Optimized Refugees Extreme/Survivor

24 hour research entire game starting 11:00 Day 1, no save scumming, Scouts third night, Hothouses and Wall Drill operational Day 4, no unscripted deaths, Order.

Day 1

Select Emergency Shift as your first law.

Put 8 Engineers and 7 Workers on the leftmost Steel Wreckage at the northern resource group, 10 workers on the rightmost Steel Wreckage at the northern resource group, and 3 workers on the topmost Wood Crates at the eastern resource group.

Dismantle roads worth exactly 18 Wood, 1 from the bottom L-shaped end of the eastern resources and 4 from the top tip turning down 1 segment towards the generator, 2 from the top of the western road extending one segment towards the generator, 5 from the inner Generator ring at the Stockpiles, 3 from the eastern junction at the Generator ring, and 3 at the upper Generator ring. If you clip the roads as in the screenshot below, you will still be able to fully pack the inner ring as well as keep the existing roads functional.



You should have the required 15 Wood and 5 Steel for a Workshop at exactly 09:01, so place a Workshop 3 spaces below the top left Steel Wreckage, take 8 Engineers and 2 Workers off the left Steel Wreckage to free people to build, then go reassign 12 Workers to Wood Crates to fill out the 3 already there, leaving 3 actively working the top left Steel Wreckage. The Workshop should be completed about 11:00 and 10 Wood to start Faster Gathering will already be collected, so collect 5 Engineers to staff the Workshop, research Faster Gathering, and hit Emergency Shift.

You'll want to end with exactly 15 Steel at 18:00, which can be done by staffing the top left Steel Wreckage with 3 Engineers and 7 Workers leaving 13 Workers on Wood Crates, if you currently have 1 Steel gathered like me, which you should. Move 2 Workers from Steel Wreckage to your Wood Crates from 17:00-17:30 depending how fast the Workshop completed and hit Emergency Shift at the Wood Crates then. As this second Emergency Shift is directly on a resource pile rather than a building, the normal scripted second Emergency Shift death does not trigger. You should have exactly 15 Steel at 18:00 and your people in position to start building.

Start a Cookhouse immediately above the Workshop. Once you have 15 Wood, place a second Workshop on the western road just past the Generator, turning it sideways for placement.

Turn on the Generator around 18:00 and flip on the Overdrive once it's warmed up. Accept the quest to provide housing for some.

The settlement should look like this at the end of the day. Faster Gathering should complete at midnight, and you should have the 10 wood required for Beacon.

Day 2

Faster Gathering should complete around 00:00, so next research Beacon.

Your next Law is due at 02:00, so select Child Labour - Safe Jobs. Switch out your Emergency Shift Wood Crates Workers with Children to allow the Workers to build at 05:00. Place two Gathering Post in the inner ring at the south next to the Stockpiles to catch the two Wood Crates to the south. Both buildings should be complete before 08:00. As wood trickles in, you can also start building 2 Tents to get a little construction time in, but pause them at 08:00.

Turn off the Generator and Overdrive at 05:00.

At 06:00, have your 3 free Engineers in the second Workshop and hit Emergency Shift, then take them out at 08:00 before the scripted Emergency Shift death triggers. If you leave the Workshop unstaffed through the day like this, the scripted second Emergency Shift death will silently trigger during the day as scheduled, and you can still run the Workshop overnight from 18:00-06:00 without triggering the death. Fully staff both Gathering Posts with your 3 Engineers and remaining Workers and have the last 3 in the Cookhouse. Move the 3 Workers to Steel Wreckage once the food is cooked, 1 Raw Food will remain uncooked no matter how long you leave them. You'll need to dismantle the Cookhouse and cancel after reassigning the workers to avoid having them stop to eat.

Leave the Children on the Emergency Shift Wood Crates until it completes, then move them to another Wood Crates, likewise dismantling the Cookhouse and cancelling. When the 15 Workers show up, put them all on Steel Wreckage in the same manner.

Once Beacon completes at 13:00, research Drafting Boards.

Right before 18:00, move your Workshop Engineers to the second Workshop so that they will work overnight again like the S-tier slavedriver you are.

