Best way to level up your engineers?

[SlashemVC]

I want to be able to re-pack my chutes, but I haven't done much with the engineers and they are all level 0. What should I do?

[Bodkins(UK)]

Send them on a trip. Crew levels seem to be based on where they've been to gain xp.

[Penny Lee]

Spirit bubble or plumb line works best

[Incunabulum]

Take on a trip to orbit - bumps sraight to the first star after one trip.

[Patriot03]

I took my 2 pilots and a scientist on a flyby of MUN and they came back with 2-3 stars each. I also sent them into a "solar orbit/escape trajectroy" and hurried up and brang them straight back.

Like people have said before, send them on trips.

[Langkard]

Just remember to do things separately. You'll get 1 star for an orbit, but if you then go land on the Mun with that same mission, you won't get credit for all of the experience. Unless it has changed, the game gives you credit for the highest level experience goal for the mission, but they aren't additive. You need to bank that Kerbin orbit experience star by landing and finishing the mission. Then do an orbit of the Mun or Minmus and return for another star. Returning after each is the key.

I built myself a series of Kerbal training vehicles. The first is just a Mk1 cockpit for an experienced pilot with an inline cockpit below it to train Kerbals by doing a simple orbit and return. You can make it fairly early in career mode. Then a bigger version which has a Mk1 for the seasoned pilot and below it a lander can or 3-person capsule for the trainees, designed simply for a Mun or Minmus orbit and return. That's enough to train any newbie Kerbal up to 2 stars. So engineers can pack chutes and scientists get useful data skills and pilots get reasonably nav abilities quickly and efficiently.

[SlashemVC]

Originally posted by Langkard:

Just remember to do things separately. You'll get 1 star for an orbit, but if you then go land on the Mun with that same mission, you won't get credit for all of the experience. Unless it has changed, the game gives you credit for the highest level experience goal for the mission, but they aren't additive. You need to bank that Kerbin orbit experience star by landing and finishing the mission. Then do an orbit of the Mun or Minmus and return for another star. Returning after each is the key.

I built myself a series of Kerbal training vehicles. The first is just a Mk1 cockpit for an experienced pilot with an inline cockpit below it to train Kerbals by doing a simple orbit and return. You can make it fairly early in career mode. Then a bigger version which has a Mk1 for the seasoned pilot and below it a lander can or 3-person capsule for the trainees, designed simply for a Mun or Minmus orbit and return. That's enough to train any newbie Kerbal up to 2 stars. So engineers can pack chutes and scientists get useful data skills and pilots get reasonably nav abilities quickly and efficiently.

Great reply! Thank you for your insights, here. I'm going integrate this training policy into my space program immediately!

[CorSec]

Originally posted by Langkard:

Just remember to do things separately. You'll get 1 star for an orbit, but if you then go land on the Mun with that same mission, you won't get credit for all of the experience. Unless it has changed, the game gives you credit for the highest level experience goal for the mission, but they aren't additive. You need to bank that Kerbin orbit experience star by landing and finishing the mission. Then do an orbit of the Mun or Minmus and return for another star. Returning after each is the key.

I built myself a series of Kerbal training vehicles. The first is just a Mk1 cockpit for an experienced pilot with an inline cockpit below it to train Kerbals by doing a simple orbit and return. You can make it fairly early in career mode. Then a bigger version which has a Mk1 for the seasoned pilot and below it a lander can or 3-person capsule for the trainees, designed simply for a Mun or Minmus orbit and return. That's enough to train any newbie Kerbal up to 2 stars. So engineers can pack chutes and scientists get useful data skills and pilots get reasonably nav abilities quickly and efficiently.

You can get xp from multiple sources on a single trip. I just sent a rookie crew to Kerbin orbit, then Mun orbit and finally minmus orbit before bring them home. They are listed in the astronaut complex as having...

Orbit around Kerbin - 2
Orbit around Mun - 3
Orbit around Minmus - 4

...they are now 2 star Kerbals and ready to man my new science station!

[maculator]

Landing, EVA and planting flags also counts. I also like to build a really big ship, send all my kerbals to a solar orbit and as soon as the SOI change happens I let everyone go on EVA, then turn arround and get back to Kerbin.

[Ottomic]

May I say that the way of leveling engineers is deeply stupid?

"So hey man, how did you learn to replace wheels?"
"I went to to Duna."

[maculator]

I use "Roverspeed" since I find wheels breaking while cruising is also deeply stupid^^

[Ottomic]

Well yeah, but it's the same for any use you might have for an engineer, and if you do like me and run DangIt, the whole thing just becomes more painfully obvious. And there is no reason for an astronaut to not gain experience from repeated missions if you put a proper experience system with diminishing returns in place instead of this "knowledge absorbed from tourism" thing we have in place now.

(DangIt has an option to ignore engineer level, but that, again, doesn't solve how stupid the whole leveling system is).

[SlashemVC]

Yeah it seems like gaining a little experience from every attempt to repack a chute, with each failure being permanent to that flight, would make more sense.

[jcewazhere]

I have a big ol' space bus made of Mk III parts (that crew cabin is OP) to send kerbals out to Kerbol orbit and straight back. That gets them decent experience for one mission.