Is it Ethical to Allow Child Workers to Perish During the Fire In The Shaft Event in Frostpunk 2?

The Frostpunk 2 Fire In The Shaft event presents two pivotal choices that can significantly influence how your City thrives in the harsh Frostlands. The decisions you make during this event will greatly affect your City’s development, impacting various factors such as the Zeitgeist, Fervor, and community relationships. Occurring early in the game, the choices you face in the Fire In The Shaft event will play a crucial role in determining your City’s future.

This decision is fraught with difficulty. You will confront a deeply troubling choice: either evacuate child workers or let them perish during the Frostpunk 2 Fire In The Shaft event. Although the answer might seem clear-cut, selecting the right option hinges on your current circumstances.

What is the Frostpunk 2 Fire In The Shaft event?

Fuel is needed to run the generators which provide Heat to the City (Image via 11 Bit Studios)

The Frostpunk 2 Fire In The Shaft event is a choice-driven scenario where the main coal mines you’ve built to power the generators experience a fire, jeopardizing your crucial supply of Fuel. This event halts the generation of power and heat for Homes and Districts within the game.

When the event unfolds, you are faced with two options — either extinguish the flames or evacuate the workers. The decision made during this event will directly influence how your game progresses. The Frostpunk 2 Fire In The Shaft event is one of the first significant dilemmas you encounter after becoming the Steward of your City.

What occurs if you choose to extinguish the flames?

Sacrifice the children if you think your coal is running low (Image via 11 Bit Studios)

If you opt to suffocate the flames during the Frostpunk 2 Fire In The Shaft event, the mine’s entrance will be sealed to cut off the air supply, leaving the children trapped inside.

This choice leads to the loss of all children trapped in the mine, which will marginally decrease your Workforce but won’t greatly impact your overall operations. However, the decline in Workforce will increase the needs for Food, Shelter, and Goods temporarily.

This is undoubtedly a grim option to consider. But if you’re running critically low on Fuel and require Coal to maintain Heat, this might be a necessary sacrifice — regrettably opting to doom the children and forsake your humanity. Once you make this decision, the City will announce a mourning period for the fallen in the Frostpunk 2 Fire In The Shaft event.

Besides the announcement and some mourning voices throughout the City, choosing to suffocate the flames does not incur any formal penalties or setbacks in the game.

What happens if you opt to evacuate the workers?

Save the children if you are confident your coal reserves are enough (Image via 11 Bit Studios)

If you decide to evacuate the workers during the Frostpunk 2 Fire In The Shaft event, your Workforce will be saved, but you will lose 50% of your Coal deposit. This option should only be taken if you are assured that your Coal reserves can sustain you through the challenging conditions of the Frostlands or until you secure another Fuel source.

Choosing this path will create divisions among your populace — some factions will commend your compassion, while others may criticize what they perceive as a lapse in judgment due to emotional interference. Regardless, this decision will not yield any direct benefits or enhance Trust within the community.

Saving the children provides no tangible rewards apart from personal satisfaction. This event unfolds during a critical time when your City expects you to find a lasting source of Fuel.

Ultimately, you must weigh the decision of saving the children against preserving your coal reserves; this choice should be influenced by your City’s immediate needs and your ongoing search for a sustainable solution.

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