Turn the Generator on at 18:00 and then Overdrive.

Build a gathering post at the northern resources, another at the eastern resources, and a third just past the stockpiles to catch the single Wood Crates and that alone at the eastern resources. Also put up a Medical Post at the Generator and have a total of 4 Tents building.

At 20:00, sign Extended Shift.

Staff the Medical Post with your 3 Engineers as soon as it completes, mostly to stop your sick from the first night from becoming Gravely Ill.

Here is a screenshot of the settlement at midnight.

Day 3

When Drawing Boards finishes, select Hothouse.

Have Extended Shift on all buildings and start at 06:00, moving the 3 Engineers to the open Workshop as well. Your Emergency Shift on the Workshop will run out at 06:00, so don't forget to switch on Extended Shift then as well.

At 14:00, select Corpse Disposal. You'll need to turn off Extended Shifts to be able to pass it, but turn them back on immediately afterwards.

Hit Emergency Shift on the northern Gathering Post after signing Corpse Disposal, making sure it is staffed only with Workers to avoid losing a Child or Engineer. This is both to trigger the Emergency Shift death on a Worker rather than Engineer, as well as let the post collect both Steam Cores overnight. If we did it earlier and the death triggered, Discontent would be too high for Corpse Disposal, which is generally superior to Cemetery as it unlocks Organ Transplants. Organ Transplants is actually not critical as this guide ends up signing it late in the game when the city is mostly on autopilot, though, so Cemetery would probably make your run easier if slightly less optimized.

Once Hothouse finishes, select Wall Drill.

Once the death triggers on the Gathering Post, do not cancel Emergency Shifts and then Emergency Shift your Workshop. Move 2 Engineers to the Emergency Shift workshop.

Your Gathering Posts should tap out before 18:00, so transfer any Children to the Emergency Shift Gathering Post to allow its Workers to build. Never leave the Gathering Post completely unstaffed even when paused, however, as it will reset the timer to gather the Steam Core and potentially delay collecting your third core for Wall Drill tomorrow.

When an Engineer wants the day off from Emergency Shift, allow it, but replace him in the Workshop.

Build 2 Hothouses next to the Wall Drill site, 2 Tents and another Medical Post at the Generator, a Snow Pit just past the Stockpiles. Dismantle the 3 spent Gathering Posts.

When the quest to feed your people pops, say you'll feed them plus make stockpiles.

You should have the 35 Steel for Beacon before 00:00, so place it next across from the Snow Pit.

Staff the second Medical Post when it finishes, and we should soon have all sick either treated or scouting and head off any Gravely Ill.

Here's the screenshot at midnight.

Day 4

You should have a gap in the Generator ring cleared once a Gathering Post is dismantled, so place a tent there.

Send 5 sick Workers as scouts once Beacon finishes.

Once Wall Drill finishes, select Steelworks. You should get a third Steam Core right at 05:00, so place the Wall Drill, and let people build during the workday until it's completed, which was around 10:30 for me.

Today leave the Generator on all day, as we don't need the quest to heat homes tonight to complicate things, plus it helps discontent.

Make absolutely sure your Hothouses are fully staffed, Children are best since they don't build, with the rest put everyone to work at 06:00, and if some at the Hothouse are building, switch them out with Workers who aren't building. Also have 2 people cooking at the Cookhouse and leave the Generator on today as well as leave the Medical Posts staffed.

At 08:00, turn off all Extended Shifts. You'll still probably have too much Discontent to pass Radical Treatment, but as your starving are fed it will drop rapidly. I was able to pass Radical Treatment at 09:28. Emergency Shift your available Workshop right afterward.

Fully Staff the Wall Drill once it's finished. You should have basically a fully staffed Wall Drill, 2 Hothouses, 2 people cooking, 2 staffed Medical Posts, 1 fully staffed and 1 partially staffed Workshop, and any leftover laborers in the northern gathering post getting the last Steel Wreckage.

Once Steelworks completes, start Coal Thumper.

Once all the starving are fed, you should be able to toggle off all Extended Shifts to end the Discontent ultimatum. Naturally, toggle them back on immediately after.

