The following profiles give basic descriptions of all operatives, including their needs, skills, likes and dislikes, and my personal hints for getting the most out of them in the game. For additional info, refer to their psychological profiles in-game. (Click on the colonist to bring up the colonist panel, then click on the brain icon next to the portrait. Here you'll find the operative's Personnel File, Skills and Psychiatrist's Report.) And of course, you can experiment in the game to find out more about each character's personality, strengths and weaknesses.

• Money - low
• Entertainment - fast
• Social - average
• Food - fast
• Hygiene - low
• Sleep - average

Special needs: Health

Entertainment: Loves exercise; likes thrills, combat, golf, disco; dislikes (n/a)

Intelligence: Average (learns at average speed)

Walking speed: Fast

Skills: Mining, Nutrient Extraction*, Weeding, Power, Oxygen, Cleaning, Maintenance

Comments: Ashia is the only operative who doesn't appear in any of the main missions (or in the group pic on the game's load screen). You won't meet her until the Galaxy and Sandbox Mode missions. That's a shame, since she's a great worker and has an upbeat personality. Her fast walking speed makes her a great "floater," that is, an operative you can switch from job to job (nutrient extraction, weeding, cleaning, etc.) depending on what is needed. With extra training in cleaning, she can jog around picking up litter and the base will be sparkling clean in no time. Her only special need is health, which is probably the easiest to manage. Just make sure a prepped medi bay is available if she needs it.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - average
• Social - average
• Food - average
• Hygiene - high
• Sleep - average

Special needs: Hygiene, Health

Entertainment: Loves piano, luxury bar, restaurant; likes relaxation pod, disco, shopping; dislikes zoo, golf, exercise

Intelligence: Average (learns at average speed)

Walking speed: Slow

Skills: Oxygen

Comments: Babette can be annoying due to her slowness and snotty comments, but if you put her at a station where she doesn't have to go far to meet her needs, she'll do OK. Just make sure there's a hygiene pod close by and that the base is cleaned regularly. With some extra training she's fine on the oxygen desk or she could handle non-essential or shared jobs like bio research, pharmaceutical extraction or medi prep (as long as there's no epidemic or other health emergency).

• Money - high
• Entertainment - average
• Social - average
• Food - average
• Hygiene - very high
• Sleep - low

Special needs: Financial

Entertainment: Loves restaurant; likes luxury bar, piano, relaxation pod, golf, shopping, gambling; dislikes disco, zoo

Intelligence: Very high (learns very fast)

Walking speed: Fast

Skills: Pharmaceutical Extraction, Scavenging, Laser, Power, Oxygen, Medi Prep

Comments: Personality-wise, Barbara is a bit abrasive, but she's got a strong work ethic and super-high intelligence, so she can learn new skills quickly. Because her special need is money, she does very well on the bridge stations, right next to the cash machine. She can even double up on medi prep and power or oxygen. Of course, if you want her to work elsewhere, you can always put another cash machine near her workstation (or the nearest airlock if she works outdoors). Her entertainment needs are a bit upscale, but you'll be hotel building in most of the missions where she appears, so that shouldn't be a problem.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - average
• Social - average
• Food - average
• Hygiene - average
• Sleep - very high

Special needs: Sleep

Entertainment: Loves relaxation pod; likes golf, shopping; dislikes combat

Intelligence: Below average (learns somewhat slowly)

Walking speed: Slow

Skills: Power, Oxygen, Medi Prep, Cleaning, Maintenance

Comments: Bhoomi's main advantage is her sunny disposition; she gets along with everyone. Also, she has a solid array of basic skills. A few extra stars in cleaning help make up for her slowness. (Use the training pod, since she's a slow study.) She can also pinch hit on all of the bridge stations and maintenance too. Take care of her need for sleep by setting up bedroom areas throughout the base. She can swap beds with whoever's bed happens to be nearest when she needs to lie down.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - high
• Social - high
• Food - very high
• Hygiene - low
• Sleep - low

Special needs: Food

Entertainment: Loves (n/a, see comments); likes thrills, golf, shopping, exercise, sauna, Jacuzzi; dislikes combat

Intelligence: Low (learns slowly)

Walking speed: Medium

Skills: Nutrient Extraction, Chicken Extraction****, Weeding, Cleaning, Maintenance

