HowTo: You And Your Crew, Boo.

Guide covering all existing crew members, what they affect and where they make sense.

Date last editted: 2nd of April, 2017. 12th of April, 2017.

HowTo: Your Crew And You, Boo.

Hi there.

As an aspiring commander of a fleet of capital ships with crew ranging from hundreds to thousands, you are head of a company. Even if the endgoal is warfare, and you may color yourself an admiral or other naval military terms, you are an employer, and thusly, you will have your selection of applicants for the most important positions - your CTOs, CIOs, CFOs, and so on. The leadership cadre.

It's an employer's market out there. The positions available are limited, and the applicants are numerous. And this will be your handy guide to cut through the fat and get down to business, by making educated hiring choices. Because, let's face it, who are we kidding - you don't have time to listen to every bumblechuck knocking on your door, DNA is precious, and your time is valueable.

You can find my extensive guide on implants here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=898209473 Have a seat.

Last edit: 12th of April, 2017.

FULL DISCLAIMER:

This is, by and large, a sloppy written, tongue-in-cheek guide on the crew available in Fractured Space. If you prefer one pixel pile over another, more power to you. Opinions differ, and I can appreciate others having success with different crews, so, if I end up talking smack about your favourite crew member, don't take it personally. Please.

Levels! - Not the AVICII song.

"There's no way I can justify my salary level, but I'm learning to live with it." - Drew Carey
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Now, crew stats at level 0, and they have color-coded slots. Each of those slots only accepts implants of the same color. Consult my implant guide linked below on that topic for more information. Those colors should help you prioritize crew members, aside from their base stats which will be discussed here. If you need a red and two yellow implants, a crew member with two blue and a red might a lot more effort to becoem fully useable than a crew member that already has a two yellow and a single blue at the lowest slot, as slots change to chroma (Author's note: purple. They become purple.) and can accept any implant.

"Ay, yo, Ced, why is some of 'dem peeps in dem screenshots a-yer's purple and some of them not?"


Glad you asked. Because those are legendary, which means, they are leveled out - all their slots can be fitted with any implant. So, don't fret if yours isn't purple. It'll be in due time. Once they are level 3, they will not only be purple, but also become animated, which is cool. It takes some time to level a crew member - and it takes even longer the further you go. For example, if an officer caps out (as in, reaches level 3/Legendary) at 168,000 XP, it'll take you [TARGET XP] / [YOUR AVERAGE XP PER MATCH] matches to max that guy.

Lemme give some examples.

If you play mostly PvE, and win most of the time, with a mix of Frontline (faster games, less XP) and Conquest (longer games, more XP), you can average between 1500 and 2500 XP a match. For simplicity's sake, let us assume 2000 XP/match. Your Captain levels from 0 to 1 at 18,500, from 1 to 2 at 86,000 and from 2 to 3 at 175,000xp. So that means, it'll take you about ~10 matches for level 1, another ~34 matches for level 2 and then yet another ~45 matches for level 3. A total match counter of round about ~88 matches.



The goal of the developers was something like 10, 35, 55 for each level, for a total of 100 matches to "legendarise" (Author's note: It's a word now.) an officer. If you perform above the norm, you will be faster, if you perform below, you will be slower. If you cannot meet the 2,000XP/match number, don't worry. All comes with patience and due time and learning what works and what doesn't.

Position	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3 (Legendary)
Captain	18,500xp	86,000xp	175,000xp
Tactical	17,000xp	84,000xp	171,000xp
Engineer	15,500xp	82,000xp	168,000xp
Utility	14,000xp	80,000xp	165,000xp
Repair	12,500xp	78,000xp	162,000xp
Jump Core	11,000xp	76,000xp	159,000xp
Navigation	9,500xp	74,000xp	156,000xp
Comms	8,000xp	72,000xp	153,000xp
CAG	6,500xp	70,000xp	150,000xp
Difference	+1,500xp	+2,000xp	+3,000xp to the next officer

- sorted by slowest to fastest

If you want to maximize your leveling efforts, concentrate on using the same crew (where applicable) on different ships, even if they might not be 100% ideal. Level one dude to max before you start another. Some officers (Comms, for example) level faster than others (with Captains taking the longest). In general, you should get a crew member to level 1 within 10 matches, and within 50, to level 2. Most officers have reached peak-versatility by then, the 3rd level is just icing on the cake.



