Staff Priority Tier List

S-Tier — Hire Immediately

Scientist (Lab Station $1,000) — without scientists, zero gross profits. Class-D (Test Subject Zone $2,500) — pair one zone per scientist early. Maintenance (Closet $750) — cheap Clean bonus insurance before cafeterias clog.

These three hires should exist within your first thirty minutes—delay everything else until SCP-005 or equivalent Safe anomaly is connected and cycling tests.

A-Tier — Pre-Euclid Scaling

Doctor (Medbay $1,250) — before first Wilderness capture or heavy testing; sustains Health bonus. Security (Station $1,500) — before Euclid research completes; unlocks after research stars but plan stations early.

Doctors jump to S-tier temporarily after any breach or capture injury event—keep medbay staffing flexible rather than strictly tier-locked.

B-Tier — Mid to Late Game

Task Force (Armory $30,000) — before SCP-173/347 captures and Keter wings, not day one. Additional scientists and Class-D duplicates — scale with anomaly count, not ahead of it.

Excess scientists without anomalies drop to C-tier immediately—they inflate Personnel Salaries without moving Gross Profits.

Hiring Discipline Tips

Fire redundant staff after layout consolidation to trim Personnel Salaries. One cafeteria supports eight personnel—build dining before hiring sprees. Sync hiring with furnishing placement in build mode to avoid empty salaries.

During beta NPC needs patches, staff tier effectively rises— unhappy Class-D demote even S-tier anomalies to D-tier real output.

Weekly staff audits prevent salary bloat: if an anomaly moved wings, reassign scientists instead of hiring new ones while old paths sit empty.

Hiring Timeline by Phase

Phase 1 (first hour): scientist, Class-D, maintenance. Phase 2 (pre-Euclid): duplicate scientist pairs, first doctor, cafeteria expansion. Phase 3 (Euclid active): security, more Class-D zones, second medbay. Phase 4 (captures): Task Force via armory. Phase 5 (endgame): scale scientists to anomaly count, maintain maintenance per floor.

Skipping Phase 2 doctors causes hidden Health bonus loss that makes Phase 3 Euclid lines look worse than tier lists predict.

Print this phase list beside your monitor during first week—it prevents skipping maintenance while rushing cosmetic wall packs.

Class-D hiring spikes belong in Phase 3—not Phase 1—unless Test Subject Zones scale with scientist counts first.

Staff Tier Quick Summary

S-tier hires: Scientist, Class-D, Maintenance. A-tier hires: Doctor, Security (when unlocked). B-tier hires: Task Force, excess scientists beyond anomaly count. Never hire Task Force before Armory placement. Never hire scientists before Lab Station tiles exist.

Re-check staff tiers after riots: if Safety bonus crashed, Security jumps from A-tier to S-tier urgency regardless of earlier plans.

Staff Tier and Furnishing Pairs

Every staff tier assumes matching furnishings exist: S-tier scientist requires Lab Station tile; A-tier doctor requires Medbay; B-tier Task Force requires Armory. Hiring without tiles wastes salaries and effectively drops that role to D-tier value until build mode catches up.

Before any hiring spree, open build mode and verify furnishing counts meet tier targets—especially Security Stations before Euclid testing and Armories before capture weekends.

Staff Tiers After Riots

Post-riot re-hiring follows emergency tiers: Security and doctors jump to S-tier until Safety and Health bonuses recover. Maintenance rises if Clean bonus collapsed from debris. Pause scientist hiring until Class-D morale stabilizes—adding tests during riots extends downtime. Task Force stays B-tier unless breaches continue into capture zones.

Cafeteria Capacity and Staff Tiers

Each cafeteria serves eight personnel—plan dining before exceeding eight hires in a wing. Exceeding capacity without building a second cafeteria effectively downgrades all staff one tier because beta needs systems punish overcrowded dining routes. Cafeteria construction is A-tier priority disguised as C-tier furnishing cost.

When Class-D count exceeds cafeteria capacity, riots become a staffing tier problem even if Security ranks A-tier on paper.