Comments: Slow and steady. Billy Bob's about as slow as molasses in January and about as smart as one of his space chickens, but he can process chicken faster than Frank Purdue and Colonel Sanders combined. Aside from chicken farming, he has few skills, but they're all useful ones. Make sure Billy Bob has easy access to food. If he works outside, place a mess hall/restaurant by the nearest airlock. The Psychiatrist's Report indicates Billy Bob likes zoo exhibits, but this doesn't seem to be the case. (Even the captive space chicken leaves him cold.) He seems to enjoy thrills like the virtuality chair and zero-g playroom quite a bit, though. I find it odd that the restaurant doesn't raise his entertainment bar, but maybe he feels bad about eating his young.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - very high
• Social - very high
• Food - low
• Hygiene - average
• Sleep - average

Special Needs: Human Contact

Entertainment: Loves shopping, luxury bar, disco, restaurant; likes thrills, bar, relaxation pod, Jacuzzi, golf, zoo; dislikes (n/a)

Intelligence: Low (learns slowly)

Walking speed: Medium

Skills: Cleaning

Comments: Candy is a bit of an albatross, in my opinion. She begins with only one skill, isn't especially speedy, and tends to whine. Like Tami, she has a special need for human contact, making it difficult to assign her to any job outside the base. The up side is she's kind of a blank slate. So, in later missions where more training programs are available, you can make her useful. Most of the time, though, you're probably best off just giving her more training in cleaning. Then she can wander the base with her litter-bot, dance, shop, and chat with other colonists.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - high
• Social - average
• Food - average
• Hygiene - high
• Sleep - low

Special Needs: none

Entertainment: Loves gambling, sauna, Jacuzzi, golf; likes exercise, bar, luxury bar, restaurant; dislikes shopping

Intelligence: Above average (learns fairly fast)

Walking speed: very fast

Skills: Mining, Nutrient Extraction, Space Gas, Laser***, Weeding, Power, Oxygen, Maintenance

Comments: Charles's main advantages are his array of starting skills, his gung-ho attitude and his speed. He can move from one end of the base to another in seconds, so he makes an ideal "floater." This means you can assign him to whatever needs doing—cleaning, repair, power, sauna inspection—and he'll get right on it. Another good use for that speed is rushing over to talk to slower colonists who need human contact. He's also a whiz with the manned laser, a big plus on the military missions.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - low
• Social - high
• Food - low
• Hygiene - very low
• Sleep - very high

Special Needs: None

Entertainment: Loves meditating, observatory; likes relaxation pod, disco, sauna, Jacuzzi; dislikes thrills, combat, golf, zoo, shopping

Intelligence: Average (learns at average speed)

Walking speed: Medium

Skills: Nutrient Extraction, Pharmaceuticals, Bio-Research**, Power, Oxygen, Cleaning, Repair

Comments: Daisy is kinda spacey and definitely majored in naptime at college. Still, she's well rounded with some useful starting skills, and she won't rock the boat. I find she makes a good "floater." That is, she has quite a few basic skills so in earlier missions you can assign her here and there (power, oxygen, cleaning, nutrient extraction, etc.) when you need her to pick up slack from other operatives. In missions where you need a golf course built or bamboo cultivated for food, she comes with a convenient 2 stars in bio research. Train her once or twice more, and she can do all your planting single-handedly. Just make sure her bed is accessible (near her station or near the airlock where she enters the base) or she'll spend half her shift getting to bed and back.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - average
• Social - average
• Food - average
• Hygiene - very high
• Sleep - low

Special Needs: Hygiene

Entertainment: Loves exercise, golf; likes Jacuzzi, learning, meditation, restaurant, sauna, shopping; dislikes bar

Intelligence: High (learns quickly; enjoys study)

Walking speed: Medium

Skills: Pharmaceutical Extraction, Weeding, Power, Oxygen, Medi Prep***

Comments: Dean is a hard-working colonist with a few basic skills, plus an outstanding three stars in medi prep. He has a jones for cleanliness, but it doesn't slow him down much. Make sure there's a personal hygiene pod available and that someone is keeping the base clean and he'll be OK. Dean actually enjoys learning, so you can send him to the library to work on new skills when his entertainment bar gets low. If the mission permits, give him extra training in power or oxygen then have him alternate between medi prep (his strongest skill) and one of the other bridge stations.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - very high
• Social - very high
• Food - average
• Hygiene - very low
• Sleep - low

