how quickly do you let your dupes master jobs?

[thewreckedangle]

previously, i always set the starting 3 off cycling the first tier jobs, almost immediately, then once all first tier research is done, i make one of them (or print one specifically) to become first level researcher. and then so on and so forth until everyone is maxed in all jobs. this is kind of boring and seems silly because all it ends up doing is forcing you to more quickly find ways to balance the stress and food expectations etc etc. just in order to be able to build things that you probably wont be able to build/need for many cycles away in the future.

soooooo, in my most recent game, i didn't let ANYONE actually max a job until cycle 98. They were assigned a job only long enough to do the task that required said job. yes this requires "actual effort" from the player (micromanaging as i'm sure someone will say) but really it takes seconds. Aside from not maxing the research (although i could've done more) all important things were done, mainly decor and critter management left (and the end space stuff)  and i had built a pretty good base with (at the time) 5 dupes. (i now have 8) and of course, their morale was so easy to maintain (1).

This allowed me to build up a huge amount of top end food (which they were not allowed to eat) and to expand the base without the instant pressure of stress (i do not have stress problems in any case - sweeping is key!) but in this world especially, the max stress i saw was iirc 12%.

once i did start giving them jobs, everything was already in place to give them over the required morale.

and once they reach the next tier, they will be allowed the next stage of food(which we have been stockpiling) to meet their increased morale requirements.

while this is not perhaps the most efficient way to play, it was certainly different. very relaxed, no stress, no hectic rush. I am curious as to what you guys do and if anyone else has tried some different ways.

[Yucie]

The update kind of exposed how kind of meaningless the job system is with regards to higher tiers.

I'll have all the duplicants max only the jobs up to tier 3, starting with research for better learning stats.  This way they can eat meal lice forever and never get stressed out due to nice decor bonuses in their rooms.

The only exception is one duplicant who will have the electrical engineer, ranching, and mechatonics engineer jobs, which is the only duplicant to enjoy frost buns while the others eat raw lice forever.

Despite the lack of exosuit engineer, the athletics skill usually balances it out by cycle 150 (maybe due to immediate learning?) and I've never built anything for morale outside of the water cooler for the great hall bonus.  This has all worked out for 500 cycles thus far (I let it idle after 200 since it was pretty much mastered) which is kind of disappointing as it makes the entire update feel kind of meaningless.

I'll still applaud the schedule for allowing things to get done faster, but the morale expectations basically exposed how ultimately meaningless the higher tier jobs are since you are hesitant to upgrade due to morale until you eventually notice you ultimately don't need to bother with them outside of a couple optional traits.

So yeah... kind of a step down to be honest.

[martosss]

I'd say my strategy hasn't changed - it all depends on what food you can give your dupes.

1. A starter food might be meal lice until you make the necessary research(hurry up with that) for farming to have bristle berries and mushrooms(although planter boxes work perfectly well in the beginning, I'd recommend green farm tiles to preserve space). You can use the printing pod's light in the start to make bristle berries around it. It allows for ~10 bristle berries even without lamps/lights You also don't spend extra energy for lighting.
2. My strategy - gristle berries + fried mushrooms is the normal food that you should be producing in abundance.
3. Add some omelettes to that later on when you have ranches.

I play with a lot of dupes(accept ALL the dupes!), but my early strategy would be to get at least 1 scientist, 1 rancher, 1 farmer and 1 digger, in this order of importance..

So ... while you're in (1), keep dupes at tier 1. Since stress is not that much of an issue in the beginning, I'd try to have dupes learn jobs as quickly as possible while keeping the tier low. That means assigning them jobs that they like("green heart" gives 50% faster mastering speed for that job, so do it first). It helps A LOT if you have a research-loving dupe with 4-5 learning - put him on research and he'll be a master researcher in no time, having 10+ learning and finishing research branches in no time. Use that dupe ONLY for research - forbid research to everyone else and make his research priority /\ or //\\ with everything else lower.

Notice that if you scout nearby pockets fast and also manage to dig out a few bristle berries, you can plant them and even let your research dupe be a scientist without problems.

For the other dupes, I'd recommend having a fast rancher, as you need that for critters. Also, you need a farmer for the farm station. Also a digger in the start, possibly builder(but you're limited to 3 in total, so you have to choose only of those 2 in the start).

