Personal starting Dupes preference

[JesusOnEez]

So, who do you prefer to start with and why, and what are your personal preferences for your first six Dupes.

Personally;

1. Researcher - Pure +7 Science (ideally with Fast Learning trait).
2. Builder - +3 Construction, and even better if I can get +3 Digger or perhaps +3 Operator
3. Digger - +3 Digging, ideally with +3 Supplier
4. Cook
5. Operator
6. Supplier (to look after Life Support/Tidying primarily, then Supply and Storage.

[Artorias36]

1) Researcher with 7 Science and Fast Learning. Pacifist as bad trait is one of the best.

2) Digger with 7 Digs and Twinkletoe for mov speed

3) Suit with 3 agility and 3 construction depending on the map he might become the cook in case i can't print more dupes and i have a food problem.
 

The other depends on what the pod gives me, i never choose any narcoleptic or fart dupe thou.

 

 

 

[Lilalaunekuh]

OK, my list is based on the idea of having at least 8 duplicants (or 8 specialized duplicants and having the rest be jack-of-all trades):

1. Digger/builder [Interests should be dig/operate/supply, I never learn building skills but want the 3. digging skill and having a mechatronic engineerlater on.]
2. Cook [A random duplicant, since he will cook for the full cycle in later stages of the game he doesn´t need any skill besides suit wearing and the 2 cooking skills, so there is no need for an interest based morale bonus.]
3. Farmer [Interest: farming (+ supply)]
4. Rancher [Interest: ranching (+ farming)]
5. Operator: [Interest: operate and having the "grease monkey" trait for better powerefficiency. Makes the refinery/steam turbine loop more power positive. But his main purpose is to tune up my generators as his highest priority.]
6. Plumber [Interests: tidy prefered with the "buff" trait.]
7. Artist [Intersts: art and supply, so my artist is prioritizing supply and storage tasks after doing art.]
8. Doctor [Intersts: medicine and supply, so my doctor is prioritizing supply and storage tasks after doing caring.]

 

Only my first 2 duplicants are fixed and only my digger/builder is the one I may roll excessively.

PS: I dislike "fast learning" cause it raises only the cap for a skill, which I will never cap.

[I prefer to let the duplicant with the lowest learning skill do my research, to reach a baseline of 2-4 science for my first 8.]

 

I use the advanced "proximity based prioritization", so my digger/builder will act based on my sub-priorities and will not prioritize building over digging.

[Junksteel]

My current colony is the most picky for duplicants I ever had.

I have 10 Diver's Lungs duplicants and all of them have 3 interests, one of them always being being Suit Wearing or Supplying (to discount the overall suit wearing). The other interests are specialized: at least 3 diggers, at least 2 ranchers, at least 1 doctor, at least 1 researcher, etc...

Not that I have problems generating oxygen, it's just that my dupes are trapped all the time inside the atmosuits when they aren't in their bed and I didn't want to have more than 2 electrolyzers running at first as I had no easy gold at Arboria. 

It has been fun to roll the dice looking for these specific requirements everytime the pod offered me something. I just got the 10th dupe now at cycle 900 as it was pretty slow to roll exactly the requirements I imposed to myself. 

I loved doing this because normally I'd just pile up a great number of dupes from start and never hire new ones through time.

[avc15]

+3/+3 farming/strength (he is full-time tidying and delivery until the farm is built)

+3/+3 construction/excavation

 

+7 research

 

It's such a go-to for me that I might even be willing to run a mod so that I don't have to click reroll 5,000 times.

[cblack]

Main things I want at the start are (in basically any combination):

• +3 Digging
• +3 Construction
• +3 Cooking
• +3 Science
• +3 Strength
• +3 Tinkering or +3 Decorating (or instead just a +7 in any of the previous except cooking)

And first six dupes?  I usually only get four for the entire game.

[bzgzd]

 

When I start new game and re-roll for something I want, I always wish there would be button to go one duplicant back... until my brain realizes that it is duplicant I want my finger already click next, but I can't help myself and go slower.