Place a Steelworks at the location closest to the Generator and build a road to it. Put a tent next to the generator where there was formerly a Gathering Post, two Workshops along the new road to the Steelworks, a gathering post to catch the western resources, another Gathering Post next to the one at the north, and a second tent in the north where the cleared Steam Core Transport was.

Here is a screenshot at midnight.

Day 5

After 02:00, select Overcrowding.

Once Coal Thumper completes, start Steam Hub. After that, More Scouts.

My scouts explored Snowy Hill and opened Cannery Workshop, so my scouts will be returning with 375 rations in less than a day, and I can leave the Hothouses unstaffed today given that all of my starving are now fed. You may end up with a longer way to Cannery Workshop, in which case you'd probably want to keep one Hothouse and have 1 staff in the Cookhouse, which would provide 66 Rations and keep the settlement limping along another day, when you'd find Cannery Workshop if continuing to explore southwest.

If like me you're going to be shutting down food production today, go ahead and dismantle the Cookhouse, but pause that before starting. This is only to stop your people from eating rations, as we'll need 10 for 2 Emergency Shifts today.

Turn off the Generator and Overdrive at 05:00.

We have a little extra Discontent to spare now, so at 06:00, Emergency Shift your Wall Drill as well as the daily Workshop. It will result in another ultimatum, but you should drop below 75% the next day as long as you have Extended Shifts off and Livable housing. Make sure you have the Wall Drill and Steelworks fully staffed, and 3 Workshops with as many Engineers as possible. Cancel dismantling the Cookhouse after clicking your two Emergency Shifts. After that make sure you're gathering enough Coal to keep the Generator running another day. It helps to finish off the last Steel Wreckage in the north to open up building space as the lowest priority. Keep both Medical Posts running if you have 15 or more sick, as you really want to have minimal sickness heading into -50.

We'll now be preparing for the -50 drop, so place one Steam Hub to cover your northern cluster of Gathering Posts, Workshops, and Tents. The best location is to make a 1 Wood road between the Gathering posts and place it there, as it will get all your Workshops, the Cookhouse, the Coal Thumper and Gathering Posts, Tents, and leave room for a few more things later. Place another to cover your Wall Drill and Hothouses and switch it to work 06:00-20:00. Add 2 Tents, a Coal Thumper, and 2 Workshops in the northern group with the new Steam Hub. Place a Resource Depot in an unheated area.

Turn the Generator on but leave the Overdrive off overnight, to let it cool down to 0% stress, as we'll need it tomorrow.

Here's the midnight screenshot.

Day 6

If you lucked out like me and got Cannery Workshop early, you should be getting 375 rations this morning, if not it will probably be overnight.

Once More Scouts completes, select Generator Power Upgrade.

My scouts returned with a nice stash of Wood, Steel, Raw Food, and normal Rations before 06:00, so I sent them to Trail Bend.

From this point forwards, you'll be hitting an Emergency Shift on an available Workshop every morning until Engineer Automatons, so I won't be mentioning it every day, just remember to do so. It's best to alternate between the workshops at the northern heat zone, as it's running 24 hours anyway to keep the tents warm and gives you free heating overnight without needing to turn on Heaters.

Available workplaces will be limited to heat zones during -50, which is just your Coal Thumper with associated Gathering Posts, Workshops, Medical Posts, Wall Drill, and Hothouses. Next Steam Hub will cover the Steelworks, but we have enough for today.

Once More Scouts finishes, send out 5 of your sick workers out as scouts, either to Trail Bend if you're not already headed there, or towards the north to scout out the location of the second outpost. Whichever scout group returns from Trail Bend should then continue the search southwest to scout Fishing Village to be able to set up an Outpost soon. If like me sending the scouts out reduced your sick to 10 or less, unstaff a Medical Post and reassign the Engineers to Workshops.

Once Trail Bend is explored, escort the survivors home.

After 14:00, pass Fighting Arena.

Once Generator Power Upgrade is researched, select Drafting Machines, then Steam Steelworks.

Flip off the Overdrive once Generator Power Upgrade has heated the Generator to Level 2.