A bit later, since (2) gives you sufficient morale for up to 16, there is no problem in making dupes proficient in any job EXCEPT the last tier - tenured scientist,  exosuits and master farmer/ranchers. Therefore I'd limit only those, master all other jobs as fast as possible. However, you don't need those until relatively late game, so it should be fine. That's why I'd try to make dupes master tier 1 digging/building, then make them couriers(carrying capacity), then continue mastering their branch or make them research assistants to increase their skill gaining speed.

Keep only 1 scientist, possibly make him tenured, but only later, when you have omelettes. Until then, give him other jobs(e.g. courier and construction or even art/cooking).

In general I agree with Yucie, although some traits are important - having a rancher, a farmer, miner and mechatronics guy really matters!

@Yucie, I'd argue the top tier jobs do matter, but only later in the game.

• you need end tier ranchers for more efficient ranching(outside of ranch room). If you plan to make an efficient ranch, you might ditch the ranch room and just keep critters(dreckos, most importantly) in the free, without letting them escape, of course. Use an island or water locks for that purpose. That way you can have a small room with many critters without overpopulation => omelette heaven + reed fiber/plastic
• you need tenured scientist to uncover volcanoes, but again, that comes later in the game
• you need mechatronics for automation, I haven't started a new game in a while, so I might change my strategy a bit and have that earlier, as it speeds things up quite a lot.
• exosuits are nice too - farmers going in CO2 for mushrooms, ranchers in Hydrogen for dreckos ...it helps to have them, but as Yucie mentioned, you might do without them too, given that you manage to raise athletics sharply.

 

[WanderingKid]

I used to spike the highest tiers quickly.  Now I've got a 'builder' group who rotate through Mining/Architecture/Storage, I rotate 3 dupes through the research tree until they actually get to the top of tenured scientists (I used to run one to tenured, swap out, etc).  I also don't bother to push ranchers up another level.  The stats for highest level ranching does... nothing.  I just need them to keep the job handy.

Overall though, other then that initial spike I used to do for the jobs that I now have to rotate out while I get the base going, not much difference.

[Soulwind]

I let each dupe master whatever level he needs to do his job (perk-wise), so Miner, Farmer, Rancher, etc.

They also then get to cycle through any (all) jobs of that tier or lower.

That's it.  I don't let them master ExoSuit, Mechtronic, or any of the top tier jobs (an extra +2 just isn't worth the expectation increase)

unless they absolutely need it and then it's not until I have a fully developed living area with plenty of morale.

[Sasza22]

Before you`d just master each job to it`s max tier beacause why not. Now that it has actual morale requirements it`s best to have a few dupes highly skilled and the rest medium or low. I think it`s a good thing. The rotation is kinda an exploit but whatever. For now most top tier jobs don`t offer enough to be worth it. Maybe if the add actual strong perks for the sesoned miner/architects/seasoned farmer that would be kinda needed lategame it will all balance itself out.

[Enno]

I have a simple rule:

Only switch to a higher tier job if the morale of the dupe is already fulfilling the expectations of the new job. 

If I really need a dupe to have a higher job I first change their diet, once the morale is good I switch. 

[Sasza22]

9 minutes ago, Enno said:

I have a simple rule:

Only switch to a higher tier job if the morale of the dupe is already fulfilling the expectations of the new job. 

If I really need a dupe to have a higher job I first change their diet, once the morale is good I switch. 

I got 3 tiers of dupes. Low expectations uses the basic schedule and eats mostly meal lice. Medium gets an extra downtime square and is allowed to eat gristle berry. High (1 dupe) gets 2 extra downtime squares and is allowed to eat stuffed berries and barbecue.

Low gets 8-12 morale
Medium 12-20
High 18-30

[Enno]

2 hours ago, Sasza22 said:

I got 3 tiers of dupes. Low expectations uses the basic schedule and eats mostly meal lice. Medium gets an extra downtime square and is allowed to eat gristle berry. High (1 dupe) gets 2 extra downtime squares and is allowed to eat stuffed berries and barbecue.

Low gets 8-12 morale
Medium 12-20
High 18-30

My lower tier job dupes are still eating fried mushbars, they are not happy about the food but I have good decor everywhere (without art spamming).