Dungeon Settlers Race Tier List: Human, Lizardman, Elf & Lycan

Three races are hireable in the week-one Early Access build — Human, Lizardman, and Elf — with Lycan officially described but not yet in the recruit market, and Dwarf confirmed for Update 5 by the official roadmap. This tier list ranks the three you can actually hire today.

S Tier — Lizardman & Human

Lizardman — the guard your party wants

• Aptitudes: shield, greatsword, and blunt weapon trees; mining and taming bonuses
• The role: “Excellent guards,” per community documentation — the shield tree that makes permadeath survivable is their natural home
• The tax: weak research and cooking, and vegetables trigger Plant Rage (Mood −2) — a meat-kitchen race
• Availability: hireable from the start, market weight ~35

Human — the flexible backbone

• Aptitudes: sword and fire trees; woodcutting, building, and cooking bonuses; a small fire affinity makes them the natural pyromancer
• The edge: an XP bonus on a race that eats anything — omnivore means no kitchen split
• The tax: Growth Fatigue (Mood −2) while the XP bar sits at maximum — level them instead of parking them (leveling guide)
• Availability: hireable from the start, market weight 100 — most of the market, every game

A Tier — Elf

• Aptitudes: bow, nature, and water trees; research and farming bonuses — the best researchers in the game (why that matters), and greatsword aptitude is negative — don’t force it
• The gate: Elves appear in the recruit market only from clan rank 2 (~16% of the rank-2 pool, per community data) — you’ll run Humans and Lizardmen first
• The tax: Carnal Guilt (Mood −2) from carnivore food — a vegetarian line in the kitchen, and weaker woodcutting
• Verdict: A tier purely on availability; in the lab and on the backline they compete with S

Not yet on the board — Lycan

CanOpener’s official description: wolf-inspired Beastfolk, “weaker during the daytime but stronger at night,” intended as physical damage dealers with strong Agility and Perception — effective with bows and spears. Patch v0.4.12 adjusted their profile data so facial decals match portraits.

But community data-mining of the market’s race weights puts Lycans at zero in build v0.4.19 — even though the v0.4.12 patch note’s “newly recruited Lycans” wording implies recruitment exists. The evidence genuinely conflicts; the Lycan race guide tracks it, and this list updates the moment Lycans verifiably surface — expect an archery-focused contender when they do.

Coming later — Dwarf and beyond

The official roadmap names the Dwarf race for Update 5 (with a new Axe skill tree), and community data-mining has surfaced unused race names (White Demon, Tal) with zero market weight — far-future candidates at best.

How races fit the rest of the plan

• Race determines your party comp and your kitchen — mixed rosters need two cooking lines (mood & food)
• Aptitudes steer the weapon tier list — a −2 fire Lizardman should not be your pyromancer
• Market weights, clan ranks, and inspection all live in the recruiting guide

Where to go next

• Party Comp Tier List — slotting races into the four expedition slots
• Weapon Tier List — the trees each race wants
• Recruiting Guide — getting these races into your settlement