Set up 3 more Tents in Heat Zones, we're leaving the northern one on 24 hours, so it's generally the best place. Build 3 Fighting Arenas outside of heat zones to cover as many tents as possible. The first Coal Thumper we placed will be dismantled eventually for housing, so give space to pack tents in the heat zone if you place an arena near the Coal Thumper. Build a 3 Wood road outward past the center of the Steelworks, then place a Steam Hub 2 paces out and set to 06:00-20:00, two Gathering Posts, and a Coal Thumper at the end.

With Generator Power Upgrade, the Overdrive will now bring all places with 1 level of base insulation to Livable, and turning it off will make them Chilly. I think it's generally better to keep Overdrive on overnight to heat housing, so leave the Overdrive on until 05:00 and then turn it off, it shouldn't overheat in that time.

Once again, the midnight screenshot.

Day 7

From this point, there will be minor variations in play depending on how fast you found Cannery Workshop and whether you have the Coal Mine or Frozen Forest outpost. I'll continue to show in less detail the rest of the playthrough, as the settlement is pretty stable at this point and will need some amount of neglect to fail now.

I'll be using Order, as I think it's better suited overall for Refugees, with the smaller physical footprint for Towers vs. Churches and more emphasis on Discontent, which tends to be a bigger issue than Hope with the Lords in the final arc. Faith is a valid choice, too, however.

Anyway, at this point we'll be moving towards Outposts, so once you've rescued Trail Bend, have your two scouts hunting for Fishing Village to the southwest and Coal Mine or Frozen Forest in the north/northeast.

You'll probably trigger another ultimatum in the morning, but they're trivial at this point with Fighting Arenas, only needing Extended Shifts momentarily toggled off and possibly Overdrive to bring housing to Livable. You build free Hope every time you succeed, so they're actually advantageous even besides maximizing productivity.

Fully staff the Wall Drill, Steelworks, and second Coal Thumper as the highest priorities. Place kids into the two Gathering Posts at the northern edge first, then Hothouses with the remainder. Fully staff all heat zone Workshops you can, even unstaffing a Medical Post if you have less than 15 or so sick.

Once the second Coal Thumper has built up reserves, fully staff its 2 Gathering Posts with kids from Hothouses and the other two Gathering Posts

Once Steam Steelworks passes, select Outpost Depot. As soon as you have 15 Steel, upgrade your Steelworks to Steam Steelworks and Emergency Shift it. It's also advisable to change the nearby Steam Hub to 24 hours, otherwise your workers will be working in Cold overnight.

Your first Coal Thumper and its two Gathering Posts should tap out today, so move all staff to Hothouses when it happens.

You should be able to find if you have Frozen Forest or Coal Mine by scouting the north soon. If Coal Mine, you'll want Sawmill next and place a couple at the western edge with a Steam Hub. If Frozen Forest you're better off upgrading to Steam Coal Thumper soon. Either way, you'll be able to tear down your first Coal Thumper overnight for more space for housing.

I got Frozen Forest, so will be taking that path. Once Outpost Depot completed I selected Lighter Scout Sleds next, mainly to conserve Steel tonight to build Outposts ASAP. For Coal Mine, I'd do Sawmill instead.

Overdrive stress will still be significant, but we have a warm period in a couple of days, so go ahead and run it tonight, just making sure not to run it to 100% and blow up the generator.

Dismantle the first Coal Thumper and adjacent 2 Gathering Posts. Place 2 Tents in that heat zone. Build your second Steam Steelworks, then when you have 45 Steel, start building your first Outpost.

Here's the midnight screenshot.

Day 8

Your first Outpost will finish in the early morning, so send 10 healthy and fed Workers. I sent them to Frozen Forest, as I needed Wood more than Food at the moment. I've noticed in Refugees if you send hungry or sick workers as an Outpost team, they'll often die when setting up the Outpost, raising your body count.

For the next law, I picked Neighbourhood Watch.

