Editing Training

All skills in ''Rimworld'' improve simply while they are used, there is nothing special that needs to be done in addition to that.  If a colonist is assigned to a task (via the ''Work'' tab) with a sufficiently high priority, they will, ''eventually'', perform that task and (depending on the task) gain skill points in the governing skill.

However, it's also true that untrained workers can be a liability.  For example, a poorly trained cook will cause food poisoning more frequently, and an untrained miner can waste 1/3 of the potential resources while trying to extract them, and do it more slowly to boot. A colonist may need just a touch of something to be ''exactly'' the pawn your colony needs.

This article will suggest a few special ways to manipulate colonists into training certain specific skills, even if they have low or no starting levels in that skill.

* Note: The simplest, fastest way to "train" a colonist is via a [[skilltrainer]]. However, as those are hard to find and moderately expensive (market value 750), and finding one with the skill you want (1/12 chance each) can be a challenge in itself, this article will assume those are not available to you at this time.

:* Butchering a dead animal

:* Brewing beer (not Crafting or Intellectual, either of which would be plausible)

==Training a skill==

==== Daily XP cap ====

==== Candidates ====

=== Temporary Zone restrictions ===

 

A technique that is mentioned a few times in this article, is to create a [[zone]] specifically to restrict a colonist to a very certain area, in order to force them to perform a task.

 

As an example, let's say you want a colonist to smooth the floor in your freezer in the next few days, and ''do nothing else''.  In this case, you will create a new [[zone]] for them, containing exactly these areas in your base:

 

* the colonist's bedroom (so s/he can go to rest as usual)

* the recreation area and dining table

* a place where food is stored, so they can get their meals (maybe not necessary in this example, because the freezer is already covered, but critical to include)

These areas ''do not have to be adjacent'' (connected). The zone can be composed of several disconnected areas.

 

If you feel you are not prepared for the next raid, you can train a few combat abilities.  This will always need to be done manually, i.e. with the trainee drafted.  That means you can not manage the colony in the mean time, and it can be difficult to train more than one colonist at a time.  This probably means a net loss of productivity in your colony, so only do it if you feel it is really necessary.

You can also assign them "[[Hunt]]ing", but this is slow and dangerous; animal "revenge" is always a risk. However, it has its advantages (see below).

The best way to train shooting is to assign the colonist to the "hunting" task.  Giving them a long-range weapon, for example, a [[bolt-action rifle]] makes hunting safer because animals are less likely to enrage and retaliate if shot at from long range. To be safe, only hunt passive animals that will never retaliate.

Deliberately damaging your own structures or buildings does not improve your shooting skill.

Giving a really bad shooter a weapon not suited for the task, such as a [[machine pistol]] of "awful" quality, means that they will possibly hunt for a ''long'' time before actually killing the animal.  Do not expect a colonist that you train this way to be very productive for the colony.

The best possible method is with an [[EMP launcher]] or [[smoke launcher]], since they do no damage, and therefore, a colonist can train for an indefinite amount of time without chance of hurting an animal and possibly triggering revenge.  

Outside of hunting, some resilient animals such as the [[Megasloth]], [[Rhinoceros]] and [[Thrumbo]] can give a lot of shooting skill by kiting them, and slowly shooting them with a low DPS weapon.  You need to be very careful with this approach because those animals do a lot of damage if given the chance to get into your melee range.

This is a special case of deliberately slow "hunting".

This approach does require extensive micromanagement, and you won't be able to perform other manual tasks in the colony in the meantime.  It is even possible that actually killing the animal will take so long that your colonist will pass out from exhaustion or go into starvation. You ''must'' have a capable shooter available to finish off the animal and end the training if necessary.

(If using tamed targets, you can stop before killing them, and train up your Medical colonist(s), patching the target up for next time.)

You can slow down the work deliberately, by working under poor conditions (outside, in the dark, not using electricity, in the cold, ...). For many skills, experience is granted <u>over time</u> and not by work units. Crafting as slowly as possible means you will waste less material in the same time span. Only do this while crafting at level 5 or lower; from level 6, you can expect to at least break even on average with regards to material cost.  

Because of this it is best to let unskilled animal handlers only ''train animals'' that are already domesticated.  If this fails, some food will be wasted, and the animal might lose some training from decay, but nothing worse will happen.  Only your qualified animal handlers should be allowed to milk, shear or tame wild animals.

