Symptom-first troubleshooting · no guessed ratios
What am I missing? A task dependency navigator
Select the sentence closest to your problem. The answer is a check order, not a promise that one patch-sensitive number fixes every colony.
Early Access · patch-sensitiveChecked 2026-08-12
| I cannot… | Check in this order | Stop when |
|---|---|---|
| Staff a job | Job exists → eligible adult exists → current auto-assignment → relevant stat → competing essential job | The job shows an assigned adult and production state. |
| Build or craft | Correct menu → blueprint unlocked → research complete → required resource → placement/capacity | The recipe becomes actionable rather than merely visible. |
| Start an expedition | Objective selected → ship/squad capacity → soldiers assigned → weapon and ammo → healing | The departure control shows a ready state. |
| Survive the expedition | Reserve ammo → melee ammo recovery → healing → squad condition → retreat/return route | You can complete the next encounter without consuming the full reserve. |
| Capture a target | Target eligibility → marked state → allied fire behavior → target health/state → current elite/boss difficulty | Allies stop attacking the marked target and capture resolves. |
| Progress research | Research prerequisite → appropriate facility/job → input resource → queue/state → expected unlock | The correct project is actively progressing. |
Still stuck?
Record the exact task text, menu, disabled control, visible resource counts, and current patch date. That evidence is more useful than “the game won’t let me” and makes a future guide correction reproducible.