With an Outpost Team sent and both Medical Posts maxed with 20 sick, I was a little short staffed. As long as you have enough Workers to fully staff the Wall Drill, and both Steam Steelworks, with around 7 active workers efficiency at the remaining Coal Thumper you should be fine. Use Engineers to make up any shortfalls in those 3 buildings, but leave the rest for healthcare and research.

Our daily ultimatum triggered, which resolved with toggling Extended Shift and Overdrive as usual. After that, I Emergency Shifted the newer Steam Steelworks, as 200 Wood was incoming from the Outpost and Steel was very low.

After Lighter Scout Sleds, I selected Steam Coal Thumper. After that, Heaters.

Overnight, I built a second Outpost Depot, a second Resource Depot, upgraded to a Steam Coal Thumper, added two more Gathering Posts to support the Steam Coal Thumper, and placed two Watchtowers, one in a heat zone in a cluster of housing and another at the edge of the Generator where I expected future expansion.

You should be able to run the Overdrive one more night without totally overheating it, with a temperature drop to let it rest tomorrow night.

Midnight screenshot.

Continuing Save Our People Arc

I had both Outposts set up Day 9. Once again, an odd little quirk with Refugees is that it seems if you send sick or even hungry Workers out to set up an Outpost, they'll often die when setting it up, with all the problems involved with that. You still get the Outpost regardless, though. For that reason it's best to send healthy, well-fed people rather than the sick and hungry you usually want to offload as scouts.

Once the two Watchtowers were built, I immediately staffed and unstaffed them to pass the quest but avoid sidelining my workers.

If you're going Order like me, next order of business is Healthcare, so research Medical Post Upgrade and Infirmary next. For Faith you can lean on Houses of Healing for quite a long while, but be aware that you'll eventually start to run out of space on this cramped map if you want to accept all the Lords in the final arc and probably will want to change to Infirmaries in the end for that reason alone.

Workers were short with 2 Outposts, but more were incoming that evening. In the meantime, I kept the Wall Drill fully staffed, with sick people recovering returning to the Steam Steelworks and Steam Coal Thumper. I had 20 kids in Hothouses 06:00-07:00, but at 07:00 transferred them to the old Gathering Posts which had been too cold to work, but were now Chilly with Heaters. Once sick dropped to 10, I unstaffed a Medical Post and put the Engineers in a Workshop.

Next law at 14:30 was Guard Stations. Immediately after I Emergency Shifted Wall Drill to increase the stockpiles.

At night I built two new Resource Depots, 3 tents in the remaining heat zone, and upgraded to Guard Towers.

I left the Overdrive on tonight, as there were still a few homeless.

It goes without saying, but I have a Workshop running overnight every night as I have from the first night.

Midnight screenshot.



By Day 10 I had all the locations to the north, west, and south scouted, so now it was just cleaning up the east and rescuing any remaining pop up refugees, which need no further comment. The Resource Depots finally came into play with all the scouts brought back.

Once Infirmary was done, I researched Bunkhouse, tore down the Medical Posts, built an Infirmary next to one of the Steam Steelworks within the range of the new 24 hour Steam Hub, and transferred the Engineers there.

After Bunkhouse I researched Mechanical Calculators.

With the flush of resources from scouting, I started building a new Steam Hub between the Steelworks and Generator, starting to fill the area with Bunkhouses in range of a Fighting Arena and Watchtower as possible, I also put up 2 new Resource Depots.

Midnight screenshot.



Next law at 02:30 was Propaganda Centre. It is well insulated and does not need a heat zone.

Day 11, after Mechanical Calculators completed, I researched Steam Wall Drill.

The temperature drop triggered another Discontent Ultimatum, which was quickly resolved by toggling a few Extended Shifts at 08:00 and then toggling them back.

During the day, I placed the Propaganda Centre, dismantled a Fighting Arena next to where the first Coal Thumper was, and continued to fill out the new Heat Zone with Bunkhouses and Fighting Arenas. I staffed the Propaganda Centre and hit Propaganda Bulletin, which maxed out Hope.

After Steam Wall Drill, I researched Improved Heaters, then Resource Depot Upgrade.

I upgraded the Steam Wall Drill immediately, then Emergency Shifted it and flipped on the heater so that it would not need the Steam Hub overnight.

