Choose the recruit for the next job

The current Steam description says each member has six major abilities and talents, plus dozens of combat and life-related stats. It also says traits can be connected to race, background, and personality.

The new player footage reinforces a practical reading order for the recruit screen: start with the missing expedition role, then compare relevant attributes, traits, background, weapon direction, and available skills together. This is a selection method, not a fixed ranking.

That structure means a character is not fully described by one class label. When comparing recruits, read the complete current summary and consider what the next settlement job or expedition needs.

How should you choose recruits?

Start with the role you are missing: a durable front line, reliable damage, ranged coverage, or a skill path that supports the next expedition. Then compare the candidate traits, relevant stats, talents, equipment options, and available skills in the current interface.

The official page confirms recruitment and leveling, but it does not give a permanent recruit list, refresh timer, or universal best candidate. Check the current recruit screen for those details.

How does rank-based party size work?

The v0.4.23 official notes make party size rank-based: up to six members at Expedition Rank 2 and up to eight at Rank 3. The store listing names sword, mace, bow, and fire magic as examples of synergistic skill-tree directions; use those as build directions, not as a complete class list.

A practical party check is whether the group can survive contact, deal damage, reach targets, and respond to the current region. A balanced plan is more useful than copying an old video lineup.

If two recruits both look good

Compare them against the same task: safer front line, ranged coverage, a weapon direction, a home-side work role, or another problem from the last run. Choose the one that solves the next task with fewer new supply demands.

If the current screen does not show a price, refresh rule, growth value, or interaction clearly, do not invent it. Use the fields that are visible and test the candidate in a controlled run.

A recruit-screen checklist

Read the screen in the order of the next job. Start by naming the role the party lacks, then inspect the candidate fields that affect that role. Compare relevant abilities and talents, traits, background, personality, weapon direction, and available skills instead of stopping at the first attractive value.

Next, check the cost to support the candidate. Can the settlement provide the equipment, food, recovery, and work assignment the role needs? A recruit is part of both the party and the settlement, so a choice that looks good on the expedition screen can still create a home-side bottleneck.

Finally, keep the decision proportional to the evidence. If you cannot see a current price, refresh rule, growth value, or skill interaction, mark it as unknown and make the choice using the fields that are visible now.

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Build around complementary responsibilities

An early four-member party does not need four identical damage plans. It needs enough complementary capability to enter a room, create pressure, protect vulnerable members, respond to a bad situation, and leave when the risk is no longer acceptable. When new rank slots open, add coverage for the destination rather than duplicating a role by default.

When two characters compete for the same position or equipment, treat the overlap as a deliberate choice. It can be useful for a particular test, but it can also make the group fragile if one setup fails. Write down what the second member contributes before assuming the duplication is valuable.

This is why a fixed Tier List is a poor substitute for the current recruit screen. A ranking cannot know your settlement bottleneck, available materials, destination, or the specific problem from the last run.

Connect characters to progression

Character choices continue after recruitment. Equipment, skill trees, research, level-up decisions, and expedition recovery all change how useful a member is in practice. When a recruit underperforms, check whether the problem is the recruit or whether the surrounding systems were not ready to support the role.

Use Level Up for the version-labeled historical upgrade path, Skills & Combat for pause and recovery decisions, and Party Builds for a broader composition framework. These pages should support one another without claiming that an old video’s named character or outcome is a current universal result.

If the current interface shows a new stat, trait, or skill field, record it as a current-build observation before adding it to a general character description. This keeps the page accurate as the roster and UI evolve.

When the recruit screen still feels unclear

Stop looking for a perfect database and use the current screen as a decision tool. Name the missing role, compare only the fields that affect that role, check whether the settlement can support the candidate, and test one recruit on the next comparable run.

Keep exact costs, refresh behavior, growth values, and skill interactions tied to the build where you saw them. That keeps the page useful without turning one recorded outcome into a permanent tier label.

Compare a recruit with the next expedition

A candidate should be judged against a real task, not against an abstract idea of perfection. If the next run needs a safer approach, more reliable ranged coverage, a different weapon direction, or a member who can keep working at home, write that need down before opening the recruit list.

Then check whether the candidate improves that task without creating a larger supply problem. A recruit with an attractive trait may still wait if the settlement cannot provide the equipment, food, or room capacity needed to use them. This is a decision about timing as well as character quality.

After the run, compare the planned role with what the recruit actually did. Keep the observation specific: the candidate reached targets, survived pressure, supported production, or failed because of a missing external resource. Specific notes are more useful than a new tier label.