How to get a lot of components ?

[123]

I've gathered all components on the map and used them all, I only rely on raid when the attackers carry some or random trader which isn't that many only 2-3 and most of the times they carry none. It's like the bottleneck that hinders my progress is component, it's used in so many advanced things.

I know I should trade via communication relay or something but none of my pawns has the title Knight, only yeo-something. Do I have to raise title for calling Imperial Trader ?

The enemies are getting harder I have a quest which has 17 attackers while my colony is only 12, I'm playing on 2nd difficulty from the list though , it's supposed to be easy and it is easy enough but I'm afraid I'll get wiped if it gets stronger without knowing how to get stronger myself.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2538156033

[Astasia]

You only need a title for trading with the empire, you can trade with and call other non-hostile factions without any title. You can form caravans to visit their bases to trade which is probably the fastest way to get some components when you need them. Ideally you should focus your efforts on researching Fabrication so you can craft your own components before running out, they only cost a little bit of steel to craft. You can also research deep drilling for infinite steel mining, meaning infinite components.

[123]

Ok thx I'll prioritize drilling and fabrication then, and try using caravan, I havent learnt how to trade or doing any quest on world map though, I'll check on youtube later

[AncientGammoner]

Long range mineral scanner + several pawns with drill arms = swimming in components

[Kittenpox]

This is one of the challenges faced in the game that you learn to counter / prepare for, much like at the start where it was approaching winter but you didn't have quite enough food prepared. :-)
It can be easy to burn through your Components, then find you need the materials to start Fabrication of new Components.

My usual method for getting stronger has been take fallen enemies weapons, and make protective clothing (like Devilstrand dusters), and use cover / trained animals in combat.
I don't normally craft any weapon more powerful than a Greatbow, until I have a good source of materials that isn't going to run dry anytime soon.

Bear in mind that with some factions you only need to scare off the raiders, not defeat them all. Usually wiping out half of them is enough, so you can focus-fire the most threatening foes, and when your 19-person raid loses 10 of their guys the rest might turn tail and try to escape the map.
So while it looks like you're outnumbered, you may be fighting cowards. :-p

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by Kittenpox:

This is one of the challenges faced in the game that you learn to counter / prepare for, much like at the start where it was approaching winter but you didn't have quite enough food prepared. :-) ...

^-This.

It's the very first hurdle that all players are faced with. Overcoming it when one has not prepared for it, previously, can be a difficult thing to do in certain situations. But, in future playthroughs, preparing before the crisis hits is the mark of a player... gittin' gud.

Getting Two Advanced Components from a Trader is a priority, but mining nearby neighboring hexes, drilling/deep mining, and trading for components are ways to offset the shortage until crafting is up to speed.

Originally posted by Nintendo:

...
The enemies are getting harder I have a quest which has 17 attackers while my colony is only 12, I'm playing on 2nd difficulty from the list though , it's supposed to be easy and it is easy enough but I'm afraid I'll get wiped if it gets stronger without knowing how to get stronger myself....

Just another way to look at this...

Keep in mind that you will have 17 incoming effective combatants only until you kill/disable half of them, after which you'll have zero combat effectives attacking you and a lot of retreating "targets." :)

So... What you have to plan for, without a doubt, is surviving until you can kill/down half of the Raid. You don't have to plan for surviving a continuous assault by 17 attackers "to the last man." So, you basically have to put out enough damage to kill/disable 9 while surviving against an assault by 17 before they opt to "retreat." (Without mods/changes/specials on a normal Raid.)

ie: "Force a retreat" is the general survival strategy against tough Raids. Except for mechs and bugs, that is. They don't retreat and that's one reason why they're so very nasty. :)

[Hoki]

Originally posted by Nintendo:

I've gathered all components on the map and used them all

and here i go playing with compact machinery disabled via mod.

if there are no machinery nor ship chunks left on the map you are left with 4 options:

