Problem one is the reduced speed of the hearthling when they're carrying items in hardmode for the sake of keeping things clean all hearthlings may need to be temporarily told to haul items for a day. Featherweight: While featherweight sounds like an amazing trait on the surface, it has two primary problems. Pets can be obtained later via the trapper, so don't feel obligated to bring one with you. This becomes even more troubling if the pet has a food restriction, in which case it may die early on, leaving your hearthling mopey and inefficient for some of the most vital days in the playthrough. Animal Companion: Cute as it may be, Animal Companion hearthlings bring an extra mouth to feed early game. Pessimistic: Obvious bad trait is obvious assign pesky pessimists to close tasks to avoid making them travel long distances, reducing their efficiency even further. Heart of a Crafter hearthlings should be assigned to cooking, in order to keep their morale up. If you do end up with a hearthling that has one of these traits, its best to conscript them to the militia last. This is because late game will require you to train most if not all of your town to be a militia. Passionate/Heart of a Crafter traits: In hardmode your hearthlings will need to be multi-talented, and generally wont be able to settle permanently into a position. Hearthlings with food-specific traits may upset themselves or others with their food choices at these times, or increase food drain in the case of the glutton trait.
This is especially true in the arctic map, where plant growth is stunted most of the year. Food-specific traits: Food can quickly become scarce in hardmode in the event of an emergency or a lack of farmers/trappers. While the traits of each hearthling will not necessarily make-or-break the hardmode experience, some traits are less helpful than others: The first part of any journey is choosing the first five hearthlings you'll take on it You may bring disembarked characters, or a fresh set.