RimWorld Special Items Guide: Persona Weapons & Shield Belts

Introduction to RimWorld Special Items

Shield belts, jump packs, and psychic lances represent some of RimWorld's most impactful special items. These tools provide tactical advantages that dramatically alter combat outcomes.

Defensive Game-Changers: Shield Belts

Shield Belt: A wearable device that provides a chance to reduce or negate incoming damage, dramatically lowering the probability of taking hits.

Shield belts provide a chance to reduce or negate incoming damage, dramatically lowering the probability of taking hits, though they never offer absolute immunity, making positioning still important. This defensive capability enables aggressive melee tactics by allowing colonists to close distance on snipers or grenadiers without being shredded by ranged fire.

In defensive scenarios, a shield belt can give a colonist precious seconds to reposition or apply a medkit while under fire. This temporary protection creates windows of opportunity that would otherwise be impossible.

Mobility & Maneuverability: Jump Packs

Jump Pack: A utility item that grants vertical movement capabilities, effectively acting as a 'jump power' that can be turned on or off.

Jump packs grant vertical movement capabilities, effectively acting as a 'jump power' that can be turned on or off, enabling rapid flanking maneuvers and quick retreats. This mobility allows your colonists to access high ground, bypass obstacles, and escape dangerous situations instantly.

Combining jump packs with shield belts creates shock troops that can breach enemy lines, absorb incoming fire, and then disengage before being overwhelmed. This synergy represents one of the most powerful tactical combinations in the game.

Precision Strikes & Utility: Advanced Weaponry

Persona Weapon: A class of weapons that come with individual traits allowing players to tailor performance to specific combat roles.

Persona weapons come with individual traits that allow players to tailor performance to specific combat roles, amplifying damage, improving accuracy, or providing special effects like armor penetration. The monosword boasts one of the highest armor penetration values among melee weapons in the game, cutting through even thick armor with ease.

Psychic Insanity Lance: A two-use utility item that can be equipped in the Utility slot and manually activated to cause a target to become berserk.

Psychic insanity lances are two-use utility items that can be equipped by pawns in the Utility slot and manually activated to cause a target to become berserk. This creates chaos among enemy ranks and can turn the tide of battle without direct confrontation.

Psychic Shock Lance: A near-perfect non-lethal weapon considered the best way to gain new colonists outside of random drop pod events.

Psychic shock lances are considered a near-perfect non-lethal weapon, making them the best way to gain new colonists outside of random drop pod events. Their ability to incapacitate targets without permanent harm gives players unprecedented control over recruitment.

Major Categories of Special Items

Defensive Items and Shield Technology

RimWorld organizes special items through a clear taxonomy system that groups gear into defensive, mobility, utility, and weapon categories. This classification uses thingClass and thingCategories properties to streamline gameplay, inventory management, and AI behavior.

Defensive items like shield belts are primarily apparel pieces that mitigate damage. These items are defined with thingClass='Apparel' and placed in the Apparel thingCategory, often subdivided into Armor or Clothing.

Shield belts are classified as defensive items with thingClass='Apparel' and thingCategories='Apparel,Armor', appearing in the apparel inventory tab and being equippable in the appropriate slot. However, shield belts also function as passive utility items that provide projectile protection but block projectile attacks both from outside and within, preventing colonists from firing ranged weapons while equipped.

Key Classification Points: • Provide damage mitigation as apparel pieces • Block ranged attacks from both directions when active • Prevent equipped colonists from using ranged weapons

Mobility Gear for Tactical Positioning

Mobility items like jump packs are defined as apparel but tagged with additional thingCategories such as 'Mobility' to distinguish them from purely protective gear and apply mobility-specific behaviors. This classification allows for enhanced movement capabilities beyond standard equipment.

Jump packs are classified as mobility items with thingClass='Apparel' and thingCategories='Apparel,Mobility', distinguished from purely protective gear with custom mobility tags. These jump packs serve as consumable utility items that provide enhanced mobility and vertical movement, falling under special armor with consumable abilities that colonists can carry.

Key Features: • Enable enhanced movement and vertical positioning • Classified with custom mobility tags for specialized behavior • Function as consumable abilities alongside standard gear

Utility Systems and Weapon Classification

Utility items serve non-combat functions and are typically classified as tools or equipment using thingClass='ThingWithComps' or a specific tool subclass, grouped into thingCategories like Utility or Industrial.

