Build Advanced Components Without Stalling Your Colony
Short answer: research Microelectronics → Multi-analyzer → Fabrication → Advanced fabrication, build a fabrication bench, then run Make advanced component with 1 component, 20 steel, 10 plasteel, and 3 gold per piece at Crafting 8+. Buy the first advanced components so the bench exists, then scale with shelves, tool cabinets, traders, deep drilling, and scanners without delaying ship tech. Jump to Quick Solution.
This page is grounded in local RimWorld Core defs from /game/Data/Core/Defs and direct game-data research. The tool sections below use the actual recipe, research gates, building costs, scanner cadence, and trader stock ranges found in those defs.
Recipe work 10,000
Bench gate 2 advanced comps
Tool cabinet +6% each
Scanners 700W each
Ship tech needs Advanced Fabrication
Advanced comp mass 0.6 kg
Quick Solution
1
Microelectronics
→
Multi-analyzer
→
Fabrication
→
Advanced Fabrication
Research Fabrication Tech
Microelectronics
→
Multi-analyzer
→
Fabrication
→
Advanced Fabrication
2
200 Steel
12 Components
2 Advanced
Build Fabrication Bench
200 Steel
12 Components
2 Advanced
3
Steel
Plasteel
Gold
Component
→
Craft Advanced Components
Gather Inputs and Craft
Steel
Plasteel
Gold
Component
→
Craft Advanced Components
Resource Costs
1 Component
20 Steel
10 Plasteel
3 Gold in play
Work: 10,000 raw work units
Best Bill Setup
Do until: 12
Pause at 6
Skill range
8 to 20
Ingredient radius
11 tiles
Take to
Nearest shelf
Common stall
Shelves outside radius
Put steel, plasteel, gold, and regular components on dedicated nearby shelves so the bill never pathfinds across the base.
Scanner Choice
| Pick | Why |
|---|---|
| Long-range | Off-map lumps, component bulk, caravan required |
| Ground scanner | Local plasteel or gold lane, deep drill follow-up |
- Long-range: 4d mean / 8d guaranteed, 30-day site timeout.
- Ground scanner: 3d mean / 6d guaranteed, no roof allowed.
- Both cost 700W, so bench first unless scanning is the real bottleneck.
Room Boosts
- Tool cabinets add +6% each, up to two.
- Fabrication benches want the room role Workshop; bad room role hits them with a 0.8 factor.
- Keep the room lit, powered, and temperature-stable so work speed does not collapse.
Traders & Missions
- Exotic goods traders: the cleanest finished-unit buy.
- Outlander settlements: the Fabrication letter explicitly points here for bootstrap stock.
- Quest rewards and ruins can inject advanced components without waiting for the bench loop.
- Odyssey mission flow helps resource spikes, but the core recipe stays vanilla.
Caravan Loadout
- Pack animals or hauling capacity
- Food and medicine for the whole trip
- Battery or fuel plan if you pod back
- Enough miners to strip the lump fast
- Silver or trade goods for outlander stops on the route
Patch History · 1.6 Era
2025-06-11 — 1.6 unstable announced with Odyssey.
2025-07-11 — Odyssey and 1.6 stable released.
2025-07-22 — 1.6.4528 update.
2025-10-31 — 1.6.4630 patch.
Direct game-data research found no advanced component recipe change in the 1.6 line. The late-game flow changed through mission access and QoL, not through the core bill.
Deep Drill Defense
EXIT
🪲🪲🪲🔥
Handle infestations fast
Core incident defs include DeepDrillInfestation. If you deep-drill for plasteel and gold, build doors, firing lines, and draft positions before the first tunnel event.
Bill Template
Make advanced component +- Repeat: Do until X +- Target: 12 +- Pause until: 6 +- Skill: 8 to 20 +- Worker: dedicated crafter if available +- Ingredient radius: 11 tiles +- Drop-off: nearest high-priority shelf +- Nearby stock: components / steel / plasteel / gold only
Toolbox
Use these when you need an actual decision, not another vague late-game checklist.
