Skill

Up to date for latest version, 0.98a.

The Skill Table of Version 0.97

Skills are permanent bonuses, abilities, and capabilities acquired by the player and officers, they can be found primarily in the Character Screen.

Summary

They are unlocked by spending skill points, which are earned upon leveling up, up to a maximum of 15 for the player and from 5 to 7 for officers.

Skills that affect the piloted ship may be upgraded to Elite once unlocked, providing additional benefit at the cost of 1 SP 0% XP.

Aptitude

40 skills are available, divided into 4 "Aptitude" trees:

• Combat: Skills that improve the combat performance of your flagship.
• Leadership: Skills that improve the combat performance of your fleets and officers.
• Technology: A mix of skills that benefit exploration, stealth, and certain aspects your fleet and officers' combat performance.
• Industry: Skills that improve the efficiency and resilience of your fleet, and make it easier to recover from losses.

Tiers

These aptitude trees have 2 - 4 tiers, starting with the 1st tier giving nice bonuses and ending in a pair of capstone skills that are considerably more powerful than lower-tier skills and often influence or complements the player's playstyle.

Players must pick a skill in the 1st tier before being able to pick skills in the higher tiers, and this varies depending on how many tiers that the aptitude tree has:

• 2 Tiers (Combat):
  • requires 4 in Tier 1 in order to put a skill point in Tier 2
• 3 Tiers (Leadership):
  • requires 3 in Tier 1 in order to put a skill point in Tier 2
  • requires 4 in both Tier 1 & 2 in order to put a skill point in Tier 3
• 4 Tiers (Technology & Industry):
  • requires 1 in Tier 1 in order to put a skill point in Tier 2
  • requires 2 in Tier 1 & 2 in order to put a skill in Tier 3
  • requires 4 in Tier 1, 2 & 3 in order to put a skill in Tier 4

In other words, in order to take the 1st Capstone skill for an aptitude tree, it would require putting 4 skills in previous tiers, for a total of 5 points spent in the aptitude.

The 2nd Capstone skill in the aptitude requires 6 previous skills, plus 2 points spent on the 2 Capstones for a total of 8 skill points spent in total.

Dimishing returns

Many skills are affected by diminishing returns after a certain point, e.g. Carrier Group has its full effect when the fleet has 8 or fewer fighter bays, but decreased effect when going past 8 fighter bays.

This encourages the player to be more careful about their fleet composition, as bigger fleets has more sheer force, but also benefits from the relevant skills less efficiently compared to smaller fleets.

Respec

The player can respec their own skills for 1 SP 0% XP.

Skills cannot be unlearned if they are required for another skill, such as needing the minimum amount of skill points to reach a capstone skill for an aptitude tree.

Unlearned elite skills can be made elite again later without spending any story points.

Do take caution when unlearning certain skills such as those later in the Leadership aptitude trees, as unlearning certain ones like Officer Training or Best of the Best will retroactively remove these benefits. Elite skills lost by officers this way do not grant bonus experience and will require spending 1 SP 0% XP to make them elite again if reacquired.

Combat

	Skills that improve the combat performance of your flagship.
–In-game description