 

1 hour ago, Lilalaunekuh said:

Cook [A random duplicant, since he will cook for the full cycle in later stages of the game he doesn´t need any skill besides suit wearing and the 2 cooking skills, so there is no need for an interest based morale bonus.]

 

How many duplicants you have? Or for how many dupes can one dedicated cook make end game meal? (frost burgers or at least surf'n turf)

I plan for 12 dups but now I have just 4. This is first time I play with this skill system and new cooking building but I was hoping my cook will be able to do more then just cooking, maybe farming or ranching together with cooking for 12.

 

[JesusOnEez]

55 minutes ago, bzgzd said:

How many duplicants you have? Or for how many dupes can one dedicated cook make end game meal? (frost burgers or at least surf'n turf)

My general base design centers around 10 dupes maximum, but I run with 6 for quite some time until I have an abundance of food and ranches are ready to populate (number 7 is usually a Farmer/Rancher combo). I tend to get the last 3 as I move out of the starting biome and need the extra man-power.

The last 4 will tend towards supply/tidy/storage/life roles, but I may flit them to digging/construction priorities if I'm working on a large biome clear-out/build.

Although, I taught my 7 year old daughter the absolute basics of playing (toilets > food > research), and she's taken a dupe every 3 cycles. Somehow she's survived without really knowing the game for 74 cycles without any dupes dying...her base full of slimelung, food poisoning, PO2 bottles off-gassing...it's a hell-hole, and only now with about 14 dupes is she starting to struggle with food and oxygen. She's got 3 cycles before dupes start dying...she may cry...she's used to crappy idle games like Township on her tablet...

[Gus Smedstad]

For my most recent colony, I took a radical approach:

Accept whatever the random number generator gave me.

It's not the smart choice - the smart choice is probably a digger, a researcher, and a hauler - but I wanted to try accepting any old Dupes initially to see if it made things difficult. It didn't, really.

 

[blackbellamy]

I have always detested random character generators that allow you to just keep re-rolling.  It's a bad mechanism given the human propensity to accept outrageous reward-to-risk ratios.   I was trying to get a combination of skills I wanted and then my wrist started to hurt.  I mean yeah it's easy to say just stop clicking but the whole scheme is designed like a Skinner box.  

I start a game and accept any Duplicants and then I immediately edit that save using Duplicity  https://robophred.github.io/oni-duplicity/#/  and I give my Dupes the exact same skills I would have gotten anyway, except now I have more time in my life and my finger isn't numb.

 

 

 

[0xFADE]

For sure you would like to prioritize research speed early.  Used to also prioritize someone for art but now their innate art skill doesn’t matter for quality.

There are some negative traits to always avoid. Like noodle arms etc.  Allergies is a very bad negative trait with how powerful floral scent is. 

[Gurgel]

I take a cook (must obviously be Stinky!), a researcher and a medic. All with 2 other interests. 

[Reitar]

I choose 3 duplicants with 7 Science and Fast Learning and all abilities are growing very fast.

[Gus Smedstad]

3 hours ago, blackbellamy said:

I have always detested random character generators that allow you to just keep re-rolling.

They have their own weird fascination. I spent lots of time - 20+ hours? - with the Traveler character generation system, because it was almost a little game unto itself. It's an abbreviated career simulator, and your character can die during the process, forcing you to start over.

I think they're a terrible, terrible idea, particularly in a computer game, but I've spent so much time fiddling with them it feels dishonest to say I "detest" them, even though I think they shouldn't exist. Games that allow easy re-rolling aren't the problem, either, since if that's not available, you can always start the game over and effectively re-roll.

Really, ANY game that involves character creation, computer or pen and paper, should really use some sort of point allocation scheme.

[Risu]

Definitely want to reroll for a Research/Suit Wearing dupe so you don't have to settle on a dupe with nonideal morale requirements for your astronaut.
 

[Dracian]

For my part, I'm quite picky with my crew

- All my Dupes must have Diver's Lungs. I never choose a Dupe without. Because that's 25% less resources used for breathing.

