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π° Trade & Economy
π‘ Orbital Trade β Make Money Without Leaving Home
Orbital trading is the most basic way to do business in RimWorld. You don't have to move a muscle β just sit in your base and wait for trade ships to come to you.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Orbital Trade Beacon | Place it in the middle of your stockpile area β only items within its coverage can be sold |
| Comms Console | Needs a pawn to operate it to call / answer trade ships |
| Ship Types | General trader (buys anything), weapons trader, slave trader, rare goods trader |
| Call Ground Caravan | Spend 700 silver to call a ground caravan from a friendly faction (via comms console) |
| Gifting | Launch gift pods at faction settlements to improve relations β better relations mean more frequent trade ships |
π‘ Tip: The orbital trade beacon's coverage is a circle β place it between your freezer and warehouse to cover both zones with one beacon.
π« Ground Caravans β Go Out and Do Business
- Forming a caravan: On the world map, select pawns + animals β choose "Form Caravan" β they'll gather supplies automatically
- Mounts matter: Horses / donkeys / dromedaries increase caravan speed. Without mounts, travel is painfully slow
- Danger on the road: Caravans can be ambushed en route β bring some weapons and medicine
- Better prices: Trading at friendly faction settlements gives better prices than orbital traders
- Gifting diplomacy: Bring goods to factions as gifts β one trip can boost relations significantly
- Pre-departure check: Enough food (caravans eat on the road), enough medicine, check the season (winter slows travel)
π Wealth & Raid Difficulty
This is the core mechanic every RimWorld player must understand β every point of your wealth determines enemy strength.
| Wealth Source | Description |
|---|---|
| Building Wealth | Every wall, every floor counts β don't over-decorate |
| Item Wealth | Everything stored in your stockpiles counts β don't hoard |
| Pawn Wealth | Every colonist, every bionic implant counts β bionics add a lot of wealth |
| Animal Wealth | Your animals count too β don't keep more than you need |
| Raid Points | Wealth converts to raid points β determines how many enemies come and what gear they bring |
β οΈ Core Logic: If your wealth grows faster than your defenses, you're dead. Hoarding is the #1 cause of death for new players. Before you have solid defenses, don't mine like crazy and don't pave floors with gold.
π± Trading Tips
- Best things to sell: Drugs (flake / yayo / wake-up) > Sculptures (large marble sculpture) > Clothing (duster, leather) > Organs (use with caution β affects mood)
- Worth buying: Components (too expensive to craft early on), Industrial medicine (stock up mid-game), Shock lance / Shield belt (from rare goods traders)
- Price factors: Pawn social skill (most important), faction goodwill, pawn health (missing hand/eye = social penalty)
- Don't sell: Advanced components (you'll need them later), Uranium (power armor), Plasteel
- Emergency cash: Smelt unwanted weapons for steel, disassemble mechanoid corpses for components + plasteel
ποΈ Drop Pod Logistics
- Basic principle: Drop pods can launch supplies to any location on the map
- Use 1 β Gifting: Launch gifts at friendly settlements for instant goodwill boost
- Use 2 β Resupply: Caravan ran out of supplies on the road? Launch drop pods from base to resupply
- Use 3 β Transfer: Move supplies between multiple bases
- Fuel: Drop pods need fuel (chemfuel), refined from wood / food at a refinery
- Batch launch: Can't fit everything in one pod? Deploy multiple pods in a salvo