Some officers, like CAG, Comms and Jump Core, may take longer to level because they are competing with much stronger officers on the same ship, or they cannot be used on all ships to full or any effect at all. You might have to stare down a grind with a single ship, like the Paragon, to get a CAG to legendary. On the other hand, officers like Captains, Tactical and Engineer will level quicker, as they have a home on (almost) all ships.

Is it "worth it"? Only if that officer a) has better base stats than the option you have available. Does it makes sense to level an officer with the same stats as one that is already leveled? Only if you prefer the voice overs. Does an officer need to be maxed to be fully effective? Hardly, many officers already come with decent implant slots. Do I level every one of them, because I like the "ding" once in a while? You bet'cha.

Captain's Chair

"When you are captain, you are never speaking for yourself." - Brian O'Driscoll
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Position: Front & Center. Mandatory. Can't use a crew without one.
Effect: Damage output, capture speed, durability.

Let's come out of the gate swinging. Captains are what determines your general leaning with the ship you are flying, by putting emphasis on one of the three aspects they affect - damage, capture and resilience. Each Captain has one strong attribute (further referred to as "main"), and a couple weaker ones - trade offs happening here. As a result, there are three captains that stand out.

• Evan Sterling is the quintessential attacker's captain. He has the highest +ATK DMG, combined with the highest possible secondary damage reduction. He also drops capture rate as low as it will go. Put this guy on ships that need a lot of Alpha, such as shotgun ships or stealthers you want to use for combat. The damage reduction helps staying in the thick for longer. He comes out of a regular crew pod.
  
  Alternatives: Caesar Morgan (pirate) and The Mighty Jingles (promotion) have the same stats, giving up some damage reduction for more capture rate. If you don't have Evan, these two are decent stand-ins.
  
  
• Marie-Anne Moreau is the best choice for tanking needs. She combines the highest damage reduction with middle of the way secondaries for +ATK DMG and +CAP. She could only be better if she had +3% ATK DMG, dropping +CAP to 6.25%, but, we can't have nice things. She comes out of a regular crew pod.
  
  Alternatives: Clara Reisette (regular) is equally tanky, but drops attack damage for capture rate. Heavies usually don't do much capturing, so that's a bit of a waste, though. But, if you don't have the Frenchie, she'll serve well to keep your fatty alive.
  
  
• WHIM gives you the best choice for capturing, by going 25% on that capture rate, and his damage reduction is as high as a secondary will go. Attack damage suffers from this, but since ships like back capping stealthers or speedy small ships are usually more concerned with getting in and out alive, that's a good marriage. They come out of a regular crew pod.
  
  Alternatives: Matsokah (regular) also captures at 25%, and his strong secondary is +ATK DMG, at 3%. He drops damage reduction as low as it will go, though - this is a more fragile capture captain that preserves some attack power. A decent alternative for stealthers that can get their survivability elsewhere.

The other captains (aka, the not-so-great-options):

Attack Damage:



Capture:



Resilience:


Trivia:

• 'Caesar Morgan' is named after the spiced rum brand "Captain Morgan", which has a pirate as their mascot/logo.
• 'The Migthy Jingles' is a YouTube/Stream personality. He does war games, like WoT, AW, etc.
  
• Jonesy is (yet another) ALIEN tribute, after the ship cat, Jones.
  
• I am certain WHIM was inspired by WOPR, the computer from the movie "Wargames".

Secondary Officers

With the Captain position filled, you have four more slots to think about - now, these are all interchangeable, and nothing can stop you from putting officers with little to no effect or synergy onto ships, as long as you fill all four slots. (Author's note: Don't do that.)

Officers come in multiple categories:

• CAG
• Comms
• Engineer
• Jump Core
• Navigation
• Repair
• Tactical
• Utility

And they come in two flavours: Focussed and Hybrid. A focussed officer does one of the two things well, and drops the other. A hybrid keeps either aspect leveled with the other. In general, focussed officers are preferable - because, minmaxing, and so on, eh? Wouldn't want to waste a slot on getting someone on board that isn't a winner, that doesn't excel at their field. We're doing job interviews here. Only leaders are good enough for these positions.

Let's hit it.

CAG - Commander Air Group

"Why does the air force need expensive new bombers? Have the people we've been bombing over the years been complaining?" - George C. Wallace
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Position: Specialist, only usefull if you have any air wings or drones of any kind/flavor.
Effect: Fast movers become available more often and get harder to kill.

