Open Recruitment from the settlement.
In the Crawling Doom opening, you return from the tutorial dungeon and work through early settlement tasks before the tutorial asks you to recruit another adventurer. Use the Recruitment icon in the top toolbar to open the candidate list.
The list is on the left; selecting a person opens their profile on the right. The window also shows your gold and a member counter. Those are useful checks before choosing someone solely because their portrait or starting level looks appealing.
This is the settlement hiring flow. Creating your initial characters in Expedition Founding is a separate scenario setup, so a guide to rerolling starting characters may show different controls.
Read the profile before the price tag.
Inspect the candidate’s level, race and trait information, available skill trees, attributes and equipment. Hover the trait and attribute icons to read their tooltips instead of guessing what an unfamiliar symbol means.
Our selection checklist is about practical fit: decide what the party needs, then check whether the candidate’s available skills and equipment can fill that role. A melee-oriented trait does not by itself mean the recruit arrives ready to fight in melee.
Starting attributes are only part of the comparison. The recruitment screen also shows talent information beside attributes, with some entries still represented by question marks in the reviewed opening. Keep those unknowns separate from confirmed strengths; this page does not assign hidden talent values.
Choose a candidate on the left, read their traits and skill trees on the right, then compare their equipment and gold price. A useful trait alone does not equip the recruit for that role.
Gameplay detail: Pete Complete · 13:19 · 4 September 2026. Game © CanOpener.- A role your party needs
- Useful available skill trees
- Equipment that supports the intended skills
- Trait effects you have read
- A cost you can afford
Recruit, then confirm the new member.
Select your chosen candidate and read the gold cost beside Recruit. Use the amount shown for that person rather than a price copied from another player’s run. Check the member counter as well; a four-person dungeon party is not evidence of a universal settlement population cap.
Press Recruit. In the launch walkthrough, a joined-the-expedition message appears, the member counter increases and the new portrait is added to the top roster. Look for that confirmation before assuming the hire succeeded.
Inspect the new member’s skills and inventory before leaving. Spend available skill points deliberately, check their weapon and armor, and review the party on the expedition preparation screen. Hiring a member and preparing them to fight are two different jobs.
After hiring, select the new member and open Skill. Check the available trees and points before assigning a role, then check their weapon and armor in Inventory.
Gameplay detail: Pete Complete · 13:32 · 4 September 2026. Game © CanOpener.No suitable candidate? Compare waiting with refreshing.
The reviewed Recruitment window includes a refresh control and a countdown. The walkthrough demonstrates that refreshing the list can cost gold, while the list also refreshes after a wait. Check the displayed timer and confirmation cost in your game; this guide does not prescribe a fixed refresh interval.
Our recommendation is to avoid spending your hiring budget repeatedly on refreshes before checking the candidates already available. A practical fit now may be more useful than a hypothetical perfect recruit.
Portrait Lock has a narrower purpose: the official v0.4.17 notes say it retains the current candidate’s portrait and appearance when using Recruit Again. It is not a promise to preserve their skills or other attributes. The existing controls guide explains that option.
How Portrait Lock worksBefore you head back out.
Does the higher-level candidate always win?
No universal ranking is established by this guide. Compare price, available skill trees, equipment and the role you need. The launch video chooses a higher-level archer for its particular party; that choice is an example, not a rule for every run.
Can the settlement only have four people?
The official Steam description specifies an expedition party of up to four. That does not establish the settlement’s total recruit capacity. Read the current member counter and any restriction shown by your own game; population expansion is outside this hiring walkthrough.
Recruitment is not working. What should I check?
First select a candidate, compare their price with your available gold and read the member counter or any on-screen restriction. After clicking Recruit, check the roster and joining message. If the interface differs from this launch-era walkthrough, use the current in-game tutorial and official patch notes rather than repeatedly paying to refresh.
Sources & version.
The illustrated steps above are written to follow here without opening a video. They are our practical reading of Pete Complete’s 4 September 2026 Crawling Doom walkthrough, checked against its footage and the official notes linked below. The video is sponsored and does not state its exact game build. We have not independently tested an installed copy.
The steps describe that launch-era interface. Use the costs, available options and restrictions shown in your current game; later updates and difficulty settings can change them. Recommendations about party fit and spending are editorial advice.
- Pete Complete · RimWorld Meets Dungeon Crawling? | Dungeon Settlers · Candidate inspection, hiring & preparation · 12:09–14:50
- CanOpener · Official game overview on Steam ↗
- CanOpener · v0.4.17 Portrait Lock notes ↗