Attributes

There are seven character attributes:

Strength (abbreviated Str)
Dexterity (abbreviated Dex)
Endurance (abbreviated End)
Speed (abbreviated Spd)
Constitution (abbreviated Con)
Focus (abbreviated Foc)
Perception (abbreviated Per)

Each attribute starts at zero.

Increasing stats

Each stat can be changed permanently and temporarily.

Permanent

Permanent increases to all stats except Perception are possible by spending Talent Points on Specializations

You gain two points to all stats except Perception after passing Test of the Megalopolis

For Perception specifically:

You gain one point after gaining 7 masterpiece meals. Further points are granted with a gastronomy of 49, 343 and 2401.
You gain one point after gaining 7 Beer Tasting. Further points are granted with Beer Tasting of 49, 343 and 2401.
You gain one point after gaining 49 Fumeology. Further points are granted with a Fumeology of 243 and 2401.
You gain one point for the first of each completed Wine Notebook (additional notebooks of the same type do not add to perception)

Temporary

Temporary changes to stats are possible by:

Grilled Foods - these give you small (+1 or +2) boost for 10 min. They cancel raw herb or cooked food effects. You grill food on a Firepit.
Cooked food - lasts for a variable length of time (several hours for the best recipes) and can give a bonus that can get quite high depending upon cooking skill and ingredients used. They cancel raw herb or grilled food effects.
Cheese - lasts for variable length of time with variable effects depending on the potency of the cheese
Raw Herbs - eaten directly from the plant affect the same stats as the herbs can do when cooked, and last 3 minutes. They do not cancel grilled or cooked foods, but stack less than additively.
Aqueducts - increase a single stat by +3 for 24 hours, and stack with any other effects.
Incense - increases one stat and decreases another by up to +/- 7 and lasting up to about 2 hours (both depending upon quality of incense). They stack with all other effects.
Stone phoenixes - gives a small bonus to a single stat that lasts 1 hour, if you polish their wings between 6am and 7am game time.
Test of the Banquet - gives a +7 bonus to all stats for its 21 participants, lasting 8 hours.

By skill, specific changes are possible by:

Strength

Eating Grilled Cucumbers gives a temporary +2 boost
Eating Grilled peppers gives a temporary +1 boost

Dexterity

Eating Grilled Eggplant gives a temporary +2 boost
Eating Grilled peppers gives a temporary +1 boost
After passing the Test of the Bedouin, characters gain the Speed of the Bedouin ability. When used it increases their Dexterity by 21 points for 30 seconds with a 10-minute cooldown between uses.

Endurance

Eating Grilled Onions gives a temporary +2 boost
Eating a Grilled Fish gives a temporary +1 boost

Speed

Eating Grilled Cabbage gives a temporary +2 boost

Constitution

Eating Grilled Watermelon gives a temporary +2 boost

Focus

Eating Grilled Garlic gives a temporary +2 boost

Perception

Eating Grilled Carrots gives a temporary +2 boost

Uses

Stats are useful for the following:

Strength

Controls how much weight you may carry. If you have positive Strength, you can carry 500 * (1 + STR) weight. If you have negative or 0 Strength, you can carry 500 / (1 - STR) weight.
Governs the timer used when separating Coconut Meat in a kitchen.
Strength score is added to the amount a Deep Well is wound from one pull.
Strength score is added to the amount a Barrel Grinder is grinding from one pull.
Controls timer for stirring cement in Clinker Vat along with Endurance.
Increases the distance you push a Pyramid Block
Controls timer for small turns in a Master Schooner or Small Sailboat

Dexterity

Controls how much bulk you may carry. If you have positive Dexterity, you can hold 500 * (1 + DEX) bulk. If you have negative or 0 Dexterity, you can hold 500 / (1 - DEX) bulk.
Increases your off-road running speed by 3%(?) per Dexterity point (cap unknown). The bonus is NOT affected by how much you are carrying.
Increases your chance of getting a Rabbit Pelt when slaughtering a rabbit.
Increases your chance of getting Animal Bones when slaughtering various animals.

Endurance

Controls timers for flax processing
Controls timer for digging (with a shovel at a hole)
Controls timers for gathering dirt and limestone
Controls timer for Deep Well mines (but Strength is more important)
Controls timer for stirring cement in a Clinker Vat, along with Strength.
Controls timer for grinding with a Barrel Grinder (but Strength is important)
Controls timer for large turns in a Master Schooner or Small Sailboat

Speed

Increases your on-road running speed. Tests seem to imply the increase is about 3% per point (Grilled Cabbage reduced a 22-second run to 21-second, and 3% would be in line with Dex).
Increases the chance of catching fish, especially some types of rare fish. A speed of 22 guarantees no lost fish due to a lack of speed.
Increases the chance of not losing bees when harvesting from Beehives. A speed of 22 guarantees no loss of bees.

