Questions:

[DragynDance]

1. I once found a recruit that was labeled as "rare", is there a reliably way to obtain more of these? I see the same recruits basically every time I check, so they don't seem to cycle out to give me another opportunity for another "rare" recruit.

2. Is there a way to just go out and explore, or are there repeatable side quests or something so you can sort of "grind" ? Because if not, it's entirely possible you can brick your save file by getting to a certain point in the story without enough resources or preparation, and if thats the only thing you can do, then you're just softlocked.

[Harper Lewis]

There are lots of rare and ultra-rare and maybe even higher quality recruits available as side mission rewards (you go and rescue them) and as far as I can tell, the game will just keep occasionally offering those missions if you're looking for rare crew.
There is no way to just go out without an objective, but there are side quests all the time and it looks like they're randomized and repeatable, so no worries about getting softlocked due to not having options

[Happy]

Originally posted by Harper Lewis:

There are lots of rare and ultra-rare and maybe even higher quality...

It goes up to at least Legendary. I rescued one randomly.

He's... a bit questionable. He does a ton of extra damage while under 50% health, but he has a "Hungover" trait where he starts every mission at 10% health, which does make sure he has access to his damage bonus, but also means he always starts a few shots away from death. So it's a pain keeping him alive, or I have to heal him up to just under 50ish% and waste station resources on him at the start of every mission.