A good baseline crew for starting captains
Mar 17, 2020 23:13:18 GMT -5
Alex Fury and Swami like this
Post by dragonspear on Mar 17, 2020 23:13:18 GMT -5
Hello fellow captains!
Recently I dived into trying out impossible on different starting ships, and I started either losing crew (combat) or firing crew (inherited bad traits) far more often than I had before.
I started wondering which jobs and how many are Really critical to ship operations when you might, say, lose all your pilots and hire a bunch of level 1 pilots for a bit.
Thanks to tswift.gitlab.io/stfx/ I could start testing some crew combos with ships.
Here's what I came up with as an ideal base which if you get up to level 8 can staff several good ships you might transition to. This does not include the impact of officers.
15 'base' crew
3 pilots
4 crew dogs
2 gunners
2 e-techs
3 navigators
1 mechanic
Strictly speaking, you only need one gunner unless you are transitioning to a *really* big ship, but I think the feats are too good to pass up so this build includes 2 gunners as base. So many crew contribute gunnery ranks it tends to make that skill skyrocket.
Transition to big ship
Add 4 additional crew (max 36 crew ships and larger)
1 pirate
2 spies
1 explorer
The pirate will cover additional piloting, and three more spies/explorer will cover electronics needs.
So these make good recruiting choices in advance of your transition, if you can get them. If not, having an extra pilot (total 4) and three extra e-techs (total 5) may be wise in preparation.
Remember these can be hired later when your reputation is high enough it should be easy to recruit them at level 8, so you don't need space for them immediately.
Now if you start with a 24 max crew ship, you will have:
15 base crew
4 combat crew (I often have one officer and three combat crew as my combat team, with the fourth combat crew acting as a spare starting out in case one dies)
4 specialist crew
1 free slot (for hiring and rescuing people)
How does that stack up with the starting ships?
NB: Ship configurations assume a weapon swapped out for passengers/prisoners and maxed out officer bunks.
Juror
15 base crew
4 combat crew
2 specialist crew
1 spy, 1 explorer
1 free slot
If you use these base 15 crew with the juror at level 1, you are shy 1 pilot rank and 5 electronic ranks
You can pick up two level 2 spies that is 6 electronic ranks (or a spy/explorer combo for 5)
That leaves 2 specialist crew of whatever job you want.
Longbolt
The starting requirements are so severe that you need:
15 base crew
2 additional navigators
2 additional e-techs
2 spies
2 combat crew (not 4)
1 free slot
This explained so much. I always felt starved for hiring specialist crew for a longbolt. I felt like I had to sacrifice something, like using spies as part of my combat team and for stealth missions, or firing the combat team and splicing in some combat levels in more officer roles. That didn't work well either. If you go longbolt, even though it can afford you higher level starting with 4 contacts, you can't hire their specialist recruits because you won't have space unless you crew gets high level or you switch ships around level 8. Now granted, the longbolt starts with awesome components - that's why you need a lot more ranks and crew dedicated to them in electronics and navigation. Your ship is more survivable. It's a tradeoff.
Frontier Liner
15 base crew
4 combat crew
8 specialist crew
2 spies
1 free slot
This actually works … really well. If you use the 15 base crew, you are only short 2 pilot ranks and 6 electronic. Two spies at level 2 can net you 6 electronic (or go spy/explorer for 5). Keep an additional pilot until you can recruit a pirate and you are set. After expanding your barracks to 30 you will have room for 8 specialist crew of your choice (make sure one is a pilot or pirate). That is a lot of freedom to play whatever style you want.
Galtak Freighter
15 base crew
2 additional crew (pilot, e-tech)
4 combat crew
7 specialist crew
1 spy
1 free slot
This one works but it is a little awkward. You run a risk of being a rank or two shy in a few roles if you lose a lot of crew and need to replace them with level 1's. With the base 15, you are shy 2 pilot ranks, 2 ship op ranks, 7 electronic ranks, and 3 navigation ranks. I plugged those holes with an additional pilot and e-tech (still shy 1 navigation) and a recruited spy. This leaves you with 7 specialist crew to play whatever style you want.
All and all, an interesting dive into the numbers. The Juror is more newbie-friendly than the Longbolt (but the Longbolt is more survivable in combat), and the Frontier Liner has a bit more recruiting flexibility than the Galtak Freighter.
Crew Hiring Strategies
I thought I might clarify a few points of how to make your crew work for you and when to fire / replace.
First of all, it is very tempting to recruit a pirate and fire a pilot, or recruit a spy and fire and electronics tech. It is not necessarily a one to one trade, and the reason is they contribute ranks to other things - pilots contribute ranks to navigation, and electronics techs contribute to ships ops. Both tend to have high requirements. So if you really want more specialized crew like pirates and spies, you may need more crew dogs and navigators to compensate. One thing I like to do is recruit a crew dog (4 ships ops) and that allows me to replace two electronics techs (4 ships ops, 8 electronics) with two lvl 2 spies (6 electronics).
Now for combat crew, I tend to view these as my candidates for future officer positions. There are a lot of guides and many possible combos, but the main point is soldiers and swordsmen are very easy to recruit at level 2 - anywhere - and can form the 'backbone' of a combat officer position. Can't find combat medics or doctors? Take that soldier (or swordsman) with 5 bonus ranks in doctor, promote to officer, and cross train as a combat medic. Voila. Need a great xeno hunter? Promote that soldier with high intimidate and cross train into xeno hunter. So on my starting ship I cycle through normal crew soldiers/swordsmen until they survive to a respectable level and I discover their traits. When I get a ship with more officer positions or something bad happens to my original officers - then I promote.
