So, new version warranted new restart, small recap of starting the game on the second difficulty with saves attached:
January - focus was missions + hiring brainers. grog researched, living space is filled with runts. (feb save)
February - Spamming burrows to increase living space, plus you can build on top of it, deducting cost and construction time. So, a barrack on top of a burrow would be finished in 2 days. (march save)
March - outfitted gals into scale armors (animal skinning ->cave hunt gives chitin plates), built a base, unlocked codex, so only Shadowmasters tech is blocking me from better ships. (april save)
Spoiler alert - I got shadowmasters in August after exhausting traitor smoothie. I'd recommend to prioritize second prison asap to save captives with shadowmasters unlock. Codex crafts are amazing.