Possible herbalist bug

[Jeffreyac]

My apologies if this has been mentioned, but I've noticed that my town uses no herbs... I build a herbalist, get harvest levels over the max (100 default), and tell my herbalist to go do something else. 30 years later, I still have the same amount of herbs. Is this a bug, or should I be building something/doing something to use those herbs?

[gwait]

Herbs are not food, herbs are used to create medicine for citizens. Citizens will visit the herbalist to treat their health.

[Betelgeuse]

a hospital maybe? ^^ .. never got this far but im sure it will help with something i dont care at all

[dcbobo]

always need your herbalist working. citizens go directly to the herbalist to get herbs and stay healthy, right now you may have good diet and not a big population, so it doesn't show up yet.

Some people trade the excess herbs, personally, i don't like clogging my barns waiting on traders.

[Moosemedford]

Yeah.. I used to think the same thing. I had upped the ceiling on herbs to 400 and once I got there, seemed to stay there for a long time.

Then my town of ~200 got hit with the measles. My hospital started filling up, dozens of citizens walking around with skull icons and my stocks of herbs started plummetting. Think of herbs and hospitals like insurance - you really don't want to use them, but when you need them you better have them or it's your ass...

Moose

[biogoo]

If you dont have a herbalist, herbs wont be consumed.

[Jeffreyac]

Originally posted by NoQuarter:

always need your herbalist working. citizens go directly to the herbalist to get herbs and stay healthy, right now you may have good diet and not a big population, so it doesn't show up yet.

Some people trade the excess herbs, personally, i don't like clogging my barns waiting on traders.

Well, my current village is over 300, with a doctor. Survived several outbreaks of various diseases without losing anyone. (Oh, wait, did lose a child to one - but figured maybe the young were more susceptible...)

And still haven't had anyone use herbs. Granted, I've worked hard to keep the diet varied - maybe that's kept my villagers from needing any?

[dcbobo]

Originally posted by Jeffreyac:

Originally posted by NoQuarter:

always need your herbalist working. citizens go directly to the herbalist to get herbs and stay healthy, right now you may have good diet and not a big population, so it doesn't show up yet.

Some people trade the excess herbs, personally, i don't like clogging my barns waiting on traders.

Well, my current village is over 300, with a doctor. Survived several outbreaks of various diseases without losing anyone. (Oh, wait, did lose a child to one - but figured maybe the young were more susceptible...)

And still haven't had anyone use herbs. Granted, I've worked hard to keep the diet varied - maybe that's kept my villagers from needing any?

right, your diet will make your villagers take less visits to the herbalist. Doctors are for curing, and have nothing to do with everyday healthyness. If you play on hard/harsh you should be having to use herbs, jsut slightly with a very varied deit, if not, i can't answer if herbalists are required much on easier difficulties, sure someone here knows though.

[JoKi11er]

if you have a lot of different food sources, you don`t need a herbalist.
My village has about 11 different things to eat (meat, fish, onions, berries, pumpkins, potatoes, beans, nuts, etc...) and i don`t need my herbalist anymore. The people will only visit the herbalist, when they are not full healthy (all hearts red).

So don`t worry about ;)

[itssirtou]

I ran into this, it isn't a bug, apparently you need an herbalist constantly

[Jeffreyac]

hmm- guess I should add the herbalist back in and see what that does. I thought he/she just gathered the herbs, but maybe there's more I'm missing there.

[dcbobo]

yes, the herbalist has to be working for citizens to use herbs. If you disable the building , he isn't working. always keep your herbalist working. It's one of the very few buildings I never disable at some point. You can get away with one worker in it, and as grow, you'll need more.

There isn't a set number or whatever, but i've been using 1 herbalist worker per 100 citizen. That can change with diet, city efficiency, etc...

Herbalists gather herbs, AND they give the herbs to citizens who come to the herbalists when they lose hearts. Think of him as your keep in shape doctor, and the hospital doctor as the cure ailments doctor.

[Jeffreyac]

Ah! This could explain a dropoff in health I'd noted - the varied diet kept folks at 4 hearts, but not at 5. I was probably missing the herbalist!

[Jeffreyac]

Next question, then - do herbs get stored in the market, or barns? To efficiently have multiple herbalists, do I need to spread them out all over the village, or can I rely on my markets to get the herbs to the people?

[dcbobo]

They are stored in both, but they are taken at the herbalists building. If you have a great variety of food. They won't need to go as often, so therfor, you'll need less. As you get bigger, you'll need more herbalist buildings just like anything else. If you're very healthy, you'll build very few, if you're not, you'll build more.