CAGs run your flight decks and are, thusly, specialists, in the sense that if you put them on an Enforcer or Black Widow, they'll manage nothing but paperwork and get bored. These officers require some sort of small craft present to have any impact on game play. Naturally, CAGs are an instant marriage with the Zarek Paragon carrier (3 air wings), or the Infiltrator (drones are main source of damage). They are also quite good for Disruptors, if you really want to annoy people. Other ships with only one air wing, or minor air wings (a small contingent of fighters on the Displacer, for example) might opt for a different guy. But a ship like the Colossus with Slow Drones might consider a CAG. So, who should be running your launch bays?

• Ernest Grimur is the best CAGs if you need your air wings to last a long time. While he still decreases squad cooldowns by a respectable 7.5%, he makes air wings much harder to kill. For Bombers, Slow Drones, Repair Drones, Ion Drones, Defense or any other air group that needs to stay on target and/or is wont to ellicit a strong defensive response, he's ace. He plops out of regular crew pods.
  
  Alternative: Sara Krace (regular) does the same thing.
  
  
• Matilda Isaacs is the only CAG that reduces Squad Cooldown as a main trait. She's your go-to choice for anything you want to call often, such as fighters, which refuel a lot, but usually don't get shot down a lot. The Leviathan has a really big fighter wing, and that benefits from this officer. Interestingly, her cooldown reduction also helps with air wings that tend to be one-shots or are almost guarenteed to take damage, such as charge bombers of the Paragon or Bombers launched from Gladiator or Destroyer. She comes out of regular pod, and has no alternative.
  
  
• Arkany Kena is a hybrid officer, and one of the few hybrid choices that has a raison d'étrè. She serves well on the Zarek Paragon, where you have mixed requirements to the air wings - fighters that have a lot of downtime to be reduced, bombers that need to stay on target under fire to deliver their payload, and drones that need to last despite being flak'ed. She's a regular gal.
  
  Alternative: Corporal Johner One does the same thing.

With the CAG position being so clear-cut and both Focussed and Hybrid officers having reason to be around, the other two CAGs aren't second grade, but just as valid as replacements for those mentioned above. You might get lucky and get one of the legendary from a pod, or prefer a face over another. Go with that one, then.


Trivia:

• 'Sara Krace' is named after "Kara Thrace", the ace-pilot/CAG of Battle Star Galactica. Ironically enough, Kara Thrace was known for rather breakneck maneuvers and risked getting killed more than once. And got her fellow pilots killed. GG on giving her +Squad Survival as her main, ECG, you cheeky [endearing swear word rhyming with custard].

Comms - Chitty Chatters

"Language is a virus from outer space." - William S. Burroughs
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Position: Specialist, only fully useful if you rely on energy a lot. Sensor range is only nice to have.
Effect: Increases the range at which you pick up enemy ships and your energy recharge.

Now, Comms officers are a bit of a halfway decent, halfway not thing. The increased sensor range is a plus for a handful few ships that can make use of the increased range, but even with full implants and the best Comms officer, you are capping out at 23,760m (18,000 base +32%) sensor range, so snipers and such find argueable use in that. It can do good for some fringe cases, where the increase meets a certain threshold, such as a Black Widow with missile range increase hitting 19,500m with 19,440m sensor range (+8%) or 20,160m (+12%).

The stronger half of the officer is the Energy Regeneration. On ships like the Protector or Paladin, that have continuous abilities, or on Stealth ships, this aspect will greatly help with keeping your abilities up or recover after a drain ability has hit you. [Raven cawing in the background.] But, that's where the pudding wobbles. With energy regeneration being such a strong aspect of the Comms Officer and Sensor Range easily pushable with implants alone, Comms Officers are rather limited in which one to pick - and it undermines if you should pick them at all.

• Samuel Mosley is the only CommO to push Energy Regeneration to +7.5%, and thusly, in almost every case the best choice. With his +8% Sensor Range, he offers enough of a boost to get to 19,440m sensor range, which covers most missile ranges, and non-sniper railguns, even with missile range increases. He jumps out of regular crew pods and has no alternative.
  
  
• Nessa Mulligan is the hybrid CommO, and offers a bit more sensor range, to push beyond the 20km point, at 20,160m with her 12% boost. You do get less energy regen for it, but that might be worth your while, if you want a little bit of anticipation/reaction time for long range missiles or railgun shots. She's a regular pod baby, too.
  
  Alternative: Xu Ziyi (regular) does the same.

There's only one more CommO, Lexin Kether, and he is a weirdo. His +EnReg is negliable, and his +16% sensor range increase is only for some extreme cases, where you go all out and want that almost 24km range. At that point, you are investing a third of your implants and a precious officer slot into something that doesn't help you in the slightest bit at common combat ranges, though. Meh.