Special Needs: Human Contact

Entertainment: Loves Jacuzzi; likes luxury bar, relaxation pod, golf, sauna, restaurant, bar; dislikes zoo, shopping

Intelligence: Average (learns at average speed)

Walking speed: Average

Skills: Mining*, Repair, Space Gas, Laser, Power, Oxygen

Comments: Greg is a liability, period. I view him as another challenge to be overcome, kind of like Fribulan tourists. Because his social and entertainment needs are so intense, it's difficult to get a decent day's work out of him. A few things will help. First, place a Jacuzzi right next to his workstation or the nearest airlock if he works outdoors. He already gets along well with Tami, Candy and Bhoomi. Since they're usually on cleaning duty, he can talk to them whenever he breaks for a soak. Charles and Slim are other good choices since they both move fast and can get to Greg, talk to him and get back to work quickly. In a pinch, you can send him to a counseling robot to meet his social needs. It's not as effective as a real friend, but it will keep him busy for a while.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - low
• Social - very high
• Food - low
• Hygiene - low
• Sleep - average

Special Needs: Entertainment

Entertainment: Love disco; like thrills, shopping; dislike exercise

Intelligence: Average (learn at average speed)

Walking speed: Fast

Skills: Repair, Pharmaceuticals, Scavenging*, Electronics, Laser, Bio Research, Weeding, Power, Oxygen, Maintenance

Comments: Though they don't appear together in every mission, these two are pretty much inseparable. They have the same excellent starting skills, likes and dislikes, and they function best as a team. Though their special need is entertainment, their need for human contact takes more management since it drops more quickly. The easiest way to deal with this is to assign them to adjacent stations—power and oxygen, 2 pharmaceutical extractors, 2 scavenger bunkers with a small bio dome nearby, etc.—depending on the mission. If they must work apart, try meeting more than one need at a time; e.g., send them both to the disco or the mess hall, then have them chat before going back to work. Or, make sure each girl has at least one other friend in the base she can talk to.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - high
• Social - high
• Food - very high
• Hygiene - average
• Sleep - high

Special Needs: Food, Sleep

Entertainment: Loves combat, bar (not luxury bar); likes exercise, thrills; dislikes piano

Intelligence: Low (learns slowly)

Walking speed: Average

Skills: Mining, Repair, Weeding***, Cleaning, Maintenance

Comments: Although most of Nailer's needs drop quickly (food especially), he has more useful skills and is less of a complainer than Greg or Babette. So I personally find him easier to manage. His tastes are simple; a mess-hall meal and a stint on the stair climber make him happy enough. If you can get a combat arena, even better. He's quite versatile even without additional training. I often use him as a "floater," alternating between weeding, cleaning, maintenance and repair, depending on what's needed. A little more training and he can be an ace miner too.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - average
• Social - average
• Food - average
• Hygiene - low
• Sleep - low

Special Needs: none

Entertainment: Loves learning, gambling; likes observatory, disco; dislikes shopping

Intelligence: Very high (learns very fast; enjoys study)

Walking speed: Fast

Skills: Pharmaceuticals**, Scavenging**, Electronics**, Cybernetics*, Bio Research**, Power*, Oxygen*

Comments: One of the best in the bunch, in my opinion. Nikolai practically runs through the base, starts with many advanced skills and seems to have a positive, can-do attitude. You won't need to do much to keep him working efficiently. Like Dean, he enjoys learning, so you can have him do training as a recreational activity. He also learns very quickly. If you need someone to learn a skill in a hurry, just send him to a library and watch the training countdown flash by.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - very high
• Social - average
• Food - average
• Hygiene - very low
• Sleep - high

Special Needs: Entertainment, Sleep

Entertainment: Loves disco, thrills; likes Jacuzzi, bar, learning; dislikes golf

Intelligence: Average (learns at average speed; enjoys study)

Walking speed: Average (fast on skateboard)

Skills: Laser**, Weeding, Oxygen

Comments: At first, Slim seems like a mopy, thrill-seeking, sleep-obsessed teenager, but he can actually be quite an asset. He moves fast on his skateboard, so it's easy to take care of his needs. Just put a disco and bed close to his workstation and he can zip off to recharge when necessary. I like to give him extra oxygen and laser training. Then he can work the oxygen desk most of the time and move to the lasers when crisis strikes. If you build his friendships with Tami and/or Greg, he can help meet their bottomless social needs as well.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - average
• Social - average
• Food - very high
• Hygiene - low
• Sleep - low