Combat
Tier	Skill	Icon	Skill effect	Skill quote	Notes
Tier 1	Helmsmanship		Affects: piloted ship +50% maneuverability +15% top speed Elite +10 su/second to top speed The 0-flux speed is activated at any flux level, if the ship is not generating flux or is venting / overloaded	It sings when you push the mix just right, like, [humming]. Everything is right in the world, from the stars down to your bones. Coming off a shift, it’s like I just woke up. [laughing] Words can't tell it. Nachiketa Portside Interview Project, Ep.3
	Combat Endurance		Affects: piloted ship +60 seconds peak operating time -25% combat readiness degradation rate after peak performance time runs out +15% maximum combat readiness Elite When below 100% hull, repair 0.5% per second; maximum total repair is the higher of 2000 points or 50% of maximum hull	Through calamity, the Fourteenth endured. Through hegemony, the Domain endures. Through duty, humanity shall endure. Admiral Kali Molina, the Declaration of Hegemony, c49	The hull regeneration limit from the elite effect resets on each re-engagement, allowing the ship to regenerate more hull per battle. The ship will be set to its lowest hull percentage reached after each engagement; any regenerated hull past that point will be lost.
	Impact Mitigation		Affects: piloted ship -25% armor damage taken -50% engines and weapon damage taken Hull mod: Heavy Armor - increases armor Elite +50% maneuverability for capital ships and cruisers, +25% for destroyers and frigates.	The maneuver produced an oblique impact angle, dissipating the shell's momentum into the ferrofoam applique. It was the unfortunate timing of the resulting shock which brought about Spacer York's tragic end during an otherwise routine heavy equipment transfer. Thule skirmish of c120.03.08, AAR submitted by Navarch Zhou	The armor damage taken effect also applies to the weapon damage used for the armor damage reduction formula, resulting in reduced weapon hit strength even if the armor is completely stripped.
	Damage Control		Affects: piloted ship -25% hull damage taken -50% crew lost due to hull damage in combat 50% faster in combat weapon and engine repairs Hull mod: Automated Repair Unit - increases weapon repair rate in combat Elite Repairs of damaged but functional weapons and engines can continue while they are under fire* *Normally, a damaged but functional module will not be repaired until 5 seconds have passed without it takng damage.	What's lost is lost. Let those compartments burn away, focus your efforts on what will see us through the next hour. Navarch Tethys, final address to the crew of the PLS Astelene Key	Hull damage reduction effects apply after all other damage reduction effects, including the damage reduction from residual armor.
	Field Modulation		Affects: piloted ship -15% damage taken by shields -25% flux generated by active phase cloaks Hull mod: Stabilized Shields - reduces flux upkeep for shields Elite 20% hard flux dissipation while shields are active -50% phase cloak cooldown -25% overload duration Hull mod: Hardened Shields - reduces damage taken by shields	Few have a talent for what I like to think of as 'active tuning'. I find musicians make the best fields officers. Ardis Soloman, leaked data submitted to COMSEC redaction algorithm
	Point Defense		Affects: piloted ship and fighters from piloted ship +50% damage to fighters +50% damage to missiles Hull mod: Integrated Point Defense AI - PD ignores decoy flares, improved target leading, more damage to missiles Hull mod: Defensive Targeting Array - increases fighter PD damage, reduces fighter roam range to zero Elite Extends the range of point-defense weapons by +200	Me, I don't take with them lasers and the like. Puts on a hell of a lightshow, ya'sure, but nothing stops incoming blips like the wall of DU from a good Vulcan matrix. "Lower Deck Heroes", a HEGCOM serial	Note that the extra range isn't added onto the base range and, therefore, will not be modified by range-boosting hullmods or skills like Integrated Targeting Unit or Gunnery Implants.
	Target Analysis		Affects: piloted ship +15% damage to cruisers +20% damage to capital ships Elite +5% damage to frigates +10% damage to destroyers +100% damage to weapons and engines	A machine-assisted human mind is capable of intuiting effective solutions despite conflicting sensor data and contradictory tactical directives. The targeting computer alone can never truly replace a warrior. "On Space Combat, XXII ed.", from Domain Battlegroup XIV library
	Ballistic Mastery		Affects: piloted ship +10% damage dealt by ballistic weapons +10% ballistic weapon range Hull mod: Integrated Targeting Unit - increases weapon range, more so for larger ships Hull mod: Ballistic Rangefinder - increases base range of small and medium weapons in ballistic slots Elite +5% damage dealt by ballistic weapons +33% ballistic projectile speed	What's it stopped the Tri-Tach plot? (Guns!) What was it that ol' Ludd forgot? (Guns!) Wha’ve we got that they have not? (Big, big, guns!) drinking song of the Hegemony navy
Tier 2	Systems Expertise		Affects: piloted ship If a ship system has charges: +1 charge If a ship system regenerates charges: +50% regeneration rate If a ship system has range: +50% range If a ship system has a cool down: -33% cooldown Elite -10% damage taken	No, I don't think it's a contradiction. It's a, uh, spiritual journey. You're tested. And it's like they say, the Devil is in the details. "Ludd's Footsoldiers" holodoc, interview with Pather engineer
	Missile Specialization		Affects: piloted ship +100% missile weapon ammo capacity +25% missile hitpoints Hull mod: ECCM Package - improves missile speed and guidance, reduces effect of enemy Electronic Warfare Hull mod: Expanded Missile Racks - increases missile weapon ammo Elite +25% rate of fire for missile weapons +25% missile weapon ammo regeneration rate (only for missile weapons that regenerate ammo) +10% damage dealt by missile weapons	My colleagues don’t appreciate their whimsy. You get all these little spaceships to break all the rules with because there's no need to survive the landing. Exit interview of K. Astraia, former ordnance designer, Culann Starforge

