Editing Wealth management

{{Page Under Construction|Harakoni}}
'''Wealth management''' is the practice of managing the wealth present in a colony to reduce the difficulty of the [[raids]] that it encounters.

== Effect of wealth ==
{{Main|Raid points}}
Colony wealth is one of the key determining factors in determining the [[raid points]] available to the storyteller, both directly contributing raid points itself, and scaling the points added by each colonist. 

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|"Storyteller Wealth" = (Colony Wealth (items) + Colony Wealth (people and animals) + ( (Colony Wealth (buildings)) * 0.5 )
|}
"Storyteller Wealth" is linearly interpolated on a graph to create "Wealth Points".  

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Graph || Points || Storyteller Wealth
|-
| rowspan="5" | {{GraphChart|width=400|height=100|xAxisTitle=Storyteller Wealth (1000's) |yAxisTitle=Points|type=line|x= 0, 14, 400, 700, 1000 |y1=0, 0, 2400, 3600, 4200}} || style="text-align:right" | 0 || style="text-align:right" | 0
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 0 || style="text-align:right" | 14,000
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 2,400 || style="text-align:right" | 400,000
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 3,600 || style="text-align:right" | 700,000
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 4,200 || style="text-align:right" | 1,000,000
|}  

Items on the ground that you can see are counted towards wealth. This includes any amount of [[corpse]]s and their [[clothing]], items dropped by [[siege]]s, and items held by pawns, but not [[chunk]]s or items hidden inside an [[ancient danger]]. Items in a [[caravan]] stop counting as soon as they leave your colony.

==Empirical testing==
''Due to rounding and other modifiers to raid size, including the type of raid, these numbers may not be entirely accurate.''

A colony starts with 3 colonists and about $105000 wealth. They suddenly gain 1666 [[beer]], worth just under {{icon small|silver||20000}}. For a [[scyther]]-only mechanoid raid:
*'''Strive to Survive (100% threat)''': 3 scythers increases to 4 scythers.
*'''Losing is Fun (220% threat)''': 9 scythers increases to 10-11 scythers.
*'''500% threat scale''': 21 scythers increases to 25-26 scythers.

To be specific, raid points have increased by 120, which is then multiplied by threat scale (e.g. 220% more points for Losing is Fun). A scyther is worth 150 points. A generic tribal is worth 30-60 points, a fairly well-armed pirate is worth 90 points, and the strongest pirates are worth 150 points. A [[centipede]] is worth 400 combat points, or 2.66 scythers.

The 1-2 scyther difference might seem small, but keep in mind that this is ''after'' reaching $100000 wealth. For example, the same {{icon small|silver||20000}} could increase 5 scythers to 7, which ''is'' quite a large increase. These 3 colonists will have a rough time handling 7 scythers, let alone 9 or 21.

=== Analysis ===
While wealth is clearly a primary driver in the raid point scaling, the effect is often exaggerated and certain causes of wealth blamed unnecessarily. Put simply, it takes a significant amount of wealth to noticeably affect raid sizes. Often, it is colonist count and the normal scaling causing the actual problem. 

That does not mean that wealth management is without merit - it just means that the gains must be considered objectively. E.g. Is a strategy requiring significant micromanagement worth it when it reduces raid size by one scyther? In general, wealth starts to matter a lot in the higher [[difficulty|difficulties]]. It has a minimal impact in Adventure Story, for instance.

==Strategies==
Wealth management strategies can be broken down into two general classes:
# Wealth control, or wealth minimization, where the intent is to control the total wealth accrued by purposefully reducing both the total wealth of the colony and the rate of accrual. 
# Wealth investment, where wealth gain is not retarded in any way but instead steps are taken to ensure that sufficient wealth is reinvested into advancing the colony to keep up with advancing raid points.

For example, a colony without wealth management might mass-produce [[flake]], sell it, and leave silver for later use. A wealth ''controlling'' colony might avoid growing [[psychoid plant|psychoid]] all together, or limit its production. A wealth ''investing'' colony would create flake as needed, but use it to buy items like [[component]]s and [[doomsday rocket launcher]]s to better deal with the increased raid points.

WHEN CONSIDERING COST SAVINGS RELATE IT TO NUMBER OF SCYTHERS SAVED

===Wealth control strategies===
*'''Destroy useless items'''. Burn [[corpse]]s and [[electric smelter|smelt]] any unecessary [[weapon]]s from raiders. [[Fire]] makes quick work of any flammable objects; just put them in a fireproof room, first. If you can't destroy them, then at least let them [[deterioration|deteriorate]] - water errodes the fastest.
** Weapons are quite valuable, despite traders only paying 20% for them. 30 [[heavy SMG]]-level firearms equate to 10k wealth, though raiders often carry reduced HP (reduced value) weapons.
**Rotten corpses and damaged clothes are worth single-digit numbers of wealth. Fresh corpses are worth a fair amount, about 200/corpse, which is relevant for large raids.
*'''Gift excess items to other [[faction]]s'''. You shouldn't need 3000 units of [[rice]] to feed 5 colonists, even in the worst [[volcanic winter]]. Excess food, [[leather]]s, [[drug]]s, and even [[silver]] may not help your colony for the near future, and can easily be acquired later on. They can be donated to other factions for a [[goodwill]] boost. Eventually, you can call said factions as an ally, turning this into an investment that completely destroys wealth.
**Traders will visit your colony every so often, or you can create a [[caravan]] or deploy [[transport pod]]s. 
*'''Simply destroy items''', and try not to overproduce. If you can't be bothered to give them away, then destroy the items with [[fire]], [[frag grenade]]s. or dump them on the world map with a short [[caravan]] trip.
*'''Have rooms perform multiple functions'''. For example, combining Dining and Recreation rooms into a larger one has 0 penalty, giving both ''Impressive'' [[mood]]lets for the cost of 1. 
**Turning bedrooms into barracks does lower mood. However, combining the barracks with their dining, recreation, and even work rooms allows you to make them all Impressive. This usually makes up for the mood loss.
**Throne rooms{{RoyaltyIcon}} and ritual rooms{{IdeologyIcon}} do not allow beds or work stations, and throne rooms do not allow ritual items. However, they can be combined with dining and recreation.
*'''Accept a lower amount of "progress"'''. You don't need an opulent [[carpet]] if your colonists are just fine with [[concrete]] and a few [[flower pot]]s. Upgrades may seem small, but upgrading everywhere will quicky pile up wealth.

===Wealth investment strategies===
When interacting with any [[trader]], your colony will always buy and sell at a [[Market Value]] loss. At most, it's net equal. Therefore, selling your [[flake]] actually ''lowers'' your wealth. 

*[[Doomsday rocket launcher|Doomsday]] and [[triple rocket launcher]]s will greatly soften up enemies. Against human raiders, rockets have the potential dispel an entire raid with 1 burst. Once used, their wealth is fully consumed.
*Better [[weapon]]s, [[armor]], and [[defense]]s - or the [[component]]s and [[metal]] required to produce them. 
**[[Reinforced barrel]]s, to replenish [[mortar]]s.
**When bonded, [[persona weapon]]s{{RoyaltyIcon}} have no value, both for [[trade]] and for the purposes of [[raid points]].
*[[Skilltrainer]]s and [[psytrainer]]s{{RoyaltyIcon}}, which are consumed to improve pawn stats. 

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