The Ideology DLC for RimWorld adds a lot of interesting new mechanics to the game that makes the whole thing more immersive.
Having a bizarre ideology that allows you to live your best life in RimWorld is a must for players that want to spend hundreds of hours in this game.
Recommended Read: RimWorld – Beginner’s Guide
However, the ideology you have created seems to only stick to your pawns, while new recruits hold onto their absurd ideologies.
Here is how you can convert and change the ideology of colonists in RimWorld, without having to use too much force.
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How Conversion Works in RimWorld
Every person in RimWorld will follow an ideology and will have a percentage of certainty in that belief. Having 100% certainty in an ideology makes it a lot harder to change that ideology.
To convert a pawn in RimWorld, you will need to bring down the certainty in the old belief to 0%.
How to Convert and Change the Ideology of Colonists in RimWorld
There are three methods you can use to convert and change the ideology of colonists in RimWorld:
- Moral Guide Ability
- Proselytism Meme
- Convert Prisoner
Moral Guide Ability
After playing for a bit, you will get a notification that will tell you the colonists are upset that there is no Moral Guide. It won’t necessarily say Moral Guide. It will say the weird name you gave for this role when you created your ideology.
If you don’t have a Moral Guide yet, make an altar for your ideology, the one you chose when you created it (you can find all this information by clicking the lightbulb menu icon in the bottom right corner), and change the role of someone in your colony.
Now, select your Moral Guide, and you will see that they have around 4 abilities. One of them is Convert. Select the ability and then choose the person you want to convert to your ideology.
Usually, the pawn won’t instantly convert, and you will have to do this a few times. The higher the Social skill of the Moral Guide, the higher the chance the conversion will be successful.
The Convert ability has a 3-day cooldown, so you will have to hope that the certainty of the targeted pawn won’t increase too much during that time.
Depending on their mood, the maximum amount of certainty they can gain in 3 days is 9%, which shouldn’t be a huge problem.
There is also a ritual at the altar that you can use to lower the certainty even further and even convert the pawn.
The conversion ritual will bring more colonists to assist in a conversion attempt by the Moral Guide. A really good Moral Guide with a good ideology can even convert a pawn with around 70% certainty in one go using the conversion ritual.
Proselytism Meme
Another way to convert other pawns in your RimWorld colony is to get the Proselytism meme for your ideology. This meme will make you attempt conversions left and right every time they speak to someone of a different ideology.
Pawns also have a random chance to try conversion without the Proselytism meme, but it is much lower than with it.
You can choose the frequency of the proselytism attempts in your precepts after selecting the meme. There are three Proselytizing precept choices:
- Occasional – 300% chance of convert attempt
- Sometimes – 500% chance of convert attempt
- Frequent – 700% chance of convert attempt
You should always choose Frequent to make sure that your pawns are attempting conversion left and right.
The only problem with this conversion method is that all pawns following a different ideology will dislike your main colonists.
Nobody likes conversion attempts. Since your pawns will try to convert others all the time, no matter the Social skill, they will end up making the other colonists dislike them.
This can end up in a lot of fights and poor moods. This is why the Moral Guide would be better suited for this job, rather than all colonists.
How to Convert Prisoners in RimWorld (Imprison Colonists To Convert Them)
The most efficient conversion method in RimWorld is by imprisoning non-believers. One of the commands that you can use on prisoners is the Convert command.
Wardens will spend time lowering the certainty of a prisoner the same way they would lower resistance to recruit them.
Since they will do this as often as possible, the prisoner has nothing to say about the situation. They will convert even if they want to or not.
However, you might wonder how you are supposed to use this on your already-recruited colonists.
If you mobilize any pawn, you can use them to arrest an already-recruited colonist. Then, just open their prisoner options and choose the Convert option.
Once the pawn converts to your ideology, just release them from prison since you don’t have to recruit them again.
Usually, if you want to recruit a prisoner, it’s best to first convert them. This way, you won’t have to worry about doing it afterward.
How to Change the Ideology of the Colony in RimWorld
If you don’t like your ideology anymore and would prefer to convert to another already existing ideology, there is a way to do it.
When you have more than one ideology in your colony, you can always please the other ideologies as well.
If you make an altar for a different ideology, set up a Moral Guide for them, and convert people to that ideology, you will be able to change the ideology of the colony.
Once everyone stops believing in your old ideology, the most popular ideology in the colony will become the new settlement belief.
That’s everything you need to know about how to change ideology and convert colonists in RimWorld!
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