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Arriving at GATE Cascade Research Facility
When you arrive at the secret GATE Cascade Research Facility, which has recently experienced containment issues in Abiotic Factor, you will need to fight alien creatures and survive using whatever you find. The researchers at the facility come from different backgrounds, and this affects your ability to choose a Job and Traits.
Character Creation Overview
There are three main steps: choose your character’s appearance, select a Job, and pick Traits. Your Job gives you bonuses in specific Skills and starts you with a certain number of Points to spend on Traits. Traits can give you advantages or disadvantages that impact your character’s abilities.
Choosing Your Job
Your Job reflects your background and influences your initial Skill levels, starting Trait Points, and experience gains from crafting certain items. For example, the Archotechnic Researcher gets more experience crafting construction items than others.
Character appearance is separate from your Job and Traits; it stays consistent regardless of where you start or join. You can change look options each time you start or join a game, but Traits and Job are set anew each time.
Role in Group Play
Jobs also help guide your role in a team, offering early Skill bonuses especially when Traits synergize well. While you are encouraged to specialize, you are not forced to play a specific role. Skills can become balanced as you level up, and no Job caps Skill levels unless you have a specific Trait that limits it.
Job Details
Job | Starting Skill Bonuses | Starting Trait Points |
---|---|---|
Lab Assistant |
+3 Sprinting +3 Sneaking +2 Strength |
10 Points |
Epimedical Bionomicist |
+3 First Aid +1 Cooking +1 Agriculture |
9 Points |
Trans-Kinematic Researcher |
+2 Blunt Melee +2 Fortitude +2 Sprinting +2 Strength |
8 Points |
Archotechnic Researcher |
+2 Construction +1 Strength +3 Crafting |
7 Points |
Phytogenic Botanist |
+3 Agriculture +2 Cooking +2 Strength |
9 Points |
Somatic Gastrologist |
+2 Sharp Melee +1 Fortitude +4 Cooking |
9 Points |
Paratheoretical Physicist |
+3 Throwing +3 Crafting +1 Sneaking +1 Reloading |
8 Points |
Defense Analyst |
+2 Fortitude +2 Strength +1 Blunt Melee +2 Melee +2 Accuracy |
5 Points |
Summer Intern |
None |
12 Points |
Best Job to Start With
The ideal job depends on whether you’re playing alone or with others. In multiplayer, you can learn recipes from teammates unless you have the Slow Learner Trait, so you don’t need to diversify skills as much. But in singleplayer, having a broad skill set is essential.
The difficulty level also affects your choice, as Jobs with higher initial Trait Points allow you to avoid taking negative Traits. Generally, for solo play, the Trans-Kinematic Researcher is the best starting job. It provides good stats for combat early on, helping you face enemies quickly.
This Job starts you off with a Blunt Damage Desk Leg, which offers an immediate weapon option. Additionally, bonuses to Fortitude and Strength help in fights. Combining it with Traits like Gardener and First Aid Certification can also boost specific skills such as Agriculture and First Aid, giving a head start in useful areas.
What Do Traits Do?
In addition to your Job, you can customize your character with Traits—positive and negative. Each Job provides some Trait Points, but these are limited initially.
- Positive Traits cost Points and provide benefits.
- Negative Traits add Points, allowing you to take more Benefits but also incur disadvantages.
Positive Traits can improve your skills, enhance your survival, or synergize with your Job. Negative Traits usually bring challenges but reward you with more Trait Points, letting you pick additional benefits. Some Traits are incompatible with each other and cannot be used together.
The more severe a Negative Trait, the more Points it grants you in return. Likewise, powerful Traits, either beneficial or harmful, tend to cost more Points—some costing twice as much as others.
You are not required to select Negative Traits unless the Job demands it, but many players opt to get at least one to optimize their character build.
