The short answer: this is generated-candidate selection

Start by naming the job you need: front line, ranged damage, magic or recovery support, flexible work, or another role your current party cannot cover. Then read the candidate as a bundle—portrait, ability stats, Major Traits, Sub Traits, background, skills, and equipment direction—rather than trying to create a character from a blank sheet.

The official Steam description says members have six major abilities and talents plus many combat and life-related stats, with traits shaped by race, background, and personality. That supports a field-by-field inspection workflow, but it does not establish a fixed stat range, roll probability, or best character template.

How to create or reroll a candidate

1. Enter Expedition Founding or the current Recruit Again flow. 2. Decide the role before reading the numbers. 3. Inspect the visible ability stats and traits that affect that role. 4. Lock a field only when it already solves part of the job—such as a portrait you want to keep or a useful trait—and leave unrelated fields open. 5. Reroll the remaining candidate when the current screen offers that action. 6. Recruit when the whole candidate is serviceable and the settlement can support the hire.

The lock is a preservation tool, not a promise that the next roll will improve every other field. Locking too early can preserve an attractive but unusable candidate; leaving everything open can discard a role or portrait you already wanted. Make one change at a time so you can tell which field changed.

The success signal is visible and practical: the field you locked remains after Recruit Again or the next generated candidate, and the final candidate still fills the role you named. If the UI shows a different result, follow its current wording and record the build instead of inferring a hidden roll rule.

How should I read the attributes?

Use attributes comparatively inside the current candidate list. For a front-line plan, prioritize the abilities that the current role and equipment make relevant; for ranged, magic, support, or settlement work, use the same rule. Do not copy an exact threshold from a different build when the current screen does not display that threshold.

Read the attributes together with the Major Trait and Sub Trait. A strong-looking number can still point toward a different skill tree or support cost, while a less impressive candidate may solve the missing role with a better trait or equipment direction. This is why the page gives a decision order rather than a permanent ranking.

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When should I stop rerolling and recruit?

Recruit when three checks pass: the candidate covers a real gap, the visible fields point in the same direction, and your settlement can provide the food, housing, equipment, work, and recovery that the new member needs. Do not wait for every field to look perfect if the current party is missing a position needed for the next expedition.

Keep rerolling when the candidate has a locked-looking portrait but no usable role, when the key traits point away from the intended build, or when hiring them would create a larger settlement bottleneck than the problem they solve. Re-evaluate the job after each roll; the best next candidate depends on the party and save, not on a universal list.

If a lock or reroll does not behave as expected

If a locked portrait or field changes, first check that you used the current lock control rather than only selecting the candidate. Then compare the exact flow: Expedition Founding and Recruit Again may expose different controls, and an older guide may describe a previous interface.

If the candidate appears correct but performs differently after hiring, separate the character field from the surrounding build. Check equipment, skill tree, food, housing, recovery, and role assignment before blaming a hidden stat formula. If a value is not visible or reproducible, mark it unknown and do not publish a probability or range from one roll.

If a patch changes the fields, update the version note and the action path first. Keep screenshots, exact labels, and the build together so the next reader can tell whether the change affected the portrait, stats, traits, or the recruiting action.

Current version boundary

The v0.4.17 update documents Portrait Lock for Recruit Expedition Members and explains that the current candidate’s portrait and appearance can be kept when selecting Recruit Again. The v0.4.19 update expands individual locks during Expedition Founding to portraits, ability stats, Major Traits, and Sub Traits.

Those updates confirm the native lock workflow. They do not provide a free-form portrait editor, a fixed stat range, reroll probabilities, a permanent cost, or a universal best character. Use the current UI for those fields and keep any later community observations tied to the build where they were seen.