Trading is a huge part of Rimworld. Sometimes you just need those few supplies or items to get your colony to the next level. Sometimes you just need some cloth for a billiard table. We will all need to trade at some point in Rimworld and today we will go through some of your options for trading in Rimworld.
To trade in Rimworld there are 3 options:
- Trade with a caravan visiting your colony
- Send out a trade caravan to trade with a friendly/neutral base
- Trade with passing ships via the Comms Console
Trade with a Visiting Caravan
Occasionally you will have different friendly or neutral trading caravans arrive at your settlement. There are a few different types of trade caravans that will have different items depending on what they are. For example you may have a war merchant come to your settlement buying and selling weapons and equipment.
When a trade caravan does visit your colony, look at the trading group and locate the pawn with the yellow ‘?’ over their head. Select one of your pawns and right-click this pawn to start trading negotiations with them.
Whichever pawn you selected will be the one trading with the other faction. It is recommended to use the colonist with the highest Social skill as they will get the better prices when trading.
Once your colonist has reached the trader a UI menu will appear. This shows not only every item that the trader has to offer, but also all of your items that are in stockpile zones or on storage units. Each trader will have their own type of stock and will only buy certain items. You can’t expect a small tribal war merchant to buy your chickens off you.
Send a trade caravan to another settlement
You can set up a trade caravan to go out and visit another settlement to make trades. If you don’t know how to set up a caravan read this guide first. Make sure you include all of the items/silver that you want to trade with before setting out for your caravan mission.
It may take many days to reach another settlement so when first starting out, if you are planning to trade often with another faction try to settle relatively close to a larger friendly base. Roads will make your party travel faster. Once you arrive at the target location, right-click on the settlement and select trade. You will be greeted with the same screen as the one to trade whilst on your map.
Be aware that different items have a weight value. It is possible that your purchase items that are heavier that your entire caravan’s carrying capacity. If the caravan capacity is exceeded then the caravan will not be able to move and you will have to leave some items behind to move again. You can use pack animals to carry larger amounts of items.
Trade using the Comms Console
Once you have researched the necessary level you will unlock the Comms Console. Once you have a powered up Comms Console in your base you will occasionally get an alert that a trade ship is passing by and can be contacted with to begin trading. Select a pawn and right-click the Comms Console to begin negotiations. It is important also with Orbital trading that you select the pawn with the highest Social stat as this will affect the prices of all of the items that you are buying or selling.
If you wish to sell your items using this method, you will have to have an Orbital Trade Beacon build in your stockpile. The Orbital Trade Beacon has a limited area of effect and only items within a few tiles of it can be traded with. The beacon does not have to be directly connected to the Comms Console but will need to remain powered when the trading is taking place.
Those were the methods on how to trade in Rimworld. Do you have any other great trading tips in Rimworld or things we should know? Let us know in the comments below and help your fellow man out on the Rim!
Related: How to get Cloth in Rimworld | Rimworld Peace Talks – Event Guide