How to Reduce Squalor

Learn how to effectively reduce Squalor in Frostpunk 2. Discover strategies for managing Materials, using Filtration Towers, and smart District placement to keep your citizens happy.

Hey there! So, you're trying to keep New London from getting too, well, squalid? It's a common challenge, especially when you're trying to push for technological advancements. Think of it like this: you can't just focus on building faster and better without considering the mess it makes. It's all about finding that sweet spot between progress and keeping your city livable. Let's break down how to tackle Squalor head-on.

What's Making Squalor Worse?

First off, you gotta know what's causing the problem. The biggest culprit is often your main ideology. If you're all about Progress, pushing for tech upgrades will naturally crank up Squalor. On the flip side, leaning into Adaptation research and laws can lower Squalor, but it might cost you more in terms of your workforce. It's a constant balancing act, and you don't want to tick off your different communities or factions by neglecting their needs.

Here’s a quick rundown of what spikes Squalor:

• Researching or building things that heavily favor Progress.
• Not having enough Materials to go around.
• Placing your Districts poorly, too close together.

How to Actually Lower Squalor

Alright, now for the good stuff – how do we bring those Squalor levels down?

1. Keep Those Materials Flowing

This one's pretty straightforward. When your city grows, the demand for Materials skyrockets. You need to ramp up your production. Try placing Extraction Districts right on those Material deposits and use buildings like Sawmills to boost output. Just a heads-up, Sawmills themselves can increase Squalor, so it's a bit of a trade-off.

Another solid move is sending out your Frostland teams. They can find big caches of Materials out in the wasteland. Setting up a trail or, even better, a Skyway (once you've researched it) to bring those back is super effective.

If you're really struggling, especially during a harsh event like a Whiteout, you can temporarily dial down the output of certain Districts. This lowers their Material demand, but it'll also reduce their heat output, so be mindful of that.

2. Filtration Towers and Waste Management

Once you've got your first Research Institute up and running, you'll unlock the Idea Tree. This is where you can start investing in ways to actively reduce Squalor. Specifically, you'll want to research and build Filtration Towers in your Housing Districts or Waste Management Facilities in your Industrial Districts.

You'll find versions of these that lean towards either Progress or Adaptation. The Progress ones might offer bigger Squalor reductions but can still contribute to it in other ways. Once you have a Filtration Tower, you can activate its ability to temporarily clear a burst of Squalor in its District – super handy for emergencies!

3. Smart District Placement is Key

You know how placing Districts near each other gives them a Heat bonus? That's great, but if you do it for *every* District, you're asking for trouble. The real Squalor culprits here are Extraction and Industrial Districts. Placing them too close to other Districts, especially your Housing Districts, will pump Squalor into the surrounding areas.

To see just how much Squalor you're spreading, hold down the ALT key. It gives you a clear visual overlay of the Squalor situation across your city. Give those industrial zones some breathing room!

4. The Progress Cornerstone: Automation Primacy

This is the big endgame move, and it's incredibly powerful. If you fully commit to the Progress ideology – meaning you consistently favor Progress-based proposals and research – you'll eventually unlock a special Cornerstone ability in the Idea Tree called Automation Primacy.

Activating this lets you use the “Release the Swarm” ability. Basically, you send out Automations all over New London. They massively boost efficiency and, more importantly, drastically cut down Squalor. The catch? You'll have to ditch any Factions or Communities that are all about Adaptation. Plus, there's a small risk that some civilians could get hurt by the Automations. It's a high-risk, high-reward strategy, but it's one of the most effective ways to keep Squalor at bay when you're pushing hard for technological dominance.