struggling to get components

[GONDAL]

i've mined all of them and traders come too infrequently. i do not have enough to make deep core drills. what do i do?

[Razor 2.3]

Hope you made a fabrication bench and have a surplus of steel.

Otherwise, caravan out or invest in the long range scanner.

[Ewell]

Build a long range scanner, scan for components. Send an expedition when you find some and you can come back with about 120 of them. I do this in all my games and I never need to build or buy a single one.

[SereneK]

Request bulk good traders if you have allied factions and have set-up the comms console.
They should have components if you're lucky.

[(WTH) Voape]

Your best bet, considering if you don't have a fabrication bench, is to pack up a caravan, and visit nearby non-hostile factions to trade. Make sure you bring enough silver or goods to trade.

[Tonks]

If you don't mind getting an extra mod - I recommend one that lets you camp while travelling as a caravan, when you stop a small map will be generated, you then have a change of getting some mountains with minable components. I will sent a gang for an explore and when I hit somewhere with components I'll strip the place of food, wood & artefacts etc to take back or sell to a neighbour.

[Breadzzy!]

I reccomend searching for mods that boost late game steel such as metal trader ships. Late game steel is always a pain

[King Wrynn]

If you are into modding: the prison labor and quarry mods are a fantastic way to get steel. I have 20 prisoners mining day and night in the quarry for steel and a few pawns to craft components. Now that I think of it, I could have used prisoners to craft those too.

If not into modding: settle a new location, build a very basic base with beds and some food. Mine all the steel and compact machinery, caravan it back to base, abandon location. Works every time.

[Kittenpox]

https://www.rimworldwiki.com/wiki/Component has some suggestions for how to get them.
Assuming you've run out completely, and the long range scanner is also not a viable option, I would work towards having a decent food stockpile & either trade with other factions (bring pack animals to carry stuff) or take on missions where you have to go and rescue/destroy stuff. If those places have things like solar panels and batteries, you can recover those resources and work towards building that Long Range Mineral Scanner.

If you haven't already disassembled the Ship Chunks on your own map, those have a few components as well.

Much of the game is about encountering difficulties and learning how to overcome them. Similar to how you would have had to deal with stockpiling food for winter, you're now at a point where stockpiling Components and building a Fabrication Bench / scanner are the issue.
You'll be better prepared for this next time around - so for now focus on other aspects of your colony, and get your people prepared to trade for the resources you need if other options aren't working out. :-)

[Haethei]

You can use this mod if you feel like they are too expensive to craft, once you get the ability to craft them yourself anyway. You may want to try the caravan strategies first just because they're interesting and fun to try, but this mod makes it so you don't just destroy your whole steel stockpile just to make some components at home

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1542915888

[GONDAL]

update: i bought a ton from a neighboring colony and used them to make a fabricator at my base so i have way more than i need now

[ichifish]

Originally posted by spaciousspace:

update: i bought a ton from a neighboring colony and used them to make a fabricator at my base so i have way more than i need now

Hey look at that! And (unsubtle jab at modding out important game mechanics) you didn’t even need a mod!

Another option not mentioned above is increasing the total number of possible colonies in the options settings and settling a second base temporarily to extract resources. This is also a good way to get some hunting, taming, and tomb raiding in, although some (unsubtle jab at exploiting core mechanics) might consider this cheesing.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by spaciousspace:

update: i bought a ton from a neighboring colony and used them to make a fabricator at my base so i have way more than i need now

Good job!

In fact, running out of available components and having no way to create them because one has yet to acquire any Advanced Components from a trader is... a purposefully designed dilemma. ("The Component Crisis" (my term for it))

In every playthrough you must strive to buy two Advanced Components as soon as possible. Sacrifice anything not necessary for your immediate survival in order to acquire them. Put them in a very safe place, under lock and key, until you can make use of them to build a Fabrication Bench along with the other necessary materials. (Components/etc)

It's critical. You've got to have them in order to avoid possible serious issues. (Especially "breakdown" events and needed repairs after combat.)

Of course, you can travel the map and scan and mine and do all that other stuff... Sure, go ahead. BUT, you'll be doing that far, far, after you should have already had a Fabrication Bench up and running! That means you'll be behind the curve and likely to not have the Components you need when you need them the most. Those activities also come with unnecessary risks.

IF, for some reason unknown to me, you never get a Trader that has any Advanced Components to sell... Well, then you'll have to do something else to get them. I've been stalled, before, but I have never been strangled by such a thing. That's because I once experienced the Component Crisis and I never want to experience that again. :)

[Kittenpox]

Originally posted by spaciousspace:

update: i bought a ton from a neighboring colony and used them to make a fabricator at my base so i have way more than i need now

In the past, my next step from there has been to research advanced fabrication and bionic limbs... and then wonder how I ran out of components so quickly. :-p
(You'll think you have a lot, but they get used up fast - especially if you're also making weapons+armor.)

[Hades]

I make a point of buying out every component I can when traders visit (or space ships are in comms range). As soon as I can afford it, I also start to stockpile advanced components.

Never have a problem with components.. it's a priority buy resource for sure.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by Storm:

I make a point of buying out every component I can when traders visit (or space ships are in comms range). As soon as I can afford it, I also start to stockpile advanced components.

Never have a problem with components.. it's a priority buy resource for sure.

^-- This.

I buy components from traders at every opportunity, too, even after I can already make them myself. (I would stop, of course, after reaching a large amount. Maybe.) And, I'd boil a Yorkie for an Advanced Component in the Early Game if I had to...