How to Get Components in Rimworld

Components are the building blocks of virtually everything you use in Rimworld. If you're playing a game without components, you won't get too far. You need these items to build ships, guns, electrical devices, etc. But how exactly do you make components?

If this question piques your interest, you've come to the right place. This article shares everything there is to know about building components in Rimworld. We'll discuss the different methods for doing this and provide you with valuable tips on how to get the most out of the experience.

Without further ado, let's get into the process!

What are RimWorld components?

Let's start with the basics. When you play Rimworld, you need to craft guns, armor, ship parts, or repair electrical devices. To do all of this, you need to get components, which are the essential materials for building and repairing things.

When starting the game in “Crashlanded” or “Rich Explorer” mode, your colonies will be equipped with 30 units of components each. The “Lost Tribe” mode starts with no components, and is best avoided unless you are an experienced player.

Thirty units may not seem like much at first, but most items you build early on only take one to three units per item. This number increases as you start researching and unlocking complex machines. That's why it's a good idea to collect Components regularly and use them sparingly. Luckily, getting them can be simple when you know where to look.

You can create your own components using the build bench. However, you will often run out of steel supplies, as it is an essential material.

Luckily for you, components can be obtained in a number of ways: mining, trading, crafting, and dismantling. You might not be able to find all of these resources on your map right away, but below we'll share the requirements needed to reach each stage.

Also, some resources, such as mining, don't replenish over time, so it's best to use that stock wisely.

Now let's look at each of the four methods in detail.

How to get components by mining

As you browse your map in Rimworld, you may notice square-shaped brownish rocks. When you hover over them, it says: “Compacted machines”. You can mine the compacted machines to get components.

Compacted machines can be found in the mountains and can sometimes even drop as a meteor during in-game events. Starting the settlement in the hill is a great start to having easy access to mineral deposits.

Compacted machines usually come in packs of three to six blocks, with each block dropping two components. It only takes 2 hit points or 000 hits to exploit them. For comparison, steel requires 25 hit points.

To mine compacted machines, you can select the “Mine” option in your Architect menu. If a settler works as a miner, he will go there and extract this compacted machinery.

As they mine, they reveal the number of components, depending on the skill of the miner. It is better to assign experienced miners to do the job quickly and with minimal losses.

Additionally, you can mine components with long-range mineral scanners and deep drilling.

How to get components by trading

Trading is one of the easiest ways to get components in Rimworld. All it takes is to select the world from the bottom menu and set up a caravan with a settler with excellent levels of social skills.

Remember to bring cash or other business materials on the trip. You won't be able to buy components if you don't have anything to trade for them. You can easily waste a day traveling if you forget your Silver.

Once you're happy with your caravan, you can set off on a journey through the Rimworld, find a friendly faction, and start trading. You can trade in just about any item without much effort on your part.

However, be careful as your caravan may be attacked and some of your settlers will be unavailable for a long time.

Sometimes other traders can enter your settlement with components to trade. Make sure you don't give them too much material unless you're an experienced player. The higher the value of your colony, the more big raids you will get from the game.

How to get components by disassembling them

If you run out of mining areas nearby, you can still get your components from Mechanoids. The three types of Mechanoids include Scythers, Centipedes, and Lancers. They can be found inside ancient ruins, mountains, or random events such as psychic or poison ships.

You can bring a mechanoid to a machine table and disassemble it for 50 Steel, 10 Plasteel, and two Components. However, if some parts of the Centipede are missing in battle, you may not get all the materials. The fewer centipedes, the less material you get.

Lancers and Scythers can be dismounted for 20 Steel, a Plasteel and a Component. The same rule applies here: the fewer the coins, the fewer materials you get.

Although they are dangerous enemies, you can use Mechanoids as a source of components when they cannot be found elsewhere.

Note that dismantling is a relatively short-term method of obtaining components, and you only get a certain percentage. It is recommended to reserve this method for emergencies only.

Additionally, you can deconstruct ship pieces during gameplay to obtain certain components. You will receive in-game notifications about these objects getting stuck somewhere on the map. You can check where they are by scanning your map.

You can get to where they are, smash them, and get as many components as you can. Simply select the chunk to harvest and select 'Deconstruct' at the bottom left of the screen. Settlers assigned to construction work will travel to the location and break the pieces of the ship into components.

However, the action may take some time and your colonist may be attacked along the way. It's best to send in skilled settlers to get the job done quickly.

How to get components by crafting

Rimworld also allows you to create your own components. Once you research crafting in the research tree, your pawns will be able to craft components and do other things on the crafting bench.

Note that different mods come with different research trees with more or less difficult methods to get them when crafting.

After creating the manufacturing bench, you can manufacture the components by selecting "Create components" in the Invoices section. However, you can only craft components in Rimworld if your colonists have at least eight crafting skills. You also need 12 Steel and 5 Time Ticks in game.

If you're in the late game phase, this may be your go-to method. All compacted machinery will be mined, sunken ships will be deconstructed, leaving you with few options for finding components. Alternatively, you can either wait for more pieces of ships to fall, kill Mechanoids, or wait for Traders to arrive.

Additional FAQ

How do you craft advanced components in Rimworld?

Advanced components in Rimworld are typically used for building and crafting high-tech ships or charge guns. You can create an advanced component on the manufacturing bench. To do this, you need to invest one Component, 20 Steel, 10 Plasteel, three Gold, and have a crafting skill of eight (or more). Advanced components aren't cheap to craft, so be sure to use them wisely.

You can also collect advanced components from crashed ship parts or buy them from traders.

Getting Components in Rimworld

This article has provided you different methods to get components in Rimworld. You can craft, mine, buy, or deconstruct other items to get them. The easiest way is definitely to trade with friendly factions, but don't forget to bring gear before you travel.

Hopefully these tips will be enough to get as many components as you need to lead your colony to survival.

What's your favorite way to farm components? Tell us about it in the comments section below.