Your Starting Colonists and Priorities

Started by Draxis, September 28, 2015, 05:17:26 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Draxis

Hey all, just curious to see what you pick for your starting colonists now that there are more skills which are good to have. I had always looked for mining, growing, social and research, but now I feel I need an artist and a crafter as well in order to improve moods and make good clothes. What do you guys prefer to start with and what do you put on the back burner?

Second, I have found that starting out is harder and you really need to lock in a good food supply quickly. What are your preferences when it comes to build orders? Do you prefer to do coffin bedrooms or just a barracks? I hear barracks can work well if you have enough art, but there is also the sleep disturbance debuff.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on all of this as I feel that a lot was rebalanced in a12 and it would be good to have an update on people's points of view.

MultiDavid

Quote from: Draxis on September 28, 2015, 05:17:26 PM
Hey all, just curious to see what you pick for your starting colonists now that there are more skills which are good to have. I had always looked for mining, growing, social and research, but now I feel I need an artist and a crafter as well in order to improve moods and make good clothes. What do you guys prefer to start with and what do you put on the back burner?

Second, I have found that starting out is harder and you really need to lock in a good food supply quickly. What are your preferences when it comes to build orders? Do you prefer to do coffin bedrooms or just a barracks? I hear barracks can work well if you have enough art, but there is also the sleep disturbance debuff.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on all of this as I feel that a lot was rebalanced in a12 and it would be good to have an update on people's points of view.

Nothing below 10 animal, i usually look for people with at least 3 in construction and mining, and a dude with at least burning passion and a 5+ on growing, research is optional, and i never take those people with the psychically sensitive ( +80% ) debuff.

Also, i start by finding a corner, set up basic stockpiles, a 2 sun lamps's worth of potato crops and queue up the fridge and the barracks ( i do not give them separate rooms, not worth it )

cultist

I try to get as many skills covered as possible. Even if they start low, you can train some skills quickly if the colonist has passion for them.

I prioritize social, art, crafting and medicine, because these are slow-to-train skills that you might not get (high enough) on later colonists. I would also never play without someone who is decent at research, because getting geothermal power quickly is so important.

MultiDavid

Quote from: cultist on September 28, 2015, 05:59:58 PM
I try to get as many skills covered as possible. Even if they start low, you can train some skills quickly if the colonist has passion for them.

I prioritize social, art, crafting and medicine, because these are slow-to-train skills that you might not get (high enough) on later colonists. I would also never play without someone who is decent at research, because getting geothermal power quickly is so important.

That is interesting, care to explain why you think getting geo power quickly is important ?

Loki88

I ( try ) to start with 1 derp that has burning passion in medicine + research. 1 with burning passion for construction + mining or crafting. And 1 with social + growing preferably. Either way, everyone grows, and I just plant rice for the first while followed by corn once I've got a decent amount of food built up. I once did a test to see what produced more per year under controlled circumstances between rice, corn, taters, and berries. I can't remember the numbers any more ( it was in A11 ) but it came out corn, rice, taters, and berries in order of highest yield. Unless they've changed balances drastically then it should be roughly the same. That being said there wasn't a massive difference between the first 3, just the berries lagged behind.

Alitaria

I always have at least one grower, one constructor/miner and one hunter. The rest of the skills are just a nice bonus for my starters. I also try to roll at least one person with the psychopath trait to be my cook, that way they dont get a mood debuff for cutting people up. I never get people with Abrasive, Too Smart or Brawler traits and I try to avoid getting colonists that are too old.
My priority is finding a spot to set up a quick building with one large (10x10 usually) field of rice, a smaller (5x5 or 6x6) of Xerigum and sometimes a small crop of cotton.
I always start with a communal bedroom, which doubles as an EVERYTHING ELSE room. 2-3 solar generators and 2 batteries are enough to power a stove and freezer. Then I move to pod like rooms of 2x3 with a Royal Bed. They dont need huge bedrooms because you dont get the cramped environment while asleep.
Its bad practice but research is pretty much always a side thought. I usually dont even have a research bench until a good 4-6 months in :/
Defensive perimeters are second priority behind food
Context is key when discussing RimWorld in public

TLHeart

I accept the first three random colonist the game gives me, and start... more interesting that way, forcing me to adapt to the skills they have.

MultiDavid

Quote from: TLHeart on September 28, 2015, 07:21:23 PM
I accept the first three random colonist the game gives me, and start... more interesting that way, forcing me to adapt to the skills they have.

