Dungeon Settlers Recruiting Guide: Market, Clan Ranks, Talent Tiers

Every settler you’ll ever have came from the same place: the recruitment market. Who’s on the board, what it costs, and — most of all — what inspection reveals before you spend the gold: this is the six-dimension system in its most consequential moment.

Where do recruits come from?

The market — a candidate list that refreshes on a timer, community-documented at roughly every 480 in-game minutes. It’s a weighted random table, not a collection checklist: unique named settlers exist as scenario profiles and never show in the normal list. Low clan ranks display about 6-7 candidates; higher ranks push toward 8-10 with higher starting levels.

The race weights, per community data-mining:

Current ranks beyond 2 exist in the data but stay locked — don’t plan around a rank-7 market.

What do you inspect before hiring?

Inspection reveals hidden talents — skipping it means hiring blind for a settler’s entire career. Six stats — Strength, Constitution, Willpower, Intelligence, Agility, Perception — each carry a talent tier:

Poor · Moderate · Outstanding · Exceptional · Genius

Starting talent sums hover around 2-5 tiers across all six: one Exceptional or Genius is a find; a sheet of Moderates is a labourer. Role fits from community documentation:

• Frontline → Strength/Constitution, Shield or Greatsword aptitude (weapon tier list)
• Ranged → Agility/Perception
• Caster / researcher → Intelligence/Willpower (research guide)
• Camp specialist → can carry weak combat talents if cooking/farming/research bonuses are strong

Backgrounds (blacksmith, carpenter, deserter, messenger…) modify the racial baseline — and check the diet tag before hiring an Elf into a meat kitchen (mood & food).

What does a recruit cost?

• Level component: roughly 120 gold at level 1 up to about 4,200 at level 12, plus a small random swing
• Inscription surcharge: Common +200, Uncommon +400, Rare +800, Legendary +2,000 gold
• Born-with inscriptions roll at the level-up rarity weights (roughly 807/170/20/3 per 1,000) — a pre-inscribed Rare or Legendary is usually cheaper than rolling one later (inscriptions)

One caution from community guides: the Gloom inscription trades +20% stats for permanent Mood −3 — only buy it with a mood plan in place.

Is there a population cap beyond the party?

The expedition cap applies to expedition parties, not the settlement — four slots in week one, 6 at clan Rank 2 and 8 at Rank 3 since v0.4.23. An official press-kit screenshot shows a five-settler colony (a 5/5 population counter) with the four-member expedition panel alongside — and community guidance is unanimous: keep a spare recruit at camp so a boss death doesn’t decapitate your only viable party. The trade is kitchen load and mood management for bench depth.

The first-week hiring order

1. Inspect everyone; write down the Genius and Exceptional stats
2. Buy a shield-capable body (often a Lizardman) plus a flexible Human
3. Fill remaining slots with bow or caster talent if the board allows — else a hauler-cook for camp
4. Pay inscription surcharges only when the inscription is good
5. After clan rank 2, watch for Elves with research or bow talent
6. Never spend your last gold on a pretty portrait if camp has no food
7. If the board is bad, wait — panic-hiring fills your population with mediocre Moderates

Where to go next

• Race Tier List — what each race brings to the board
• Party Comp Tier List — the slots these hires fill
• Mood, Food & Stress — feeding the roster you just built