Graveyard quality
/graveyard-quality
Graveyard quality: how graves, headstones and skulls score
The exact rule behind every grave's number, every headstone and decoration, and what a better graveyard pays you.
Your graveyard's quality is the total of everything inside it: each grave's own score, every bench, monument, lantern and columbarium, the fence and path upgrades, and a small penalty for every tree, stump, stone and dry bush left standing. A grave's score comes from two things only - the skulls of the corpse in it and the laurels of the headstone and fence you put on it.
- 7
- Laurels on Marble Cross II
- 7
- Laurels on Marble Fence II
- +20
- Columbarium II
- -3
- An open or unfinished grave
Every red skull on the corpse cancels one laurel before any white skull can count. A corpse with 5 red skulls under a Wooden Sign and a Wooden Fence I (2 laurels) scores -3, and needs 5 laurels just to reach zero. Take the red-skull organs out at the autopsy table, or embalm the body, before you bury it.
How one grave is scored
- 1
Count the laurels
Add the laurels of the headstone and the fence on the grave. Better materials carry more: wood 1 to 3, stone 3 to 5, marble 5 to 7.
- 2
Subtract the red skulls
Each red skull on the corpse cancels one laurel. Whatever is left over is what can reach the white skulls.
- 3
Cap it at the white skulls
Each remaining laurel lights one white skull. The grave can never score more than the corpse has white skulls - up to 7 on the best corpses.
- 4
Add it to the graveyard
The grave's score joins every decoration and upgrade in the graveyard's total, shown next to the Graveyard name at the top right of the screen.
- Example corpse
- 3 red skulls, 4 white skulls
- Decorated with
- Gravestone I (4) + Stone Fence I (3) = 7 laurels
- After the red skulls
- 7 - 3 = 4
- Grave score
- 4 (capped at the 4 white skulls)
The game says it in its own words: "Lines that have both white skulls and laurels, counts as one graveyard quality. Lines that have red skulls never count, but you'll need to fill them with laurels to reach white skulls lines." In practice, match the decoration to the corpse - a clean body with few red skulls scores well under a cheap headstone, while a sinner needs marble just to break even.
Everything that raises the score
Headstones and fences are crafted like any item and then set on the grave from its window. Stone and marble ones need the Stonemason's Workbench with a Tool Rack or Fine Tool Rack extension.
Headstones
1 laurel - Woodworking Workbench I - 2 Board and 2 Stick - Wooden Sign
2 laurels - Woodworking Workbench I - 2 Wooden Plank and 2 Bronze Nails - Wooden Gravestones I
3 laurels - Woodworking Workbench I - 2 Wooden Plank and 2 Iron Nails - Wooden Gravestones II
4 laurels - Stonemason's Workbench (Tool Rack) - 3 Polished Stone - Stone Gravestones I
5 laurels - Stonemason's Workbench (Tool Rack) - 2 Carved Stone and 2 Iron Detail - Stone Gravestones II
6 laurels - Stonemason's Workbench (Fine Tool Rack) - 3 Polished Marble - Marble Gravestones I
7 laurels - Stonemason's Workbench (Fine Tool Rack) - 2 Carved Marble and 2 Advanced Detail - Marble Gravestones II
Fences
1 laurel - Woodworking Workbench I - 2 Wooden Plank and 2 Bronze Nails - Wooden Gravestones I
2 laurels - Woodworking Workbench I - 2 Wooden Plank and 2 Iron Nails - Wooden Gravestones II
3 laurels - Stonemason's Workbench (Tool Rack) - 3 Polished Stone - Stone Gravestones I
4 laurels - Stonemason's Workbench (Tool Rack) - 4 Carved Stone and 2 Iron Detail - Stone Gravestones II
5 laurels - Stonemason's Workbench (Fine Tool Rack) - 5 Polished Marble - Marble Gravestones I
7 laurels - Stonemason's Workbench (Fine Tool Rack) - 4 Carved Marble and 2 Advanced Detail - Marble Gravestones II
Benches, monuments, flower beds, lanterns, crypts and columbaria add their value straight to the graveyard, whatever corpse is buried next to them. They are placed on graveyard modules from the Blueprint Desk.
+3 graveyard quality - 3 Wooden Plank and 5 Bronze Detail - Graveyard Keeper I
+5 graveyard quality - 6 Polished Marble and 5 Steel Detail - Graveyard Decor II
+7 graveyard quality - 6 Marble Plate and 5 Iron Nails
+2 graveyard quality - 5 Piece of stone - Graveyard Keeper II
+4 graveyard quality - 4 Bronze Ingot, 3 Polished Bronze and 5 Polished Stone - Graveyard Keeper IV
+6 graveyard quality - 4 Bronze Ingot, 2 Golden ingot and 6 Marble Plate - Mixed Graveyard III
+2 graveyard quality - 4 Oiled Plank, 3 Peat and 3 Rhododendron - Graveyard Keeper III
+4 graveyard quality - 4 Polished Stone, 6 Peat and 6 Rhododendron - Mixed Graveyard II
+6 graveyard quality - 4 Polished Marble, 12 Peat and 6 Night flower - Graveyard Decor II
+2 graveyard quality - 2 Oiled Beam, 2 Iron Detail and 2 Glass - Graveyard Decor I
+5 graveyard quality - 4 Steel Detail, 2 Polished Marble and 8 Glass - Graveyard Decor II
+12 graveyard quality - 6 Piece of stone, 4 Bronze Detail and 8 Urn with Ashes I - Columbariums I
+20 graveyard quality - 6 Polished Marble, 2 Golden ingot and 8 Urn with Ashes II - Columbariums II
+10 graveyard quality - 6 Polished Stone and 2 Iron Detail - Mixed Graveyard I
The graveyard's own fence and paths can be upgraded once each tier is researched. Each upgrade adds its value to the graveyard total.