What if you get the medieval lord one :D ?

Loki88

Quote from: MultiDavid on September 28, 2015, 07:29:16 PM
Quote from: TLHeart on September 28, 2015, 07:21:23 PM
I accept the first three random colonist the game gives me, and start... more interesting that way, forcing me to adapt to the skills they have.

What if you get the medieval lord one :D ?

I have medieval lords so seldom I can't even remember what they can do. Are they like assassins? Just shooting, melee,and art?

REMworlder

#9
Yeah, Nobles might be capable in art if you're lucky.

The biggest factor for me is no old age. Almost every colonist about 50 has at least cataracts. Some in their 40s have bad backs.

After that I make sure I have at least two colonists capable (not good, just capable) of medical help. It sucks having your colony wither because the only colonist capable of medical care gets injured, and because he can't put a bandaid on himself the papercut becomes infected and he dies before a capable colonist joins. Especially bad in frostbite regions.

The skills I look for are art and crafting, and social. A good artist or crafter is really hard to get relative to most other skills.

Social ensures the colony can recruit and grow, though since the last patch practically buries you in new colonists (even on super extreme hard) compared to previous versions, social is less necessary for recruitment.

TLHeart

Quote from: MultiDavid on September 28, 2015, 07:29:16 PM
Quote from: TLHeart on September 28, 2015, 07:21:23 PM
I accept the first three random colonist the game gives me, and start... more interesting that way, forcing me to adapt to the skills they have.

What if you get the medieval lord one :D ?

Then I deal with it,  and their other back story changes what is good. They can be excellent research, and social, and medicine. And they can still participate in combat. It is all about adapting to what the 3 combined can accomplish.

MultiDavid

Quote from: TLHeart on September 28, 2015, 08:22:01 PM
Quote from: MultiDavid on September 28, 2015, 07:29:16 PM
Quote from: TLHeart on September 28, 2015, 07:21:23 PM
I accept the first three random colonist the game gives me, and start... more interesting that way, forcing me to adapt to the skills they have.

What if you get the medieval lord one :D ?

Then I deal with it,  and their other back story changes what is good. They can be excellent research, and social, and medicine. And they can still participate in combat. It is all about adapting to what the 3 combined can accomplish.

All for one, and one for all :D

A Friend

I prefer to have pawns that at least have 8+ skills in these areas:

Shooting/Melee - Because RR extreme is not nice.
Medicine - Grave injuries are guaranteed early on against tribal hordes. Also infection is a very big deal early game.
Growing - Food is usually scarce in places I land on.
Construction - The faster I can solidify my defenses, the better.
"For you, the day Randy graced your colony with a game-ending raid was the most memorable part of your game. But for Cassandra, it was Tuesday"

Squiggly lines you call drawings aka "My Deviantart page"

zandadoum

my starting tips:

- don't care about how high level the skills are. but passion is important to me. rest will level up easy
- i try to specialize as soon as possible. having a guy good with a lot of stuff is no good, he'll never get past his first few jobs
- 1 guy hunter: shooter, tamer, constructor. maybe miner
- 2nd guy herbalist cook: doesn't leave base. cook, plant, medical
- 3rd guy joker support: can do a bit of everything and switch his priorities to what's most needed. most of the times have him focus on research until i have what i need

i never care about crafting or art. not for my starter guys. i'll capture a crafter/art later

bonus tip: colonists like to use your good medicine for stupid bruises. select the medicine, press "F" and don't allow them to use medicine unless it is to cure a real disease.

BetaSpectre

Shooting, Mining, Medicine, Maybe Growing for one. And everyone can Haul. I sometimes run with 1 guy who can shoot, sometimes all 3. As long as they can do anything, I'm generally cool with it. No lords or Assassins xD! Hauling is rather important to me.

Shooting and Mining are usually my biggies.
You can get a cave dwelling with a bit of wood and a mine shaft.
Forage or hunt for food if you get a butcher table up.

Then finding power to get a paste dispenser. I generally plant berries before the dispenser, and because you don't lose happiness with berries.

I generally don't cook food for a long time, I prefer spending more time gathering wood, mining mountains.
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░─╤▌██ |
░░░░░░░░─╤▂▃▃▄▄▄███████▄▃|
▂█▃▃▅▅███/█████\█[<BSS>█\███▅▅▅▃▂
◥████████████████████████████████◤
                           TO WAR WE GO