Frostpunk 2: How to Decrease Cold

Cold is a city problem in Frostpunk 2, and it is absolutely critical that players keep it under control. Indeed, a city that is affected by Cold will face a variety of issues, including increased Disease and Tension, decreased Population Growth, and even the death of its citizens. For those players who may be struggling with Cold in Frostpunk 2, this guide explains how to address this issue.

Players should get in the habit of occasionally hovering over the snowflake icon under the Resource Drawer at the top of the screen. This action will cause an information pane to appear, and it reveals details about Cold in the City. If those details indicate that Cold is "Absent," then keeping it "Stable" is acceptable. However, if Cold is anything but "Absent," or it is "Growing," players should use the following methods to get it to "Diminishing."

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By William Parks

Frostpunk 2: How to Reduce Cold

Heat

A player who has high Cold should first make sure that they are meeting their City's demand for Heat. Indeed, Heat Scarcity can increase a City's Cold considerably, and a red bar beneath the flame icon in the Resource Drawer at the top of the screen indicates that it is in effect.

If a player is experiencing Heat Scarcity, they can address the issue by taking the following actions:

Increase Fuel Output

The Generator in the Central District provides the Heat that is used to meet a City's demands, and it does so by burning Fuel. If a Generator is burning Fuel too quickly to consistently meet a City's demand for Heat, players can try these options for increasing Fuel output:

Build additional Extraction Districts on Fuel-producing tiles. Initially, players should look to build on tiles that produce Coal, though they will be able to use other types of Fuel after upgrading their Generators.

Build Buildings that increase the Fuel output of Extraction Districts within those Districts. Players can gain access to those types of Buildings by building a City Hall in a Housing District, navigating to the Idea Tree, and researching Ideas within these nodes:
- Coal Mines (Idea Tree: Heating)
- Advanced Coal Mines (Idea Tree: Heating)
- Pumpjacks (Idea Tree: Heating)
- Advanced Pumpjacks (Idea Tree: Heating)
- Pyochemical Oil Extraction (Idea Tree: Heating)
- Geothermal Plants (Idea Tree: Heating)
- Advanced Geothermal Plants (Idea Tree: Heating)
- Charcoal Plants (Idea Tree: Resources)

Locate points of interest in the Frostland that yield Fuel, and connect them to the City with a Trail or Skyway.

Decrease Heat Demand

Players can also address Heat Scarcity by decreasing their City's Heat demands, and here are several ways to pursue that approach:

Research Ideas in these nodes, which provide passive decreases to the Heat demands of certain Districts:
- Food Energy Efficiency (Idea Tree: Heating)
- Housing Insulation (Idea Tree: Heating)

Research Ideas in these nodes, which give access to Buildings that decrease Heat demand, and build them in the appropriate Districts:
- Heat Dispatcher (Idea Tree: Heating)

Research the following Ideas and then pass them as Laws:
- Worker Shifts: Weather-Adjusted Shifts (Idea Tree: Resources)
- Waste Heat Conversion: Heat Recycling (Idea Tree: Resources)

Build Heating Hubs next to Districts to directly decrease their Heat demand.

Increase Production Efficiency

As players increase their Production Efficiency, they can maintain their resource output while reducing their Heat demand. Indeed, as Production Efficiency goes up, city-builder fans may find that they can dedicate less Workforce to their Districts without hemorrhaging resources. To reduce the Workforce in a District, players should select the District and move the Workforce slider to the left, and the District's Heat demand will decrease simultaneously.

Players can find information about increasing their Production Efficiency in this guide to getting more Workforce in Frostpunk 2.

Generator Upgrades

Generator upgrades are a great way to deal with Heat Scarcity, as they can make the Generator process Fuel more efficiently, give it the ability to process different types of Fuel, and more. Players can gain access to these upgrades by researching Ideas in Generator Upgrade I, II, and III (Idea Tree: Heating), and strategy game fans should make sure to pursue the upgrades that align with the resources that are available to them. For example, it would be unwise to select the Oil Pumps upgrade, which makes the Generator burn Oil exclusively, if there is no Oil in sight.

Generator Overdrive

A player can instantly increase the efficiency of their Generator by activating its Overdrive. This is not a long term solution to Heat Scarcity, though, as Overdrive also increases the Generator's Wear. As such, fans of post-apocalyptic games should make sure to pursue other options for dealing with Heat demands while this ability is active.

Decrease District Workforce

While this has been touched upon in the section on Production Efficiency, it is important to emphasize that players can always decrease their Heat demand by reducing the Workforce in, or even shutting down, a District. Again, survival game fans can reduce a District's Workforce by selecting the District and moving its Workforce slider to the left, and they can see how their adjustments impact overall resource output by looking at the Resource Drawer at the top of the screen.

Ideally, players will not turn any resource output negative when making Workforce adjustments. That said, it is fine for the output of a resource in Frostpunk 2 to temporarily go negative if the player has the resource stockpiled and the adjustment will have a considerable impact on addressing Heat Scarcity. It is particularly important to keep this in mind in moments when Heat demand is increased, such as a Whiteout, as it can be best to simply turn off Districts and use stockpiled resources while waiting for those events to end.

Shelter

Shelter is the other big factor that affects Cold, and players who want to avoid this city problem must have housing that can accommodate their Population in Frostpunk 2. As with Heat Scarcity, players will know that they are experiencing Shelter Scarcity if there is a red bar beneath the house icon in the Resource Drawer at the top of the screen, and here is what they should do if that bar is present:

Build additional Housing Districts. Each one provides 20 Shelter by default.

Expand Housing Districts. Expanded Housing Districts provide 25 Shelter by default.

Research Ideas in these nodes, which give access to Buildings that increase Shelter, and build them in the appropriate Districts:
- Housing Block (Idea Tree: City)
- Worker's Housing (Idea Tree: City)
Research an Idea in this node, and then pass it as a Law:
- Housing Distribution (Idea Tree: City)

Transfer Population to an established Colony or Settlement. Players will gain access to this option as they explore the Frostland in Frostpunk 2.

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