The utility system in RimWorld allows colonists to carry utility items or special armor with consumable abilities like grenades, shields, or jump packs alongside standard equipment.

Resource Management Layer

Utility items can be passive like shield belts, but most give an ability the player can trigger and have a certain number of charges before depletion. This creates a resource management layer to tactical gear selection.

Weapon Classification System

Weapons are the most rigorously categorized items, with every weapon receiving thingClass of either Weapon or a more specific subclass (e.g., RangedWeapon) and placed in either WeaponsRanged or WeaponsMelee thingCategories.

Psychic lances are classified as ranged weapons with thingClass='RangedWeapon' and thingCategories='WeaponsRanged', treated like any other ranged weapon for targeting and combat behavior.

Persona weapons are classified under the same weapon schema as regular weapons, receiving thingClass='Weapon' (or subclass) and placed in WeaponsRanged or WeaponsMelee depending on attack mode.

Defensive Items - Shield Belts & Low-Shield Packs

Shield Belt Mechanics and Protection

Shield belts are waist-worn defensive devices that generate personal energy shields. They use their own charge to stop damage from incoming ranged attacks and explosions, except flame explosions.

Personal Energy Shield: A protective barrier generated by shield belts that blocks projectiles and explosions while active.

These devices serve multiple defensive purposes beyond personal protection. They can draw enemy fire from different directions and block incoming projectiles effectively. This makes shield belts invaluable for giving protection against bullets and gives melee pawns a new use as tanky distractions while holding defensive positions.

Strategic Limitations

Shield belts have several important limitations that players must consider:

• Energy Depletion: Their energy depletes as it blocks damage • EMP Vulnerability: EMP attacks can temporarily disable the system entirely • Incendiary Weakness: Incendiary weapons can penetrate shield belts and set the wearer on fire • Ranged Weapon Blocking: Prevents colonists from firing ranged weapons while equipped

The Melee Blocker Tactic

A tried-and-true tactic is to put a melee pawn with a shield belt at a choke point to hold off enemies while ranged pawns shoot from behind. This creates an effective defensive line that prevents melee enemies from getting too close to ranged colonists.

Melee pawns with shield belts positioned at 1-tile choke points like doorways can queue up enemies and fight them one at a time, giving them the advantage over multiple opponents. The most effective defense systems are layered. Even if enemies breach outer defenses, having multiple choke points with shield-belted melee pawns can slow them down long enough for colonists to regroup and counter-attack.

Alternative Defenses

Low-shield packs offer a single-use alternative to shield belts. These devices deploy temporary structures projecting circular shields that allow passage through but block projectiles. For static defensive positions, traditional cover remains essential:

• Walls: Provide the best possible cover, shielding colonists from 75% of bullets • Sandbags: Provide 55% protection but allow for ranged attacks through them

Mobility Items - Jump Packs & Locust Armor

Jump packs and locust armor provide tactical mobility that fundamentally changes battlefield approaches. These items enable colonists to execute flanking maneuvers, control engagement tempo, and reposition rapidly while maintaining protection.

Jump Pack Tactical Advantages

Jump packs provide tactical mobility that enables effective flanking maneuvers around static defensive positions. This allows units to approach from unexpected angles and force defenders to divide their attention.

Hit-and-Run Tactics Jump packs enable colonists to engage enemies, deal damage, then quickly reposition to avoid retaliation.

Tempo Control The practice of starting engagements from advantageous positions, closing gaps quickly, and maintaining movement to avoid concentrated enemy fire.

Terrain Exploitation The ability to use vertical space to create multi-level combat engagements against enemies adapted to traditional ground-based strategies.

Rapid Response Jump packs enable rapid response to threatened areas of the base. This reduces response time for defensive operations and allows colonists to quickly mobilize to critical defensive positions.

The mobility bonus from jump packs allows for quick repositioning to support allies or flank enemies. This flexibility gives commanders the ability to control battlefield tempo.

Jump packs can bypass traditional killboxes and defensive structures. This forces defenders to maintain forces in multiple positions rather than concentrating on a single front. Jump packs fundamentally change how commanders approach terrain management.

When overwhelmed, colonists can use jump pack capabilities to escape to higher ground or reposition behind cover. This is particularly effective for defending against ranged attacks.

