How to reduce cold in Frostpunk 2?

Cold in Frostpunk 2 is one of the biggest challenges that players will face in the snow-covered apocalyptic world. It is the central antagonist of the gameplay and much of the gameplay revolves around surviving the cold and making sure the Whiteout does not wipe out the city. Getting the city warm is among the major priorities when you are running the show.

This article details how you can reduce cold in Frostpunk 2 and make sure that "The city must not fall".

NOTE: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinion.

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How to reduce cold in Frostpunk 2?

Cold is one of the most powerful factors that can make or break your city. You can hover over the snowflake icon on the top of your screen to display the information panel and be continually updated about the status of cold in your city. Your target is to keep the cold in your city 'Stable' or 'Absent'.

If your status displays 'Growing', these are the steps you must follow to get it back to acceptable limits:

Adjust your Heat

One of the best ways to fight Cold in Frostpunk 2 is to manage your Heat settings. Make sure you are meeting the city's requirements for Heat. Check the flame icon in your Resource Drawer and make sure there is a red bar below it, indicating that is it active.

If you are having issues with heat, you can try the following solutions:

1) Increase fuel output

Increase fuel output to combat the cold in Frostpunk 2. (Image via 11 Bit Studios)

Make sure that the generators are meeting the city's demands and if you see a generator burning fuel quicker than it is being produced, you must increase the fuel output. You can do so by building additional Extraction Districts in fuel-rich tiles. In the beginning, you will only have access to coal, but as you progress, more types of fuel will be unlocked after upgrading the generators.

Another thing that you can do to increase your fuel output is to construct additional buildings that can lend aid in increasing the fuel output of these Extraction Districts. Build a City Hall in the Housing District and get access to the Idea Tree which you can use to research these Ideas:

• Geothermal Plants (Idea Tree: Heating)
• Charcoal Plants (Idea Tree: Resources)
• Coal Mines (Idea Tree: Heating)
• Pumpjacks (Idea Tree: Heating)
• Pyrochemical Oil Extraction (Idea Tree: Heating)

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2) Increase production efficiency

Ramp up production to generate more fuel and reduce consumption. (Image via 11 Bit Studios)

You can increase your production efficiency to increase the production of fuel that the generators can use to provide heat to the city. Make sure to research and improve your production, as it will be a crucial asset as you progress.

Once your efficiency is increased, you can reduce the workforce from the workforce slider, thus consuming less heat and increasing productivity.

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3) Decrease heat requirements

Decrease heat requirements to combat the cold in Frostpunk 2. (Image via 11 Bit Studios)

You can combat the cold in Frostpunk 2 by addressing the heat crunch. You can do so by drastically reducing the city's need for heat altogether. Use the Ideas node to research areas such as Food Energy Efficiency, Heat Dispatcher, and Housing Insulation under heating to decrease the amount of heat required and boost their efficiency.

You could also build Heating Hubs right next to certain districts to alleviate the heat demand. Additionally, you can research and unlock other areas of the Idea Tree such as Waste Heat Conversion under the Resource Idea Tree to convert waste heat into usable Heat, greatly improving efficiency and scaling down Heat requirements.

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4) Fine-tune the generators

Generators are your lifeblood in Frostpunk 2. (Image via 11 Bit Studios)

Generators are your source of heat and upgrading the henerators and making strategic modifications can go a long way in generating more heat and solving the problem of cold in Frostpunk 2.

Head over to the Ideas Tree and under heating, focus on upgrading the Generator Upgrades I, II, and III. Make sure to upgrade strategically based on the fuel resources available around you.

Another thing that you can try is Generator Overdrive. Head over to the generators and turn on the Overdrive to increase its efficiency and rate of output. But you must remember that this will also increase the wear of the generator, affecting its lifespan.

Overdrive on the generators should be a last-ditch effort to prevent major heat outages and not a regular feature if you wish to sustain and solve the issue of cold in Frostpunk 2.

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Optimise shelters

Optimise shelters to combat the cold in Frostpunk 2. (Image via 11 Bit Studios)

Shelters are essentially the lifeblood of your population and have a significant effect on heating since the heat is supplied to the accommodations as well. Make sure your shelters are enough and not too much as it will be splurging resources which you cannot afford to do in this post-apocalyptic dystopia and contribute to the growing problem of cold in Frostpunk 2.

Make sure to build adequate Housing Districts. Each district will give you 20 shelters where the city's people can reside. Additionally, you can expand the Housing Districts to provide 25 shelters.

Make sure to adequately dedicate research points to the City Idea Tree to upgrade and unlock new options such as Housing Distribution and Worker's Housing, which can greatly optimize the usage of heat in the city, contributing to solving the issue of cold in Frostpunk 2.

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What happens if you fail to reduce cold in Frostpunk 2?

Reduce cold in Frostpunk 2 to sustain the city and prevent its decline. (Image via 11 Bit Studios)

If you fail to reduce cold in Frostpunk 2, your city will see a rapid deterioration. A city affected by cold will have ruinous effects, like a marked increase in disease and tension.

You will also experience stunted population growth and possible death of the citizens - the essential workforce that keeps the city alive.