- Dupes must not have any of these traits : Narcoleptic, Allergies, Flatulent, Anemic, Non-constructive. For the starting and very first Dupes, I try to avoid Noodle Arms, Trypophobia and Bottomless Stomach.

- Starting crew is always : 1 Researcher with +7 Science, 1 Cook with at least one other interest, 1 Digger preferably with at least one other interest. If I'm lucky to have a Cook/Digger, I'm going for a Suit Wearer, preferably with two other interests.

- Afterwards, as long as it respects the two first rules, it's OK until the 12th Dupe. For the 12th to 16th, I'm very careful and only keep the cream of the crop.

[yatima2975]

I tend to go with the following initial crew:

• A +7 Researcher, with positive trait either Twinkletoes (so he/she can supply number 2 and 3 while the base is going up), or Quick Learner. Night Owl, Diver's Lungs are also acceptable.
• A +7 Digger, preferably with Twinkletoes as well.
• A +3/+3 Builder/Farmer, whose first specialization will be Farming. Mole Hands wins here, but Night Owl is also okay.

Then I try to get, in no particular order:

• A Supply/Suit Wearing dupe
• Second digger, at least +3
• Second researcher, preferably with Supply.

 

[beowulf2010]

One researcher: Research +7

One builder: Operate and supply (I want the +5 morale from the skills required from mechatronics engineering) 

One rancher: Ranch and research

First dupe: Miner - ideally dig and supply interests, but I'll take either if combined with research

Subsequent dupes: a second rancher, a chef, a janitor and a supplier round out my first 8 dupes. 

[Ambaire]

To start, 2 Dig/Build/Supply and Research/Build/Supply. Tri interest for optimal skill point gain, since dupes gain 50% more skill points when doing a task they're interested in. After that, Farm/Build/Supply, Operate/Build/Supply, and a +7 rancher (since the critter groom bonus outweighs any skill point gains in off jobs).

Why Build/Supply for all 5? because I typically need a LOT of building and supplying and this ensures all dupes are gaining skill points optimally.

6 hours ago, blackbellamy said:

I have always detested random character generators that allow you to just keep re-rolling.  It's a bad mechanism given the human propensity to accept outrageous reward-to-risk ratios.   I was trying to get a combination of skills I wanted and then my wrist started to hurt.  I mean yeah it's easy to say just stop clicking but the whole scheme is designed like a Skinner box.  

I start a game and accept any Duplicants and then I immediately edit that save using Duplicity  https://robophred.github.io/oni-duplicity/#/  and I give my Dupes the exact same skills I would have gotten anyway, except now I have more time in my life and my finger isn't numb.

 

 

 

Yeah, once I discovered Duplicity, my ONI life got a lot better. No more spending hours rerolling for that perfect starting set. Now I can just roll for the base duplicants I want and start.

[PhailRaptor]

My starting trio:

• Interest in Dig, Build, and Operate (dedicated excavation/construction worker)
• Interest in Research, Supply, and Suit Wearing (dedicated researcher, easily retooled into an Astronaut in late game)
• Interest in Farming, Supply, and Tidy (dedicated farmer, supplements as a clean-up/errand runner in the early stretch)

Next will always be a Cook, so Interest in Cuisine.  Preferably, they will also have Interests in Supply and Tidy, but that's unnecessary.

After that I always need an Interest in Art to get the Great Hall going, but that's not enough of a job to do full time.  This Dupe also needs 2 of the 3: Supply, Tidy, Suit Wearing.  The sooner I get this dupe the better, because he needs his 3rd skillpoint before he becomes relevant, but the Cook is more important to minimize resources per kCal.

After that, I'm looking for mostly more Excavation/Construction workers like the first starting Dupe, with the occasional additional Clean-up/Errand runner having Interests in some combination of Supply, Tidy, and Suit Wearing.  Somewhere along the line I always intend to get at least 2 Dupes with Interests in Doctoring, who's remaining interests should be in the Supply/Tidy area.