Trivia:

• Something tells me Lexin Kether is a joke about a serial killer, but...

Engineer - If it ain't broken, fix it anyway.

"Aviation is the branch of engineering that is the least forgiving of mistakes." - Freeman Dyson
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Position: Generalist, these crew members should almost always be on your roster.
Effect: Makes you go faster, and makes your armor tougher. Both of these are great.

Engineers are the first thing I put into every crew. At no point would I not find a different officer to put on the axe list if I need room. Engineers do everything you want - get faster into the fight, get faster out of the fight, and survive more damge for longer. As a secondary effect, they synergise with the healing abilities of the Venturer and the Superlifter natively, and they also come in two focussed flavours that favour anything from a defense fatty to the lightest of ships. But, since engineers are so either/or, their hybrids aren't really making use of the edge a ship might have. Skip those guys, get a focussed one based on your playstyle.

Preliminary knowledge: Armor Values[edgecasegames.zendesk.com]. Read the table, it'll help a lot to understand which engineer is right for your ship. And when you know what armor your ship has, bring either of these two, as they are the leaders of the pack:

• Elvy Cooper is all about going fast in the name of the lord, being cute, and also, going fast. Her armor strength increase isn't much to write home about, but it's there. On most ships, she adds at least 60 points of armor all around. What's the kicker, though, is her +7.5% forward thrust. On a Ranger, that's +49.5 top speed, hitting a permanent 709.5 top speed. Jeebus. She's a waste on slow ships, but if you like to zip about, use speed to avoid damage or need to dart in and out, she's your girl. Keep in mind that her effects stack with speed boosts - a Sentinel with Elvy can hit 818 speed. Elvy comes from regular pods.
  
  Alternative: Emmina Xinyu (regular) has the same effect, but she isn't such a cutie. And starts with 2 blue implant slots, urgh.
  
  
• Goss Reznik is the go-to engineer for tanking it out. With his +12.5% armor increase, a Brawler jumps from 4000 side armor to 4500 side armor. The speed increase isn't all that, but if you go full hog, add 5x armor strength implants and slap that on a Brawler, you are looking at a mighty 5000 points of armor on the sides. Fatties like the Leviathan, Colossus and such are looking at 2500 armor. That's a sizeable chunk.
  
  Alternative: IMMIX-r (regular) and Ragnar Zoref (pirate) do the same. IMMIX-r has killer voice overs, and Ragnar is utterly and permanently disgruntled whenever you damage the ship. Total edgelord.

The alternative enginers, because this is a yearbook or something, and everyone gets their picture taken, hello there Emmina, can you just hold still for a second ISAIDHOLDSTILLGOSHDARNIT. Speed freaks, I tell ya. At least IMMIX-r, the robot with multiple personality disorder, is behaving.



And these three are the poor hybrids I wouldn't hire. You might. But why would you? Go faster or be stronk. Remember: Don't cover up a weakness, but build on a strength instead.


Trivia:

• 'Elvy Cooper' is, 100%, a take on "Kaylee", the engineer of 'Serenity', played by Jewel Staite.
• 'Silke Kaneshiro' seems to have a penchant for Zarek ships. At least, there is Russian writing in her image.

Jump Core - Jumping ain't a crime!

"Those who don't jump will never fly." - Leena Ahmad Almashat
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Position: Specialist, weaker in Frontline, better in Conquest.
Effect: Lets you jump faster and more often.

With 'JUMP HOME' cut to 60 seconds (from 120), and leading right into the home base, and the base cooldown being already quite low, Jump Core officers have a hard time fighting for a spot on a roster. As far as I know, they do not affect Blink Prep (ECG, we need more transparent stats here.), either. In Frontline, jumping happens a lot less, as you can fly everywhere, so they aren't as important in half of the matches, on top of the already diminished returns. Now, in Conquest, they can help out quite a bit. A harassing stealther that switches lanes, or someone who generally jumps to add support to other team members at the drop of a hat, a Jump Core officer will be your best new friend.

Same spell as before - there's focussed and hybrid officers. Since Jump Prep is such a short time, and Jump Cooldowns are so long, you can't really go hybrid with these officers. It's either/or, and thus, two officers pull ahead of the rest of the lot.

• Alabama is not only a bangin' cool robot, single and ready to mingle, he also has great voice overs and is really, frickin' huge. Oh, and his main is Jump Cooldown. If you want to switch lanes often, he is the officer to slot. With 10% reduction, your 'JUMP HOME' is cut down to 54 seconds rather than 60. You can increase that further, out to 48 seconds with 5x Jump Cooldown implants. Alabama is a pirate pod product.
  
