🔥 Survival Basics — Furnace, Heating, Survivors & Gathering

Before you fight, you survive. Master the survival systems that keep your city running.

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The Survival Loop

Gather Resources → Process & Store → Heat Your City → Feed Survivors → Upgrade → Repeat

If any link in this chain breaks, your progress stops. Here's how to keep it running.

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Furnace & Heating

How Heating Works

Detail	Info
Furnace Level	Determines max heat output
Fuel	Wood, coal, oil (upgrade as you progress)
Heat Radius	Higher furnace level = larger heated area
Cold Penalty	Buildings outside heat radius operate at reduced efficiency

Furnace Priority

Priority	Action	Why
1	Keep furnace running 24/7	Cold = production penalties
2	Upgrade furnace before HQ	More heat = more buildings at full efficiency
3	Stockpile fuel	Running out of fuel = city shuts down

⚠️ The #1 New Player Mistake

Letting the furnace run out of fuel. Production drops, survivors get sick, everything grinds to a halt. Always have 24h+ of fuel stockpiled.

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Survivors & Assignments

Survivor Types

Type	Best Assignment	Priority
Workers	Production buildings	🥇 Highest
Technicians	Research Center	🥈
Medics	Hospital	🥉
Guards	Wall / Defense	4

Survivor Management Tips

Tip	Why
Assign highest-level survivors to furnace and production	More output per fuel
Keep 2-3 spare survivors for new buildings	Don't scramble when you upgrade
Check assignments after every HQ upgrade	New buildings need workers
Sick survivors produce nothing	Keep hospital staffed and furnace running

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Resource Gathering

Gathering Priority

Resource	Priority	Used For
Wood	🥇 1	Construction, furnace fuel
Coal	🥈 2	Furnace fuel (mid-late game)
Iron	🥉 3	Gear, advanced construction
Food	4	Survivor consumption

Gathering Strategy

Morning: Send all marches gathering (4-hour timers)
Check at lunch: Recall and resend
Before bed: Set 8-hour gathering timers
Never let marches sit idle.

Gathering Tip	Detail
Use march speedups on gathering days	Double efficiency on Arms Race Saturday
Gather one tile level above your city	Higher level = more resources per hour
Don't gather food unless necessary	Food consumption while gathering often cancels the gain

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Daily Survival Routine

Time	Action
Login	Check furnace fuel (refill if < 12h)
Morning	Send all marches gathering
Mid-day	Collect production, reassign survivors if needed
Evening	Send long gathering missions for overnight
Before bed	Double-check furnace fuel
Always	Keep construction + research queues running

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Production Buildings Priority

Building	Priority	Why
Furnace	🔴 Critical	Everything depends on heat
Sawmill	🟡 High	Wood is always needed
Coal Mine	🟡 High	Furnace fuel mid-late game
Iron Mine	🟢 Medium	Gear and construction
Farm	🟢 Low	Food is rarely the bottleneck

💡 Production vs Gathering

Gathering from world map tiles is 2-3× more efficient than passive production buildings. Use production as supplement, not primary income.

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Survival first. Combat second. A frozen city with sick survivors can't fight anyone.