There are a lot of possible research trees one can pursue at the start of the game in RimWorld.
Of course, depending on the scenario they chose, the options can be incredibly different.
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If you are either a tribal clan or crash-landed colonists, there are too many options for you at the start of the playthrough.
So, to make sure you don’t waste valuable time learning useless things, here is what would be best to research first in RimWorld for both the Crashlanded and Lost Tribe scenarios.
Table of contents
What is Best to Research First in the Crashlanded Scenario in RimWorld
The normal scenario most players will choose is the Crashlanded scenario. In this one and 90% of scenarios, you will have access to electricity from the start.
This is why the first thing that you should research in RimWorld has to be the Battery.
To actually survive properly in the lands of this RimWorld, you will need to use your knowledge of electricity as your most important boon to get out of here.
Since most sources of electricity, like wind turbines, solar panels, and geothermal generators, will not give you a constant, secure flow of energy, you will need to store them in batteries.
So, the first things you should research at the start would first be the Battery and then Solar panels, as you can then perfectly use them together.
If you do, however, have a river next to your colony, you should first research the Watermill generator. Why? Well, since it will provide you with a constant source of electricity, it is much better than solar panels.
This is why, by far, the best thing to research in RimWorld, at the start of the game is the Battery or the Watermill generator.
Afterward, you have quite a few choices. We will list the first 5 technologies you should research first in RimWorld, in order of priority:
- Battery or Watermill generator (if you have a river)
- Solar panel (not necessary if you have a Watermill generator)
- Microelectronics
- Multi-analyzer
- Fabrication
What is Best to Research First in the Lost Tribe Scenario in RimWorld
If you choose the interesting Lost Tribe scenario, then you will start the game as a tribal colony with no technology.
In this situation, you will have to research some other stuff first before going into electricity and all of that.
Here are the first 5 technological advancements you should research as a Lost Tribe in RimWorld:
- Complex Clothing
- Complex Furniture
- Stonecutting
- Smithing
- Electricity
So, as a tribal colony in RimWorld, the best thing to research first would be Complex Clothing. Since most biomes in RimWorld are extremely unforgiving when it comes to weather, you will need some good clothes for your pawns.
In some situations, this might not be your first priority. However, most often than not, you will need better clothes for your tribal folks.
Next in line has to be Complex Furniture. You will need some proper bedrooms for your pawns. Otherwise, they will end up hating everything and having breakdowns left and right.
After you’ve made sure you have the necessary furniture to make them happy, you will need proper stone walls for your settlement.
Without them, you are an incredibly easy target for forest fires and Molotov cocktails. However, if you have chosen to live in a mountain, you won’t necessarily need this yet.
Smithing will be incredibly important for lowly tribal pawns since they will need better weapons. Since guns are nowhere in sight, you will have to learn how to make yourself a weapon or two.
This is also good long term since you will also need to learn Machining in the future. This research, Smithing, is a prerequisite.
Once you have done your basic research, you can go into Electricity and finally do what you would do with a normal start.
Now that you have electricity, you can research the same stuff we listed above for the Crashlanded scenario since you have reached the same point now with all those previous techs.
That’s everything you need to know about what is best to research first in RimWorld!
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