Are crew really useful?

[BladeofSharpness]

Should I hire crew for my miners? Are we talking of an overall +10% efficiency gain from having a crew?

[Gregorovitch]

I'm not sure if they increase mining efficiency, but they certainly will repair the ship if it takes damage and they accrue experience, including sometimes management and piloting, which can be useful. Mining pilots will accrue management experience so they make good candidates for station managers when you need one and one of the crew can take over captaincy there and then with no messing about.

Etc.

Crew are not expensive compared to the overall price of a miner and you don't have to pay them wages ongoing so it makes sense to crew up your ships IMO. I put four + captain in my miners.

[hurepoix]

Crew are, for what I know, useless on freighters ships.

On military ships crews are also useless, but soldiers are, if and only if, you plane to board other ships.

Crews are usefull on mining ships but indirectly. It is a pool of future admin for your station. However most time the captain up admin skill faster than its crews, so people tend to choose him/her instead a crew. mining ship is a good admin school.

I always crews builders ships at max and assign 100 construction drones to it.

Crews to repair ships is imo irrelevant. It is too slow to save a ship in combat, and if it survive you'd better to send it to a repair station.

PS ; what would means +10% efficiency gain, on a freighter ship ?

[Wraith]

Crew on military ship Medium and and larger are fantastic.
They help repair the ship and get a good chunk of exp while doing so.

There were moments where I would have died if not for the crew ability to regenerate the hull.

[Sticky]

Originally posted by BladeofSharpness:

Should I hire crew for my miners? Are we talking of an overall +10% efficiency gain from having a crew?

ABSOLUTELY everything needs a crew. The Pilots Skill and Moral effects the ships skills, The Service Crew Engineer skill and Moral Helps the Pilots skills, most importantly repairs the ship automatically to keep the ship going. I wish i could say that Marines affect your turrets but they are there to show strength and resistance, And used in claiming ships and boarding operations.
Typically and i have no set values,, For S ships they only get Crew Members, M Ships if it were to hold 20 ish i would use 5 marines and 15 Crew, L class i usually shoot for 20 marines and rest Crew. It is a good idea to keep a spot or two open for a better Crew Member or Captain.

[hurepoix]

I still think crews are a vaste of money. I sent many time odyseus task force with only the captain onboard and it worked fine. I crew my ships when I build its myself ; it cost me nothing.

[Gregorovitch]

Originally posted by hurepoix:

I still think crews are a vaste of money.

But it's such a tiny amount of money that the advantages make them worth it, easily. If you had to pay them ongoing wages or feed them it might be a different story.

[Sticky]

A Captain alone will not repair your dying ship after a near successful escape. Though Repair Drones will repair Engines and Guns the Crew will work on the Hull. I had a Buffalo escape a K and P's, his hull was down to 60% if not for the fearless crew on board and the Captains decision to engage Flee and spool up the Travel Drive, That Buffalo would have likely not have made it.

[hurepoix]

Originally posted by Gregorovitch:

Originally posted by hurepoix:

I still think crews are a vaste of money.

But it's such a tiny amount of money that the advantages make them worth it, easily. If you had to pay them ongoing wages or feed them it might be a different story.

For an odyseus alone it can be up to 450 000 cr.

A Captain alone will not repair your dying ship after a near successful escape.

Escape is something about unknow in my games, at least for military ships which are destroyers at 99 per cent.

Well, however if you you like so much crews, (and it worth also for engine shield and weapons), try this.

Compare price on the shipyard and on the various repair station. It s often cheaper on repair station. the shipyard can propose you 9000 cr each crew and a repair station only 4500. So buy your ship at minima at the shipyard, then upgrade/finish it at the repair station. Repair station are rarely sollicited, so often have full stock and by the way practice lower price. In early game it can make a significant money gain. Early game is about always the time where you're cash dry.

Hope it could help.

[Sticky]

A Buffalo is a L Class Split Freighter, its nearly considered a poor mans carrier, not only because it surely does not have much cargo capacity. But has a good bit of turrets and engines. With the right mix of different factions equipment this ship is a beast for a L class Freighter.

[Gregorovitch]

Originally posted by hurepoix:

For an odyseus alone it can be up to 450 000 cr.

Which is peanuts in the context of a fully decked out Odysseus. In any case half that sum would be for marines, should you want them.

[mmmcheesywaffles]

I dozed off to awake to my Odyseus player ship surrounded by Xenon debris and loads of collectibles :)

Using only it's flak turrets to defend my ship it had survived but not without nearly 80% loss of hull. My Main Battery was out and so were all but 2 turrets, engines were well fried too. I was only carrying 2 repair drones so I assumed wrongly that I would need backup support to travel through the next sector [Xenon].

However, my crew of 2 star Engineers had my ship repaired by the time I neared the Jump Gate. I even double checked by loading the last save! So, YES crew make a difference and even if they had cost 450k that is easily more than paid for in saved repair costs since that battle.

I now even add Engineers to my heavy fighters. I always look out for 2 Star Engineers with at least 1 star Morale.

[BladeofSharpness]

Originally posted by Sticky:

A Buffalo is a L Class Split Freighter, its nearly considered a poor mans carrier, not only because it surely does not have much cargo capacity. But has a good bit of turrets and engines. With the right mix of different factions equipment this ship is a beast for a L class Freighter.

That's fun because there is a freighter named Buffalo in Star Sector :-)

I need to see it, which race uses it?

[Sticky]

It is in the Split DLC. I think the Split have visited Earth because they have many ships with Earth Creature names. The Split DLC add's many sectors and Ships and some new equipment as well.

[hurepoix]

Originally posted by Gregorovitch:

Which is peanuts in the context of a fully decked out Odysseus.

450 000 is about 5 per cent the price I pay for an odyseus, for some medium freighter crews can count for up to 10 per cent of the total cost.

In all of my games I was never boarded, not just the ship where I was, but all my ships under AI control. Not a single time. Why Would I do with marines ? Boarding myself a ship ? I did once. Never again, it dont worth the time it takes. I would probably not make a fortune like that. However I know some people like boarding ship, if it is for fun, I have nothing to say agianst that.

@ BladeofSharpness ; Sticky said it is a Split fast L freighter. For what I know a 16 K load. It is even less than light paranid L freighter. But also probably a faster one. Problem is speed is not so important for L ship. L ships waste lot of time to cross gates.

[BladeofSharpness]

I'm more interested in the concept of Indianman in fact, a heavy freighter with guns.