The Better Dryads Mod improves dryad behavior, making them more helpful to your colony by planting crops, hauling more often, and even rescuing downed colonists in certain cases. Dryads now sleep less, heal faster, and change castes more quickly.
Better Dryads Mod Features
- Dryads are more active, including sowing crops, hauling more often, and rescuing colonists.
- Dryads sleep less, heal faster, and switch castes quicker.
- Dryads that can plant will do so near their trees, with their planting speed increasing based on the tree’s harmony level.
Dryad Caste Features:
- Medicinemakers: Can tend to and rescue colonists, and plant pharmaceutical plants like healroot.
- Berrymakers: Can plant food and decorative plants with skill level 9.
- Woodmakers: Can plant trees with skill level 9.
- Clawers: Harvest fully grown plants.
- Carrier Dryads: More active at hauling and can rescue colonists.
Harmony System
The Better Dryads Mod replaces the pruning system with a new harmony system. The effectiveness of the Gauranlen trees and the dryads now depends on the harmony level of the tree, which can be increased by building nature shrines.
Harmony Levels
At lower harmony levels, trees will only support a single dryad, but by building shrines, you can increase this limit.
As harmony increases, trees will require more valuable shrines to reach higher harmony levels. Mechanoids owned by players can reduce harmony, but this can be offset by building more shrines.
Shrines
Shrines help increase harmony levels, and their effectiveness depends on their material and size. Jade is particularly effective, but animus stones are unmatched. At least one colonist with the “Natural” backstory is required to build shrines. If you don’t have the Royalty DLC, the mod offers “Royalty-free rocks” that function similarly.
If the Royalty DLC is installed, these shrines work the same as the natural shrines in the base game.
Pawn Connection
A character connected to a powerful Gauranlen tree will receive buffs based on the tree’s harmony level. The Consciousness buff scales with the pruning speed genes of the connected pawn. A pawn can connect to multiple trees, but the buff is only granted from the most powerful tree.
Dryad Connection
A powerful Gauranlen tree improves its dryads instead of increasing their number.
Gaurlanlen Plants
At high harmony levels, Gauranlen trees may grow additional plants like Gauranlen moss or Gauranlen flowers. Some of these flowers may turn into stationary protectors that attack enemies with resin spikes or extinguish fires with fire-retardant liquid.
These flowers are fragile but regrow quickly if destroyed.
Animus Stones
Animus stones, often bought from tribal settlements or received as quest rewards, can supercharge Gauranlen trees, greatly increasing their harmony level. These stones are expensive but can be used to significantly boost tree performance.
Spoilers?
If harmony is high enough and shrines are carefully placed, your efforts with a Gauranlen tree may be rewarded.
Compatibility notes
Vanilla Ideology Expanded – Dryads Mod: Merging dryads can be quite powerful since dryads respawn faster in this mod.
No known issues with other dryad mods, even with Sarg’s corrupted ocular dryads.
FAQ
Can I add this mod to an existing save file?
Yes, it should work fine. However, you’ll need to build shrines to get more than one dryad per tree.
Is it possible to have both many mechs and many/strong dryads?
Yes, but you’ll need more shrines to maintain harmony.
Other
The 1×1 rune stone shrines were donated by Oskar Potocki.
Additional credits:
Graphics by Oskar Potocki.
Descriptions, balancing, and ideas by RedMattis.
Images contributed by SirOctogiraffe.
