Housing Need

Overview
In addition to food, all villagers need shelter from the weather. There are two types of needs in this category, the need for Basic Housing, and the need for species-specific Species Housing. Both are discussed in this article.
Villagers who have their need for Basic Housing met get a small bonus to their Resolve. When villagers are housed in a nicer home, specific to their species, they get a second small bonus to their Resolve.
Both Shelters, which provide Basic Housing and species-specific Houses, which provide both Basic Housing and Species Housing are found under
Housing on the Construction Toolbar.
Villagers never visit their homes; they only ever walk between their workplaces, Warehouses, and Hearths. Therefore, villagers' housing does not need to be close by, accessible by road, or even near the same Hearth as the villager's workplace. However, many viceroys use the areas around housing buildings for decorations needed to upgrade Hearths.
Satisfaction
When a new housing building is constructed, any villagers who still need shelter will be automatically assigned to their new home, until it reaches capacity. Viceroys usually aim to have their entire population housed before the first storm to mitigate low Resolve. Basic Shelters and Big Shelters satisfy villagers' Basic Housing need.
When a new species-specific House is built, any villagers of that species whose Housing Need hasn't been satisfied will be automatically assigned to the new House, until it reaches capacity. Once a villager moves into their species' House, their Basic Housing and their Species Housing needs are both satisfied. While either need is satisfied as soon as Shelter or House construction finishes, should you destroy their place of residence, villagers won't be counted as homeless (and lose Resolve) until they take a break.
Frogs are not bothered by the constant rain and do not have a need for Basic Housing. As such, they refuse to live in Shelters, forcing Viceroys to build their species-specific housing if they want them to count as housed villagers for the purposes of fulfilling Orders and upgrading Hearths.
Note: Villagers of a different species cannot use species-specific Houses of another species.
How to check Shelter and Housing Need satisfaction
There is a number of UI elements that can help you track homeless villagers, how many Housing slots are available, etc. They are all located in the upper left section of the screen:


- Homeless counter for individual species. It tracks the number of villagers of a particular species that don't have even the Basic Housing Need fulfilled.
- Global homeless counter. Tracks the total number of villagers that have neither the Basic Housing or Species Housing needs fulfilled, irrespective of their species. When hovered over, displays the Housing Status tooltip.
- Housing Status tooltip. Lists the following:
- Number of homeless villagers.
- Number of free slots in Shelters.
- Number of free slots in each of the species' Housing.
- Shelter Need icon in the expanded Species Panel.
- In the upper right corner you can find the number of free slots available in Shelters.
- In the bottom left corner you can find the average Resolve bonus granted to the species from satisfying this need.
- The tile starts glowing when all villagers of this species have the tile's need fulfilled.
- You can also hover over the icon to get a more detailed breakdown.
- Housing Need icon in the expanded Species Panel.
- In the upper right corner you can find the number of free slots available in species-specific Housing.
- In the bottom left corner you can find the average Resolve bonus granted to the species from satisfying this need.
- The tile starts glowing when all villagers of this species have the tile's need fulfilled.
- You can also hover over the icon to get a more detailed breakdown.
List of Shelter and Housing Needs
| Species | Basic Housing Need | Species Housing Need | Species Housing description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Bats prefer to live in spacious and dark homes. | |||
| Beavers prefer to live in cozy, wooden homes. | ||||
| Foxes prefer to live in wooden, well camouflaged houses. | ||||
| — | Frogs are at home in water. | |||
|
|
Harpies prefer to live in well-lit, spacious homes. | |||
| Humans prefer to live in solid, safe homes. | ||||
| Lizards prefer to live in warm, dry homes. |
Housing slots and Resolve boosts
| Housing building | Needs satisfied | Slots | Total Resolve boost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | +3 | ||
| 6 | +3 | ||
| 2 | +6 | ||
| 2 | +6 | ||
| 2 | +7 | ||
| 2 | +5 | ||
| 2 | +6 | ||
| 2 | +6 | ||
| 2 | +6 |
The number of slots in a housing building can be raised with certain Perks. Purified Houses rewarded from Haunted Ruin Glade Events have 6 slots.
Housing unlocks and construction cost
| Housing building | Unlock or upgrade | Base cost | Prestige 6 cost | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (always available) |
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| Ancient Knowledge Deed |
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| Vanguard Spire level 9 |
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| Vanguard Spire level 2 |
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| Vanguard Spire level 6 |
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| Level 13 |
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| Vanguard Spire level 4 |
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| Vanguard Spire level 1 |
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| Vanguard Spire level 3 |
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Upgrading Houses
Main article Housing Upgrades
Housing upgrades provide a variety of bonuses primarily at the cost of
Pack of Building Materials. Different bonuses are tied to different species' Housing and different Housing upgrade levels.
Housing-dependent Forest Mysteries
- Main article: Forest Mysteries
Negative
| Mystery | Penalty | Active from Hostility |
Prevention |
|---|---|---|---|
Cloudburst |
-5 Resolve to affected villagers. | 3 | 1x Clothing 1x Housing |
Downpour |
+50% chance of affected villager eating double during break. | 5 | 1x Housing 1x Services |
Fog |
-40% movement speed to affected villagers. | 1 | 1x Housing |
Hailstorm |
+5% chance of affected villager dying every 15 seconds. | 2 | 1x Housing |
Melancholy |
-2 Resolve penalty, stacks every 60 seconds on affected villager. | 3 | 1x Complex Food 1x Housing |
Swarms |
-2 Resolve penalty, stacks every 60 seconds on affected villagers. | 2 | 1x Housing |
Under an Open Sky |
-5 Resolve to affected villagers. | 1 | 1x Housing |
Positive
| Mystery | Effect | Description | Activation |
|---|---|---|---|
Fresh Breeze |
Energized | +20% villager walking speed. | 1x Housing |
Strange Visions |
Focused | +20% chance of double yields for affected villagers. | 1x Housing |
Perks and Cornerstones influencing housing
| Name | Rarity | Description | Sources | Price | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alt | Cor | Ord | Rel | Tra | Dec | Por | Fir | Ser | Bio | ||||
| Legendary | All houses have room for 1 more villager. | x | Cor | x | x | x | x | Por | x | x | x | 0 | |
| Mythic | All houses have room for 1 more villager, and the time between breaks for workers increases by +25%. | Alt | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | 0 | |
| Legendary | For every 10 completed trade routes, all houses will have room for one more person. | x | Cor | x | x | x | x | Por | x | x | x | 0 | |
Note: all houses includes both Shelters and species-specific Houses. Villager with a home counts villagers housed in both Shelters and Houses.


