Woodmaker

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Woodmakers are a caste of Dryads, a type of animal added by the Ideology DLC.

Summary

All dryads, including the woodmaker, are produced by a gauranlen tree. They have no need to eat, are immune to disease events, and have 100% Toxic Resistance, rendering them immune to Toxic fallout and Toxic buildup. Dryads cannot die from blood loss, so in practice will survive virtually any damage that doesn't immediately kill them. Dryads can retreat to a healing pod in order to regenerate wounds; this takes 3 days and heals all permanent injuries and bad conditions.

Woodmakers generate wood x32 every two days. Maintaining 4 woodmaker dryads requires between 8.2 (Skill 0, non-Connection ideoligion) and 3.6 (Skill 20, connection ideoligion) in-game hours of pruning per day. This equals approximately 20,500 ticks (5.69 mins) and 9,000 ticks (2.5 mins) for 64 wood. In comparison, for the same yield:

Fibercorn requires 15,040 ticks (4.18 mins)
Timbershroom requires 12,288 ticks (3.41 mins)
Cypress tree requires 6,186.67 ticks (1.72 mins)

Note however, that these are base times and base yields. Plant Work Speed significantly affects the amount of work required, and Plant Harvest Yield affects trees but not dryads.

Analysis

Woodmakers produce a very consistent source of wood, that "grows" even during extreme cold. They create wood without upsetting Tree Connection or Nature Primacy pawns that hate cutting down trees.

Comparison to other sources of wood

Woodmakers are fairly consistent for work per wood, which makes them good without a skilled tree-cutter. From 6 Plants skill, most trees are on-par with dryads - and trees happen to require 6 skill in the first place. Using field hands or the Plants specialist role makes trees even better.

If restricted to work-inefficient fibercorn due to the Nature Primacy meme, dryads compare better. A healthy baseline pawn requires a Plants skill of 6 to produce as much wood as a skill 0 pawn maintaining 4 woodmakers. At Plants skill 14, using fibercorn produces more wood per unit-work than a skill 20 pruner, and is equal to a skill 14 pruner with Tree Connection.

Woodmakers have a major advantage: they are remarkably efficient for space. They produce wood at a reasonably fast rate: 4 dryads are equal to 64 oak trees planted in rich soil, or about 76 hydroponics basins full of fibercorn. Therefore, dryads are easier to fence in. Dryads also don't require research, are unaffected by soil. Finally, they are much more resistant against temperature, making them useful in biomes with harsh winters, like tundras or ice sheets.