Immediate Fix Planner
Use this when the colony is hard-stuck and you need the next move that actually solves the bottleneck.
Trader Priority Snapshot
These ranges come straight from local trader defs and tell you who to check first when the line is cold.
| Trader | Advanced components | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| Outlander settlement stock | 1–6 | Best bootstrap caravan |
| Caravan bulk goods | 0–2, often none | Good for regular components first |
| Caravan exotic goods | 1–4 | Best land trader for finished units |
| Orbital bulk goods | 1–2 | Small refill with mats |
| Orbital exotic goods | 3–8 | Best instant top-off |
The
Fabrication research letter in ResearchProjects_4_MultiAnalyzer.xml explicitly tells you to use outlander settlements, visiting traders, and quests to solve the first-two problem.Mass Production Planner
Use this when ship parts, bionics, and scanners all want the same pile of advanced components at once.
Throughput Notes That Matter
Bench math
- Recipe uses
GeneralLaborSpeed, not a quality-based production stat. - Two tool cabinets mean 1.12× work speed factor before other room effects.
- One high-skill crafter should keep one bench saturated.
When to add benches
- Add a second bench when ship parts or multiple bionic queues overlap.
- Add a third only when inputs are already stable and crafters are the cap.
- If steel or gold is thin, more benches only expose the real bottleneck faster.
This tool reports raw work load and material totals because exact finish time depends on pawn labor speed, movement, interruptions, and schedule. The code-backed part is the cost stack and the 6% per tool cabinet bonus.
Bill Stall Triage
Pick the symptom you see in game. The fixes below are ordered so you solve the real blocker first.
Code-Backed Defs
These are the local files that matter for this page. They are the reason the advice here is about pipeline order, not forum superstition.
| Def / file | What it proves |
|---|---|
Recipes_Production.xml · Make_ComponentSpacer |
Actual recipe, 10,000 work, Crafting 8, and AdvancedFabrication gate. |
Buildings_Production.xml · FabricationBench |
Bench cost is 200 steel, 12 components, 2 advanced components, plus tool cabinet links and a 250W draw. |
ResearchProjects_4_MultiAnalyzer.xml · Fabrication, AdvancedFabrication |
Exact unlock chain and the built-in letter that recommends settlements, traders, and quest rewards. |
| Buildings_Misc.xml · scanner defs | Ground scanner costs 1 advanced component; long-range scanner costs 2; both draw 700W. |
| TraderKinds_*.xml | Outlander and exotic stock ranges explain who actually sells finished advanced components. |
Items_Resource_Stuff.xml · Gold |
smallVolume=true is why XML count 0.3 shows up in game as 3 gold. |
RecipeDefs/Recipes_Production.xml · Make_ComponentSpacer
<RecipeDef>
<defName>Make_ComponentSpacer</defName>
<workAmount>10000</workAmount>
<ingredients>
ComponentIndustrial x1
Steel x20
Plasteel x10
Gold x0.3
</ingredients>
<researchPrerequisite>AdvancedFabrication</researchPrerequisite>
<skillRequirements>
<Crafting>8</Crafting>
</skillRequirements>
</RecipeDef>Buildings_Production.xml · FabricationBench
<ThingDef ParentName="BenchBase">
<defName>FabricationBench</defName>
<costList>
<Steel>200</Steel>
<ComponentIndustrial>12</ComponentIndustrial>
<ComponentSpacer>2</ComponentSpacer>
</costList>
<recipes>
Make_ComponentIndustrial
Make_ComponentSpacer
</recipes>
<basePowerConsumption>250</basePowerConsumption>
</ThingDef>ResearchProjects_4_MultiAnalyzer.xml · Fabrication letter
About: Getting advanced components
- All outlander settlements sell advanced components.
- Some visiting traders sell advanced components.
