Life is hard for the average colonist in Ludeon Studios’ survival management sim, RimWorld. Apart from the daily threat of attacks from raiders, murderous guinea pigs, or their own campmates, they often need to contend with some harsh working conditions brought about by the player. As colonists’ mental health and well-being are pushed further down the list of priorities in the face of impending disasters such as famine and fire, colonists will often lash out in unpredictable and sometimes game-ending ways.
These can include rampage, pyromania, insulting sprees, catatonic breakdowns, and attacks on livestock and team members. When a colonist’s mood drops below the threshold for a major break there is a high chance of activating one of these states and mitigating these can be the key to the colony’s survival. To keep the game alive under any conditions follow these methods to avoid mental states on RimWorld.
4 Arrest The Colonist
While it may seem harsh to treat the beloved colonists in this way when they are having a particularly rough patch, it can sometimes be the safest option for the team to lock up the offending colonist and avoid any further damage. For this option to become available players need a sealed room with at least one sleeping space designated for prisoners (at the bare minimum players can always place a sleeping spot if they don’t have time or resources to build a wooden bed).
To arrest a colonist in a mental state, highlight one of the more law-abiding colonists and select "draft." This will provide a drop-down menu of options when hovering over any other members of one's team. Select "arrest," paying attention to the % chance it gives for this action to be successful.
Once the offending colonist has been detained this will often result in the mental state ending. At this point, the captive can be released and they will automatically rejoin the colony without the need to reduce resistance and recruit them, as with a normal prisoner.
3 Monitor The Needs Of The Colony
One of the best ways to avoid Mental States in RimWorld is by closely monitoring colonists via the "Needs" tab. Here you can see what is affecting the colonists' mood both positively and negatively. Things like "slept in the cold" and "ate a corpse" will clearly have a negative effect and these can be addressed directly by provisioning beds and having a menu that involves less cannibalism.
For issues that can’t be addressed directly, players can offset the negative impact with mood-enhancing changes. This can include more varied recreation, more time allowed in the schedule to enjoy recreation, increased beauty from artwork or interior design, or in a pinch players can administer drugs such as smokeleaf or ambrosia to fill the recreation bar to max and prevent RimWorld colonists from dropping below the major break threshold and entering a mental state.
There is a good chance they will develop an unhealthy addiction if fans resort to this method too often but that’s all part of the fun and games in RimWorld, as players gamble ruthlessly with the lives of their team and hope their questionable decisions will not lead to the destruction of the entire colony in a blazing inferno of their own making.
2 Give Colonists Jobs they Enjoy
One easy way to improve both mood and productivity is to give colonists jobs they enjoy doing or are good at. When checking the work priority tab players can see either a flame icon or two flame icons over a particular task indicating the colonist has a "burning passion" for that type of work.
It is possible on the next screen to select a priority for each task with a number value, with 1 meaning most important and colonists will prioritize this task first or spend more time on it, down to 5 which is the lowest priority and will be put to the bottom of the queue of jobs; colonists will do it when they get round to it, or when other jobs completed.
If for example, a colonist has high intelligence and is good at researching, selecting 1 as their research priority will mean they spend more time on this task, meaning the best person for the job is on the case and research speeds will improve. Generally, jobs they are good at with high stats in the related skills are the jobs where they will have a "burning passion" for the work, so the colonist will spend more of the day with a happiness boost if they are doing mostly the work types they prefer.
1 Bury The Dead - Even Raiders
Most players when finished defending their base from a raider attack will happily loot the valuables and leave the bodies for the boomrats, lying in the dust where they landed. After all, they could reasonably expect to forego any burial ceremonies when they made the ill-informed decision to step onto the player's turf with guns blazing.
However, walking past a rotting corpse will put a dent in anyone's day, even if it was a bad guy. This is reflected in the negative mood effect on colonists which can be seen in the detailed list of conditions under the needs tab. RimWorld models the effect of situations on the colonist's psychology thoroughly and things like seeing a dead body can be the "final straw" that triggers a mental state.
Thankfully, under the Architect menu and Ritual tab, a simple grave can be dug without costing any resources so once all the colonists are healed it is worth making sure enough of these are put down. Colonists will automatically bury the bodies eventually or can be instructed to prioritize the task and do it immediately. Hopefully, that billiards table they got will help take the edge off another bad day at the office for the old RimWorld colonists.
RimWorld is available now on PC, macOS, Linux, PS4, and Xbox One.