Manual Work Priorities (Starter Steps)

[BioFringe]

I ran across a 5-Step guide from about a year ago for A16. Most of it works but I decided to change it up for my own purposes and I must say that the system works rather well. Here's the Original Guide as well an outdated Discussion on that particular guide.

As was the intent of the original guide, the following is only meant as a possible guide to help make manual work priorities easier to understand and deal with without having to just leave them off. It's not meant as a guide to achieve the ultimate setup or even as an advance strategy on how to win. This probably won't help those that fully understand the game and know how to strategize to exploit those systems the best way possible. Instead, it is geared towards those, like myself, that after playing for a couple of hours turned on Manual Priorities only to instantly say "I'll deal with that later" then proceeded to turn it right back off.

In other words, a simple to use and easy to remember entry point for those that want to start getting their feet wet without too much trouble but something that lends itself to fine tuning based on your own personal skill level with the game.

Here's my adapted version...

Step 1: Unskilled (No Relevant Skill)

   
• Firefight = Set to 1
• Patient = Set to 1
• Bed Rest = Set to 1
• Flick = Set to 2
• Plant Cut = Set to 3
• Haul = Set to 3
• Clean = Set to 4

Step 2: Passions (2 Flames = Set to 2)

Step 3: Interests (1 Flames = Set to 3)

Step 4: Competencies (Highlights = Set to 4)

Step 5: Inconsistencies (Adjust based on Skill Levels & Personal Preferences)

Note: Any jobs left empty during a pawn's initial setup process should remain as such until they are specifically needed at a given moment. If someone really sucks at Art there's no need to put a 4 there since they'll be plenty busy with the things that they are good at and enjoy. It's also less numbers on the screen clogging up the useful info for your eyes and brain.

Here's how I use it...

Follow these steps on Day 1 and upon arrival for each new colonist.

During each night, while everyone is asleep, make any adjustments for individual colonists based on the colony's needs the next day. Revert back to the the original settings for any that have changed before everyone goes asleep.

Rinse & Repeat.

To make nightly changes easier I only make changes "From Original - Down to 1 - Back to Original"

For Example: Colonist Bob has Clean set to 4 as per Step 1 but for the first half of the next day he will become a dedicated cleaner simply by changing that one number from a 4 to a 1 and then back to a 4 once I'm done punishing him with cleaning duty. Throw in the use of Allowed Areas and he can usually get the cleaning done by noon so I'll change it back to 4 but change Haul from 3 down to 1 until dinner. Change the allowed area from Clean to Haul and Colonist Bob just earned his keep with little continued effort on my part. While he's eating I'll set Haul back to 3 and let him do whatever he was originally programmed to do for the rest of the evening. Once he's asleep though I'll poke my fingers back into work priorities and allowed areas so that he'll be an even better pawn tomorrow.

This allows me to micro-manage individual pawns without much micro-management. Huge benefits for little effort. Plus, the colonists get a nice mix of dumb labor and personal freedom so they couldn't be happier. Add to this the fact that most pawns go completely unchanged from their original setup most of the time. This system allows me to make sure the dumb labor gets done without too much time investment on mine or the pawns part, keeps us all happy, and really only requires a handful of pawns at any given time.

Just a friendly reminder, this isn't about min-maxing. This is about having fun with a deep system without having to dive straight down to the bottom on the first shot.

Works for me. Hope it works for someone else as well.

[kehwar]

I love organization
Here is my setup
First:

• Firefight = Set to 1
• Patient = Set to 1
• Bed Rest = Set to 1
• Flick = Set to 3
• Haul = Set to 3
• Clean = Set to 3
• Research = Set to 3

Then I assign jobs, each job must have at least one colonist doing it

• Doctor to 1
• Warden to 1
• Handle to 2
• Cook to 2
• Construct to 2
• Grow and plant cutting to 2, this two go together
• Mine to 2
• Smith to 2
• Tailor to 2
• Arts to 2
• Crafts to 2

After, I put 4's on all jobs they are not assigned to, but they have passion for

By having all jobs but the critical ones on 2 or more, it means I can micromanage easily at any time without disrupting the overall plan. By changing temporarily any job to 1.
Hauling after a battle or drop pods, or just need a constant hauler
Cleaning after a battle or mass slaughtering, or just want constant clean rooms
Crafting when I want to produce more bricks
Plant cutting if I want those plants cleared asap or just really need some more wood
Research when I want someone stick to it

[stu89pid]

I think this is a great guide for someone with limited experience using manual priorities. It's a complex dynamic process that I will tweak as my colony grows.

Once I have 6-7 colonists, I locate my least useful colonist who is capable of hauling or cleaning and turn them into my dedicated hauler or cleaner and set the skill to 1. Once you have a dedicated hauler and cleaner, they are pretty much able to keep up with all hauling and cleaning needs and will fill in doing other tasks once the they have exhausted all available things to haul or clean. Until I have a dedicated cleaner, I micro to force clean my medical room and leave the rest of the colony dirty.

I also think it is important to mention that crafting stations allow you to define what skill level pawns can complete each individual task. So, while I allow nearly all my colonists to craft in the work priority menu, I specify my recipes so that my skilled crafters are making guns and high end goods, while my pawns with crafting of 5 or less are the ones cutting stone blocks.

[BioFringe]

Thank you both for taking the time to read and contribute. Also, for not just saying that my way sucks without any actual feedback. Both of these responses are exactly what I was hoping to get out of this thread...someplace where others would post their strategies so that other players might learn a trick or two. Thanks for not seeing it as me trying to say "look at how awesome my system is" or "my system is better than yours" like was the case when I posted this on the Steam boards. I should have know better about that but I still hold out hope for those boards despite being proven wrong over and over again.

Anyways, sorry for the rant. I'm going to re-read these responses a couple of times and see how I can better incorporate some of the ideas into my own system. Thanks so much for sharing.

[Mulahey]

... while my pawns with crafting of 5 or less are the ones cutting stone blocks.

Just FYI - A17 uses and raises construction skill when stonecutting, not crafting. Hope this helps.