Learn how to manage stress and avoid the stress spiral in Oxygen Not Included. This guide covers dupe management, room bonuses, and essential tips for a stable colony.
Walkthrough
- 1Dupe Management: Keep your duplicant count between 3 and 6. More dupes strain resources like food and oxygen. Only recruit more when you have a surplus.
- 2Room Bonuses: Build specialized rooms. Barracks increase stamina regeneration, and latrines help relieve bonus stress. Consult the in-game Room Overlay for specific requirements and bonuses.
- 3Stress Management: Stress is a major challenge. Providing adequate living conditions and managing workload are key.
- 4Food Stability: Ensure a consistent food supply. Meal Lice is good early game but has low quality. Transition to Bristle Berries (cooked into Gristle Berries) or Fried Mushrooms for better quality and calories as your colony grows.
- 5Temperature Control: Pay close attention to temperature overlays. Keep sensitive areas like greenhouses away from heat sources (generators, batteries). Use appropriate building materials like granite for decor and igneous rock or abyssalite for thermal insulation.
- 6Food Preservation: In greenhouses filled with CO2, food on the floor won't decay. Storing food in ration boxes in ice biomes, especially when immersed in CO2, further reduces decay.
Tips
- Use overlays (Temperature, Thermal Comfort, Room) to understand your base and dupe needs.
- Build greenhouses with non-thermally reactive tiles like igneous rock to maintain optimal plant temperatures.
- Hydroponic farm tiles can automate water delivery for plants like Bristle Blossoms, freeing up dupe time.
- Consider the food quality expectations of your dupes as they get promoted.
- Don't let generators or batteries overheat your greenhouses.
- Keep ration boxes in ice biomes to act as natural refrigerators.
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