How to Get Components in Rimworld (2024)

Components are the building blocks of virtually anything you use in Rimworld. If you play a game without Components, you won’t get too far. You need these items to build ships, firearms, electrical devices, and whatnot. But how exactly do you make Components?

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

Without further ado, let’s build into the process!

What Are RimWorld Components?

Let’s start with the basics. When you play Rimworld, you need to make firearms, armor, ship parts, or repair electrical devices. To do all this, you need to get Components, which are the essential materials for building and fixing stuff.

Starting the game in the “Crashlanded” or “Rich Explorer” mode will have your colonies equipped with 30 Component units each. The “Lost Tribe” mode starts with no Components, and it’s best to avoid it unless you’re an experienced player.

Thirty units may seem like little to start with, but most items you construct in the beginning only take one to three units per item. This number increases the more you begin researching and unlocking complex machinery. This is why it’s wise to collect the Components regularly and use them sparingly. Fortunately, obtaining them can be straightforward when you know where to look.

You can create your own Components by using the Fabrication Bench. Although, you’ll often be short on supply when it comes to Steel since it’s an essential material out there.

Lucky for you, it’s possible to get Components in many ways: mining, trading, crafting and disassembling. You may not be able to find all these resources on your map right away, but we’ll share the requirements needed to reach each stage below.

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

Now let’s discuss each of the four methods in detail.

How to Get Components by Mining

As you go over your map in Rimworld, you may notice brownish square-like rocks. When you hover over them, it says, “Compacted machinery.” You can mine the compacted machinery to get Components.

The compacted machinery can be found in the mountains and can sometimes even drop in the form of a meteor during in-game events. Starting the colony in the hill is a good start to having easy access to mineral deposits.

The compacted machinery typically comes in three-to-six block packs, with each block dropping two Components. It takes only 2,000 health or 25 hits to mine them. As a comparison, Steel requires 1,500 health.

To mine compacted machinery, you can select the “Mine” option from your Architect Menu. If a colonist works as a miner, they’ll go over and mine that compacted machinery.

As they mine, they reveal the number of Components, depending on the miner’s skill. It’s best to assign experienced miners to get the job done quickly and with minimum losses.

Additionally, you can mine Components with long-ranged mineral scanners and Deep Drills.

How to Get Components by Trading

Trading is one of the most straightforward ways to get Components in Rimworld. All it takes is selecting the world from the bottom menu and setting up a caravan with a colonist with excellent social skill levels.

Just remember to bring Silver or other trading materials on the journey. 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 go on a journey across the Rimworld, find a friendly faction, and start trading. You can trade just about any item without much effort on your part.

However, be careful as your caravan can get attacked, and some of your colonists will be unavailable for a long time.

Sometimes, other traders can roll into your colony with Components to trade. Make sure not to stock up too much material from them unless you’re an experienced player. The higher the value of your colony, the bigger raids you’ll get from the game.

How to Get Components by Disassembling

If you’re running out of mining areas nearby, you can always get your Components from mechanoids. The three mechanoid types include Scythers, Centipedes, and Lancers. They can be found inside the old ruins, mountains, or random events such as psychic or poison ships.

You can take one mechanoid to a machining table and disassemble it for 50 Steel, 10 Plasteel, and two Components. However, if the Centipede is missing some parts from combat, you may not get all the material. The less there is of a Centipede, the less material you get.

Lancers and Scythers can be disassembled for 20 Steel, one Plasteel, and one Component. The same rule applies here – the fewer the parts, the fewer materials you get.

Although dangerous foes, you can use the mechanoids as a Component source when they’re nowhere else to be found.

Note that dismantling is a relatively short-term method for getting Components, and you only get a certain percentage back. It’s best practice to reserve this method for emergencies only.

Additionally, you can deconstruct ship chunks during the game to get some Components. You’ll get in-game notifications about these items crashing somewhere on the map. You can check where they are by scanning your map.

You can get to where they are, break them, and get as many Components as possible. Just select the chunk for harvesting and select “Deconstruct” on the bottom left-hand of the screen. Colonists assigned for construction work will head over to the spot and break the ship chunks into Components.

However, the action may take a while, and your colonist can get attacked on the way there. It’s best to send proficient colonists to get the job done quickly.

How to Get Components by Crafting

Rimworld also lets you craft your own Components. Once you research Fabrication from the Research tree, your pawns will be able to make Components and do other things on the Fabrication Bench.

Note that different mods come with varying Research trees with easier or harder methods of getting them when crafting.

After creating the Fabrication Bench, you can craft the Components by selecting “Craft Components” from the Bills section. However, you can make Components in Rimworld only if your colonists have at least eight crafting skills. You also need 12 Steel and 5,000 in-game Time Ticks.

If you’re in the late-game stage, this may be your go-to method. All compacted machinery will be mined, sunk ships deconstructed, leaving you few options to find Components. Alternatively, you can either wait for other ship chunks to fall, kill mechanoids, or wait for traders to come.

Additional FAQ

How do you make advanced components in Rimworld?

Advanced Components in Rimworld are typically used for high-tech construction and crafting of ships or charge rifles. You can create one Advanced Component at the Fabrication Bench. To do so, you need to invest one Component, 20 Steel, 10 Plasteel, three Gold, and have a crafting skill equal to eight (or higher). Advance Components aren’t cheap to make, so be sure to use them wisely.

You can also collect Advanced Components from crashed ship parts or purchase them from traders.

Get Components in Rimworld

This article has provided you with different methods to get Components in Rimworld. You can craft, mine, buy, or deconstruct other objects to get them. The easiest way certainly is trading with friendly factions, but remember to bring some materials along before going on the journey.

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.