It is very finicky to assign all your animal handlers to the jobs best suited for them.  It can be done with a lot of manipulation of temporary zone restrictions, but the recommended way is to install a mod like ''Work Tab'': it allows for fine-grained control of the various animals related sub-tasks.

There is not much to be said about training ''artistic''; just have your aspiring artist craft as many sculptures as possible.

 

 

 

 

If a low-skilled cook butchers, they will get [[Butchery Efficiency|less leather and meat]], though that's not always a dealbreaker. If a low-skilled cook prepares meals, they carry an increased risk of [[food poisoning]].  This is a fairly disrupting condition that should be avoided, so it is not optimal to train a new cook by letting them prepare meals that you intend to consume (trading them, on the other hand...).

 

 

Brewing has no minimum level, and is not quality dependent except for the time it takes. Let your rookie cooks brew all the beer they want; it will take a little longer, but it will taste just as good.

This strategy requires ''drug production'' to be researched, and to grow or buy [[smokeleaf leaves]], but training Cooking with smokeleaf production is an excellent strategy. Smokeleaf products have good recreational and cash (trade) value, but be aware that the value ''added'' by making joints from leaves is not work efficient, so outside of training cooks or making the joints for personal use it is better to sell your leaves directly.

Joints have no quality and obviously cannot carry food poisoning, making it a safe task to train any cook.   

Set up a dedicated work bill at the [[crafting spot]] or [[drug lab]], and ''restrict it to the character that you would like to train in cooking''.  The character needs to have priority to "Craft" things on the work tab.  Make sure the drug lab is not occupied by other tasks; the easiest way is to put the smokeleaf job in the first slot on the list of bills.

The only way to practice crafting is to make things, either at a crafting spot, tailoring bench or smithy. Fabrication benches are only usable by already skilled crafters.  Drug production and brewing does '''not''' train crafting.

Alternately, you could create a couple extra (large) growing zones with [[cotton plant]]s, for [[cloth]] to "practice" with. Even poor-quality [[duster]]s sell for a reasonable price.   

If you have a competent crafter (level 8 or higher) that you want to train further, they have the requisite Crafting level (8) to make ([[advanced component|advanced]]) [[component]]s at a fabrication bench.  You will need a lot more ''advanced components'' to build the space ship than you can usually buy from traders, so making them early is never a waste of effort.  They do not have a quality rating, as long as your crafter can make them you will get full value.  Likewise, bionic limbs and organs can be made by anyone who meets the skill requirement, but it is difficult to know in advance which ones you will need (''arms'' are never useless, however). Note also that items without Quality do not trigger an [[Inspired Creativity]] bonus, so they are a good way to train up a crafter before trying for a [[legendary]] item.

Whether caused by  [[Ailments|iinjury or included from the start]], it's often an improvement to a colonist to replace a damaged limb or organ; a heart with even minor [[Ailments#Artery blockage|artery blockage]] can cause a fatal heart attack at any moment.  See various links on [[artificial body parts]] for costs and improvement/penalties the post-operative patient will acquire.  

==== Animals ====

If human subjects are not available, you can "'''sterilize'''" and then '''euthanize animals''', either tame or wild ones that are "rescued" after not [[downed]] but not killed.  This not only gains Medical XP, but gives a larger yield of leather and meat than hunting an animal.  This is a shorter procedure than the jaw replacement (worth only a third of the XP) but it has <u>no medical skill requirement</u>, so is great for training completely unskilled doctors. A failed procedure is both unlikely and of no consequence.  You can euthanize one of your tame animals, or "rescue" a hunted (downed) animal, just to euthanize it straight away. Tame chickens are the best source of animals, because the breed like flies and you usually want to weed out the males, and euthanizing a freshly hatched chick will give the same XP as any other animal would.

:  Removing any organ will give all colonists without the [[Traits#Psychopath|Psychopath]] or [[Traits#Bloodlust|Bloodlust]] trait a negative mood modifier. (For a more complete discussion, see also [[Human_resources#Organ_harvesting|organ harvesting]].)

Each social chat with a colonist gives 4 ''social'' XP per per speech balloon at ''Interested'' passion and neutral mood modifier.  

Setting the prisoner interaction mode to "Reduce resistance" (and not "Recruit") will allow wardens to keep having conversations indefinitely, allowing skill training. However, this costs a lot of food over time to keep the prisoner alive.  Only do this with prisoners you do not want as colonists; recruit them immediately otherwise, so they become productive and improve their skills.