Constitution

Governs the timer used when making substances in a Chemistry Laboratory or Toxin Kitchen.
Governs the timer used for Fumeology.

Focus

Governs the timer used when dowsing.
Governs the timer used when carving.
Governs the timer used when Prospecting.
Governs the timer used when tapping pyramid blocks.
Governs the timer used when inspecting installed blades in a Carpentry Shop.
Helps removing pearls from your necklace (See Test of the Oyster Catcher).
Governs the timer used when assembling a Clay Lamp.
Higher Focus decreases chance that a slateblade from woodplanes break
Governs the timer used when inspecting Spore Paper for Spores

Perception

Used when Dowsing for metal veins (higher Perception allows detection of more metal types).
Required for finding marble deposits - see Rocks of the Ages
Allows gaining an extra wood from trees.

Timers

Various activities require a period of recovery before they can be performed again. For example, you must rest between uses of a loom. The length of time you must wait is controlled by a timer based on one of the seven statistics.

Buffer

However, In T4 there was introduced an "overdraft" buffer that allows you to borrow limited amounts of action time.

Ordinarily, the buffer is empty. When you first perform an action that uses a stat, the buffer is filled with the cost of that action, and is sized to also give 38 unused seconds. You can continue to perform actions while the buffer has any unused time remaining in it. The buffer empties over time, at a rate determined by your stats.

When the buffer is completely full, the stat name goes bright red in your stats window. If you try to perform the action, you will get a popup telling you how long you will have to wait before you will be allowed to use it (based on your current stats).

The stat name changes to a darker red when the buffer once more has some credit in it, and you are able to perform that sort of action again. When the buffer has at least 18 seconds left, the stat name goes back to black. However, the buffer may take substantially longer to empty completely.

Recovery

The recovery rate is (1 + stat/7) seconds of action buffer per second. So Endurance 7 recovers twice as fast as Endurance 0.

Table of timers

Activity	Stat	Time
Capturing a bullfrog (Safari)	Endurance	300s
Carving (barrel tap)	Focus	120s
Carving (crudely carved handle)	Focus	30s
Carving (large crude handle)	Focus	60s
Carving (rawhide strips)	Focus	20s
Carving (sharpened stick)	Focus	30s
Carving (tinder)	Focus	30s
Carving (wooden peg)	Focus	20s
Carving (wooden pestle)	Focus	10s
Collecting dirt (shovel)	Endurance	20s
Collecting limestone (Heavy Mallet & Lead Chisel)	Endurance	30s
Digging for stones (hole & shovel)	Endurance (+28 to solo with a 9k shovel, )	40s
Dowsing	Focus	120s
Inspect a blade (Carpentry Shop)	Focus	120s
Make Gunpowder	Constitution	12s
Make Ink	Constitution	4s
Quarrying marble	Endurance	30s
Raking flax for straw and tow	Endurance	30s
Raking flax for lint	Endurance	50s (male), 60s (female)
Search for falcon roosts (Safari)	Endurance	120s
Separating a coconut	Strength	6s
Smoking a Hookah Pipe	Constitution	45s
Stirring cement	Strength & Endurance (+21 on both to solo)	45s
Weaving	Endurance	80s (male), 60s (female)
Winding barrel grinder	Endurance (+36 to solo)	120s
Winding deep well	Endurance	180s

Timers that still need to be measured: tapping bore rods (lead hammer) and other pyramid block operations

Changes in time for modified stats

Stat Bonus	40s	45s	60s	80s	90s	120s	180s	10m	30m
7	20s	23s	30s	40s	45s	60s	90s	5.0m	15.0m
14	13s	15s	20s	27s	30s	40s	60s	3m20	10.0m
21	10s	11s	15s	20s	23s	30s	45s	2m30	7.5m
28	8s	9s	12s	16s	18s	24s	36s	2.0m	6.0m
35	7s	8s	10s	13s	15s	20s	30s	1m40	5.0m
42	6s	7s	9s	12s	13s	17s	26s	1m26	4.3m
49	5s	6s	8s	10s	12s	15s	23s	1m20	3.8m

Additional Timers

Some activities have their own timers, which are not tied into the stat timers:

Attempting to repair a building with the Structure Repair skill - 60 secs if you fail
Upgrading a guild hall with camp decoration - 1 week