- Some quests are rewarded with advanced components.Buildings_Misc.xml and TraderKinds defs
GroundPenetratingScanner
- Steel 150 / Components 4 / Advanced 1
- Power 700
- scanFindMtbDays 3
- scanFindGuaranteedDays 6
- canBeUsedUnderRoof false
LongRangeMineralScanner
- Steel 200 / Components 6 / Advanced 2
- Power 700
- scanFindMtbDays 4
- scanFindGuaranteedDays 8
Caravan_Outlander_Exotic
- ComponentSpacer countRange 1~4
Orbital_Exotic
- ComponentSpacer countRange 3~8Quick Solution
- Research Microelectronics, build a hi-tech research bench, then unlock Multi-analyzer, Fabrication, and Advanced fabrication.
- Buy or loot the first 2 advanced components so you can place the fabrication bench.
- Set Make advanced component to Do until 12, pause at 6.
- Use a dedicated Crafting 8+ pawn and keep the ingredients within shelf range.
- Feed the bench with traders first, then split the long game between deep drilling for local gold/plasteel and long-range lumps when components are the real choke.
If the colony is still pre-bench, the fastest answer is almost never “rush scanners.” It is “buy the first two advanced components, place the bench, then stop paying finished-item prices.”
The Exact Unlocks and Build List
Research chain
| Research | Base cost | What it unlocks for this pipeline |
|---|---|---|
| Microelectronics | 3000 | Hi-tech research bench and comms console |
| Multi-analyzer | 4000 | Research facility required by Fabrication |
| Fabrication | 4000 | Fabrication bench and regular component crafting |
| Advanced fabrication | 4000 | Make advanced component bill |
| Ship basics | 4000 | Requires Advanced fabrication, so this resource chain gates ship escape |
Build order that does not stall
- Hi-tech research bench: 100 steel, 10 components, 150 metallic stuff, 250W.
- Multi-analyzer: 40 steel, 50 plasteel, 20 gold, 8 components, 200W.
- Fabrication bench: 200 steel, 12 components, 2 advanced components, 250W.
- Tool cabinets: 200 steel each, up to two linked per workbench.
That is why your first advanced components should usually go to the fabrication bench rather than to scanners or luxury armor. The bench is the pivot from emergency buying to repeatable supply.
Resource Inputs and Reliable Acquisition
| Input | Per advanced component | Fastest early fix | Stable late-game source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Component | 1 | Bulk traders, outlander settlements | Fabrication bench for regular components, long-range lumps when bulk is the issue |
| Steel | 20 | Bulk traders, map mining | Deep drills, trading overflow, nearby shelves |
| Plasteel | 10 | Exotic traders, orbital buys | Ground scanner + deep drill if the map can support it |
| Gold | 3 in play | Exotic traders and outlander stock | Ground scanner seams, high-value trade stops, quest injections |
The local XML stores the gold ingredient as 0.3, but gold has smallVolume=true in Items_Resource_Stuff.xml. That is why the live bill consumes 3 gold even though the raw def shows 0.3.
For supporting reads, scale the raw mats with [[How to Get Plasteel RimWorld]] and shore up crafter quality with [[Best Way to Level Up Crafting RimWorld]].
Scanners, Drills, and Map Tactics
Long-range mineral scanner
- Research cost: 2000, requires Microelectronics.
- Build cost: 200 steel, 6 components, 2 advanced components.
- Power: 700W.
- Cadence: 4 days mean, 8 days guaranteed.
- Quest script creates an off-map mineral site and gives you 30 days before it expires.
Ground-penetrating scanner + deep drill
- Ground scanner research requires Deep drilling.
- Ground scanner build cost: 150 steel, 4 components, 1 advanced component.
- Power: 700W, and cannot work under a roof.
- Cadence: 3 days mean, 6 days guaranteed.
- Core storyteller defs also include DeepDrillInfestation, so plan the defense room before you scale drills.
Decision rule: if you are short on regular components across the whole colony, long-range often solves more problems per trip. If you are short on gold or plasteel for advanced fabrication specifically, ground scanner plus deep drill is usually the tighter answer.
