In Frostpunk 2, when keeping the people alive isn’t challenging enough, you will have to wade through the political marshes of The Council. It is the city’s governing body where new laws are passed and old ones and reformed to keep the gears of New London from jamming.
From making sure that you are not ousted by the people, to helping you master the art of negotiation and diplomacy, we bring you a comprehensive guide that will help you navigate this political anarchy of The Council in Frostpunk 2.
How to Unlock The Council?
Unlocking and establishing The Council in Frostpunk 2 is pretty straightforward. In fact, the game itself will walk you through the process. In chapter 1 of the story mode, you will eventually be asked to set up the council as it is time to present and pass some laws.
The first step is that you will need a place where the delegates and the officials can gather for the meeting. For that, you will need to build the Council Hall. You can find the building in the Buildings Menu and you can only place it in the Central District.
Once the construction is complete, you are all set to pass some laws and bring order to the chaotic Iceland.
How to Implement Laws?
For a law to be implemented in Forstpunk 2, the bill must first be presented in front of the council. The Council comprises 100 delegates from different factions and communities. The distribution of votes is based on the faction’s current popularity rating.
There are four categories from which a law can be proposed:
- Survival
- City
- Society
- Rule
In each of these categories, you will see different laws some of them new and other old with policies already set in place. If you hover over any of these present laws, you will be able to see the current policy that we are following, and along with that, you will have suggestions for changes in the law.
Initially, you will be locked out of a lot of choices but as you make progress and research new ideas, your palette will expand. After deciding on which law you are going to propose, you will have to wait for 10 weeks as the Council holds a meeting every 10 weeks.
The 10-week cooldown can be bypassed by calling an emergency meeting.
Once the meeting starts, the law will be presented and it will be put to a vote. The delegates have three options to choose from, For, Neutral, and Against. In most cases if the majority sides with you, the bill will be passed and the law will be implemented.
There are some laws in Frostpunk 2 that specifically require a 2/3 majority for it to be passed and implemented. You can also grant a faction the authority to present a bill in the Council. They will pick what’s on the agenda, present the bill, and pass the law.
You can click on the Faction’s icon, and if you see “Agenda Granted,” that means the faction has the authority to implement laws.
You must know that even if you don’t propose any new law, a new bill will be presented in the Council every 10 weeks and there will be a vote, whether you like it or not.
How to Negotiate with Factions for More Votes?
You won’t always see eye to eye with the majority of delegates in the Council. That is why you might not always be able to pass the law that you present in the council. That’s when you should pick up your negotiating tactics.
The factions who you have a bad relationship with and those who have an opposing view of the law that you are currently presenting will almost always vote against the bill and they won’t be open to any negotiations.
The groups with who you have a good relationship and the law you are currently presenting also align with their beliefs will always vote in your favor hence you won’t need negotiation here. The only ones left are the ones who don’t hate your guts but also can’t pick sides. You will see “mostly hesitant and open to negotiation” marked on the faction.
Once the negotiations start, you will be presented with the following terms:
- Pass a law of their choosing at the next meeting
- Research a new idea that will favor them in the future
- Build or demolish a building of their choice
- Some faction-specific term
These are the terms that you will be presented with. You can select the terms of your choice and then sway them your way. You must remember that the promise you made to the faction has to be fulfilled within a certain timeframe or else the next time, you won’t be able to negotiate, and your relationship with the faction will also be affected negatively.
You can not only negotiate to vote in your favor but also to vote against a certain law if you don’t want it to pass. This will obviously happen if some other faction has presented the law itself.
Surviving the icy wasteland is one thing; navigating the political freeze of the council is another. If you are careful with your choices, you can steer New London out of extinction and towards a more prosperous tomorrow. The Council is both your toolkit and a test so make sure you prepare well and pass with flying colors.