-recycle equipment that required components to build but isnt used i the forseeable future (at a loss but quick and dirty)
-rely on outside sources; long distance-scan, trade, raiding yourself
-wait for shipchunks to drop
-stripmining every bit of mountain as the machinery isnt limited to surface rocks

besides that focusing on unlocking fabrication is definitly something to consider when using components early on. you dont have to rush it per se but be aware that it takes a while to get there.

the last time this came up the consensus is 'buy components whenever possible but as they are expensive i cant fully agree. its definitly a way to do it but you can also go cheap on components.

a cookingstation doesnt have to rely on power if you have wood on mass on the map, if you run a paste dispenser but dont use meat at all why bother cooling (early on)?

12 vs 17 i'd still consider managable depending on base design. even without relying on actual killboxes you can use your structiures to your advantage. you can use every chokepoint or corner to turn the odds into your favor by limiting the numbers of raiders that can attack you.

in regards to defense in general it always boils down into 2 things - equipment and situational control.

equipment is straightforward - better gear deals more damage and results in less injuries/deaths

situational control is all about turning the odds in your favor. honker down so they come to you, use traps and grenades to deal quick damage.

Morkonan mentions something important as well: while you have to defend against 17 raiders you only have to deal with half of them.

[123]

Ok thx for the info, yea some will run if there are too many deaths on their side, their names turn blue iirc.

I just learned how to use caravan, forced by the game lol coz there's a poison spewing machine so I have to travel there and destroy it, damn this game has mechanics for everything. simple but make sense, I have 4 muffalos for carrying the weight, prepare food and ready to go, the days are numbered by the food carried. I can probably use this method to get components from other map while waiting for research or maybe trade.

This is my first playthru and there's much to learn about the game mechanics lol, I havent used my devilstrand yet, but ok I'll make some devilstrand dusters. I'm also still confused about armor in this game.

What I'm still figuring out now is POWER. How do I read the wattage ? it's confusing. Is making unnecessary power conduit wasting wattage ? Because I thought it's just cables, but seems like it's eating power too, some of my electric devices suddenly cant power on but after I deconstructed some unused conduits they seem to get back on.

Am I wasting power ? https://i.imgur.com/YIIoRuf.jpeg

[sk_ape]

You generate power, power goes to consumers via conduits and you don't lose anything. Wattage only outlines what you produce/what a machine consumes. That's it. You can store power via batteries at 50% loss. This way, when the power is not being produced, it'll be drawn from batteries. Electricity is easy.

[RCMidas]

Right up until you overexpand and suddenly realise that you haven't got enough power on the map, geothermal generators and watermills aside, to maintain everything you need. I'm just correcting that oversight now with a massive solar bank that really should have been in place two game years earlier.

[Hoki]

Originally posted by Nintendo:

I'm also still confused about armor in this game.

health is managed by bodyparts and armor coveres specific bodyparts in addition to what they cover armor/cloths use specific layers (skin,middle and outer layer; cloths only use one of those layers, bulkier armor usually use up both middle and outer layer).

the defense armor/cloth provide is only applied to what they actually cover. you can wear the best armor in the game but if you dont wear a helmet you will still get full damage when getting hit in the head.

as for power:
'you dont lose anything' isnt completly correct. seeing you using fuel based generators you could waste ressources as those run as long as they have fuel and are turned on.

Besides that there is no problem in regards of generating too much power at once. seeing the battery on the screenshot being barely filled at 21h means you either have a near perfect balance of generators and consumers our you're lacking in generators in daytime.

generators produce a certain amount of power at a time (solar and wind fluctuate for obvious reasons) and consumers use a certain amount at a time. if you click on consumers or generators you can see how they interact with the network (consume or produce X) and the status of the entire network (generated power at the moment / stored power in batteries available).

