sick. Let Children get sick first (because they are less efficient).
** Try to clear one or both of the south wood piles.
** Build Hothouses at night (if you can or make way to do it during the day which sucks, but do it). Staff with cold children and workes as you can. This will solve your food problem for a LONG time.
** Depending on where you end up on Day 3 with resources, build that second research lab or into Day 4 if you can.
No Hunters Huts. If you do as I suggest, you will not starve before the Hothouses come online.
No scouts. No houses.
Days 4 – 10+ish
If you did as I suggest, going into Day 4, you got Gathering Huts up, either have or working on 2 x Research Labs, got Saw Mill researching and completing. Got everything on Extended Shift and you are circling “revolt” on Discontent. Perfect.
You are totally good on food now, for the next oh, 15 days or so. It is no longer a concern. Keep 1 child in the cookhouse to cook it as it is farmed. Remember to keep an eye on it, because if that kid gets sick, no food is being produced, and you may have to drop 1 other person in there for a time.
Managing Discontent to get Critical Laws
There are critical laws you need to get in order, and you got to manage your discontent a “little” to get it there.
**This is why NO SOUP in this scenario
You may have to drop 1 or 2 extended shifts for just a short period to slam in some laws. Do what you got to do. This is largely dependent on random events. Don’t be afraid of a revolt. It’s ok! We’re going to build hosuing shortly, and that will pull you out of the revolt.
Day 4
– Get that Saw Mill up and humming.
– Research Steam Hubs (if you didn’t start already)
– Drop Hub on Work Zone with Gathering Posts and Saw Mill and Cookhouse.
– Start research on Heaters if you can else Day 5.
– Get 2nd Lab up if you can for next wave of ‘Fugees which have Engineers.
Goals for Days 5-10:
Laws: (in order)
– Radical Treatment
– Overcrowded Medical
– Corpse Disposal
– Organ Transplants (AWESOME for this scenario)
Buildings:
– You should have lumber coming in well now.
– Building a 2nd saw mill near West work zone.
– Heat west and east work zones with Steam Hubs.
– Heaters on North gathering post.
– Start building tents to bring down discontent so you can get laws in.
– It will get COLDER on Day 5. And this time period sucks till it gets warm again. Overdrive in the night. Build those Tents.
– You want 3 Medical Facilities able to handle 30 folks with laws and Organ Transplants as soon as you can to help them get out faster.
– Steel Mine x 1 before you research Level 2. Start another WORK ZONE cluster around Steel Mine. Likely to be a thumper area.
– Thumper down next to west gathering posts as soon as their resources are exhausted. Man it.
– Once you have 3 medical stations, just start building Research Labs. You won’t need anymore for a LONG time. People will be OK and you will start to get ahead of sickness.
– 2nd Steel Mill when you can.
– Wall Drill when you can. (Should have Wall Drill + 2 x Saw Mills going most of the scenario till all the free wood dries up)
– THEN SCOUTS. Scouts come late.
Research
– Hubs
– Heaters
– Steel Mill
– Thumper
– Beacon
– Wall Drill
– Then Level 3. (Don’t get generator efficiency you don’t need it, plenty of people to work thumpers for now)
– Then more heat (to keep people from getting sick)
– Upgraded Steel.
– Bunkhouses.
– Scouts come back at some point dumping enough resoureces for Level 4.
– From here on and rest of the guide, Heat only as you need upgrades… otherwise faster gathering, generator efficiency, houses, etc.)
5 – 10 is the make or break. If you have screwed up, you will be on Death’s Door by Day 10.
If you have got it all down, you will be feeling pretty solid by Day 10-11 and wondering why you thought this scenario was so hard the first 20 times you tried it.
Scouting Priorities – Late
Hit the missing children right away, you need to get there on time.
Then scout out to the west, hit about 3 spots. Go home and drop off supplies.
Then hit the next group of folks who need saving. You will get there with about a day to spare.
Days 11ish+
At this point, you have already won the scenario if you are “feeling good” around Day 11. From here on, you really just “play Frostpunk” and have a good time.
Basics to consider:
– Still cluster
– Still use overdrive a lot
– Extended Workshifts all the time.
– Don’t build houses until you have research “cheaper houses”.
– Eventually, you may have to build 2-3 Hunter Huts (no upgrades) just to top off food as the Refugees all filter in.
– You will want Industrial Hothouses to feed the lords. Scouts bring in the Steam Cores.
– You will want 2 x Scouts and LIghter Sleds per usual when practicable.
– Keep 2 saw mills going till you run out wood. Move sawmills into Steam Hub zones for either Houses or Work. Doesn’t matter because you destroy them as they run out.
The Lords
I always choose to let them in. Because I’m nice.
At the arrival of the first 100, you are already snowballing on easy street. If you aren’t, you’ve made some critical game mistakes and need to consider your progress.
The biggest issue for the rest of the game is SPACE, like literally finding enough places to build more houses for optimal Steam Hubbage, without buiding so many Steam Hubs you start runing out of coal.
By this point, I generally have 4-5 Thumbers going and start slotting lords into Gathering huts to take care of coal.
In retro, could have probably Steam Thumpered at some point to conserve space for more houses. Would have been smarter, but didn’t do it on either of my successful runs.
Still though, you will feel the BURN, if you didn’t plan your city well trying to fit houses into every nook and cranny.
Eventually you will need to build 4-5 more medical posts and have to take engineers out of the 6+ish research labs you will have to man them for the waves of Sick Lords.
I did research Tier 5 but never really used it. It doesn’t get cold enough before Scenario Ends for that.