Locust Armor and Shield Belt Synergy

Unlike traditional jump packs that consume the utility slot, locust armor provides jump capabilities while freeing up the utility slot. This allows simultaneous use of shield belts for optimal mobility-protection combinations.

The locust armor + shield belt combo creates highly mobile combat units. These units are capable of rapid repositioning, excellent protection, and tactical superiority in various combat scenarios.

Shield Belt Protection: Shield belts provide confidence to operate in exposed positions during maneuvers. They also provide safety during approaches and withdrawals when using hit-and-run tactics.

Masterwork locust armor combined with a masterwork shield belt creates a formidable combination. This setup can handle late-game threats, with improved durability and performance making the combo viable against heavily armed opponents.

Combined Arms Battlefield Impact

Jump pack users work best when combined with ranged specialists for covering fire. This coordination during deployment and landing phases creates effective combined arms tactical approaches.

Combined Arms: The integration of different unit types, such as mobile jump units and ranged specialists, to create synergistic battlefield effects.

A small number of jump pack-equipped units can exert disproportionate influence on battlefield dynamics. They force enemies to maintain forces in multiple positions rather than concentrating on a single front.

Utility Items - Psychic Lances & Area Control

Psychic Lances: Precision Mind Control

Psychic Shock Lances: Two-use utility items that temporarily disable a target's consciousness for non-lethal takedowns.

Psychic Insanity Lances: Two-use utility items that cause targets to become berserk, turning them against their allies.

Both have extensive range and require line-of-sight to the target, making positioning crucial for effective use.

Armor-Piercing Effects

Psychic effects bypass armor completely, making psychic lances particularly effective against heavily armored mechanoids and other high-protection targets. The psychic effects have no damage threshold, working equally well against lightly armored raiders and heavily armored mechanoids, making them versatile tools for various threat levels.

Optimal Applications

Psychic shock lances are considered a near-perfect non-lethal weapon and the best way to gain new colonists, as they can incapacitate enemies without killing them. Psychic insanity lances create chaos in enemy ranks, forcing targets to attack their own allies and creating opportunities for focused fire on remaining enemies.

Strategic Usage Guidelines

Psychic lances are most effective when used early in engagements against high-value targets. They can also disable enemy psykers before they activate dangerous abilities, and combine effectively with shield belts for safe activation. However, careful resource management is essential due to their limited uses.

Best Practices: • Best targets: Leaders, snipers, heavily armored enemies, and enemy psykers • Optimal timing: Early in engagements before threats establish position • Key synergy: Pair with shield belts for protected activation

Area Control: Smoke and Storms

Smokepop Packs: Reusable utility items that release blind smoke clouds when activated, significantly reducing ranged accuracy for enemies within the affected area and providing tactical cover.

Tornado Generators: Powerful area denial tools that create destructive tornadoes when activated, damaging everything in their path and forcing enemies to either flee or risk taking severe damage.

Tactical Applications

Smokepop packs are particularly effective when defending choke points or advancing across open ground, providing mobile cover that moves with the user. Tornado generators excel at area denial, forcing enemies to take longer routes or risk severe injury, buying valuable time for repositioning while breaking up organized formations.

Strategic Considerations

Smokepop packs have limited charges requiring strategic timing, as activating them too early allows enemies to wait out the effect. Tornado generators can damage friendly units if not positioned carefully, requiring strategic placement to maximize enemy casualties while minimizing risk to colonists. Both can be combined with defensive structures like sandbags to create layered defensive systems.

Integration Tips: • Smokepop best uses: Choke point defense and open ground advances • Tornado generator best uses: Area denial and formation disruption • Integration tip: Combine with sandbags and walls for layered defenses

Special Weapons - Persona Weapons

Persona Weapon Bonding Mechanics

Persona Bonding: The process of connecting a colonist to a persona weapon, requiring the Royalty DLC and either the Persona Bonding trait or completion of a 'Bond a Persona Weapon' quest.

The Bonding Process

The bonding process requires the pawn to spend a night at a royal bed or personal quarters with the weapon in their inventory. After this period, the weapon gains a persona reflecting the pawn's traits and unlocks the War Cry: An ability that grants +15% combat efficiency to nearby allies.

