Graveyard quality

/graveyard-quality

Guide

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

Red skulls eat your laurels first

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.

The rule

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.

What to build

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

Fences

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.

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.

Corpses

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.

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)

Corpses and autopsy

Body parts

Why it matters

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).

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

Church and sermons

The six-day week

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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