All Positive Traits
Trait | Effect | Incompatible Traits | Points Needed |
---|---|---|---|
Decathlon Competitor | Boosts EXP gain for Sprinting, Strength, and Throwing. | Feeble |
5 Points |
Wrinkly Brainmeat | Gain 20% more overall EXP. | Slow Learner |
4 Points |
Night Owl | Fatigue 50% slower. | Narcoleptic |
4 Points |
Hobbyist Chef | Experience gain for Cooking is doubled. | N/A |
2 Points |
Inconspicuous | Enemies notice you slower, +2 Sneaking. | Painfully Obvious |
4 Points |
Weathered | Less negative effects from temperature changes. | N/A |
3 Points |
Fanny Pack | Permanently adds two hotbar slots. | N/A |
10 Points |
Thick Skinned | Reduces Bleeding chances by 50%. | Hemophilia |
3 Points |
First Aid Certification | +3 to First Aid; start with five bandages. | N/A |
3 Points |
Gardener | Wee EXP for Agriculture; start with Basic Garden recipe. | N/A |
3 Points |
Light Eater | Hunger decreases 20% slower. | Hearty Appetite |
3 Points |
Naturally Moist | Thirst decreases 20% slower. | Dry Skin |
3 Points |
Self Defense | Increases melee weapon damage by 3. | Feeble, Fear of Violence |
5 Points |
Bladder Of Steel | Reduce need to use the toilet by 20%. | Weak Bladder |
2 Points |
Buff Brainiac | Gain +1 Strength; increase weight capacity by 15%. | Feeble |
4 Points |
Lead Belly | Contaminated water won’t make you sick. | N/A |
8 Points |
All Negative Traits
Trait | Effect | Incompatible Traits | Points Added |
---|---|---|---|
Fear Of Violence | Cannot level any combat skill past level five. | Self Defense |
4 Points |
Feeble | 25% less max health; bones break more easily. | Decathlon Competitor, Self Defense, Buff Brainiac |
6 Points |
Narcoleptic | Gain fatigue 75% faster; can’t receive Well Rested buff. | Night Owl |
6 Points |
Asthmatic | Loses stamina faster by 40%. | Decathlon Competitor |
2 Points |
Painfully Obvious | Enemies notice you 45% faster, even when crouching. | Inconspicuous |
4 Points |
Hearty Appetite | Hunger increases 65% faster. | Light Eater |
3 Points |
Dry Skin | Thirst increases 20% faster. | Naturally Moist |
3 Points |
Slow Healer | Injuries heal 1.5 times slower. | N/A |
3 Points |
Slow Learner | Skills learn 20% slower; unable to learn recipes through sharing. | Wrinkly Brainmeat |
2 Points |
Hemophilia | Twice as likely to bleed; bleeding lasts longer and causes more damage. | Thick Skinned |
3 Points |
Weak Bladder | Need to use the toilet 15% more often; longer sitting. | Bladder Of Steel |
1 Point |
Top Traits for Each Job
While any Trait can work with any Job, some Traits boost specific Jobs more effectively, especially early in the game as they share skill bonuses.
For example, Decathlon Competitor is widely useful because it benefits most Jobs that start with strength bonuses and enhances the Sprinting skill necessary throughout the game.
Job | Recommended Traits |
---|---|
Lab Assistant |
Decathlon Competitor Inconspicuous Buff Brainiac |
Epimedical Bionomicist |
Hobbyist Chef First Aid Certified Gardener |
Trans-Kinematic Researcher |
Decathlon Competitor Thick Skinned Self Defense Buff Brainiac |
Archotechnic Researcher |
Decathlon Competitor Fanny Pack Buff Brainiac |
Phytogenic Botanist |
Decathlon Competitor Hobbyist Chef Gardener |
Somatic Gastrologist |
Wrinkly Brainmeat Hobbyist Chef Gardener |
Paratheoretical Physicist |
Decathlon Competitor Inconspicuous Buff Brainiac |
Defense Analyst |
Decathlon Competitor Wrinkly Brainmeat Thick Skinned Self Defense Buff Brainiac |
Summer Intern |
Decathlon Competitor Wrinkly Brain First Aid Certified Gardener Buff Brainiac |