How to Get Advanced Components in RimWorld — Code-Backed Planner & Bootstrap Tool
If you searched how to get advanced components rimworld, the game code points to a very plain answer: buy or loot the first 2, because the fabrication bench costs 2 advanced components before you can craft more.
This page is built from RimWorld 1.6 Core defs, not just forum summaries. The calculator below uses the actual recipe, scanner costs, research gates, and the game’s own fabrication hint letter.
Market value: 200
Mass: 0.6 kg
Craft work: 10,000
Bench gate: 2 advanced comps
Scanners: 1 / 2 advanced comps
Base craft input value: 190 silver
How to Get Advanced Components in RimWorld Without Stalling Out
Code-backed quick sheet: unlock fabrication, fix the first-two problem, and choose the right scanner only after you know your real bottleneck.
Quick Solution If You Need Advanced Components Today
| Route | Speed | Reliability | Requirements | Best Use Case | Main Downside |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orbital trader | Fast | High | Silver + comms | Bench unlock | Trader timing |
| Settlement purchase | Fast-Med | High | Silver + caravan | Nearby outlander base | Travel risk |
| Ancient shrine / ruin | Medium | Medium | Combat-ready pawns | No silver available | Casualties |
| Quest reward | Medium | RNG | Wait for offers | Refill reserve | No control |
Buying Advanced Components
Item
Qty
Base Value
Advanced Component
2
400
Component
12
384
Plasteel
50
450
Gold
15
150
Comms Console
1
Setup
Code truth: ComponentSpacer has market value 200. Real trader buy price is usually higher than market value, but this still shows why buying the first two is strategically normal.
Emergency Component Triage
- Buy or loot your first 2 advanced components.
- Build the fabrication bench before luxury spending.
- If silver is thin, convert surplus goods into a short settlement run.
- If fighters are strong, ancient shrines can return advanced comps plus plasteel and gold.
- Once the bench exists, the bottleneck usually becomes components, plasteel, or gold, not the finished item itself.
Fabrication Pivot
200 steel
12 components
2 advanced comps
250W
Source:
Buildings_Production.xml. This is why “buy the first two” is the real bootstrap answer.Code-Backed Batch Costs for Advanced Components
| Target Batch | Components | Steel | Plasteel | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 advanced components | 5 | 100 | 50 | 15 |
| 10 advanced components | 10 | 200 | 100 | 30 |
| 20 advanced components | 20 | 400 | 200 | 60 |
Recipe source:
Recipes_Production.xml. Gold is stored in XML as 0.3, but Gold has smallVolume=true, so the bill consumes 3 gold per advanced component in play.Scanner Decision Guide
| Factor | Long-Range Scanner | Ground Scanner |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced component cost | 2 | 1 |
| Find cadence | 4d mean / 8d max | 3d mean / 6d max |
| Best for | Component shortages | Plasteel + gold shortages |
| Travel burden | High | Low |
| Roofed? | No | No |
Both scanners cost 700W. If you still do not have a fabrication bench, the answer is usually “build the bench first”, not “rush a scanner”.
Trade Routes & Loot Options
| Route | What It Solves | When To Use It |
|---|---|---|
| Outlander settlement | First 2 advanced comps | High priority early |
| Orbital traders | Advanced comps + plasteel + gold | Best instant fix |
| Quest rewards | Finished units or ingredient refill | Take when aligned |
| Ancient shrine | Finished units plus loot package | Only if fighters are ready |
| Fabrication bench | Repeatable long-term supply | Your real end state |
Ancient Shrine Raid Tips
- Use shrines when silver is weak but fighters are strong.
- Stop once the goal is solved; greed is how a resource fix becomes a hospital problem.
- The value is mixed: advanced components, plasteel, and gold can all come from the same run.
Spending Priorities Overview
| Progress | Power | Luxury |
|---|---|---|
| Fabrication bench | Essential bionics | Nice-to-have upgrades |
| Scanner unlocks | Critical medical jobs | Comfort projects |
| Ship progress | Power-critical machines | Optional side builds |
Veteran rule: spend advanced components on leverage before comfort.
Mobility Helps Inputs, Not the Recipe
- Odyssey-style mobility makes plasteel, gold, and trade access easier.
- It does not change the core loop: bench + ingredients + spending discipline.
- Use mobility to overfeed the same vanilla recipe, not to replace it.
Action Steps Recap
- Buy or loot the first 2 advanced components.
- Build the fabrication bench.
- Feed the bench with components, steel, plasteel, and gold.
- Pick a scanner based on the actual bottleneck, not on tech-tree FOMO.
- Keep a reserve so bionics, ship parts, and workshop upgrades do not cannibalize each other.
Game Code Sanity Checks
- Recipe: 1 component, 20 steel, 10 plasteel, XML gold count
0.3. - Gold handling:
Gold.smallVolume=true, which is why bills consume 3 gold. - Bench: 200 steel, 12 components, 2 advanced components, 250W.
- Scanners: ground scanner costs 1 advanced component; long-range scanner costs 2.
- Research hint: the Fabrication project itself tells you to use outlander settlements, traders, and quests to get started.
Further Resources
Bootstrap Planner
Use this when the colony is stuck right now. It prioritizes the first-two problem, then tells you whether the next move is bench, scanner, or ingredient support.
Batch Math
Code-backed recipe planner for Make_ComponentSpacer. Toggle the bench and scanner gates if you are planning from zero instead of from an existing workshop.
Buy vs Craft Snapshot
The game data makes this unusually tight: one crafted advanced component uses about 190 silver of ingredient market value to make an item worth 200 silver. This is why buying the first two is fine, but scaling wants a stable ingredient pipeline.
| Input / Output | Amount | Market Value Each | Total Base Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| ComponentIndustrial | 1 | 32 | 32 |
| Steel | 20 | 1.9 | 38 |
| Plasteel | 10 | 9 | 90 |
| Gold | 3 | 10 | 30 |
| Crafted advanced component | 1 | 200 | 200 |
Labor, pathing, and trader markup are the real difference makers. Ingredient value alone does not make buying “wrong”; it just changes when buying is correct.
Game Code Sources
| Def | Source file | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Make_ComponentSpacer | RecipeDefs/Recipes_Production.xml |
Actual advanced component recipe, work amount, skill requirement, and research gate. |
| FabricationBench | ThingDefs_Buildings/Buildings_Production.xml |
Confirms the bench itself costs 2 advanced components and is the true bootstrap gate. |
| GroundPenetratingScanner | ThingDefs_Buildings/Buildings_Misc.xml |
Scanner cost, 700W power draw, no-roof rule, 3d mean / 6d guaranteed find cadence. |
| LongRangeMineralScanner | ThingDefs_Buildings/Buildings_Misc.xml |
Scanner cost, 700W power draw, no-roof rule, 4d mean / 8d guaranteed cadence. |
| ComponentSpacer | ThingDefs_Items/Items_Resource_Manufactured.xml |
Market value 200, trade tag ExoticMisc, quest reward tag, mass 0.6 kg. |
| Gold | ThingDefs_Items/Items_Resource_Stuff.xml |
smallVolume=true explains why XML count 0.3 becomes 3 gold on the bill. |