Sentience catalyst

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Acquisition[edit]

Purchasable from Exotic Goods, Shaman Merchants, Slave traders, and faction bases.

Obtained through fishing.

Found in Ancient Stockpiles.

Reward from quests.

Summary[edit]

Sentience catalysts can be used by colonists on any tamed or wild animal (excluding wild humans) and are consumed on use. Every animal can receive a sentience catalyst injection, but not more than one.

It lowers the wildness of the targeted animal by 25% which subsequently lowers the minimum handling skill of the animal by 2-3 levels in most cases with the exception of 99% wildness animals like the alpha thrumbo which benefit from a much larger 7 level reduction though this does not affect the revenge chance on failure. It also advances the trainability of the animal by at least a step, e.g. a rhinos trainability goes from intermediate to advanced, meaning unlike its unmodified cousins, it can now rescue, and more importantly, haul. You still have to meet the new handling requirement to tame it, even on an inspiration.

The animal also gains an additional 10% consciousness, affecting further stats.

Pen animals[edit]

Sentience catalyst removes roaming and fence-blocked status from animals.

Analysis[edit]

Improving an animal's trainability opens up new skills. If your colony uses a pack of trained Wargs in combat, the catalyst can enable them to haul outside of combat. Pack animals such as Muffalo can be trained to fight, which is useful for defending your colony, or to protect a caravan when it's ambushed.

Reducing wildness can be useful. If used on a tame animal, it improves the chances of successful training, which can save your animal handler time and food. If used on a wild animal, it may enable a sub-par animal handler to tame that animal. It may be worth keeping a Sentience catalyst around specifically for when a rare Thrumbo visits your colony: If you happen to have a pawn with an animal handling skill between 7 and 9, and they have inspired taming, you can get a guaranteed pet Thrumbo by using the catalyst.

Boosting an animal's Consciousness by 10% also improves their Moving and Manipulation. This increases their movement speed and chance to hit, making the animal more efficient during combat. It also speeds up hauling somewhat. The improvement is likely most valuable on inherently powerful animals, such as the mighty Thrumbo.

Version history[edit]

Odyssey DLC Release - Added.
1.6.4535 - Fix: Unnatural healing/healer serum removing sentience catalyst. Fix: Sentience catalyst can target wild people. Previously it would provide a permanent consciousness buff even after the wild person was tamed.
1.6.4566 - Sentience catalyst now removes roaming and fence-blocked status from animals.

World quest items