Tools increase the speed and quality with which your colonists do things:
- Hammers increase a colonist's ability to craft things in workshops.
- Shovels increase a colonist's ability to work in farms and groves.
- Pickaxes increase a colonist's ability to mine and harvest things.
- Swords increase the damage a colonist does when hitting an enemy.
The total skill level for a colonist and a task is the sum of:
- The colonist's base skill (which increases by experience).
- The colonist's mood (affected by food, drink, social, sleep and house).
- The colonist's tool.
Currently the skill level only affects the speed with which a colonist performs a task. The formula for this is:
- Effective task duration = Base Duration / (1 + 0.3 * skill level)
For example, the base time for mining is 15. If a colonist has a total skill of 5, it takes him/her 15/2.5 = 6 seconds to mine a rock.
Crafting[]
Stone tools are first made in the 
Basic Workplace.
- Process
Mined Rock into 
Stone Block.
- Process
Stone Block into Stone Blank. - Process Log into Wooden Board.
- Process Wooden Board into Wooden Handle.
- Process Stone Blank and Wooden Handle into Stone Tools.
Tools do not stack in Stockpiles, including the upgraded versions. Colonists will pick up the most appropriate tool for their job (within the zone they're assigned to).
Iron tools are made in the 
Metal Workshop.
- Process Mined Iron into Iron Block. This can be done in the Smelter.
- Process Iron Block into Iron Blank.
- Use Wooden Handles made in the Basic Workplace to produce Iron Tools.
