Frostpunk 2: Should You Banish, Seek Reconciliation, Or Enforce Order?

The final chapter of Frostpunk 2 converges at a point where political chaos has engulfed the city and one of the two factions is completely radicalized. The radicalized faction expresses their displeasure by staging protests, taking hostages, and launching riots. Prolonged protests and riots will result in a sharp decline in your ability as the steward to lead the city.

At this stage, you’ll be presented with the option to banish the radicalized faction, seek reconciliation between the two opposing factions, or enforce order and dismiss political negotiations with either faction. If you’re unsure of the consequences of choosing any of these three options and how they affect the game’s narrative, the following guide will help clarify the impact of these decisions.

Banishing The Radicalized Faction In Frostpunk 2

If you choose to banish the radicalized faction, you’ll need to first reduce the tension in the city from Catastrophic to Severe. Once tension is managed, you’ll be required to keep it down and prevent potential backlash from the faction, such as recurring protests and riots.

Banishing a faction will require exploring the Frostlands for a potential colony for them to settle. Once the location has been found, you’ll need to secure the necessities like fuel, shelter, food, and materials for their survival.

You should consider choosing the option of banishing the radicalized faction if their motivations don’t align with your ambitions for the city, or if you simply don’t like them.

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Seeking Reconciliation Between Opposing Factions In Frostpunk 2

Choosing to seek reconciliation between the opposing factions requires the most work and leads to the best ending in the game. You begin by bringing down tension in the city from Catastrophic to Severe, and then negotiate with each faction to increase their trust in your leadership. The negotiations may involve researching ideas proposed by the faction, building or demolishing certain structures, or passing or repealing certain laws.

Seeking reconciliation is the most challenging decision among the three available choices, and factions may not be willing to negotiate if certain extreme laws, such as Sterilization or Human Experimentation, are in effect. You’ll need to repeal these laws before being able to negotiate the peace treaty. You’ll also need to end protests in various districts, which requires mobilizing about 40–60 guards.

You must also prevent your trust from falling below the Tolerated stage to avoid being overthrown as the city’s leader. Once you’ve fulfilled the negotiation demands of both factions, you must pass the Peace Accords in the council to end protests and broker peace.

You should consider seeking reconciliation if you want to skillfully navigate negotiation challenges and convince the opposing factions to drop hostilities and walk the path of peace.

Seeking reconciliation is slightly easier if your trust level is above the Respected stage.

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Enforcing Order In Frostpunk 2

Finally, you can choose a dictatorial approach to put the bickering factions in their place by deploying your militia. To enforce order, you must pass the Captain’s Authority law in the council. This law can only be enacted upon choosing the Enforce Order path. Do bear in mind that, unlike other laws, passing any law that centralizes power in your hands requires a two-thirds majority (67 or more votes) in the council. However, the council is most likely to vote in favor of enacting such laws when the city is on the brink of collapse.

However, the Captain’s Authority isn’t readily available, and you must first pass the following laws under the Rule category to eventually access it:

• Guard Enforcers
• Steward’s Militia
• Martial Law

Or:

• Guided Voting
• Bureau of Propaganda
• Secret Police

Once you’ve successfully enacted the Captain’s Authority, all protests and riots in the city come to a halt, and factions will no longer gain fervor. Trust no longer influences how your leadership is judged, and the council votes however you wish. Nonetheless, you’ll still be tasked with a few objectives to deal with the radicalized factions.

After passing the Captain’s Authority law, you must have at least 45 spare guards to enforce your rule. You’ll then be required to build two separate districts to contain the opposing factions and build watchtowers to ensure their isolation.

Alternatively, you can stage a coup to seize power from the council and declare yourself the captain after building an army of 200 guards. This option bypasses the need to pass the Captain’s Authority law, but gathering 200 guards isn’t an easy feat.

Choosing to Enforce Order leads to the worst ending in the game, so consider this choice only if you wish to walk in the footsteps of the old captain — or bring the bickering factions to their knees!