  Alternative: Hera Dymarr (regular) has the same effect, but she is also kind of a vegtable. She speaks in heady haikus and distrought dreams. Maybe that's your thing. Maybe the 2x blue implant slots make you reconsider, though.
  
  
• Telisic Jenova has Jump Prep as his main, and is the only Jump Core officer to do so. No alternative, and he comes from regular pods. But hey, if you do a lot of panic jumps or combat jumps, you certainly want this guy with you. A quicker jump also helps with responding to new situations faster, which might be important enough to warrant picking this guy over the others.

Three other Jump Core officers other than the two champs are available:


Trivia:

• Alabama is the best Jump Core officer. This isn't even Trivia, I just really like the guy.
• I am dead sure that Hery Dymarr is some obscure reference to 'Dune', where drugged up navigators guide the star ships. The spice must flow.

Navigation - "At the next exit, take a right."

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." - Douglas Adams
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Position: Generalist, pretty much an auto include on all ships.
Effect: Makes your ship turn better and change elevation faster.

Now these guys are deceptive. Navigation officers are your surviability, your damage, and your quality of life buddies - and all of that very implicitly. With their boost to turning rate (left/right) and maneuvering (up/down and strafing), they help you get into cover, turn broken armor away from enemies and bring guns with limited firing arcs to bear on the enemy. They also making flying more fun, as the ships become more responsive. The focussed officers are your go-to choices, as the hybrids don't swing either way. The maps in Fractured Space mayeb three dimensional, but most are wider than they are tall, and most fights are about circling, rather than hopping over or sliding under - which makes the turn rate focus the best choice for most ships. There are arguments for maneuvering, though - ships like the Basilisk, with their really strong top and bottom armor benefit a lot from such a boost.

Preliminary knowledge: Armor Values[edgecasegames.zendesk.com]. Read the table, it'll help a lot to understand which Navigation officer is right for your ship. And as a result, these two are the top recommendations for the Navigation officer slot. And yes. That's a fixed slot. You can drop these guys, but you will pay for it on many levels. Arguably, a sniper ship can live without a navigation officer, but that's about it.

• Bonny Reed is a pirate gal with mental issues, but with a 12% increase to your turn rate, who's gonna complain? She still buffs maneuvering by 6%, but if you need to face your enemy, she is the best choice for the navigator's role. She shines in ships like the Reaper, Interceptor, or the 'Widow. Especially: The Brawler. Keep that 4000 side armor facing the enemy.
  
  Alternative: Don't like insane chicks? I got chu, fam. Navigation officers are the most plentiful of the officer's cadre. Charion Lloyd (regular) is the other focussed Navigation officer for the strongest turn rate boost. He is autistic, though, and talks a lot. He has some clever insight, though. You might like to know what happens if you get hurt. Hint: You go to medical.
  
  
• Gregorii Durov knows what's up. Also, what's down, and how to get there fast. With his +12% boost to maneuvering, he can change elevation and strafe faster than the other Navigation officers. He's also Russian, wears a Chapka, and speaks broken English, because that's funny. Gregorii is a product of regular crew pods. Put this guy on a Basilisk, or a Gladiator, and he will shine.
  
  Alternative: Ru-T0lf (Christmas promotion) is a robot, which makes him 27.8% cooler than other officers, and can maneuver just as fast. Same stats, but also a synthetic life form with a lot of really messed up voice overs about dead children. Fug yeh.

The alternative champs:



... and the hybrids, which aren't doing either particularily strong. Thing is, though, you can't really go wrong with any Navigation officer, as they will all improve your damage dealt, reduce damage taken and make your life in space more fun.


Trivia:

• 'Charion Lloyd' has the same haircut and similar name as "Lloyd Christmas", from the movie Dumb & Dumber.
• I am not going to explain Ru-T0lf, that's too much on the nose. Get it? On the nose?
• Bonny Reed is a criminal. Her name is a mix of two infamous sea-faringwomen from the age of piracy, each lending their last names - Anne Bonny & Mary Read.

Repair - If it is still not broken, call them.

"Broken! Busted! Everybody has something to repair. Before you buy new, let Mighty Putty fix it for you." - Billy Mays
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Position: Specialist, synergist with engineer, dedicated heavy officer.
Effect: Repairs armor at a faster rate and reduces damage taken when the armor is broken.

