Is Commander job worth the investment for a combat officer?

[resistor]

Does anyone invest in high ranks of Commander for combat officers? It doesn't seem worth it to me. The problem is high investment in Commander can cause the character to fall behind on the curve for evasion and accuracy skills. Since characters with high ranks in Commander can't reliably evade or attack, one possible solution might be to put them in position 4 and use them for buffs/debuffs, but that doesn't work because many of Commander's talents can only be used in positions 1-3.

[grävling]

Sending commanders out for crew fights has not been working for me. Bolster is a nice, talent but not worth the price. I want my commander for ship combat talents, not crew combat talents. But I have only really been at this for a week, so my problem may be inexperience.

[John Robinson]

resistor

I'm no expert, but here's what happened for me.

The Commander talents and primary skill are aligned with command.  So I always thought of Commanders
as ship support characters.  However I did take one of my combat team (officer) to commander(11)
for these reasons.

Scorn: I learned from Xeno attacks.  They have Scorn.  Combined with other debuffs, paralyzed my first 2 slots
then slaughtered them.  Worked pretty darn good for me against human targets.  Reducing 2 target -25%
deflection makes them vulnerable to piercing attacks, but the 2 target -4 initiative for the low cost of 8 initiative 
cannot be beat.

Here's a great way to use it:  Soldier Slot(1) uses concussion grenade hits 2 targets with -4 initiative, then
Commander uses Scorn.  Now the first 2 slots have lost -8 initiative for 2 turns.

Barked Order: The only other character that can reach slot(3) with a knock-back attack is the sniper with
staggering hit.  But the sniper must already have stealth-mode on to use it.  Enemy snipers start in slot-4.
Hitting the target in slot-3 forces enemy snipers out of position.

Bolster:  Nearly makes your commander immune to morale break effects during combat.  Very low cost of 6 init,
you can use it and have plenty init left over to launch your own attacks.

Commander(11)	Scorn	command hits 2 targets causes -4 Initiative,	x o o o | T T x x	Init 8
		-25% Deflection for 2 Turns.
Commander(5)	Barked Order	Causes -25% All Accuracy, -25% All Damage for 3 T	x o o o | K K K x	Init 12
		knocks target back 1 slot
Commander(8)	Bolster	Removes all Debuffs; Restores (30 + 0 Com) Morale	D & B	Init 6

[fallen]

John Robinson you are a marvel.