Leadership

	Skills that improve the combat performance of your fleet and of other military assets under your command.
–In-game description

Leadership
Tier	Skill	Icon	Skill effect	Skill quote	Notes
Tier 1	Tactical Drills		Affects: all combat ships, including carriers and militarized civilian ships +5% weapon damage for combat ships (maximum: 5%) Maximum at 240 or less total combat ship deployment point cost Hull mod: Advanced Turret Gyros - increases turret turn rate Affects: ground operations +50% effectiveness of ground operations such as raids -25% marine casualties suffered during ground operations such as raids	Perfect. Now do it again. Cameron Fourth-Phobos, Coatl Gunnery Range
	Coordinated Maneuvers		Affects: all ships with officers, including flagship +6% to nav rating* of fleet for deployed frigates, +3% from destroyers, +1% from cruisers and capitals. +50% to command point recovery from deployed frigates, +25% from destroyers Hull mod: Escort Package - increases maneuverability, top speed, and weapon range when near larger friendly ship Hull mod: Nav Relay - increases top speed of deployed ships Hull mod: Operations Center - increases command point recovery rate when on flagship *The total nav rating for the deployed ships of the fleet increases the top speed of all ships in the fleet, up to a maximum of 20%. Does not apply to fighters.	Sir- incoming hostiles burning hard. Big ones. Count two. No, three. More... there's too many! High energy read. Contact in six. Audio archive from CIC of HSS Ceraon, recovered 189.09.13
	Wolfpack Tactics		Affects: all frigates and destroyers with officers, including flagship +20% damage to ships larger than frigates if frigate, +10% damage to capital ships and cruisers if destroyer +50% seconds peak operating time if frigate, +25% if destroyer	A fleet that acts with one mind makes those pretty formations so beloved by senior desk officers a wallowing beast begging to have its throat slit. Cut loose the hounds that we may be wolves again. Warlord Kanta, quoted in "My Year With The Pirate Queen"
	Crew Training		Affects: all combat ships, including carriers and militarized civilian ships +15% maximum combat readiness for combat ships (maximum: 15%) Maximum at 240 or less total combat ship deployment point cost	I know your type. Signed the contract with dirt on your boots, all ready to play spacer. Watched too many Hegemony warprop holos, didn't you. Get this now: courage is not competence. Playing hero will get us all killed. Careful, mindful work is what gets the job done. Chaiya Mimas, Tri-Tachyon fleet division, job training introduction	Ships with Civilian-grade Hull does not contribute to the combat ship deployment point counter, but will contribute to the counter if Militarized Subsystems is installed.
	Fighter Uplink		Affects: all fighters and grants increased effect to ships with officers, including flagship -50% crew lost due to fighter losses in combat (maximum: 50%) +20% top speed (maximum: 20%) +50% target leading accuracy (maximum: 50%) +10% damage dealt Maximum at 8 or less fighter bays Effect increased by 1.5x for ships with offcers, including flagship Hull mod: Recovery Shuttles - reduces fighter pilot casualties	The fighter jocks spin legends around themselves, but they're just the tip of a spear which I alone command. Commodore Jensulte of the Hegemony Navy, ~c82
	Carrier Group		Affects: all ships with fighter bays and grants increased effect to ships with officers, including flagship +50% faster fighter replacement rate +10% ship top speed. Maximum at 8 or less fighter bays Effect increased by 1.5x for ships with offcers, including flagship Hull mod: Converted Fighter Bay - converts built-in fighter bays into improvised cargo holds Hull mod: Converted Hangar - improvised fighter bay for non-carriers Hull mod: Expanded Deck Crew - improves fighter replacement rate, increases crew requirements	The stats tell us they'll be evaporated in a wall of flak before a half dozen missions, but we still want to be 'em. Once they're in the cockpit they're the only ones of all us who have control over their own destiny. Nachiketa Portside Interview Project, Ep.4
Tier 2	Officer Training		Affects: fleet +1 to maximum level of officers under your command +1 to maximum number of elite skills for officers under your command +2 command points *The base maximum officer level is 5.	They may be a 'rag-tag gang of merchants, smugglers, and pirates', but if you give them something to fight for, I think they might surprise you. Navarch Nurul Park, comment upon integration of the Cibolan navy
	Officer Management		Affects: fleet +2 to maximum number of officers you're able to command +2 command points *The base maximum number of officers you're able to command is 8.	The outlook was grim, so I promised the merc captains double combat bonus. With all the casualties I only had to pay out to half of them. Worked out fine. Carson Kang, GM of Valhalla fleet division, Tri-Tachyon
Tier 3	Best of the Best		Affects: fleet Able to build 1 more permanent hullmod into ships Deployment points bonus from objectives is at least 10% of the battle size, even if holding no objectives *The base maximum number of permanent hullmods you're able to build into a ship is 2.	What we have, Artemisia, is something that cannot be bought. Orcus Rao at the negotiations ending the Second AI War (apocryphal)	At default settings, the DP bonus effect merely raises the minimum DP floor to 200, even if it should be lower due to being outmatched and holding no objectives. Thus, capturing at least 3 objectives is still required to guarantee the maximum 240 DP deployment.
	Support Doctrine		Affects: all ships without officers Gain non-elite Helmsmanship, Damage Control, Combat Endurance and Ordnance Expertise Deployment point cost reduced by 20% or 10 points, whichever is less Affects: fleet 100% faster command point recovery unless command was transferred to a ship originally without an officer	Not every cadet has talent, skill, or even two brain cells to rub together, but by hell and radiation they'll graduate with discipline. unattributed comment by Coatl Academy staff, COMSEC archives	The deployment point cost reduction is implemented as a flat reduction and, therefore, has no effect on the additional DP cost incurred by Converted Hangar.

