If you’re diving into Romestead, one of the most important systems to master is managing your NPC villagers. Every NPC comes with at least one negative trait, and occasionally a positive one. Unless you’re running a sacrificial playstyle, it’s best to avoid bringing low-stat NPCs into your village. Here’s everything you need to know about villager attributes, how they work, and how to improve them.
NPC Core Attributes Overview
Each villager has six key attributes. Below is a breakdown of each one, including what it affects and how to improve it.
| Attribute | Description | How to Improve |
|---|---|---|
| Happiness | Affects NPC efficiency and expertise. Also increases town defense value. | Increase NPC’s current work level, raise loyalty, improve building attractiveness. |
| Food Consumption | How many units of food the NPC consumes per day. | Generally considered the best negative trait since food is rarely scarce. |
| Efficiency | Work speed. Determines how fast an NPC completes crafting orders. Also affects output of lumber mills, quarries, and clay pits. | Increase happiness. |
| Expertise | Affects the quality of items produced from commands. Heavily impacts gear made in Leatherworking and Forge workshops. May also affect secondary outputs from quarries and similar facilities. | Increase NPC’s current work level, raise loyalty, improve happiness. |
| Experience Gain | Only affects how fast the NPC levels up. | Increase loyalty. |
| Loyalty Gain | Affects the speed at which loyalty increases. | N/A (this is the rate itself). |
Building Attractiveness
Building attractiveness is a hidden stat that influences happiness. You can increase it by placing:
- Shrub decorations next to buildings
- Large tree decorations
- Fountains
Additionally, a Venus statue at level 1 increases the maximum attractiveness cap by 10%.
Loyalty: The Hidden Multiplier
Loyalty represents how much an NPC likes you. It boosts both experience gain and happiness, which in turn indirectly increases all other stats. Loyalty has a cap, and the best gifts to raise it are:
- Wine
- Various gems obtained as byproducts from mining
Special NPC: The Volcano Recruit
Once you build a base near the volcano, a special NPC will approach you. They will ask for a material dropped by the Phoenix boss. If you give it to them, they will join your village. This NPC is unique because:
- They have no negative traits
- They start with three skills already at level 4
This makes them one of the most valuable villagers you can recruit, so prioritize that boss fight when you’re ready.
More Guides:
- Romestead: All Buildings and Villagers Guide
- Romestead: Sacrifice Unlocks Technology and Item Blueprints
- Romestead – How to Unlock the Temple of Vulcan and Survive the Fire Zone