Combat Enhancements

Bonded persona monoswords provide several combat enhancements: • +10% melee damage • +5% melee hit chance • 0.05s faster cooldown (0.66s per swing) • War Cry ability with 60-second cooldown

Mood Effects

The bonded weapon provides a +5 mood 'Bonded Weapon' moodlet to the wielder. However, if lost or destroyed, it causes a severe -15 mood 'Lost Bond' negative moodlet requiring a recovery period.

War Cry Radius

The War Cry ability affects all nearby allies within a 7-tile radius. This makes it effective for coordinating group tactics during large-scale engagements.

Optimal Loadout and Pawn Selection

Persona monoswords are best suited for pawns with high melee skill (≥10), Tough or Brawler traits, and Royal title for accessing persona bonding and additional combat buffs.

Optimal Equipment Pairing: • Marine armor or power armor for protection • Psychic amplifier to boost War Cry radius • Stimulants for extra melee speed

The persona monosword's light weight (0.9kg) allows quick swings and enables rapid strike tactics. This is particularly effective against ranged specialists who rely on maintaining distance. The persona monosword's durability of 1,200 HP makes it very durable and cost-effective. While requiring significant investment, it provides long-term combat effectiveness when properly maintained.

Tactical Combat Applications

Base Weapon Stats

The persona monosword has impressive base stats: • 24 base damage • 60% armor penetration • 0.71s cooldown (0.66s when bonded) • 95% base melee hit chance

Anti-Armor Specialist

This makes it one of the most effective melee weapons against heavily armored targets. The persona monosword's 60% armor penetration means a target with 80% armor effectively has only 32% armor against the weapon. This allows near-full damage against mechanoids and heavily armored pawns.

Persona monoswords excel as anti-armor specialists. They are particularly effective against mechanoids with 70-80% armor ratings that get reduced to ~28-32% effective armor against the weapon. The fast 0.66s cooldown when bonded permits multiple strikes per engagement. This makes persona monoswords ideal for flanking attacks and chain strikes in close quarters combat.

Royal Synergy

Royalty title holders can combine persona monosword War Cry with royal abilities like Inspire for massive morale boosts. This increases combat efficiency of the entire squad within a 7-tile radius. Persona monoswords work defensively by intercepting charging enemies and using War Cry to rally defenders during breaches. This buys time for barricades and repositioning.

Versatility Comparison

Compared to other blades, the persona monosword offers the fastest melee attacks among high-damage swords while retaining strong armor penetration. This makes it more versatile than the Zeushammer. The monosword's 60% armor penetration makes it particularly valuable when facing snipers or grenadiers. The threat of rapid close combat can neutralize their tactical advantages.

Against human pawns with flak jackets (50% armor), the persona monosword reduces effective armor to ~20%. This dramatically increases the chance to wound and makes quick work of otherwise durable targets.

Orbital Targeters & Advanced Utility

Orbital Targeters: Advanced utility items acquired through quests that allow players to call down devastating attacks from orbit. These one-time use items are obtained as quest rewards from faction leaders, requiring significant faction reputation investment and serving as powerful tools for established colonies. All orbital targeters have no resource cost beyond their initial acquisition, making them cost-effective for threats that would otherwise require expensive ammunition or multiple colonists.

Orbital Bombardment Targeters

Orbital Bombardment Targeter: An advanced utility item that creates explosions with a 6-tile radius, dealing 150 damage to all targets and destroying structures. This area-of-effect capability makes them excellent for clearing fortified positions and eliminating clustered threats simultaneously.

Deployment Requirements: These targeters require line-of-sight to the target area and have a 60-second cooldown between uses. The orbital strike originates from directly above, making it impossible to hit interior rooms without destroying the roof first.

Tactical Applications: • Using them defensively to eliminate sieges or breach enemy fortifications • Forcing enemies into kill zones before calling down strikes • Clearing large raider groups in open terrain

Orbital Power Beam Targeters

Orbital Power Beam Targeter: A quest reward item that fires a continuous beam dealing 150 damage per second for up to 10 seconds. This extreme single-target damage can destroy the toughest mechanoids and heavily armored enemies.

Armor Penetration: The beam penetrates any armor and ignores line-of-sight, making it effective against enemies behind cover or in fortified positions.