Technology

	A mix of skills that benefit exploration, stealth, and certain aspects your fleet and officers' combat performance.
–In-game description

Technology
Tier	Skill	Icon	Skill effect	Skill quote	Notes
Tier 1	Navigation		Affects: fleet -30% terrain movement penalty from all applicable terrain +1 to maximum burn level Increases the burn bonus of the "Sustained Burn" ability by 1 Ability: Transverse Jump - jump into a system through a nascent gravity well, or directly into hyperspace	Spend enough time out here and it becomes second nature. It's how I move when I dream. Not all of us get that. Lots do. Nachiketa Portside Interview Project, Ep.2
	Sensors		Affects: fleet -25% detected-at range +25% sensor range +3 to burn level at which the fleet is considered moving slowly* Hull mod: High Resolution Sensors - increases fleet's sensor range Ability: Neutrino Detector - detect in-system entities at very long range; unreliable with false readings *A slow-moving fleet is harder to detect in some types of terrain, and can avoid some hazards. Some abilities also make the fleet move slowly when activated. A fleet is considered slow-moving at a burn level of half that of its slowest ship.	I see you, little fish! Comm buffer of ISS Green Flash, recovered in orbit of Beta Zuma B
Tier 2	Gunnery Implants		Affects: piloted ship +100% target leading accuracy for autofiring weapons +15% ballistic and energy weapon range -25% weapon recoil Elite +4% to ECM rating of fleet when piloting a frigate, +2% when piloting a destroyer, +1% for cruisers and capitals *Enemy weapon range is reduced by the total ECM of your deployed ships, up to a maximum of 10%. This penalty is reduced by the ratio of the enemy ECM rating to yours. Does not apply to fighters, affects all weapons including missiles.	Over time the augmented reality presented by implants may become difficult to distinguish from normal sensory input. The psych officer shall regularly check gunners for signs of Augment Dissociative Disorder by the following criteria... A New Leadership Framework: Manual for Officers of the Hegemony
	Energy Weapon Mastery		Affects: piloted ship Energy weapons deal up to +30% damage at close range, based on the firing ship's flux level. Full bonus damage at 600 range and below, no bonus damage at 1000 range and above Elite -10% flux generated by energy weapons Hull mod: High Scatter Amplifier - reduces beam range; beams deal more damage and apply hard flux to shields	The eye of an angel was found in the small places, hidden there by merciful God in the first moments of creation. Thus its secrets were laid bare for the ignorant and cruel to loose terrible, fiery wrath. We lament. Sacred Texts of Ludd	The energy damage bonus scales on the distance between the projectile's spawn location (or the beam's origin point) and the point of impact, not the total distance traversed by the projectile or the distance between the firing ship and the target. The damage bonus is only applied on each projectile/beam hit, meaning the firing ship's flux level at the time of impact is what is used to calculate the actual damage bonus.
Tier 3	Electronic Warfare		Affects: all combat ships, including carriers and militarized civilian ships Every deployed combat ship grants +1% to ECM rating of fleet Combat objectives are captured much more quickly and from longer range Hull mod: ECM Package - increases ship's ECM rating *Enemy weapon range is reduced by the total ECM of your deployed ships, up to a maximum of 10%. This penalty is reduced by the ratio of the enemy ECM rating to yours. Does not apply to fighters, affects all weapons including missiles.	err. 401 // connection refused [try again?] err. 401 // connection refused [try again?] err. 401 // connection refused [try again?] Celadon Immeasurable, alpha	The skill increases the combat objective capturing speed by 5x and the capturing range by 500 SU.
