I keep dying because of raiders

[seba]

Hi, so i started playing rimworld not too long ago and i can not seem to survive without someone dying when i only have 4 colonists... Usually raiders kill one of them then the mental breaks start happening and before i know it everything is done. I have made turrets, sandbags, traps but nothing seems to work. Can someone tell me what i have done wrong?

[Ron42na]

I'm fairly new at the game, so take this for what it's worth, but do you have things to give your colonists joy?  I had lots of sanity problems initially, but not since I focused on things like making sure they have a table to eat at, horse shoes or something similar to play, fine meals every few days, clean rooms with a decent floor, lighting, etc.   I still get the occasional mental break - but not as often as I did the first few colonies I attempted.

Also, I keep randomizing colonists so I can avoid attributes like lazy, slothful, pyro, depressive, etc.  (unless the colonist has some amazing stats/traits I really need).

[Pax_Empyrean]

Walls provide better cover than sandbags, although a colonist behind a wall with sandbags on the side provides the best defense.

S is sandbag, W is wall, C is colonist, E is the enemy

Code Select Expand


  SS
  CW
  SS
  SS
  CW     E
  SS
  SS
  CW
  SS


You can do a single row of sandbags instead of double stacking it, but that makes them more vulnerable to grenades, and restricts their ability to fire on enemies that are very close. Try to set up someplace where the enemy won't have good cover to fight back.

[seba]

I already have taken care of joy and all that stuff but they still break with thoughts like dead colonists and ugly enviroment (when they are outside). And thank you for the defense tip i will try it next time!

[asanbr]

Best way to learn fast is probably to look at someone playing on youtube.

[Shurp]

Be more specific.  What exactly is happening which is causing you to lose when raiders attack?

If you have 4 pawns and 4 turrets and you get attacked by 4 raiders, you generally should win fairly easily.  Have your pawns stand a bit behind the turrets so they raiders attack the turrets instead of your pawns.  If the raiders come with sniper rifles or great bows and are plinking from outside of turret range you'll need to build a wall in front of the turrets to block them (with a hole to let them through to get shot)

[bluntobj]

"Check the raiders for weapons, try to kill ones with grenades or launcher first."

This.

Also, make chokepoints.  Funnel raiders into a killzone, or where only a couple can fire at you at once.
Judge your terrain, and see where invaders will approach.  Build your bunkers/turrets at each spot, so your pawns can move from point to point as invaders attack.
Better armor, better guns.
Get mods that update your security, such as Embrasures, shields, different turrets, etc.
Have a mix of ranged and melee pawns.  Melee with personal shields engage melee while your ranged pawns pick off ranged attackers. 
Conversely, if you assault a ranged pawn with a melee pawn they're typically toast.
Arrange for your really fast pawns to be melee so they can pursue  retreating enemies.
Have the ability to capture and convert prisoners.  The Hospitality mod can help here.  More pawns mean more survival.
Explosives.  There's an RPG mod, lots of grenades, etc.

[Kagemusha12]

Also, if you have someone who is bleeding very heavily, it may be a good idea to just create a sleeping spot next to him and put this sleeping put to medical use. And also to put the bleeding colonist on doctors help only.

This way, the doctor can almost immediately care for the bleeding person, without having to waste time with carrying the bleeding colonist to the sick bay and then run to the storage for the medicines.

Sometimes this time makes the difference between dying and surviving

[AndrewH]

I tend to build my hospital directly behind my defences, and have medical storage integrated into the hospital.

[Ceglaaa]

Few tips from me:
- it's quite handy to have at least one pacifist/non-fighting colonist drafted to be serving as a paramedic, to haul wounded colonists to the hospital.
- train your animals to fight and rescue!
- Is your doctor sleeping, drinking or gone? Use zones to make him be at ready in hospital during the raid!

[cultist]

The simplest solution to raid problems is usually more turrets. Remember you can turn them on and off if you don't have enough power to keep them all powered at once.

[Grogfeld]

Yea, start is always difficult. Mental breaks are problematic when you have only 3 colonists but to avoid it make sure to:
- Defense tip from Pax_Empyrean is very good. More cover equals more survivors.
- if colonist will die, build sarcophagus -> mood boost for few hours, great to:
- haul dead raiders to place where no one will see them or just bury them. Saw rotting corpse will stack up 5x so better avoid it.
- look at traits. Night Owl will get big mood hit when awake on day, so good restriction on work is the essence.
- after fight make mandatory joy hours more often. Tons of joy is really helpful.
- after fight give bonded animal his master back or use mod "Stay!" to avoid hitting your pets in fight.
- double bed is must have for pairs, not so great for pawns who hate each other.
- TABLES with CHAIRS
- chairs on interaction spots of buildings give comfort boost which give good mood.

Even in Rimworld losing is FUN! If you don't panic and don't rage quit when something is going wrong you can lose but experience something tragic but also great to tell someone or you can get out of the situation and stay alive with feeling of a great accomplishment.

I wish everyone tons of FUN!!