Originally posted by Nintendo:

Because I thought it's just cables, but seems like it's eating power too, some of my electric devices suddenly cant power on but after I deconstructed some unused conduits they seem to get back on.

power in that regard is straight forward. if something uses power it says so in its infor panel. conduits only extend the network (and are viably targets for the 'Zzzzt' event) but wont use/waste power.
The only 'waste' of power are batteries they dont charge with full efficiency (50% of the power going into batteries is lost and arent listed) and they slowly lose charge over time (5 Wd i believe - 5 Watt per day).

machines turning off on the grid while others run means you're having a brownout - the network doesnt carry enough power and therefore only powers as many as it can provide with power as it sees fit (first come, first serve).

to fix brownout you need more power or less consumers on the grid. the usual supects for this are sunlamps. they take a ton of power only for a portion of the day. they take 2900W while they are lid. over the entire day they use about 2000W (not exact and including downtime) and do well with batteries on the grid.

[123]

Tell me how to exactly read the power info.
For example if I click one of the Geothermal Generators I have, here's what's written on it.
Power Output : 3600W
Grid Excess/Stored: 2790W/288Wd

If I click other power source, it says each one's power output , wood/chemfuel generators 1000, Solar generator 0 coz it's at night. but the Grid Excess/Stored stays the same.

Come morning, Grid Excess/Stored changes alternately -5730W to -5910W , and the Stored going down to 0, and it changes again, geez how do I read that correctly ?

============

If I sum up total power from all power sources (that dont fluctuate) then minus the total power needed for devices, will I find out whether I have enough or lacking ?

for example I have 2 geothermal generators @3600 each = 7200, then 1 wood/ 1chemfuel gens, each 1000, so total at this point 9200W.

I have 3 sunlamps @2900 = -8700W

hmm.... I think sunlamps is the culprit why I cannot get full power, they turn on early while solar gens aren't getting powered on yet by the sun.

-edit....eh it's eclipse hahah didnt notice that. This game has lots of factors for messing with power.

[Hoki]

Originally posted by Nintendo:

Geothermal Generators
Power Output : 3600W
Grid Excess/Stored: 2790W/288Wd

the generator alone produces 3600W on its own.

grid excess is what it left after adding up all generators and then substracting all comsumers.

stored is the amount of power in all your batteries. if you click a battery the first entry is the charge in that single unit (instead of generating/consuming)

btw your wind turbine isnt working as its blocked by a lot of wall segments. the solar panel in front of it doesnt have any impact of the turbines performance though.

[123]

Ah I see, so BATTERIES is a must ? so when my power generators that fluctuate (solar and wind) are up, I will have excess power, and it will charge batteries, but come the night, solar gens go off thus the lack of powers will depend on batteries.

-edit-

thx again for all the info about power, I think I'm getting it.

@Hoki, YEA YOU'RE RIGHT it's blocked by marble walls lol, hahah, maybe that's why my power sometimes down, coz one source is down without realizing it. thx.

[Hoki]

batteries are a must for fluctuating generators besides that you can (preferably) go without except for sunlamps consumers drain power all the time so the batteries only act to even our power over the course of day.

[modestalchemist]

you're using a sun lamp, and it's 11C outside (temp in posted image). you can unroof your greenhouse while it's nice out and save on that high energy cost by turning off the sun lamp.
you can also turn off the crematorium while you're not using it.
it doesn't look like you have enough batteries. i only see the 2 in your workshop, and that's not enough to power all your electronics through the night.

if you want to make it fancy, you can use the power switch to turn off full circuits when you're not using them, such as your prison cells when you have no prisoners, or you can make a backup battery bank that you fill, and then switch off to save for emergencies, like if you have an eclipse that lasts a whole season, or if a ZZT event blows up your main grid.

your power doesn't look all that bad though. maybe add a couple more passive generators like wind or solar, and probably 3 or 4 more batteries. then you won't really have to worry about micromanaging your sun lamp and other larger power hogs.

also, the conduit doesn't take up any energy, and it's a good idea to run several paths of conduit through your base. That way if someone throws a tantrum and breaks through a conduit, you won't end up with no power in your freezer.