	Flux Regulation		Affects: ship loadouts +5 maximum flux capacitors +5 maximum flux vents Affects: all combat ships, including carriers and militarized civilian ships +10% flux dissipation for combat ships (max: 10%) +10% flux capacitance for combat ships (max: 10%) Maximum at 240 or less total combat ship deployment points Hull mod: Resistant Flux Conduits - reduces EMP damage taken, improves venting speed	WARNING: By changing these settings user waives responsibility of Tri-Tachyon Corporation for any resulting equipment damage, injury, death, or otherwise anomalous spacetime effect or effects. Do you wish to continue? Tri-Tachyon Corporation, standard license	The flux dissipation and flux capacitance bonuses only affect the base flux dissipation and base flux capacity; it does not affect other flux bonuses like those gained by adding additional vents/capacitors, having Ordnance Expertise, or equipping Flux Distributor/Flux Coil Adjunct.
	Phase Coil Tuning		Affects: all combat phase ships +180 seconds peak operating time for combat phase ships (maximum: 180) +50% top speed and acceleration while phase cloak active (maximum: 50%) +100% to sensor strength of combat phase ships* (maximum: 100%) Maximum at 40 or less total combat phase ship deployment point cost Hull mod: Adaptive Phase Coils - reduces impact of hard flux level on top speed while phased Hull mod: Phase Anchor - increases flux dissipation and weapon recharge while phased, emergency dive maneuver *The sensor strength of phase ships also contributes to the fleetwide stealth bonus granted by the Phase Field hullmod.	Tri-Tachyon pries open holy creation daily, and at each desecration our wholesale damnation looms. Our path is burden; our path is suffering. We shall face them with faith that the only redemption is final judgment. Livewell Cotton, Luddic Path terrorist, sermon of c205.2.12
	Neural Link		Affects: ships with the Neural Interface hullmod Allows two ships to benefit from your combat skills at the same time and enables rapid switching between them. The destination ship must not be under control of an officer or an AI core. Hull mod: Neural Interface - allows rapid switching between ships, resets system cooldown and adds a charge Hull mod: Neural Integrator - specialized Neural Interface for automated ships *Use the "Switch view to target" control [T] to switch between ships.	Why should a captain go down with their ship? The Tri-Tachyon corporation does not waste top talent. VP Operations Nereid De Jong at unveiling ceremony for "Project Heket"
Tier 4	Cybernetic Augmentation		Affects: fleet +1 to maximum number of elite skills for officers under your command Affects: all ships with officers (but not AI cores), including flagship +X% damage dealt and -X% damage taken (1% for each elite skill you have) The damage-dealt bonus is doubled for the flagship *The base maximum number of elite skills per officer is 1.	Don't listen to those weepy crypto-Luddics on the ethics board; the rejection rate is nowhere near what the rumors imply. "Doctor" Wyatt Cydonia (alias), COMSEC intercept	The damage dealt and damage taken bonuses scale on the number of elite skills learned by the player. The number of elite skills on non-player officers have no effect on these bonuses.
	Automated Ships		Affects: all automated ships Enables the recovery of some automated ships, such as derelict drones Automated ships can only be captained by Al cores +100% combat readiness (maximum: 100%): offsets built-in 100% penalty Maximum at 120 or less total automated ship points *The total automated ship points are equal to the deployment points cost of all automated ships in the fleet, with a multiplier for installed Al cores - 4x for an Alpha Core, 3x for a Beta Core, and 2x for a Gamma Core. Due to safety interlocks, ships with Al cores do not contribute to the deployment point distribution.	[REDACTED] Hegemony COMSEC	When removed, any automated ships in your fleet are reduced to 0% combat readiness.

