If you want to get the most out of your settlers in Going Medieval, mastering stat optimization is crucial. This guide will take you through how to min-max your settlers, covering everything from learning speed, perks, and skill selection to prioritization in job assignments. Whether you are playing with the default three settlers or customizing a group of ten, this guide will ensure you get the best possible workforce.

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Understanding Settler Stats and Learning Speed

Why Learning Speed Matters

Not all settlers are created equal. While high skill levels are great, what truly matters is their ability to learn and improveover time. This is represented by single and double stars next to their skills. A settler with two stars in a skill will level up significantly faster than one with no stars, making them far more valuable in the long run.

Age, Size, and Other Non-Factors

Currently, in Going Medieval, a settler’s age, height, and weight have no impact on their work efficiency. Likewise, there are no children or aging mechanics, meaning you do not have to worry about villagers growing old or being unable to contribute.

Gender and Team Composition

Unlike other colony management games, gender balance does not play a role in Going Medieval. You can focus purely on skills, perks, and learning potential without concern for social mechanics.

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The Best Starting Skills for a Three-Settler Game

When starting a standard game, you only get three settlers. To set yourself up for success, prioritize these skills:

1. Botany (for food supply and resource gathering)
2. Construction (to build structures quickly and efficiently)
3. Intellectual (to speed up research and unlock new technologies)

These three skills cover the essential early-game needs and allow you to establish a strong foundation.

How to Min-Max Through Rerolling

Since you cannot manually assign stats, rerolling is the only way to optimize your starting settlers. Look for:

• Botany 14+ with at least one star and the Green Thumb perk.
• Construction 12+ with at least one star and a good movement/work speed perk.
• Intellectual 10+ with one or two stars for long-term research efficiency.

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Understanding Perks and Their Impact

Perks add another layer of complexity to settler optimization. Some perks are extremely valuable, while others should be avoided entirely.

Best Perks for Key Roles

• Botany: Green Thumb (increases harvesting success and yield)
• Construction: Brawny (increases work speed and movement speed)
• Intellectual: Erudite (boosts learning speed and pairs well with intellectual stars)
• General Work Efficiency: Swigger (settler works faster after drinking alcohol)

Perks to Avoid

• Contemplative (Severe negative mood penalties)
• Cannibal (Unless you’re doing a roleplay challenge, this is a hard pass)
• Any trait with major work speed reductions

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Expanding to a Ten-Settler Custom Game

In a custom game with ten starting settlers, you have the opportunity to fully specialize your workforce. Your goal should be to ensure that each vital skill has at least one highly proficient settler with two stars.

How to Build a Balanced Team

• Smithing & Tailoring: At least one expert in each.
• Medical & Melee: A strong doctor who can also fight.
• Construction & Carpentry: Essential for long-term village development.
• Mining & Botany: Critical for gathering resources efficiently.
• Cooking & Animal Handling: Ensuring food production and hunting efficiency.

By rolling each settler carefully, you can cover all core job roles while ensuring high learning potential for each specialist.

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Job Assignment for Maximum Efficiency

After setting up your settlers, you need to prioritize their jobs effectively. This means ensuring that:

• Experts always do their specialized job first (e.g., a high-level smith shouldn’t be hauling logs instead of forging weapons).
• Non-skilled settlers do basic tasks (e.g., hauling, crafting, and general maintenance).
• Research specialists stay focused instead of wasting time on other jobs.

How to Adjust Job Priorities

• Right-click to lower priority, ensuring low-skill settlers do not take on advanced tasks.
• Left-click to increase priority, ensuring skilled workers focus on their expertise.
• Convalescence (healing) and Stewarting (hauling) should always be set low unless a settler has no other vital tasks.

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Final Thoughts: The Key to Long-Term Success

Min-maxing settlers in Going Medieval is all about ensuring high learning speeds, prioritizing essential skills, and optimizing job assignments. By carefully rerolling settlers, selecting the right perks, and managing priorities effectively, you can create a colony that thrives from day one.

Whether you’re playing with three settlers in a standard game or ten in a custom setup, the principles of specialization, efficiency, and adaptability will always set you up for success. Keep experimenting, refine your strategies, and most importantly—enjoy the challenge of building your perfect medieval settlement!