Make the Bills Actually Run
Bill template that survives real colonies
Bill: Make advanced component Repeat: Do until X Target: 12 Pause until: 6 Allowed skill: 8-20 Worker preference: dedicated crafter if possible Ingredient radius: 11 tiles Take to: nearest shelf Nearby shelves: components / steel / plasteel / gold only
Common reasons the queue stalls
- Ingredient radius misses shelves: the bill looks stocked, but the bench cannot see the mats.
- Wrong worker filter: the recipe needs Crafting 8.
- Gold starvation: the smallest ingredient is the one most often forgotten.
- Bad room role or no cabinets: the bench gets slower before players notice.
- Power flicker: scanners, benches, and research all compete for grid stability.
Throughput, Specialists, and Workshop Design
| Factor | Code-backed value | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Tool cabinet | +6% work speed factor each, max 2 | Always link two before building a second bench |
| Room role | Workshop target, 0.8 when not in role |
Keep the bench in a real workshop, not a random hallway |
| General labor speed | Recipe uses pawn labor speed plus work speed globals | Good manipulation, sight, ideology specialists, and bionics all matter |
| Lighting / temperature | Handled through work table speed factors | Keep it bright and climate-stable |
Pragmatic late-game rule: one focused crafter per fabrication bench is clean. Two benches with two good crafters cover most end-game demand. Add the third bench only after your gold, plasteel, and components are already boringly stable.
Traders, Quests, and Mission Flow
- Outlander settlements: local trader defs show 1–6 advanced components in the base outlander stock pool, which is exactly why the Fabrication research letter tells you to caravan there first.
- Exotic goods caravans: best mobile land source for finished advanced components at 1–4.
- Orbital exotic traders: best instant top-off at 3–8, and usually also sell gold and plasteel.
- Quest rewards and ruins: map-gen thing set makers in Core defs include advanced components in small reward bundles, usually 1–4.
- Odyssey-era content: treat new mission structures as resource spikes, not as your baseline production plan.
Vanilla vs Modded
Vanilla
- The recipe and research chain above are stable in local 1.6 Core defs.
- Your real constraints are bench bootstrap, gold/plasteel flow, and shelf radius discipline.
- The safest long-term answer is still bench + ingredient pipeline + reserve target.
Modded
- Bulk recipes, alternate traders, and new benches can speed the loop up.
- Do not build the entire strategy around a mod shortcut if your ship timeline depends on it.
- Keep the vanilla bench loop working underneath so one broken mod does not brick the save.
FAQ
Do I need a multi-analyzer?
Yes. Fabrication and Advanced fabrication both require a hi-tech research bench with a multi-analyzer attached.
Why can’t I craft advanced components after unlocking Fabrication?
Fabrication only unlocks the bench and regular component recipe. The advanced bill itself is behind Advanced fabrication.
Should I build scanners before the fabrication bench?
Usually no. The fabrication bench costs 2 advanced components and converts you from buying finished units to owning the supply loop. Scanners are follow-up infrastructure.
Why is gold always the thing that stops the bill?
Because the player-facing bill only needs 3 gold, so people stop thinking about it. In practice it is the smallest but easiest-to-forget ingredient, and the bench cannot substitute around it.
Patch History
1.6-era changes that touch late-game resource flow
| Date | Change note | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-06-11 | 1.6 unstable announced | Signals incoming mission and landmark content that can improve late-game input access. |
| 2025-07-11 | Odyssey + 1.6 stable | No recipe change to advanced components; mission and travel routes become more relevant. |
| 2025-07-22 | 1.6.4528 update | Post-launch stability and performance adjustments. |
| 2025-10-31 | 1.6.4630 patch | Direct game-data research found no advanced component recipe change here either. |
Further Resources
[[How to Get Plasteel RimWorld]]
[[Best Way to Level Up Crafting RimWorld]]
[[How to Get Steel RimWorld]]
[[How to Beat Infestation RimWorld]]