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Building a Good Crafter
Viewer helper — plan a colonist who makes gear, not one who fights. Use this when buying a pawn, traits, or passions. Xenotypes from Biotech; traits from vanilla Core only.
A crafter is the pawn at the smithy, machining table, electric tailor, and fabrication bench. Colony wealth, armor, and weapons come off their work speed and skill.
Trait budgets (RICS-friendly):
| Budget | Use when |
|---|---|
| 4 traits | Default — works if the streamer caps traits near vanilla |
| 6 traits | Luxury / high-spend RICS variant |
Sexuality traits do not count toward build quality here.
| Priority | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Xenotype | Genie | Remarkable Crafting + Intellectual genes (Biotech) |
| 1 | Industrious | +35% global work speed — more items per day |
| 2 | Fast learner | +75% learning so Crafting climbs to 20 |
| 3 | Tough | Genies are Delicate + extra pain — they die in one raid if they ever leave the shop |
| 4 | Body modder | Wants bionic arms / manipulation; do not take Body purist |
Passions: Burning Crafting. Minor Intellectual (complex benches / fabrication). Optional minor Construction.
| Extra | Why |
|---|---|
| Great memory | Unused skills decay at half rate — keeps Crafting 20 parked |
| Hard worker or Neurotic | More work speed if Industrious is taken / unavailable (Neurotic also raises mental-break risk) |
| Quick sleeper | More hours at the bench |
| Too Smart | Another +75% learning (stacks with Fast learner in Core). Needs Intellectual; +12% mental-break threshold |
Same traits. You lose the free Crafting / Intellectual aptitudes, so burning Crafting passion and Fast learner matter more. Tougher and more social than a Genie.
- Work speed (Industrious / Hard worker / Neurotic, plus Crafting skill)
- Skill + passion (quality and unlock speed; burning passion = 150% learn + mood at the bench)
- Manipulation (bionic / archotech arms later — Body purist blocks this)
- Not dying if they ever haul or get drafted (Genie is fragile)
Late-game a 20 Crafting Industrious pawn with two bionic arms outproduces three average colonists.
Genies were designed as engineers. They are the best vanilla Biotech crafting xenotype.
| Gene | Practical effect |
|---|---|
| Remarkable crafting | Large Crafting aptitude — they start and stay better at the bench |
| Remarkable intellectual | Same for research / complex work — good secondary researcher |
| Elongated fingers | Flavor / precision theme with crafting |
| Dead calm | Less panic / aggression |
| Gene | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Terrible social | Bad warden, trader, recruiter, teacher |
| Poor animals / plants | Do not make them the rancher or grower |
| Delicate | Takes more incoming damage |
| Extra pain | Downs faster — keep them inside |
| Thin body | Lower melee presence |
Genie + mechanitor is a strong combo (Crafting speeds mech gestation / repair). See Building a Good Mechanitor. Do not also assign Animals or Plants.
| Trait | Why |
|---|---|
| Industrious | +35% WorkSpeedGlobal — best speed trait |
| Hard worker | +20% work speed if Industrious is gone |
| Fast learner | +75% GlobalLearningFactor
|
| Too Smart | +75% learning, +12% mental-break threshold; requires Intellectual |
| Great memory | Skill decay halved |
| Body modder | Mood from bionics / xenogenes |
| Tough | Survivability on a Delicate xenotype |
| Quick sleeper | More work hours |
| Neurotic / Very neurotic | +20% / +40% work speed but +8% / +14% mental-break threshold — worse than Industrious if you can choose |
| Trait | Why |
|---|---|
| Lazy / Slothful | −20% / −35% work speed |
| Slow learner | Painful to reach Crafting 20 |
| Body purist | No bionic arms / many late upgrades |
| Wimp / extra fragility on a Genie | One explosion and they are down |
| Pyromaniac | Workshop fires |
Industrious and Hard worker are the same spectrum — you get one degree, not both.
| Skill | Role |
|---|---|
| Crafting | Primary — smithing, machining, tailoring, fabrication, many components |
| Intellectual | Secondary — some bills, research overflow, mechanitor work |
| Construction | Nice if they also build their own benches |
Manipulation (health stat) is the hidden multiplier. Damaged or missing arms crush output. Check !mypawn health / !mypawn implants.
Passions are not locked at pawn purchase. Viewers can gamble with !passion:
!passion list
!passion crafting 200
!passion intellectual 150
- Minor 🔥 — normal 100% learn + mood at that work
- Burning 🔥🔥 — 150% learn + stronger mood
- No passion — ~33% learn
- Bigger wagers improve odds; crit fail can strip a passion
Target Crafting first. Do not spray !passion on Animals or Plants on a Genie.
- Electric smithy / machining / tailor / fabrication as researched
- Sit them on a crafting spot or bench with good light; Genies do not need to go outside
- After Crafting 15+, push component and armor / gun bills — that is colony power
- Pair with
!mypawn workCrafting 1, Construction 2, everything else low
- Building a Good Mechanitor — Genie crafter + mechlink
- Building a Good Researcher — same xenotype, different passions
- Building a Good Combat Pawn — do not use Hussar as your smith
- Passion Command · Trait Commands · Pawn Purchase