Who knew the end of the world would prove so difficult to survive? In the city-building survival world of Frostpunk 2, a worker’s strike is one thing, but a strike in the middle of a whiteout proves devastating. You must keep everyone warm, fed, and satisfied; otherwise, your settlement crumbles into dust and, along with it, the human race.
But hey, here’s an Idea! The game features an extensive technology tree, known as the Idea Tree, in which you can unlock new advancements that make surviving the frozen apocalypse easier. And to get it, you’ll need to build the Research Institute.
Here’s how to build and use the Research Institute in Frostpunk 2!
How to build the Research Institute
To place a Research Institute, you require a tier-two Housing District. It’s not enough to plop down a bit of Housing, as it’s not large enough to accommodate a building upgrade. Instead, place the Housing District, select it once construction completes, and select the upgrade option—the left-most icon on the bottom of the pop-up that appears. It looks like four arrows expanding outward.
Of course, expansion isn’t free. You require prefabs and heatstamps to expand a Housing District. However, it’s not overly expensive and, at this point, it’s worth every single resource to unlock the technology tree.
With the Housing District leveled up to its second tier, select the Building construction menu from the bottom-right HUD. It’s the icon that looks like a building or a stack of boxes. Choose the Research Institute under Housing, then place it in your newly expanded District to kickstart research!
What to research first in Frostpunk 2
You need to pick and choose wisely, as you can only research a single Idea at a time, making progress relatively slow—unless you optimize your research with additional Institutes across your settlement. You’ll want to prioritize city problems like heating and food production first, before delving into the necessary but less essential projects. Here’s a short list of research to prioritize:
- Housing Insulation: As your population grows, so do your heating requirements to keep everyone alive and happy. Housing Insulation reduces the base heat demand of all Housing Districts from 40 to 20, stretching your heating budget further.
- Hospitals: Found under the Society category, Hospitals help reduce the risk of widespread Disease and cure Sick Absentees regularly to keep your Workforce in rotation.
- Filtration Towers: A Housing District expansion, Filtration Towers help reduce your city’s squalor, which is crucial as you’ll spend a lot of resources investing in industrial districts that increase squalor significantly.
- Sawmills: Your settlement constantly requires additional resources to fund future developments, and Materials prove most important. A Sawmill upgrades your Extraction District, requiring a single building slot, producing additional materials, expanding your opportunities.
- Relationships: In the same vein as requiring an ever-expanding number of resources, you need a growing Workforce to satiate such demands and continue production. Relationships, found under the Society tree, increase Population Growth!
With your research underway, surviving the harsh world of Frostpunk 2 may start to get a little easier. While you wait for construction to finish, check out your next big goal: finishing the game on its hardest setting.