Special Needs: Food

Entertainment: Loves sauna, thrills, bar; likes combat, disco; dislikes (n/a)

Intelligence: Average (learns at average speed)

Walking speed: Medium

Skills: Mining***, Nutrient Extraction, Repair*, Space Gas, Electronics Fabrication, Laser*, Weeding**, Power*, Oxygen, Maintenance*

Comments: A good, versatile colonist. Stig starts off with a lot of useful skills, mostly of the manly-man variety. He's got a pretty good attitude for a bad boy and funny things to say. Give him a sauna and plenty of food and he's a happy camper. Those three stars in mining help ensure resources are coming in at a good pace. So set him on mining if the mission permits. Be sure to place a mess hall or restaurant near his workstation, or close to the nearest airlock if he works outside. That way he can fuel up and get back to work quickly.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - average
• Social - very high
• Food - average
• Hygiene - very low
• Sleep - average

Special Needs: Human Contact

Entertainment: Loves bar, luxury bar; likes disco, gambling, shopping, relaxation pod; dislikes exercise, thrills, learning, golf

Intelligence: Low (learns slowly; dislikes study)

Walking speed: Medium

Skills: Power, Oxygen, Cleaning**

Comments: This good old gal is a bit lazy and doesn't start with too many skills, but she is just a hoot to hang around with. Treat her right and she'll come through for you. Her main weakness is a need for frequent human contact, so she probably shouldn't work far away from other colonists. Make up for this by having her use her strongest skill: cleaning. Then she can talk to whoever she passes as she works. In missions where she works with Candy, encourage the two to become friends. Then they can meet each other's social needs while cleaning. And if you want her to haul ass, just place a bar near her workstation. When you direct her to the bar, she'll run for it. Then just before she gets there, switch tasks.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - very low
• Social - very low
• Food - very low
• Hygiene - very low
• Sleep - very low

Special Needs: none

Entertainment: Loves observatory; likes (n/a); dislikes (n/a)

Intelligence: High (learns fast)

Walking speed: Medium

Skills: Mining, Nutrient Extraction, Repair, Space Gas, Weeding, Power, Oxygen, Cleaning, Maintenance

Comments: This little guy is a bit of an enigma. He's got a lot of low-level skills, so you can assign him just about anywhere, and he's very intelligent so you can train him in a hurry if necessary. He doesn't complain, which makes it easy to overlook him. So be sure to check in now and then to make sure he's doing all right. The only recreational activity he enjoys is the observatory, which isn't available right away. Nothing else has any effect.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - average
• Social - low
• Food - average
• Hygiene - average
• Sleep - average

Special Needs: None

Entertainment: Loves exercise, luxury bar; likes disco, Jacuzzi, meditation, relaxation pod, sauna; dislikes gambling

Intelligence: High (learns fast)

Walking speed: Medium

Skills: Mining, Nutrient Extraction***, Repair, Space Gas**, Scavenging, Industrial Robotics, Military Robotics, Laser, Weeding, Power**, Oxygen**, Cleaning, Maintenance

Comments: Venus is a great all-around operative. She moves moderately quickly and has a variety of starting skills, including extra stars in oxygen, power and nutrient extraction, necessary for a colony's survival. She's a good worker, cheerful and gets along well with most other operatives. She's also very low-maintenance, since most recreational activities will make her happy and she has no special needs. Venus can be trained to do just about anything. So the ways in which you'll use her will vary depending on the mission.

• Money - average
• Entertainment - low
• Social - average
• Food - low
• Hygiene - high
• Sleep - very high

Special Needs: Sleep

Entertainment: Loves sauna, Jacuzzi; likes exercise, meditation, slot machine, relaxation pod, piano; dislikes golf, zoo

Intelligence: Very high (learns very quickly)

Walking speed: Very slow

Skills: Cybernetics****, Bio Research**

Comments: Sometimes Zhang's high-level skills make him the focus of a mission; other times he sits around doing nothing. He's quite trainable, but because he's so slow and needs to sleep so often, there aren't many jobs he's suited for. The best setup seems to be to put him on Cybernetics (or another station indoors or just outside the base) and place his bed, a cash machine, sauna and hygiene pod right next to where he works. Then it's just a few short steps to anything he needs.

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