Recently I dived into trying out impossible on different starting ships, and I started either losing crew (combat) or firing crew (inherited bad traits) far more often than I had before.
I started wondering which jobs and how many are Really critical to ship operations when you might, say, lose all your pilots and hire a bunch of level 1 pilots for a bit.
Thanks to tswift.gitlab.io/stfx/ I could start testing some crew combos with ships.
Here's what I came up with as an ideal base which if you get up to level 8 can staff several good ships you might transition to. This does not include the impact of officers.
15 'base' crew
3 pilots
4 crew dogs
2 gunners
2 e-techs
3 navigators
1 mechanic
Strictly speaking, you only need one gunner unless you are transitioning to a *really* big ship, but I think the feats are too good to pass up so this build includes 2 gunners as base. So many crew contribute gunnery ranks it tends to make that skill skyrocket.
Transition to big ship
Add 4 additional crew (max 36 crew ships and larger)
1 pirate
2 spies
1 explorer
The pirate will cover additional piloting, and three more spies/explorer will cover electronics needs.
So these make good recruiting choices in advance of your transition, if you can get them. If not, having an extra pilot (total 4) and three extra e-techs (total 5) may be wise in preparation.
Remember these can be hired later when your reputation is high enough it should be easy to recruit them at level 8, so you don't need space for them immediately.
Now if you start with a 24 max crew ship, you will have:
15 base crew
4 combat crew (I often have one officer and three combat crew as my combat team, with the fourth combat crew acting as a spare starting out in case one dies)
4 specialist crew
1 free slot (for hiring and rescuing people)
How does that stack up with the starting ships?
NB: Ship configurations assume a weapon swapped out for passengers/prisoners and maxed out officer bunks.
Juror
15 base crew
4 combat crew
2 specialist crew
1 spy, 1 explorer
1 free slot
If you use these base 15 crew with the juror at level 1, you are shy 1 pilot rank and 5 electronic ranks
You can pick up two level 2 spies that is 6 electronic ranks (or a spy/explorer combo for 5)
That leaves 2 specialist crew of whatever job you want.
Longbolt
The starting requirements are so severe that you need:
15 base crew
2 additional navigators
2 additional e-techs
2 spies
2 combat crew (not 4)
1 free slot
This explained so much. I always felt starved for hiring specialist crew for a longbolt. I felt like I had to sacrifice something, like using spies as part of my combat team and for stealth missions, or firing the combat team and splicing in some combat levels in more officer roles. That didn't work well either. If you go longbolt, even though it can afford you higher level starting with 4 contacts, you can't hire their specialist recruits because you won't have space unless you crew gets high level or you switch ships around level 8. Now granted, the longbolt starts with awesome components - that's why you need a lot more ranks and crew dedicated to them in electronics and navigation. Your ship is more survivable. It's a tradeoff.
Frontier Liner
15 base crew
4 combat crew
8 specialist crew
2 spies
1 free slot
This actually works … really well. If you use the 15 base crew, you are only short 2 pilot ranks and 6 electronic. Two spies at level 2 can net you 6 electronic (or go spy/explorer for 5). Keep an additional pilot until you can recruit a pirate and you are set. After expanding your barracks to 30 you will have room for 8 specialist crew of your choice (make sure one is a pilot or pirate). That is a lot of freedom to play whatever style you want.
Galtak Freighter
15 base crew
2 additional crew (pilot, e-tech)
4 combat crew
7 specialist crew
1 spy
1 free slot
This one works but it is a little awkward. You run a risk of being a rank or two shy in a few roles if you lose a lot of crew and need to replace them with level 1's. With the base 15, you are shy 2 pilot ranks, 2 ship op ranks, 7 electronic ranks, and 3 navigation ranks. I plugged those holes with an additional pilot and e-tech (still shy 1 navigation) and a recruited spy. This leaves you with 7 specialist crew to play whatever style you want.
All and all, an interesting dive into the numbers. The Juror is more newbie-friendly than the Longbolt (but the Longbolt is more survivable in combat), and the Frontier Liner has a bit more recruiting flexibility than the Galtak Freighter.
Crew Hiring Strategies
I thought I might clarify a few points of how to make your crew work for you and when to fire / replace.
First of all, it is very tempting to recruit a pirate and fire a pilot, or recruit a spy and fire and electronics tech. It is not necessarily a one to one trade, and the reason is they contribute ranks to other things - pilots contribute ranks to navigation, and electronics techs contribute to ships ops. Both tend to have high requirements. So if you really want more specialized crew like pirates and spies, you may need more crew dogs and navigators to compensate. One thing I like to do is recruit a crew dog (4 ships ops) and that allows me to replace two electronics techs (4 ships ops, 8 electronics) with two lvl 2 spies (6 electronics).
Now for combat crew, I tend to view these as my candidates for future officer positions. There are a lot of guides and many possible combos, but the main point is soldiers and swordsmen are very easy to recruit at level 2 - anywhere - and can form the 'backbone' of a combat officer position. Can't find combat medics or doctors? Take that soldier (or swordsman) with 5 bonus ranks in doctor, promote to officer, and cross train as a combat medic. Voila. Need a great xeno hunter? Promote that soldier with high intimidate and cross train into xeno hunter. So on my starting ship I cycle through normal crew soldiers/swordsmen until they survive to a respectable level and I discover their traits. When I get a ship with more officer positions or something bad happens to my original officers - then I promote.
