Quick answer
What to do first
Before an elective operation, check the surgeon, permitted medicine and patient’s bed/room conditions. The surgeon’s displayed surgery stat is not the operation’s final success chance. Better preparation reduces avoidable risk but never justifies promising a guaranteed operation.
Match your symptom
| Symptom | Likely cause | Check | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operation never starts | Bill, doctor or medicine is unavailable | Inspect the operation bill, doctor assignment and allowed medicine. | Provide the required items and a capable available surgeon. |
| Good doctor still fails | Other factors and residual failure remain | Inspect bed/room factor, medicine and operation type. | Improve preparation; do not read a doctor stat above 100% as certainty. |
| Patient or doctor is impaired | Health can limit performance | Check surgeon manipulation, sight and current condition. | For elective work, consider delaying until conditions improve. |
| Urgent operation | Waiting also has a cost | Compare the patient’s condition with preparation time. | Choose consciously between urgency and better conditions. |
Decide whether to operate now
Distinguish an operation that is blocked from one that is risky. A missing implant, disallowed medicine or unavailable surgeon prevents work from starting. Raising a priority will not supply a missing ingredient or satisfy an operation’s requirement.
Check doctor, medicine and room
Surgery combines factors rather than using the doctor’s number alone. Inspect the doctor, the bed and room conditions, the medicine being used and the operation. Clean, suitable medical space is preparation—not a promise that no failure can occur.
Avoid the 100-percent trap
For elective implants, use the pause to improve conditions before issuing the bill. Avoid relying on a tired or impaired surgeon when a better option can reasonably be arranged. Ideology medical specialists are an optional expansion branch, not a requirement for Core surgery.
If an operation fails
After a failure, inspect the patient before repeating the operation. Treat new injuries and reassess whether another attempt is appropriate now. Infection emergencies can change the decision, which is why their care sequence is handled separately rather than hidden in an implant checklist.
Version & sources
Sources & what may change
- Applies to
- Core · PC 1.6.4850. Optional branches: Ideology.
- Last verified
- 2026-09-04
- When to check again
- Recheck after a relevant game patch, DLC change or source correction. Mods can change these conditions.
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Portions of the materials used to create this content/mod are trademarks and/or copyrighted works of Ludeon Studios Inc. All rights reserved by Ludeon. This content/mod is not official and is not endorsed by Ludeon.
