It's been five years since the original release of RimWorld, the colony management sim from indie developers Ludeon Studios. Over that time, the game has continued to expand, challenging players with new biomes, enemies, and dangers. RimWorld is a game of survival against the odds, as players grow their fledgling colony on a hostile world.
Life on a RimWorld is tough, and players will often need advanced machinery and devices to help their colonists survive. However, these kinds of high-tech items can only be constructed with Components, a vital crafting ingredient that can be quite tricky to find. Players who build up a good stock of Components will be able to produce enough weapons, tools, and machines to keep their colonists safe and happy.
How to Get Components in RimWorld
The simplest method of acquiring Components in RimWorld is by mining them. Most RimWorld maps will spawn with at least a few Compacted Machinery nodes, unless they're an extreme biome like the ice sheet or a flat desert. These nodes are normally between 3 and 6 tiles in size, recognizable by their dark yellow color, and are fairly quick and easy for colonists to mine. Players with no visible Compacted Machinery nodes should still search for them within large hills and mountains by digging exploratory tunnels, though keeping miners underground too long will negatively impact their Mood in RimWorld.
While surface mining is the most reliable way to acquire Components in the early game, players will eventually run out of Compacted Machinery nodes. Fortunately, there are several other methods to gain Components. The second most reliable is by crafting them on a Fabrication Bench, will requires 12 Steel and a colonist with Crafting 8 or above. This method requires players to have completed most of the tech tree, but with a high level Crafting colonist with great RimWorld traits like Industrious, it can quickly produce a lot of Components.
Alternative Ways to Get Components in RimWorld
Players who can't mine or fabricate Components in their RimWorld colony will have to turn to less reliable methods of acquiring the ingredient for all of RimWorld's best ranged weapons. One of these is by deconstructing Ship Chunks, large, green-colored nodes that can fall onto the Colony map as a random event. EachChunk will return 20 Steel and 5-6 Components when deconstructed, and players who choose the standard Crashlanded scenario will begin with three already on the map.
Finally, players can buy Components from passing traders, though this method can be extremely expensive. Trade caravans will occasionally visit the player's Colony, and interacting with the individual trader marked with a question-mark will allow players to browse their wares. All traders carry Components, making this method a little more reliable than trying to buy rare items like RimWorld's best melee weapons. Although trade caravans are fairly frequent, once players have access to the Comms Console, they can also buy Components from trade ships in orbit.
RimWorld is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
