Gauranlen tree

Gauranlen tree exclusion radius

The Gauranlen tree is a tree added by the Ideology DLC. It produces and supports dryads. The tree reaches its largest size after 10 days since planting, although this is purely visual.

They can be eaten by alphabeavers but not by thrumbos, despite both being dendrovores. It is immune to Toxic fallout.

Growing

Gauranlen trees are grown from a Gauranlen seed, which must be harvested from a gauranlen pod. Gauranlen pods are spawned as an event that occurs roughly every 60 days (30 days with the Tree Connection meme), or as a successful ritual reward. Harvesting a pod yields 1-2 Garuanlen seed.

These seeds can be planted on any tile with a fertility stat. It cannot be planted closer than 4 tiles to another Gauranlen tree, or within 1 tile from any other tree or cactus. It also cannot be placed within 1 tile of a growing zone. However, if planted within 7 tiles of an artificial structure, the tree will experience a greater connection strength decay over time.

Like the anima tree and polux tree, but unlike other trees, Gauranlen trees cannot be moved.

Gauranlen moss

The tree will continously sprout gauranlen moss when it is planted. The moss has a beauty of +10, but serves no other purpose. It must be cut if growing other plants. It will spread flames, but cannot be burnt down itself. It can grow on any tile with fertility and does not require light.

Linking Ceremony

An unconnected Gauranlen tree can produce up to 2 immature dryads. For the tree to produced specialized dryads, a colonist must connect with the tree through a connection ceremony.

The ceremony requires at minimum 1 connector capable of Plant Cutting. Spectators will increase the quality of the ceremony, with each spectator over one adding an additional 10% expected ceremony quality. Depending on quality, the connection strength will start between 25% and 45%. For every 2% of expected connection quality, additional tile with gauranlen moss will spawn within 7 tile of gauranlen tree.

Even if connection reaches 0%, the pawn and tree will remain linked. The only way to break this link is for the connected colonist to die or be kidnapped by an enemy. Even if the colonist is resurrected or returned to a colony, the connection will be severed. There is a 30-day^[Verify] cooldown between the unlink and relinking.

Once you have linked to a tree, you can select a dryad caste. One tree can only have 1 caste of dryads, though you can have multiple dryads of that caste.

Connection

In order for the tree to produce and sustain dryads, a linked pawn must prune it. Pruning builds up connection with the tree - the amount of connection determines how many dryads are sustained at once. Connection can be viewed by selecting the tree.

Connection	5%	25%	50%	75%
Dryads	1	2	3	4

It is recommended to keep connection strength above the desired threshold, as connection will fall even if pruned. If connection ever falls below the threshold, then dryads will merge back into the tree, and will have to be spawned again.

Regardless of connection strength, there is an 8 day timer between spawning each immature dryad. This time will tick down even if the tree is unconnected, or if connection strength is too low to support more dryads. Once a dryad has spawned, it will take 5 more days for a dryad to mature into a selected dryad caste.

Decay

Connection decays every day, by an amount dependent on the current connection level:

Connection decays by -2.6% / day at any level, except 0%.
Decay is increased by (-0.6% / day) per connection strength.
Decay maxes out at -6% day, at 65-70% connection strength.

Basically, the more dryads are sustained, the more pruning you will have to do per day.

Artificial buildings

Any artificial building in the Gauranlen tree's 7-tile range will increase connection decay by up to -6.2% / day. The amount of decay is dependent soley on how close the nearest artificial building is. Having multiple buildings does not impact connection decay.

In tile proximity to decay rate: 7 tiles : -1.7%, 6 tiles : -2.4%, 5 tiles : -3.2%, 4 tiles : -4%, 3 tiles : -4.7%, 2 tiles : -5.5%, 1 tile : -6.2%.

Pruning

For how much time a pawn would need to prune, see Pruning Speed.

Pruning is done to maintain a tree's connection status. It is considered a Plant Cut task in the work tab, done before any other plant-cut related task. You can adjust how much Connection a pawn will prune to by selecting the tree.

Pruning speed is determined by the Pruning Speed stat. This stat is based off of Global Work Speed and Plants skill. In addition, the Tree Connection meme gives +25% to pruning speed, applied after skills. Tree Connection gives the pruning speed boost through the Gauranlen Connection precept. Pruning is not impacted by health factors like Consciousness or Manipulation, so damaged pawns can prune just as well as healthy ones.

A baseline pawn at Plants 8 will have 100% pruning speed, and will prune at 1%/hr. A pawn of this skill would need to prune for 6 hours per day to mantain 4 dryads.

While pruning, pawns earn XP at about the same rate as normal plant work, but won't have to move, and therefore get more XP/hour.

Other Ideoligion Interactions

In addition to the speed boost, a pawn with Gauranlen Connection precept will get a non-stacking +3 moodlet for being connected to a tree. When not connected to a tree, they will get a mood penalty (scaling with colony expectations).

