Starting Ability

Overview
Starting Abilities are extra capabilities unlocked at higher levels of Citadel upgrades. Once unlocked in the Smoldering City, you get the bonus the moment a member of that species joins your settlement (or at the start of the run).

Lizards
10 can help in early game to solve Glade Events, complete Orders or be traded for other Resources. It can be also a good strategy to keep them for sending Abandoned Caches to the Citadel later, as are amongst the most expensive and hard-to-produce goods in the game.

Beavers
' passive ability will unlock the first level of expansion with every neighboring city for free (otherwise it costs 5 for each), which unlocks one extra  Trade Offer (2 -> 3). It allows the player to pick better offers and improve standing with trading partners faster.

Combined with Guild House being a species-specific Service building that might be offered in blueprint choices when  are in the game,  are a good choice for players that center their strategy around Trading.

Humans
' Starting Ability will show the nearest undiscovered Fertile Soil patch on map. This information can be useful when picking blueprints or when choosing the best direction of expansion. Based on this information players can also deduce which Glades in close proximity are unlikely to contain Fertile Soil patches.

Harpies
Although 50 seems to be a large number, they can disappear quickly without real benefit if starting caravan has many villagers with a Clothing Need. It is recommended to forbid usage of at the beginning of the game in  Consumption Control and enable it again when it is beneficial:

Surviving Storm Season
' Resilience is Low and their base Resolve is only 5, so it might be a struggle to keep them positive during Storm Season. Enabling before Storm might prevent them from leaving.

Resolve Orders
Orders and especially Timed Orders that require to keep ', ' or ' Resolve above certain thresholds are much easier to fulfil with at player's disposal.

Solving Glade Events
There are five Dangerous Glade Events that can be solved with a help of :
 * Blightrot Cauldron
 * Corrupted Caravan
 * Merchant Shipwreck
 * Withered Tree
 * Noxious Machinery

Foxes
' Starting Ability will show the nearest undiscovered Rainwater Geyser' position on the map and also reveal its Rainwater type. This information can be useful when picking blueprints or when choosing the best direction of expansion. Based on this information players can also deduce which Glades in close proximity are unlikely to contain geysers.