When my next scouts returned, I sent them out to fetch the next group of survivors early to unlock Black Spire and then went there.

Overnight I gradually upgraded Tents to Bunkhouses, making sure not to leave anyone homeless in the meantime. I also placed a second Infirmary next to the first.

Midnight screenshot.



About Day 12, we can truly start to say we have more people than we really need. At this point Order starts to make more sense as well, with all the excess workers there's not much reason not to staff Guard Stations to cover everyone, anyway, and they conveniently fit in the same footprint as a torn down Tent.

With excess Workers, day building was a lot more feasible at least. I completed upgrading all tents and placed a third Hothouse, which could now run on a Heater and did not need a heat zone.

Once Resource Depot Upgrade completed, I researched Difference Engine, then Advanced Steelworks.

Overnight I placed a new Steam Hub to the south for a new housing area and put up 3 Bunkhouses and a Fighting Arena, as well as another Resource Depot. As the Bunkhouses were not yet needed, I turned the Steam Hub off.

Next Law at 23:30 was Agitators, 5 of which went up to cover all applicable buildings.

Midnight screenshot.



Day 13

Everything is running fine now, so mostly it's just killing time until the last 2 groups come in. I have all of the currently unlocked scouting locations already scouted and the scouts returning home. 2 Infirmaries are plenty to cover everyone now, especially on normal rations. I disbanded the scouts as they returned and sent a new band of actually healthy scouts to head for Steam Lorry for the next locations to unlock, as I had workers to spare regardless.

After Advanced Steelworks finished, I researched Factory, then Automaton Integration, then Engineer Automatons.

I upgraded the Steelworks immediately.

Once Steam Wall Drill Emergency Shift cooled down, I hit it again.

I placed 4 Workshops out of heat zones to get ready for Engineer Automatons and built the Factory.

Screenshot.



Day 14 once Factory went up, I staffed and hit Emergency Shift, building 4 Automatons and placing them in Workshops once Engineer Automatons was finished. I also Emergency Shifted an Advanced Steelworks at 06:00. There will no longer be Emergency Shifts required on Workshops, as we'll have 4 Automatons researching.

After Engineer Automatons came House and House Redesign. All 4 Automatons went to Workshops.

The final group of Refugees will arrive that night, ending Save Our People.

Accepting the Lords

Day 15

With no more Emergency Shifts required for Workshops, we can just alternate days between the two Steelworks and Wall Drill. Once Automatons get further upgraded, it will make more sense just to let them take over wood and steel altogether.

After House Redesign, I put up another 11 Houses in the remaining heat zone as well as a Guard Station, I moved a Guard Station to cover more housing by demolishing the formerly southernmost one and replacing a Bunkhouse in the Generator Ring with another Guard Station.

Next research Automatic Prototyping, then Advanced Wall Drill.

Next Law was Public House, which does not need a heat zone at this point with Improved Heaters.

I continued to upgrade Bunkhouses to Houses, making sure not to leave anyone homeless.

At the end of the day, I got the notice of the first Lords incoming in 2 days.

I'll skip the screenshots at this point, as we're mostly stable and just killing time to the end.

Day 16

Next tech Heater Efficiency Upgrade, then House Insulation, then Industrial Hothouses.

With the cold drop, we'll need to run the Overdrive during the day to keep Level 1 insulation buildings at Chilly.

Next Law Prison. It also doesn't need a Heat Zone. Make sure to build and staff it, not because you need Roundups, but because some conflicts with the lords are most peacefully resolved by tossing the offender in Prison.

Day 17

Next tech Automaton Integration II, then III.

I built 3 Automatons today to take over the Wall Drill and Steelworks at 20:00.

When the Lords arrived, I selected the option to build infrastructure. Upgrading my three Hothouses to Industrial Hothouses met the requirement easily.

I put up 6 Resource Depots that night, as Coal, Wood, and Rations were all nearing caps.

Day 18

Next Tech Generator Power Upgrade II, then Steam Hub Range Upgrade (make sure to revert all hubs to Range 1), then Steam Hub Efficiency Upgrade. With all my surplus people I could just make a second Steam Coal Thumper with Gathering Posts, but really the efficiency upgrade is all that's necessary to finish the scenario, and it doesn't take up more space.