These guys are odd. By themselves, they offer less than other officers, as they are based on "strategy for failure". If you fail to turn your armor, you will take less damage. If you fail to fall back and repair or get healed, these guys will get your armor back up faster. On the other hand, they synergise naturally with Engineers. While the latter increase the armor, they also increase the repair speed - simple math. If you have 1000 armor and repair it in 10 seconds, you gain 100 armor/second. If you increase repair speed by 25%, you repair 1000 armor in 7.5 seconds, or, 133 armor/second. If you have 1250 armor, which you need 7.5 seconds to repair, you are now repairing 166 armor/second. Whoa, Nelly. Engineers can almost double the effective repair rate of Repair officers. (Author's note: Armor repairs slower than in 10 seconds, the relative values are the same, though.)

Preliminary Link (again): Armor Values[edgecasegames.zendesk.com]. Until you get tired of that link and learn the table by heart.

At the same time, armor strength engineers are present on heavy ship which tank alot and their armor will take a beating, so repair rate helps. And they get spiked and bursted, too, so broken armor damage reduction also helps. As a result, these guys are what you want to have on your tanky fatties, but only if an Engineer is present - because of the synergy. As such, Repair officers are competing for a spot after the Engineer is on board. They do have a very valid reason to be paired in those cases, though.

The higher the armor on a ship, the more important is armor repair rate. The thinner, the more important is broken armor damage reduction. So, for example, a Brawler will almost always want +Armor Repair Rate, to keep that thick 4000 side armor up. A regular combat ship, like the Executioner, might prefer the damage reduction, as the 1100 base armor can break quite quickly.

And there we are - with seven officers to pick from, and only one hybrid (who we're going to ignore, unless you're going for an all-girls theme here).

• Lance Gregory is one of the three damage reduction mains. His base implant slots are kinda ♥♥♥♥♥, though. Thankfully enough, there are alternatives. With 12.5% less damage taken when the armor breaks, and a respectable 12.5% increase in repair rate, this guy is doing work. Still don't like the implant slots, but hey, if he's legendary, none of that matters. he comes from a regular pod.
  
  Alternative: Both Mas Leydrab (regular) and Ridley J. Fincher (Halloween promotion) offer the same stats. Mas / Ridley, once level 1, have the more versatile implant loadout, though.
  
  
• Rayvak Molk is your guy if you want to get that armor back up fast. 25% faster armor repair in the wild can allow a captain to turn his ship about, give the enemy a fresh side to shoot while fixing the battered side. This can greatly increase your survivability. At this point, you already should have three officers slotted: Engineer, Navigation, Repair. But the synergy of those three is glorious. Rayvak comes from regular pods.
  
  Alternative: Here you got Stellan Shaw (regular) and Tyrain Demam (regular), which have the same stats. Tyrain has the most versatile base implant loadout, though. He's just a bit old and ugly.

The other champ choices:




And the one who shall not be named praised:


Trivia:

• 'Ridley J Fincher' doesn't talk in the selection screen, he only gurgles and groans. He's a zombie, is what I am saying. Also, Zarek killed him. Just puttin' it out there. During matches, he gives intelligible reports, though.

Tactical - Operational operators operating.

"Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation." - Max Euwe
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Position: Generalist, pretty much an auto include on all ships.
Effect: Allows you to fire faster, use weapon abilites more often, improves turret tracking.

Tactical officers are your second source of DPS increase, and they do that in two ways. Both ways, really. Fire Rate is the delay between shots or salvos, and Turret Traverse is how fast your turrets will follow your aiming. As a result, you will either want maximum dakka (Author's note: That's the right choice.) or you want improved tracking, because your turrets are dreadfully slow. Hybrids do a bit of both, but with most ships, you will find yourself not needing to track fast (Interceptor, Reaper, Hunter), but to turn fast - which Nav - or you want to track fast, because it takes a metric boat-year to get your weapons on target.

Keep in mind that Fire Rate also affects weapon system cooldowns and magazine reload rates. For example, Fire Rate reduces the time between the Enforcer's salvos (which counts as a single attack with multiple projectiles), laser emissions of the Venturer or the salvos of the Reaper Cannons, but it does not decrease the firing rate of shots inside of those salvos or the Black Widow's armor and/or drain missile volleys. It does help a 'Widow shoot faster from an empty magazine though (because it replenishes faster), just as it lets a Leviathan use the Fusion Beam more often.

And on the Interceptor, it does something even cooler. Literally. +Fire Rate increases the amount of heat you can produce before overheating. How much more heat? About 8% more. How cool is that? (Author's Note: 8% cooler, and if you use TAU-IS, it's 35.8% cooler looking, too.)

