The Captain’s Authority Law in Frostpunk 2 is a shoe that waits to drop the entire game. The ability to pass Laws without question is a powerful one, and it becomes all the more enticing as the game’s Factions bicker more and more. But how do you unlock Captain’s Authority in Frostpunk 2?
How to Unlock Captain’s Authority in Frostpunk 2
Captain’s Authority is something you can only unlock in Frostpunk 2 when your city is in dire times. More specifically, it’s only available if civil war is imminent and there’s no peaceful way to prevent casualties from the conflict. This occurs during Chapter 5 of the story and in the late game of a Utopia Builder run.
Before you can unlock and use it though, you need to pass all the other other Rule Laws. These are each a bit more difficult to pass than normal Laws, as they require you to get 70 percent or more of the Council to vote For when they’re presented.
Once every Rule Law is passed, you can do a vote for Captain’s Authority. As long as it clears 70 percent or more of the Council, the motion can pass and you get unlimited power to lead as you wish.
Below are a couple of strategies you can use to shore up the support needed for these fast, and clear every Rule Law in record time.
Pass Guided Voting
The first Rule Law to the right side of the Rule Law tree, this motion allows you to sway almost every Hesitant voter to vote For or Against something. It’s incredibly useful when the populace trusts you, as the majority will be Hesitant when they vote on Rule Laws. You can activate it before the votes for these Laws, and more often than not, you’ll pass the vote with flying colors.
Vote on Rule Laws Early in the Game
In the early stages of the game, the Factions present are evenly split up and there’s less Tension overall. This makes it easy to clear Votes and to Negotiate when needed to sway voters to your side.
It’s also easier to avoid Factions presenting other Laws. This can clog up the pipeline of motions that need to be passed, which is a death sentence in the late game.
Make the most of this time frame, and try to get most if not all of the Rule Laws passed before more Factions emerge.
How to Get Captain’s Authority With a Coup
But then, you might not want to waste time on Council Voting. If that’s the case, then you can get Captain’s Authority fast in Frostpunk 2 with a Coup.
This becomes available after Protests continue for a long period of time and you establish a large number of guards. Your guards then come to you and say they’ll support you if you choose to stage a coup against the city’s factions.
To pull it off though, you need to amass 120 or more Guards on standby. These are guards that aren’t actively busy with crime prevention, and that can be used solely for the Coup attempt.
To start, make sure you have the Steward’s Militia Rule Law unlocked. It allows you to recruit citizens to your guard force, and prisoners detained during protests in particular can be recruited in exchange for a commuted sentence.
It’s also helpful to have Watchtowers and prisons set up in Housing Districts. These can be used to send out more Guards for whatever purposes you wish as long as the Steward’s Militia Law is unlocked. Then, you can amass a large number of Guards fast before the Council has a chance to do anything.
Finally, you can produce more Guards via Settlements out in the Frostlands. Certain points of interest contain people who can serve as Guards you can call on when needed. They help you reach the amount needed for a Coup in record time.
Once you have enough men to seize the council, simply select the option from the City Center menu and watch the chaos unfold.
How to Use Captain’s Authority
Once you have Captain’s Authority in Frostpunk 2, it’s fairly easy to use.
Any vote done in the council automatically passes. This means you can set up whatever Laws you want without having to worry about who likes or dislikes them. Trust from Factions no longer decreases, and anything and everything you do never raises the Tension between groups.
You can also continue to work toward whatever research you deem necessary. They can be mixed and matched so that you can reach whatever mix of Worldviews you believe is most beneficial to the city.
Is There a Captain’s Authority Ending? Answered
The only catch is that the endings you can unlock are narrowed down to a single option. Because no Faction can vie for their vision for the city, only yours is left to fulfill. This requires isolating the more extreme factions in Enclave Districts, after which the city is considered united and you can watch the credits roll on your experience as its sole leader.
It’s a bit of a bummer given you become a tyrannical dictator, but also acts as a nice middle ground between the potential outcomes. You don’t lead your people into a utopia, but you do lead them toward an existence where they don’t need to worry as much about inter-Faction civil war and violence.
We’d also be remiss not to mention that this is the easiest way to reach the ending. The other options require a lot more work, and can result in failure more often than not. Keep this in mind, and consider how badly you want to help the city achieve long-term stability.
For now though, that’s everything we have on how to get Captain’s Authority in Frostpunk 2. For more on the game, check out our other guides on how to get Goods fast and how to unlock all Factions in the game.
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