Traits I will never accept:

• Flatulent
• Loud Sleeper (early)
• Noodle Arms
• Anemic
• Narcoleptic
• Mouth Breather
• Non-constructive (early)
• Trypophobia (early)

Regardless of their Interests, when Morale permits it all of my Dupes will receive Supply, Tidy, and the first in Suit Wearing training for the stat increases.  Totals at +3 Athletics, removal of Exosuit penalty to Athletics, +8 Strength, and + 1200 kg carry capacity.

[Gus Smedstad]

53 minutes ago, PhailRaptor said:

• Loud Sleeper (early)

I completely understand the others, but Loud Sleeper is trivial to offset. You place one cot 3 tiles further over. Space is somewhat limited in the very early game, but not that much, and the extra digging time during the first cycle isn't critical.

Later, you can assign sleeping shifts and cots so no one is sleeping next to the loud sleeper, and the limitation goes away entirely. Heck, you can do that on cycle 1, but I like Dupes to have company for dinner so I don't split shifts super early.

I'll also take Flatulent, personally. I know lots of people dislike it, but the most annoying thing I've seen with it is when a little fart cloud slightly delays a farm plot, since Mealwood won't grow in natural gas. Sure, it's worse than many of the easy negatives, but I can easily live with it.

[PhailRaptor]

17 minutes ago, Gus Smedstad said:

1 hour ago, PhailRaptor said:

• Loud Sleeper (early)

I completely understand the others, but Loud Sleeper is trivial to offset. You place one cot 3 tiles further over. Space is somewhat limited in the very early game, but not that much, and the extra digging time during the first cycle isn't critical.

That's also why I tagged it (early).  It's an extra headache you don't need to worry about while you are at your most vulnerable.  Once you stabilize, though, it becomes irrelevant.  Especially once you transition from Barracks to Bedrooms, simply because the Comfy Bed is a larger object, so even if your Dupes are still sharing rooms at that point, you can solve for Loud Sleeper by accident.  Assuming you haven't already done so by separating by shifts.

20 minutes ago, Gus Smedstad said:

I'll also take Flatulent, personally. I know lots of people dislike it, but the most annoying thing I've seen with it is when a little fart cloud slightly delays a farm plot, since Mealwood won't grow in natural gas. Sure, it's worse than many of the easy negatives, but I can easily live with it.

If it produced a larger volume, it might be a nice trade-off trait, horrible early but useful late.  But since it's such a small volume, it's not worthwhile as either a power source, or as a fuel source for the new Oven.  And to accommodate for this, you must put a filter on every Pump you use anywhere that Dupe is allowed to go to remove the NatGas.  Not worth the investment of time, effort, and logistical over-engineering.

[Gus Smedstad]

I don't care about the advantages of Flatulent. Most drawbacks have no offsetting advantage at all. I'm saying that I don't find Flatulent to be horrible early. It's not quite a non-issue like some drawbacks, but it's close enough that I don't really care all that much.

[JesusOnEez]

It's fascinating how people pick their dupes, and it seems the re-roll mechanism isn't popular, although it was made a little easier when they allowed for picking your base skill.

However, my personal preference would be for the player to pick the base skill (Researcher/Digger and so on), and then be able to pick the interests individually whether they want one at +7, two at +3 or three at +1...at that point you can't re-roll and are forced to take randomly generated positive and negative traits.

Each time you choose something, it is locked (much like when you upgrade on the skills screen).

Like I say, my personal preference.

[Yoma_Nosme]

My top of the pops so to say,

1 researcher with suit wearing for astrosquirrel 

...in general, I really like suit wearing...so the more the merrier 

Cook with an artistic streak...

Digger with building

The first chance I get I choose a gopher with interest in supply and strength if possible.

Depending on the map...a very good doctor instead of cook to keep my poopers healthy although germs lack the spiky tooth to really hurt, but you know...

One thing I need to add to conclude...

I let (almost) every dupe get a few points in research (3-5) so they LVL up the other skills faster.