And thusly, focussed officers win yet again. Here's my run-down of them:

• Cornelius Baptiste is here to do dakka, more dakka, lots of dakka. With +4% Fire Rate, which can be buffed to +8% with 5x Fire Rate implants, this guy gets rounds on target, putting a deadly payload down range, for effective fire on hostile combattants. He is also pretty chill, and comes from regular crew pods. With Cornelius and 5x Fire Rate implants, the light gauss driver of the Interceptor fires twice a minute, at 29.44s cooldown - even faster at level 9. Scary.
  
  Alternative: Dice Caplan (regular) and TAU-IS (regular) are both the same in stats, but Dice is a cutie, and TAU-IS is a robbit, so they got that going for them, which is nice.
  
  
• Jules Valentine only has 2% Fire Rate increase, but his massive +25% tracking speed is glorious on Executioners and other slow tracking ships. Allowing you to respond faster to blinking ships is quite valueable, as the best form of crowd control is killing the enemy, and Jules helps you stay on the mark. He is a pirate, though, so you cannot get him from regular crew pods.
  
  Alternative: Kirsten Tchaikovsky does the same thing as Jules, but comes from regular pods. She talks alot, very fast, too, but she is kinda endearing. her base implant slots are a little less versatile than Jules, but once you get her to legendary, she'll work just the same.

The alternative champs:



... and the single hybrid, which shall forever be shamed as looking like a babyfaced little boy that has an annoying accent. Shooooo.


Trivia:

• 'TAU-IS' substitutes emotional inflection of statements with describing them, like the Elkor of Mass Effect.

Utility - Isn't utility management janitors?

"Nothing can have value without being and object of utility." - Karl Marx
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Position: Specialist, albeit useful for many ships.
Effect: Decreases cooldowns of non-weapon abilities and reduces energy drain of using them.

Utility officers are your number one choice when you play an ability-based ship, such as the Paladin, Protector or the Superlifter. Also, ships like the Enforcer or the Black Widow have some benefits from employing these guys. The cooldown reduction only affects abilities that are not weapons. 'DISARM' is a non-weapon ability, 'THRUSTER SURGE' is a non-weapon ability, but Fusion Beam and Magma Lance are not - those are weapon ability and missile ability, respectively. So, before you get one of these guys on board, make sure that you have something that applies. On a Leviathan, you'd only reduce the cooldown of the 'JUMP BEACON'. Ya, okay.

Addendum: As of today, 2nd of April, 2017, Utility Cooldown implants have no effect. Until that is fixed, Palam0n is the only viable choice for Utility officers. If they would work, he'd still be the best choice, but that issue only makes that case even stronger. He is the only way to reduce your utility cooldowns in a major way. Fixed, as of 7th of April, 2017.

This is gonna be a quick one. Even if you consider that energy efficiency is nice, cooldown is one hell of a lot nicer, and you can supplement energy drain with energy regeneration with either a CommO, or implants. Utility Cooldown, though, can only come from one source: the Utility officer. And there is only one Utility officer that does that part best:

• Palam0n is not only a robot (+27.8% coolness, you remember), he also has Utility Cooldown as his main. With -7.5% waiting time on repair beacons, disable engine, and other highly usefull abilities, including Aegis shields, Palam0n takes the cake, and runs with it. No alternative. He comes from a regular pod.
  
  
• Zhang Tao does have use in niche builds, where the exclusive stat "energy efficiency" has merits - namely, the Raven. Since Utility Officers are the only source of that stat, and he's the best officer for it, Zhang can come, too. Most of the time, youi will find that Palam0n is the better choice, but for some funky builds, this guy is you man.

The other utlity officer, that wish they could compete with Palam0n:


Trivia:

• 'Zhang Tao' is named after the Chinese beer, Tsingtao. You can buy it in bags, too. Like Canadian milk. Isn't that something? Bagged beer.
  
• 'Seraphine Vega' is named after the "Vega Seraphic" fishing rod, for high sea fishing. 6 metres long, gosh. Making me blush here.
• Palam0n might be a reference to the digimon "Palmon".

Ced's Example Crews - r8 or h8, m8.

Here's some crews I use. You know, putting my foot where my mouth is, and all that.
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Spoopy Spiders

Combines increased Sensor Range (+9.6%, for 19,440m range) with missile range increase (+30%, for 19,500m), and stacks everything possible into attack damage, to make that opening strike as bursty as possible. Speed is added to get in and out, Maneuvering is preferred to move vertically, and the Repair officer is for when the thin armor of the Black Widow breaks. Which it will. Since the 'Widow has Quick Cloak, and the disarm does have a manageably short cooldown, no utility officer.