+10 graveyard quality - 12 Wooden Plank, 12 Bronze Nails and 12 Piece of stone - Graveyard Path and Fence I
+20 graveyard quality - 12 Polished Stone and 12 Marble Plate - Graveyard Path and Fence II
+10 graveyard quality - 24 Polished Stone - Graveyard Path and Fence I
Graveyard construction uses modules. Place a module first, then build on it. There's a limited number of modules. Each module type can be placed 2 times, and each is unlocked by its own technology.
Up to 2 - Columbariums I
Up to 2 - Columbariums II
Up to 2 - Graveyard Keeper I
Up to 2 - Graveyard Keeper II
Up to 2 - Graveyard Keeper III
Up to 2 - Graveyard Keeper IV
Up to 2 - Mixed Graveyard I
Up to 2 - Mixed Graveyard II
Up to 2 - Mixed Graveyard III
Up to 2 - Graveyard Decor I
Up to 2 - story unlock
The graveyard starts small. Finishing Certificate, Please unlocks the first expansion, and each expansion unlocks the next one. Build them at the graveyard's Blueprint Desk.
Build, repair, and clean to improve quality. Everything wild inside the graveyard counts against it until you clear it out:
Graveyard quality lost to each object left standing inside the graveyard.
| Object | Quality |
|---|---|
| Stones, ore, broken barrels | -2 to -3 |
| Dry bushes | -1 to -2 |
| Trees | -1 to -3 |
| Stumps | -2 |
An empty grave you have dug but not filled, and a grave with a body that is not yet buried, each count -3.
What each corpse brings to its grave
Human remains each have their own unique spiritual attributes. A corpse gets its red and white skulls from its body parts. You can change a corpse's red and white skulls by removing organs and embalming. Higher-tier corpses carry more skulls of both colours, and every burial pays a Burial Certificate.
Skull ranges of each corpse tier, and the certificate a burial pays.
| Corpse tier | Red skulls | White skulls | Burial pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 to 1 | 2 to 4 | Burial Certificate I (1 silver) |
| 1 | 1 to 5 | 1 to 5 | Burial Certificate II (2 silver 50 bronze) |
| 2 | 2 to 6 | 2 to 6 | Burial Certificate III (5 silver) |
| 3 | 3 to 7 | 3 to 7 | Burial Certificate III (5 silver) |
| 4 | 3 to 7 | 3 to 7 | Burial Certificate III (5 silver) |
What a good graveyard pays
Graveyard quality is money at Mass. When a sermon succeeds, the Church pays a bonus for every point of graveyard quality on top of the donations - 10 bronze a point on Basic Prayer I, up to 60 on Prayer for Likes III. A graveyard at 200 quality turns a successful Prayer for Likes III into 1 gold 20 silver from the graveyard alone.
Coins paid per point of graveyard quality when the sermon succeeds (more with the Cardinal perk).
| Sermon | Per graveyard point | At 100 quality | Parishioners needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prayer for Likes III | 60 bronze | 60 silver | 140 |
| Prayer for Likes II | 50 bronze | 50 silver | 90 |
| Prayer for Prosperity III | 50 bronze | 50 silver | 100 |
| Prayer for Consumption III | 50 bronze | 50 silver | 100 |
| Prayer for Demand III | 50 bronze | 50 silver | 140 |
| Prayer for Likes I | 40 bronze | 40 silver | 40 |
| Prayer for Prosperity II | 40 bronze | 40 silver | 50 |
| Prayer for Consumption II | 40 bronze | 40 silver | 50 |
Graveyard questions
Why does my grave show a negative number?
The corpse has more red skulls than the grave has laurels. Each red skull cancels one laurel, and anything below zero counts against the graveyard. Put a better headstone and fence on it, or bury a cleaner corpse.
Is a marble headstone always worth it?
Only if the corpse has the white skulls to fill. A grave never scores more than its corpse's white skulls, so a 4-white corpse wastes most of a 7-laurel Marble Cross II. Save marble for high-tier corpses.
Can I bury a zombie?
No. An empty grave only accepts a corpse - a zombie or a wild zombie's body is refused.
Do decorations need a grave next to them?
No. A bench, lantern, monument or columbarium adds its value to the graveyard total wherever it stands inside the graveyard.
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