Workers

Each worker has a wage, which depends on their level, traits and number of hired workers of the same type.

Workers need benches to sit down when they aren't working. Each bench can support 3 workers.

When hiring new workers, there will be a pool of 3 available workers each day. The pool can be refreshed but this has a starting cost of 25 Gold and the cost is doubled with each refresh up to a cap of 400.

Level

Each worker has a level which determines their number of skill points. Once they reach enough XP, they will level-up, giving two skill points that can be used to increase their skills. The level-up process can be set to automatically select the highest skill or all skills equally. Higher starting levels can be obtained via the Mastery Tree.

Level	Required experience
1	0
2	800
3	1300
4	1900

Traits

Most workers have a positive and a negative trait. A worker cannot have a positive and a negative trait that cancel each other. The following traits are possible:

Positive traits	Negative traits	Worker
Demands a 10% lower wage	Demands a 10% higher wage	All
Walks 20% faster	Walks 20% slower	All
Gains 20% more XP	Gains 20% less XP	All
Earns design points 20% faster	Earns design points 20% slower	Blacksmith
Takes 20% less time to process wood on a carpentry workbench	Takes 20% more time to process wood on a carpentry workbench	Blacksmith
Takes 20% less time to process an ingot on an anvil	Takes 20% more time to process an ingot on an anvil	Blacksmith
Heats ingots 50% faster while using a furnace	Heats ingots 50% slower while using a furnace	Blacksmith
Can carry 2 extra items in their bag		Assistant

Blacksmiths

Blacksmiths have a base wage of 60 + (12 x Level). Each time a blacksmith finishes something they will gain 25 XP. Blacksmiths have three skills:

Metalworking determines the time it takes to process different ingot types on the anvil.
Carpentry determines the time it takes to process different wood types on the carpentry workbench.
Design determines the amount of design points acquired each day.

Blacksmiths may be assigned to the following tasks:

Craft for merchants
Design (requires unlocking Blueprint Upgrades)
Craft for racks
Trade routes

The crafting preference of blacksmiths can be changed so they craft first one of the following:

Most expensive
Least expensive
Most complex
Least complex
Metal items
Wood items

You can take control of blacksmiths and play as them.

Every 20 completed merchant orders allow hiring an elite blacksmith. Elite blacksmiths have one of the following traits:

All workers more 10% faster
Refreshing potential workers when hiring is limited to 300 Gold
All blacksmiths walk at the same speed while carrying as they do while empty-handed

Assistants

Assistants can be hired after unlocking them in the Mastery Tree. Each time an assistant carries an item they will gain 8 XP. Assistants have two skills: