Recommended Crew Mastery 4 & 5 Upgrades?

[Aaron]

Just wondering how everyone's spending their Crew Mastery 4 & 5 Upgrades? I've read through the various threads here on the topic but am wondering if there's been a general consensus for current end of content or speculations for the next phase of the game? Or if anyone who's spent time messing around with different options feels like weighing in now that they've had more time to form some solid conclusions?

Based on previous threads I've gone ahead and chosen Overdrive Mastery and Base Mastery as they seemed to be the most immediately useful and (I think) don't suffer as quickly from diminishing returns. I'm leaning towards Crew Max Mastery and Primary Stat Level Delay Mastery for my next ones but aren't sure yet and would appreciate any input offered.

[Dragon]

Tier 1: Overdrive, Mastery Delay
Tier 2: Base Mastery, Fixture Mastery, Primary Stat Delay
Tier 3: Research, Individual Stat Delays
Tier 4: Crew Mastery, Secondary Stat Delay
Optional: Synth, Resource
Useless Tier: Compute, Module

Consolidating alot of the previous threads i think i would put them in this order. i have used 2 resets to play around and try them out. Honestly other then Tier 1 stuff you can just take what you need instead of following a strict order anyways. I have yet to see anyone put out any strict data for short long term benefits but if you have the mastery reset to spare you can just take stuff you only need until you finish your Mastery 4's and spec out later when your done (like synth and lower tier stat delays). I would keep Tier 1 and 2 in the long term and Tier 3/4 once you start getting into the Mastery 5/6.

The Stat delays are OK, but they really don't save you many prints and you can easily finish the bonus without getting more then mastery and primary delays.

Mastery Delay helps with quicker print production and more points overall for whatever goals your aiming with crew. The bonus XP also helps in every stat that comes with the +3 extra mastery levels or so. matched with primary stat delay gives the majority of stats needed.

Fixture/base are good to get early as they can combined give you progress and synth speed. in particular fixture speed can help push your reactor max higher for better charge speed on your overdrive. as a point of reference 71days into my Reinforce 3 and i still have 2 overdrives pushing to T5 (3432.58 charge speed). fixture takes a long time to mature. you can spec out of base at some point but might as well keep it for the new content as i'm sure there will be another boost.

The 6th crew member is nice but you don't really need more then 5, i just end up reserving XP/RS perm with 6slots for the Crew XP boost but it's easy to work around with 20min print production times.

Optional is only good for specific scenarios but not really needed and you should spec out of them quickly if you take them, Useless Tier is really just pointless as you can easily do without them.

hope it's useful.

[Aaron]

Originally posted by Dragon:

The 6th crew member is nice but you don't really need more then 5, i just end up reserving XP/RS perm with 6slots for the Crew XP boost but it's easy to work around with 20min print production times.

Yeah that's why I was considering going for the 6th Crew member but you make a good point there.

Originally posted by Dragon:

hope it's useful.

Yes, I think it is. It's nice to get input from others, especially those further in the game, since it can be hard to evaluate the usefulness of some upgrades and we don't get unlimited free respecs. I appreciate the insight!

[Lydia]

I am not that far yet. But the reason why I went for 6th crew member after Overdrive Mastery -- thanks to everybody for pointing that one out in the other threads -- is that I can have all 4 crew members with Acumen active -- maximizing crew xp gain from "active acumen total" and still have 2 crew members for special tasks like computing, synth or base upgrades.
I am running researcher in a "max warp study" and energy technician in a "max research" mode. And these 4 acumen related crew members were my first mastery 4 ones.

[P4K|LDX]

Originally posted by Lydia:

I am not that far yet. But the reason why I went for 6th crew member after Overdrive Mastery -- thanks to everybody for pointing that one out in the other threads -- is that I can have all 4 crew members with Acumen active -- maximizing crew xp gain from "active acumen total" and still have 2 crew members for special tasks like computing, synth or base upgrades.
I am running researcher in a "max warp study" and energy technician in a "max research" mode. And these 4 acumen related crew members were my first mastery 4 ones.

While it's a valid reason, it's not meant for end of content gameplay.

Very few things matter when you push the current content to its limits, and bases aren't one of them.

To be more precise, you'll quick soon reach a point in R3 in which bases, by their diminishing return AND by their bonuses, don't do anything for you. The only bonus you'll want from bases comes from base 5, and guess what, crews don't affect base 5.

In other words you'll get a marginal bonus out of a 6th crew to reach that point quicker, which was already realllllly quick without the 6th crew. It's simply not worth it from an optimal point of view - if it made your experience better, then sure, hope you enjoyed.

The only semi-permanent things to be worthy of your time at end of content are, to the best I can recall, B5, Fixtures, Reactor and Research - which you can either cover with full Acumen XP with 5 crew or aren't affected by crew at all.

Even Warp becomes useless!

[Dragon]

Originally posted by P4K|LDX:

Very few things matter when you push the current content to its limits, and bases aren't one of them.

This is very true, because i bet once new content is added we can perform another reinforce at 95, which you know resets everything anyways.

Regardless the only that matters is you like your choices, there is no perfect path for these mastery points as they are not needed, they just make it easier to reach your goals. Overdrive and mastery just give you the most benefit for the least points early on as they directly lower your time for overdrive tiers which is needed to even get into sector 94 where content ends. That still leaves a plethora of points to use as you chose without really even slowing your progress because your already at the end of whats available.

An example i took synth/bases instead of fixtures early on, still took about a week to finish synth even with base support. but as i have been sitting at the same point for almost 2 months i could have achieved that waiting on fixture times if you focus on synth so i listed it as optional as it would take only a few days to get the same benefit from synth mastery.

both results get you there.

If you want to get the compute and resource upgrades because you like prestige and like to shoot back up with minimal down time then go ahead as that is your play style and it might fit your time schedule.

If you want to focus fully on crew because CrewLifeMatters and is the foundation of everything, grab all stat/mastery delay and the bonus crew member and never prestige to keep going for the next mastery i bet that works to.

If you have too many Mastery resets laying around and grab the quickest benefits and drop them for the long term stuff, go ahead!

Play your way first, fine tune your next run as you will.

[Aaron]

Originally posted by Lydia:

I am not that far yet. But the reason why I went for 6th crew member after Overdrive Mastery -- thanks to everybody for pointing that one out in the other threads -- is that I can have all 4 crew members with Acumen active -- maximizing crew xp gain from "active acumen total" and still have 2 crew members for special tasks like computing, synth or base upgrades.
I am running researcher in a "max warp study" and energy technician in a "max research" mode. And these 4 acumen related crew members were my first mastery 4 ones.

That was my reasoning too, and I spent most of my time in R2 and R3 running Warp and Research together but I think I've just about hit the limits of Warp for the time being and Research is fairly close too. Also, I think Dragon made a good point about sleeve generation times.

[Aaron]

Originally posted by P4K|LDX:

While it's a valid reason, it's not meant for end of content gameplay.

Very few things matter when you push the current content to its limits, and bases aren't one of them.

To be more precise, you'll quick soon reach a point in R3 in which bases, by their diminishing return AND by their bonuses, don't do anything for you. The only bonus you'll want from bases comes from base 5, and guess what, crews don't affect base 5.

In other words you'll get a marginal bonus out of a 6th crew to reach that point quicker, which was already realllllly quick without the 6th crew. It's simply not worth it from an optimal point of view - if it made your experience better, then sure, hope you enjoyed.

The only semi-permanent things to be worthy of your time at end of content are, to the best I can recall, B5, Fixtures, Reactor and Research - which you can either cover with full Acumen XP with 5 crew or aren't affected by crew at all.

Even Warp becomes useless!

Yeah those are some good points and they're essentially what I've come to realize from the responses in this thread and where I'm at in the game, so thanks for your input.

[Aaron]

Originally posted by Dragon:

This is very true, because i bet once new content is added we can perform another reinforce at 95, which you know resets everything anyways.

Regardless the only that matters is you like your choices, there is no perfect path for these mastery points as they are not needed, they just make it easier to reach your goals. Overdrive and mastery just give you the most benefit for the least points early on as they directly lower your time for overdrive tiers which is needed to even get into sector 94 where content ends. That still leaves a plethora of points to use as you chose without really even slowing your progress because your already at the end of whats available.

All good points and I fully agree, but this part in particular is what I was hoping to add clarity to with this thread, and I think with your help and the others that's been achieved (further comments are always welcome though of course).

I just don't like feeling like I'm being punished for choosing poorly in games or for not having foresight, and while I think this game is fairly generous with free resets so far, outside input helps alleviate that sensation a lot and makes me feel like I'm better equipped to make informed decisions, which in turn allows me to more fully enjoy the game.

[Dragon]

Originally posted by Dragon:

Tier 1: Overdrive, Mastery Delay
Tier 2: Base Mastery, Fixture Mastery, Primary Stat Delay
Tier 3: Research, Individual Stat Delays
Tier 4: Crew Mastery, Secondary Stat Delay
Optional: Synth, Resource
Useless Tier: Compute, Module

Figure i would update this for my R4 and newer content.

Tier 1: Overdrive, Rank Delay Mastery
Tier 2: Base Mastery, Fixture Mastery, Primary Stat Delay
Tier 3: Individual Stat Delays,
Tier 4: Secondary Stat Delay,
Optional: Synth, Resource, Research, Crew Mastery
Useless Tier: Compute, Module

With the new content Overdrive, Rank Delay give the most bang for your buck early on. you get the most progression from them by far. Base Mastery is almost into the first tier but loses it's value in the long run other then boosting Base 5 when your warp overdrive is into Tier 7. But at that point you have already progressed though all the content.
--- Tier 4 mastery points (8) would should look like: Overdrive, Rank, Primary, Base, Fixture for the best long term gains. I reached the end of the current content only changing out Fixture for Acumen and Ingenuity stat delays because i was pushing for the overdrive reductions and 7000 stat savants. and that is all you actually need to hit sector 99 in a short time frame. You will only scratch the first 3rd of T12 modules as they take too long, all your overdrive will hit Tier 6, and you will be starting to gain the specimen bonuses in Warp Essence.
As i only has 2 Mastery 5 crew when i finished the content this is just extra and thoughts on the rest of the masterys.
Fixture is better the earlier you earn it, but it's very slow in giving any returns in comparison to normal. While i have yet to finish Tier 12 Synth, it's looking like it's 100% required as they synth mastery is too weak by itself so you need a jump start on it.

Stat Delays in general are 100% required to max out your new crew bonuses, the sooner you cross 720 total mastery the easier it is to combine and swap your crew around for multiple tasks without gimping the other. Synth/Warp run is amazing. hitting the Rank Delays in the total mastery section gives huge jumps when you get them at the same time as the one for mastery points. Its nice to jump 7 ranks for taking a single mastery point.

Crew+ is nice, but is really not needed because you should have a a sub 20 sleeve generation near the end of content.

Resource/module: i never found a reason to use these. might need the resource for caping out your Veil Piercer, but that is well after you hit sect 99

Edit: to research
Research: i feel the capital research got the short end of the stick this expansion. so it's a post sector 99 thing for any real gains (completed all the 1e27 researches in sector 99 without this) research might also tie into finishing out your T12 synth but that would be a long haul to grab the crew skill bonuses/synth/fixture bonuses and not anything short term.

Originally posted by best bulliet target:

The research is core X^2 becoming X^3, so a 16 core was 256, becomes 4096.
Which is roughly 2-4 levels/layers further. The species there do have some nice ones. but sadly it does not raise it above the individual stats mastery, but it should definitely pay out the longer you have it with veiled piercer. They work nice together, but takes awhile to get em to stack up nicely.

again it puts more pressure on your OD and warp into the research which then sadly doesn't add the speed needed for a quicker payout

End Edit:
Compute is really really useless, and was never needed. warp essence and normal capital research and T11 synth is more then enough. the gains in compute are all additions vice multipliers so your fighters don't get anything significant past 50 on off/def which is where i got into sector 99 with

Hope this helps, this is all opinionated and based on R4 run with new content. so there may be some slight differences for the earlier reinforce runs and what your focus should be to clear your last milestones.

[best bulliet target]

only thing i'm going to point out is that it's not an extra core or worth an extra core.

The research is core X^2 becoming X^3, so a 16 core was 256, becomes 4096.
Which is roughly 2-4 levels/layers futher. The species there do hav some nice ones. but sadly it does not raise it above the iduviual stats mastery, but it should deffenly pay out the longer you hav it with veild peicer. They work nice togther, but takes awhile to get em to stack up nicly.

again it puts more persure on your OD and warp into the research which then sadly doesn't add the speed needed for a quicker payout

[Dragon]

Originally posted by best bulliet target:

only thing i'm going to point out is that it's not an extra core or worth an extra core.

The research is core X^2 becoming X^3, so a 16 core was 256, becomes 4096.
Which is roughly 2-4 levels/layers futher. The species there do hav some nice ones. but sadly it does not raise it above the iduviual stats mastery, but it should deffenly pay out the longer you hav it with veild peicer. They work nice togther, but takes awhile to get em to stack up nicly.

again it puts more persure on your OD and warp into the research which then sadly doesn't add the speed needed for a quicker payout

Thanks, i'll edit that into the post to be more specific (with some minor spelling grammar fixes), I didn't review what i was writing afterwards. I was more just going for what you have is already adequate and you don't need it to complete the content, and it doesn't boost you significantly if you grab it early in comparison.

[Aaron]

Originally posted by Dragon:

Figure i would update this for my R4 and newer content.

Thanks Dragon, I appreciate the follow-up. I've went ahead and swapped the thread answer to your updated one.