Ideal Targets and Applications: • High-value targets like mechanoid leaders and centipedes • Heavily armored siege engines • Breaching walls by targeting structural weak points • Destroying mechanoid clusters

Orbital Mech Cluster Targeters

Orbital Mech Cluster Targeter: A rare utility item that calls down a 3x3 cluster of mechanoids from orbit, providing additional firepower or controlled allies. These rare items offer versatile tactical options through various mechanoid types.

Strategic Flexibility: Players can choose between offensive mechanoids for direct combat or defensive structures for base protection. The summoned mechanoids can be directed to attack specific targets or defend key positions, though they may attack friendly units if not properly managed.

Mechanoid Types Available: • Combat mechanoids for direct assault • Utility mechanoids for support • Defensive structures for base protection

Tactical Combinations & Synergies

Mobile Assault Builds

Shield Belt: Equipment that absorbs incoming fire and provides safety during approaches and withdrawals.

Jump Pack: A device enabling hit-and-run tactics and rapid repositioning.

Shield belts combined with jump packs create devastating shock troops capable of breaching enemy lines, absorbing incoming fire, and disengaging before becoming overwhelmed. These units excel at hit-and-run tactics where they engage enemies, deal damage, then quickly reposition to avoid retaliation.

Locust Armor: Armor providing jump pack-like mobility while retaining shield protection.

For commanders seeking alternative mobility options, locust armor paired with a shield belt provides jump pack-like mobility while retaining crucial shield protection.

Persona Monosword: A melee weapon with the War Cry ability used to intercept enemies and rally defenders.

The ultimate mobile melee build combines a persona monosword with locust armor and a shield belt. This configuration creates a solo defender capable of engaging eight or more raiders simultaneously. The shield provides safety during approaches and withdrawals, while the armor's mobility ensures you can dictate engagement terms.

Build Components: • Core Components: Shield belt, jump pack OR locust armor, persona monosword • Tactical Role: Line breaching, flanking, high-value target elimination • Support Requirement: Pair with ranged specialists for covering fire during deployment and landing phases

Psychic & Melee Commander Synergies

Psychic Lance: A psychic ability that bypasses armor and is effective against mechanoids.

Psychic lances prove particularly effective against mechanoids since they bypass armor entirely. When combined with shield belts, psykers can activate these abilities from relative safety, as the shield provides protection while the psychic effect penetrates enemy defenses.

War Cry: A persona monosword ability that rallies defenders.

Royalty title holders wielding persona monoswords can combine the weapon's War Cry ability with royal abilities like Inspire. This creates massive morale boosts that increase combat efficiency for the entire squad within a seven-tile radius. These commanders also work defensively by intercepting charging enemies and using War Cry to rally defenders during breaches, buying critical time for barricades and repositioning.

Synergy Loadouts: • Psychic Loadout: Shield belt + psychic lance • Commander Loadout: Persona monosword + royal title abilities • Best Against: Mechanoid clusters, concentrated enemy pushes

Tactical Countermeasures

Stagger-Inducing Weapons: Weapons that are effective against enemy shield belts.

Stagger-inducing weapons should be used against enemy shield belts.

Effective Counter-Weapons: • Revolvers • Shotguns • Bolt-action rifles • Charge lances • Greatbows • Recurve bows • Sniper rifles • LMGs • Pila

Conclusion & Key Takeaways

Individual Item Capabilities

Shield belts provide personal energy shields that enable aggressive melee tactics and defensive positioning. Jump packs grant tactical mobility for flanking maneuvers and rapid response capabilities.

The key special items include: • Psychic Lance: A weapon that bypasses armor completely, making it effective against heavily armored mechanoids. • Persona Weapons: Weapons like the monosword offer high damage output with unique bonding mechanics and War Cry abilities. • Orbital Targeters: Items that provide devastating area-of-effect attacks from orbit for critical situations.

Powerful Combinations

Strategic combinations create powerful synergies. These pairings maximize combat effectiveness beyond individual item capabilities. • Shield Belt + Jump Pack: Creates shock troops for line breaching. • Locust Armor + Shield Belt: Provides mobility while maintaining protection. • Persona Monosword + Locust Armor + Shield Belt: Creates mobile melee builds capable of solo defense.

Strategic Impact

These items are game-changers that can dramatically alter combat outcomes. Mastering both individual items and powerful combinations is essential for optimizing your colony's combat effectiveness.