Industry

	Skills that improve the efficiency and resilience of your fleet, and make it easier to recover from losses.
–In-game description

Industry
Tier	Skill	Icon	Skill effect	Skill quote	Notes
Tier 1	Bulk Transport		Affects: all ships +50% cargo capacity (maximum 50%) Maximum at 2000 or less base cargo capacity in fleet +50% fuel capacity (maximum 50%) Maximum at 2000 or less base fuel capacity in fleet +50% personnel capacity (maximum 50%) Maximum at 5000 or less base personnel capacity in fleet Increases the burn level of all non-militarized civilian-grade ships by 2	You can no more escape the economy than you can escape gravity. It surrounds us, contains us, uplifts us. It bound the galaxy together once, and will again. Artemisia Sun, c203 Annual Report
	Salvaging		Affects: fleet +50% resources - but not rare items, such as blueprints - recovered from abandoned stations and other derelicts +20% post-battle salvage -75% crew lost in non-combat operations	It makes me feel very small, like we're vermin plundering the cities of fallen angels. It also makes me rich. Zion Hurst, journeyman of the Asher Salvage Guild
	Field Repairs		Affects: fleet +50% ship repair rate outside of combat (maximum: 50%) 25% of hull and armor damage taken repaired after combat ends, at no cost (maximum: 25%) Maximum at 240 or less total deployment point cost Recovered ships start with 30-40% hull integrity Recovered ships start with 30-40% combat readiness	There's no one within twenty lights that hasn't got crossbones etched on their hull. We have only our skill and whatever we find in that debris field to get us out of here. Callisto Ibrahim, expedition log c202.10.15	Phase ships that retreat due to activating Phase Anchor benefit from the after-combat hull/armor repair effect
Tier 2	Ordnance Expertise		Affects: piloted ship +1.5 flux dissipation per ordnance point spent on weapons Elite +20 flux capacity per ordnance point spent on weapons	The weak fear the spiritual potency of the killing machine. The strong instinctually recognize its beauty. Quotations from the Supreme Executor
	Polarized Armor		Affects: piloted ship Maximum damage reduction by armor increased from 85% to 90% Up to +50% armor for damage reduction calculation only, based on current hard flux level EMP damage taken reduced by up to 50%, based on current hard flux level Elite +25% flux dissipation rate while venting Hull mod: Shield Shunt - removes shields, increases armor *Ships without a shield or a phase cloak are treated as always having 50% hard flux	The pre-Collapse manuals say never to do this. ... No, I don't know. Haven't had any problems so far. engineering chief Kasi Thea-Radiative, hidden holocam interview	The bonus damage-calculation-only armor does not affect the minimum armor value used to calculate residual armor, which means it has no effect when armor is completely stripped.
Tier 3	Containment Procedures		Affects: fleet -50% crew lost due to hull damage in combat (maximum: 50%) Maximum at 240 or less total deployment point cost Reduces fuel consumption by 25% or 25 units, whichever is lower +25% fuel salvaged The "Emergency Burn" ability no longer reduces combat readiness	Check each seal three times true so that Death does not come for you. Spacer tradition
	Makeshift Equipment		Affects: fleet Reduces monthly supply consumption for ship maintenance by 50% or 100 units, whichever is lower -50% resources required to survey planets Ability: Remote Survey - identify the most promising survey target in the system Hull mod: Surveying Equipment - reduce resource requirements for surveying	I guess we left the spares in orbit. It'll be fine ... [static] ... just watch. audio backup transcription, Jericho Wheeler, leader of expedition "H"-team
	Industrial Planning		Affects: governed colony All industries supply 1 more unit of all the commodities they produce Affects: all colonies +50% maximum value of custom ship and weapon production per month	A barren but promising world well-situated to become the center of culture and industry of Magec. SIE models project vast investment in resource exploitation from Guayota’s Disk. Tri-Tachyon strategic development memo, pre-Collapse
Tier 4	Hull Restoration		Affects: fleet All of your ships are almost always recoverable if lost in combat Ships lost in combat have a 75% (if 60 deployment points or higher) to 90% (5 DP or lower) chance to avoid d-mods Chance to remove one d-mod per month from a randomly selected ship in your fleet Chance to quickly remove one d-mod from newly acquired ships; higher for ships with more d-mods +15% maximum combat readiness for all ships, minus 5% per d-mod (minimum of 0%)	There's no hull a true spacer can't make home. Sol Secondshift, veteran salvor	The d-mod removing mechanic will not work with mothballed ships. It will also not remove any built-in d-mods like Ill-Advised Modifications and Special Modifications
	Derelict Operations		Affects: all ships Deployment point cost of ships reduced by 6% per d-mod (D) hull deployment cost reduction also applies to maintenance cost *Maximum effect reached at 5 d-mods.	They think we're trash, the execs and admirals in their shiny starships. They threw us away the second it went bad. But it's us the Sector got built on and it's us that'll cut 'em down. anonymous pirate agitator, HEGINT surveillance feed	The deployment point cost reduction is multiplicative with all DP cost modifiers and, therefore, also applies to the additional DP cost incurred by Converted Hangar. Neither Ill-Advised Modifications nor Special Modifications reduce maintenance cost since both lack the deployment supply cost modifier typically found in other d-mods.