The gauranlen tree counts as a "super" tree to pawns with the Trees: Desired precept, and will give the "amazing tree" thought to such pawns.

Analysis

In order to get and sustain 4 dryads, you will have to prune each tree from 3.6 hours (Tree Connection, Plants 20) to 6 hours (Plants 8), before Global Work Speed. This is 3.6 - 6+ hours spent per day just to sustain the dryads. Sustaining 1 tree with 4 dryads is more efficient than 2 trees with 2 dryads, due to 2 trees losing connection faster.

How much benefit you'll get depends on the dryad in question:

Woodmaker: Woodmakers are space-efficient, but not work efficient compared to growing any other tree. Also can survive in extreme cold/heat.
- If you can't harvest trees, then somewhat competitive with fibercorn. With Tree Connection, Plants 14 dryads are equal to Plants 14 fibercorn. At higher plants skill, or with a Plants specialist, fibercorn becomes better for wood per work.
Berrymaker & Medicinemaker: Unless you are unable to grow plants at all, then the dryads are worse than their plant equivalent.
Barkskin & Clawer: Combat dryads, controlled just like an animal trained to Attack. Unlike animals, dryads can regenerate from all permanent wounds and even luciferium addiction by resting for 3 days. Both dyrads are not great in solo combat, but can work together with colonists. It's a huge time cost, but can be useful.
Carrier: 1 pawn can sustain 4 half-speed haulers for a full waking day, for less than a full day's of work. If you don't need things hauled constantly, then you still have to prune the tree (or face a 5-day minimum penalty).
Gaumaker: Another way to create gaulanlen trees. Useful for the Tree Connection moodlet, and only available with Tree Connection.

Because light impacts Global Work Speed, you'll want to place a standing lamp 8-9 tiles away. Alternatively, you can place a torch lamp anywhere near the tree.

Using gauranlen trees in grow zones
As mentioned before, the Gauranlen tree is a tree and requires a 3 by 3 space around it to not be cut down. They cant be placed within 4 tiles of another gauranlen tree, so maximizing area to trees, you can have 4 trees in a 6*6 area(note that an additional 7 tiles from each side cannot have buildings without impeding connection). The ratio of tiles occupied by a tree to tiles occupied by a grow zone is 9:16, making for a 5*5 repeating pattern around each tree. At each protruding corner, where you shouldn't have walls, more grow tiles can be put in (as long as it's arable soil). Thus it is efficient to use the tree in this way if space available is an important factor.

Cutting

Cutting down a connected Gauranlen tree will kill all of its dryads and give a -15 mood to the connected pawn for 10 days. It will also prevent the previously connected pawn from connecting to a different tree until the mood debuff is gone. It will get selected for cutting using the chop tree drag command, so be careful.

Gallery

Gauranlen Tree sprite Variant A
Gauranlen Tree sprite Variant B
Chopped gauranlen stump
Smashed gauranlen stump

Version history

Ideology DLC Release - Added.
1.3.3069 - Connecting to a Gauranlen tree gives 25-45% connection strength to the connector depending on ritual quality. Psychically deaf pawns cannot connect with Gauranlen trees.
1.3.3072 - Gauranlen trees heal slowly over time.
1.3.3074 - Prevent thrumbos from eating Gauranlen trees.
1.3.3076 - Pruning is now based off the pruning speed stat.
1.4.3523 - Fix: Global work speed not applying to pruning speed.

Plants

Domesticated plants: Cocoa tree • Corn plant • Cotton plant • Devilstrand mushroom • Haygrass • Healroot • Hop plant • Potato plant • Psychoid plant • Rice plant • Smokeleaf plant • Strawberry plant • Tinctoria • Fibercorn • Gauranlen pod • Nutrifungus • Toxipotato plant
Decorative plants: Dandelions • Daylily • Rose • Bonsai tree
Wild plants: Agarilux • Agave • Alocasia • Ambrosia bush • Astragalus • Berry bush • Brambles • Bryolux • Bush • Chokevine • Clivia • Giant rafflesia • Glowstool • Grass • Low shrubs • Moss • Pincushion cactus • Tall grass • Wild healroot • Anima grass • Gauranlen moss
Trees: Bamboo tree • Birch tree • Cecropia tree • Cypress tree • Drago tree • Maple tree • Oak tree • Palm tree • Pine tree • Poplar tree • Saguaro cactus • Teak tree • Willow tree • Anima tree • Gauranlen tree • Timbershroom • Gray pine tree • Pebble cactus • Polux tree • Rat palm tree • Witchwood tree
Tree stumps: Burned stump • Chopped stump (Gauranlen , Anima , Polux ) • Smashed stump (Gauranlen , Anima , Polux )