The Double-Dip Principle
Without laborers
- Fill journal
- Sell to market
- Receive market value only
With laborers
- Fill journal
- Give to laborer
- Wait 22 hours
- Receive raw resources and empty journal back
- Value depends on happiness, tier match, and market prices
Step 1: Setting Up the House
House tier, beds, table, and trophies affect laborer happiness. Furniture should match or exceed the journal and laborer tier. Higher happiness can improve returned resources, and T5 is a common practical target because it balances setup cost and useful journal tiers.
House setup checklist
- House with space for laborers
- Beds for each laborer
- Table matched to the house tier
- Generalist trophy
- Profession trophy for the laborer type
| T2 journal | Use T2+ house and furniture where possible. |
|---|---|
| T3 journal | Use T3+ house and furniture where possible. |
| T4 journal | Use T4+ house and furniture where possible. |
| T5 journal | Practical target for many safe-zone setups. |
| T6-T8 journal | Higher setup cost; check market return before scaling. |
Step 2: Choosing Your Laborers
Lumberjack
Woodcutter's Journal → raw logs.
Cropper
Cropper's Journal → raw fiber.
Prospector
Prospector's Journal → raw ore.
Gamekeeper
Gamekeeper's Journal → raw hide.
Stonecutter
Stonecutter's Journal → raw stone.
Step 3: Happiness and Yield
Laborer happiness depends on house tier, furniture, trophies, and journal tier. A better house and furniture setup can improve output, but market value still depends on the current economy.
Standard setup
- Matched tiers
- Baseline output
- Simpler to build
Optimized setup
- Strong happiness
- Better output potential
- Possible enchanted/raw resource returns depending on laborer and journal mechanics
Treat maximum happiness as a yield optimization target, not a guaranteed silver return. Your real profit depends on journal prices, resource prices, and how often you keep the loop running.
Step 4: The 22-Hour Profit Loop
- Hand-off: give full journal to laborer.
- Wait: 22 hours.
- Payday: claim raw materials and empty journal.
- Repeat: fill journals again or sell/refine outputs.
Setup Cost vs Return
The values below are approximate categories only. Silver costs vary by server, season, and market conditions. Always check your local market before investing.
| House | Approximate core setup cost; varies by tier and market. |
|---|---|
| Beds | Approximate furniture cost; match tier where possible. |
| Table | Approximate furniture cost; important for happiness. |
| Generalist Trophy | Approximate trophy cost; improves setup quality. |
| Profession Trophy | Approximate trophy cost; match laborer profession. |
| Laborers | Approximate hiring/scaling cost; grows with island size. |
Choose Gamekeeper/Hide
If you gather hide and want high-value outputs.
Choose Lumberjack/Cropper
If you want stable passive outputs.
Choose Prospector
If you gather ore consistently.
Be careful with Stonecutter
Use it when stone demand is strong.
Now go fill those journals.
Use AlbionCrafter to calculate your crafting, refining, and raw resource needs so you always know what to gather before sending your laborers to work.
More Guides
GatheringThe Ultimate Fast-Track Gathering Guide
Laborers are only as good as the Journals you feed them - route planning and gear for filling them faster.
Economy / SilverResource Economy Hierarchy
Which laborer to prioritize comes down to which raw resource actually sells - Hide, Wood, Fiber, Ore, and Stone ranked by demand.
Island / EconomyIsland Mastery Guide
Laborers are one piece of a bigger island plan - the full city-by-city farming templates and focus-cost math this builds on.
Island / BreedingHorse Breeder 0-100
A common combo with laborers on the same island - the T3-to-Mastery specialization path and its own focus-cost curve.