Which drug is more profitable when using hydroponics to grow?

[Minty Fresh]

My map can only do hydroponics and I need a cash crop. Which would be better to grow and convert into drugs - psychoid (to make flake) or smokeleaf?

I'm looking for the best dollars per day, not efficiency. Normally I would go with psychoid to turn into flake but I notice with hydroponics that psychoid only has a growth rate of 172% where smokeleaf gets 280% which may make smokeleaf the better choice.

Anyone able to figure out the numbers?

[Astasia]

Ignoring crafting times, values when grown in hydroponics:

Smokeleaf - 1.82 leaves per day / 4 leaves per joint = 0.455 joints per day * 11 silver per joint = 5.005 silver per day per plant.

Psychoid - 0.83 leaves per day / 4 leaves per flake = 0.2075 flake per day * 14 silver per flake = 2.905 silver per day per plant.

Edit: I think it's worth noting smokeleaf also has a higher return per day in normal soil than psychoid. People grow psychoid instead because flake and yayo are easier to craft in large quantities and yayo is easier to sell on caravans. The difference is smaller on normal soil though, so in hydroponics the extra work might be worth the difference in raw value here.

[marcusaddamsson]

Now if someone could explain the logic of drug crafting. If you make joints, it's cooking skills that determine speed, but you have to assign the pawn to 'crafting' to get him to do it at all. Yayo/Flake are Intellectual for speed, but same situation regarding the crafting part. Very odd that.

[Astasia]

Social drugs are "cooked," beer, tea, and joints. Hard/medical drugs are made using drug synthesis. The idea being there is a difference between wrapping some leaves in paper, or boiling them in a pot, and chemically extracting a specific ingredient from a leaf as a fine white powder. Different skill sets, different skills required, perhaps a different consideration when recruiting colonists.

[marcusaddamsson]

No, I get that part. Sorry. :) I mean why do you gotta put 'em on crafting? Shouldn't it just be cooking or intellectual...?

[Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia]

Crafting job is the one that actually is used for the creation of drugs, its why slaves can make flake/yayo even though intellectual is disabled (they act as though skill level is 0).

Well not used but it is the job for the workbench.

[Astasia]

Originally posted by marcusaddamsson:

No, I get that part. Sorry. :) I mean why do you gotta put 'em on crafting? Shouldn't it just be cooking or intellectual...?

There isn't an intellectual work type, there is research. Making drugs isn't research. Crafting makes sense, it's the job used for making items that don't have a quality (in most cases). The work type to make something depends on the bench not the item, anything made at a crafting spot is a crafting job even though you can make bows and tribalwear there which would normally be smithing or tailoring. So smokeleaf joints are also crafting, because of where they are made, and making them at a stove wouldn't really make sense either.

It doesn't make perfect sense from an outside point of view, but it's how the rules of the game work and there is logic behind it. It doesn't cause any problems anyway, it doesn't matter who makes your drugs, it is "dumb labor" (not as the game defines it, just in concept) and having higher cooking or intellect just makes it a bit faster. You probably aren't going to pull your researcher off researching to make some flake a little faster, anyone who has some downtime and would otherwise be cutting stone or smelting can spend that time making joints or flake, assuming they are capable of it. But you can always adjust the bills to control who does it too.

[sel]

personally I do the yayo/flake because if I remember corectly it takes forever to make joints due to it being made at a crafting spot as opposed to a proper drug lab.
also yayo/flake can be good to have on hand for increasing mood among its other buffs. while smokeleaf is more debuffs than buffs.

[marcusaddamsson]

Heh.. actually because of this conversation, I looked at the drug lab bench.. and you can make joints there too. Which is kinda nice.. doesn't have that 70% speed.

Shrug. I mostly ever make joints, and it does take a lot longer if the maker doesn't have decent cooking. I usually have my hands full trying to convert all my textiles into sellable stuff, so I've rarely felt the need to raise/grow drugs. I just always have to re-remember that set up: put a cook on crafting.

[Minty Fresh]

Originally posted by Astasia:

Ignoring crafting times, values when grown in hydroponics:

Smokeleaf - 1.82 leaves per day / 4 leaves per joint = 0.455 joints per day * 11 silver per joint = 5.005 silver per day per plant.

Psychoid - 0.83 leaves per day / 4 leaves per flake = 0.2075 flake per day * 14 silver per flake = 2.905 silver per day per plant.

Edit: I think it's worth noting smokeleaf also has a higher return per day in normal soil than psychoid. People grow psychoid instead because flake and yayo are easier to craft in large quantities and yayo is easier to sell on caravans. The difference is smaller on normal soil though, so in hydroponics the extra work might be worth the difference in raw value here.

Brilliant! Many thanks!