Next Law Organ Transplants.

I went ahead and prepared the next block of housing for the next group of 100 lords, plus 30 to rescue the ones at Red Flag Camp, leaving the Steam Hub off for now until they arrive.

Mostly just killing time until the end now, we're mostly on autopilot.

Day 19

Next tech Advanced Heaters, then then Coal Thumper Injectors, then Infirmary Mechanization. Scouting should totally complete today, with one scout returning with the Red Flag Camp survivors, and the other collecting the resources.

Next Law Moonshine.

When the sick lords arrive, go ahead and agree to open 4 new treatment places. You could probably manage with your two Infirmaries with Overcrowding, but everything's easier with six Infirmaries and you'll should have the Cores anyway when your scouts return. You can always just unstaff them when not needed and feed the Engineers back into Workshops. I was out of cores at this point and just put up two Medical Posts as a stopgap, but there was time before the deadline to have all 4 new Infirmaries.

Day 20

Next tech Gathering Post Insulation, then Efficient Gathering. Go ahead and build out enough housing for the last group of lords before they get there.

Day 21

Next law Patrol. Go ahead and hit it.

Next research Infirmary Checklists, then Overdrive Couplings, then Generator Safety Bypass. Yeah, we're just killing time, all necessary techs are already researched.

Cover everywhere remaining with Resource Depots if you're bored.

Day 22

When the last group arrives, let them in. Hope will dip, but still should be way over 50%, and you should have Patrol and Propaganda Letter cooled down or close to it anyway, so hit them because you can.

Next tech Generator Efficiency Upgrade, then Generator Efficiency Upgrade II, then Healthcare Insulation. Or whatever else you fancy.

Save Lord Craven, because you can easily spare the discontent at this point.

Last Law Duelling Law, so you can maybe win with an extra Extended Shift or something.

Day 23

Overnight turn off Extended Shifts until you've dropped Discontent below 25%, and once you've run out the 24 hours from the last lords arriving, you've won, with the best ending, having reconciled the lords and the plebs.

[Shining Hector]

Yeah, guess if you're super fast you could do it with a few minutes delay in Survivor. The game still pauses when dismantling roads at least.

[aden2468]

Oh! Okay. So, it's a regular Extreme run. Not a Survivor one. Should've been a clue from the screenshot, lol!

[Shining Hector]

Pause at the onset to set everything up. 15 gathering on one Steel Wreckage and 10 gathering on another one will get you exactly 5 Steel in an hour. Dismantling roads gets you the additional 15 Wood needed for the Workshop.

[aden2468]

How do you get 5 steel by 9:01am??? Time goes too fast and my people move too slow.

[Shining Hector]

Yeah, that's always been. If you Emergency Shift the Workshop and wait a few hours before Emergency Shifting a resource pile, you're safe. If you do them around the same time or the resource pile first, you'll get the death.

[qa.ka]

scripted overwork death event can trigger in first workshop after you activate emergency shifts on the resource pile. not inflexible anymore :(

[Cadarn]

A different law approach for example is
Child Work (safe jobs) - after all you start with 28 workers+engineers so 15 childs are
on the first 1,5 days in this scenario have the same value as "extended shift" has. tbf: 39,47% more workpower for 1,5 days.
24hour shift - only on the workshop
extended shift
soup
houses of prayer
shrines
houses of healing and then
the graveyard

if i remember right like this you will get houses of healing shortly after the big -50° come. Thus you have smooth saling all the way till the end.
You can also go order if you want to. Thats fine.


unlexible strategy my ***

[Shining Hector]

I'd disagree. I've successfully completed the scenario multiple different ways on Extreme, starting in 2018. Really I just tried using everything that I've picked up since then to optimize the run as an intellectual exercise and thought I'd share.

[MΛRCUS HΞLIUS]

The fact that this guide exists shows just how inflexible the 'strategy' in this game is, everyone must play the exact same way to beat every scenario, no deviation from the optimal build order... so boring.