Zombie Workers and Crafting Speed

Start with your situation

Check tools and weapons · Check work eligibility · Troubleshoot a stopped worker

Work eligibility comes before speed

For ordinary crafting, the code compares effective mastery with the recipe requirement before starting or resuming work. Effective mastery includes the zombie's talent level, matching equipment bonuses and applicable perks. A stronger tool can therefore make a recipe eligible as well as affect progress.

The crafter eligibility method exempts star crafts, autopsy, pocket extraction and research from its ordinary threshold check. Other checks still apply: the worker-dependent check rejects star crafts, autopsy and garden planting when the relevant mastery is zero or below. Do not apply a single ordinary-crafting rule to every job.

Zombies not working

Tools and weapons use separate slots

In 1.008, a zombie’s working tool and combat weapon have separate equipment slots. Check the tool used by the assigned job and the weapon used for combat independently. A weapon does not replace the tool type or mastery required by a recipe. The existing sword restriction still applies; separate slots do not make every weapon eligible.

When a save from before 1.008 is upgraded, a weapon in the former hand slot moves to the weapon slot only if that slot is empty and the old item is classified as a weapon rather than a tool. An occupied weapon slot is not overwritten. After loading, inspect both slots and the next job before replacing a worker. These are migration rules, not a guarantee that every old save has been tested.

Work and supply checks

One low-level job and its upgrade

Bronze Nails made from bronze scrap need smithing mastery 1. A zombie at 0, with no tool and without Novice Blacksmith, does not meet it. A Rusty Hammer adds 1 for the smithing talent. That is this zombie’s tool bonus, not the player’s Heat Handler perk.

What mastery changes during manual crafting

In the inspected manual progress function, mastery is raised to at least the recipe requirement before division. For a positive requirement, progress per completed action is the integer ratio of that adjusted mastery to the requirement, capped at three crafting progress units. Ordinary recipes with a zero requirement use a divisor of one and at least one mastery.

This function does not prove that an under-skilled worker can start a job: the separate eligibility checks decide that. Its later under-skilled star-craft probability branch cannot be reached after that earlier adjustment, so it is not evidence for a published failure-chance formula.

Tools have three separate roles

1. Required type: the station specifies a tool; a non-automatic recipe can override that type. Equip the tool required by the actual task.
2. Mastery bonus: equipment with a matching talent adds its talent bonus, alongside applicable perks.
3. Gathering modifier: six recipes have an additional tool-based animation-progress modifier: stone, marble, mining, sawmill wood, clay and sand. Its absence on another recipe does not remove the first two tool effects.

Manual workers and automatic stations

Manual zombie work advances through sub-ticks before applying crafting progress. Automatic recipes use a separate station timing path. These counters and station periods are different quantities; this guide does not convert automatic-station values to minutes or rank tools by untested completion times.

The inspected zombie manual-crafting activity reports zero energy and insanity cost, with empty deduction methods. Player crafting energy and insanity formulas therefore do not describe this zombie activity. This finding does not replace recipe ingredients or fuel requirements.

Continue the right stage

Need your first zombie? Resurrection requires its own room, corpse checks, liquid and collar, followed by a separate device action. Work speed, equipment and capacity checks start after resurrection.

Zombie resurrection: prepare the corpse, then use the device

Supply and the population limit

A Zombie Supplier handles local delivery orders; a Porter follows its transport station's item list. See supplies and finished products before building more transport.

The PR Machine guide explains temporary zombie capacity and the excessive-zombie penalty. That penalty is not established here as a cause of stopped crafting.

These conclusions come from game data and behavior research. They describe the inspected Steam PC build, not measured completion times or a test of your save.

supplies and finished products · PR Machine guide