Crew:

• Engineer: Elvy Cooper
• Navigation: Ru-T0lf
• Captain: Evan Sterling
• Tactical: Dice Caplan
• Repair: Ridley J. Fincher

Implants:

• 3x Sensor Range
• 3x Missile Range
• 3x Forward Thrust
• 1x Armor Strength
• 5x Attack Damage

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The Tomcats

This is for the Interceptor - maximum turn rate to keep the front facing the enemy, maximum Fire Rate and Attack Damage to increase the raw DPS of the rotaries and alpha of the railgun, with armor and repair to withstand the response. With that turn rate, a high armor repair rate is quite usefull, as the Interceptor can turn busted armor sections away for repairs - synergy between Navigation, Engineer and Repair officer. And the high RoF combined with a Light Gauss Driver puts a jump-ending slap at your fingertips every 29.5 seconds or less.

Crew:

• Engineer: IMMIX-r
• Navigation: Bonny Reed
• Captain: Evan Sterling
• Tactical: Dice Caplan
• Repair: Stellan Shaw

Implants:

• 5x Turn Rate
• 5x Fire Rate
• 5x Attack Damage

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Cthulhu Cultists

These guys are loaded for maximum "don't die". The Leviathan is most lethal in the frontal arcs, so a high turn rate is important (+24%), and the fast tracking allows to respond to blinking shotgun ships and keeps the Fusion Beam on fast moving targets. The implants make the most out of the base stats, pushing the thick armor from 2000 to 2500, and the damage reduction to 10% general, 22.5% when armor is broken (normal damage bonus for breaking armor not withstanding - you still take more damage, but.... less more damage).

Crew:

• Engineer: IMMIX-r
• Navigation: Bonny Reed
• Captain: Marie-Anne Moreau
• Tactical: Jules Valentine
• Repair: Ridley J. Fincher

Implants:

• 5x Turn Rate
• 5x Armor Strength
• 5x Damage Reduction

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Knights Errant

On the Paladin, you need to repair a lot, use energy for Point Defense Systems and Plasma Field, wait for cooldown of many abilities, and also, you don't want to get shot, and if you get shot, not get shot so much. So, this loadout: +20% stronger heals, +15% faster energy regeneration, 5% damage reduction, 13.8% faster turning and maneuvering, 9% faster movement, while your Ballista and Purge Torpedo come back 7.5% faster. An agile, potent healer loadout, that tries to avoid enemy contact and make use of the range of the Paladin.

Crew:

• Engineer: Elvy Cooper
• Navigation: IX-209
• Captain: Marie-Anne Moreau
• Comms: Samuel Mosley
• Utility: Palam0n

Implants:

• 5x Repair Efficiency
• 2x Turn Rate
• 2x Maneuvering
• 1x Forward Thrust
• 5x Energy Regen

Famous last words.

"I’m losing it." - Frank Sinatra, dying words.
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I hope you enjoyed the read, and maybe found some answers to questions you didn't know you had. Or it was horrible for you, you wretched every minute of it, and you hate my guts. In that case, ha, gotcha, you read it. Can't unspend those minutes!

Cheers,
Ced.

[SeBasTianPeReirO]

хорошее руководство

[FirestormMk3]

Thanks for putting this together. I found the crew system a little intimidating as a brand new player as it isn't well explained in game, but this makes it easy to grasp. Also I think the jump officer Hera may also be a BSG reference: think the jump "officer" on a basestar.

[CrankyGamer]

Thank you for taking the time to put this together. As a new player it is a great help to understand some of the nuances of the crew when making selections.

[wisprsilently]

Thanks for an enlightening and enjoyable reading experience. Very new to Fractured Space and this has really helped in understanding the game better.

[garbo]

Ru-T0lf is probably a referance to fred sabberhagen's "berserker man".

[Ced23Ric]

Well, the ship is called the Leviathan...

[garbo]

And I've never seen anyone name something "Cthulu Cultists" before, really cool.

[garbo]

"the best form of crowd control is killing the enemy" I completly agree, 10/10.

[Stardama69]

Utility is definetely on board, and since I replace tactical with jump core on that ship it leaves one slot left. I slot Ernst in it right now because it's the only Cag I have. Anyway thanks for your tips !

[Ced23Ric]

Ugh, depends if you want to send your drones often or if you want them to survive fire longer. Take your pick. I think a utility officer would serve you better, though.