Officers

Main article: Officer

Officers gain skills similarly the player, but only to a maximum level of 5 (6 with Officer Training). Skills are chosen from a pool of 4 skills when they level up.

By default, you can command up to 8 officers. This limit can be increased via Officer Training (+1 officer) and Officer Management (+2 officers).

The pool of skills that can be chosen from is only skills that affect the piloted ship, e.g. all Combat skills and none of the Leadership skills.

1 SP 100% XP can be spent to an officer. This doubles their experience gain, and increases their skill selection pool to 6, and optionally allow you to change their personality by one step (this can be done once per officer).

1 SP 0% XP can be spent to upgrade one of the officer's skills to elite level. TThe number of elite skills an officer can have is increased by Officer Training (+1 elite skill) and Cybernetic Augmentation(+1 elite skill).

Rare officers can be found found in cryopods during exploration. They have 7 skills, of which 5 are elite.

Officers at max level can be retrained for 1 SP 100% XP to change their elite skills and their personality.

Mercenary officers can also be hired on markets for 1 SP 100% XP, with a two-cycle term of service. They start at level 4-6 with a fixed set of skills and cannot level up.

AI cores

Main article: AI Cores

Officers

With the Automated Ships skill, or if certain fleets or an ancient legacy had been found, the player can put AI cores into these ships to gain the following effects:

• Gamma Core: has 3 skills, multiplies Automated Ships DP by 2.
• Beta Core: has 5 skills, multiplies Automated Ships DP by 3.
• Alpha Core: has 7 skills, mulitplies Automated Ships DP by 4.

Note that the special fleets or said ancient legacy will not contribute to the Automated Ships DP pool.

AI cores do not count towards the regular officer limit and do not require a salary. All of the skills are always automatically elite, and they can be changed at any time at no SP cost. They are not affected by the player's officer skills. Cybernetic Augmentation skill does not affect AI officers.

AI cores can be "fully integrated" with the ship for 1 SP 0% XP, which will give them 1 additional skill but will permanently tie them to the ship; the core cannot be removed without scuttling the ship. Note that fully integrated AI cores cannot "die" in combat even if the ship they're integrated into is completely destroyed (as long as you still recover it after the battle).

All AI cores have a fixed Fearless personality. They behave similarly to a Reckless human officer, but with even greater aggression, only ever backing away to vent flux and strafing more offensively. When assigned to non-combat carriers, they instead behave as a slightly more offensively-minded Aggressive ship. This is true for any ship with the Automated Ship hullmod even without AI cores.

Administrator

Only an Alpha Core can serve as an Administrator to a colony.

They will always have the Industrial Planning skill, but also a special skill called Hypercognition, which will give the following:

AI core
Skill	Icon	Skill effect	Skill quote
Hypercognition		Affects: governed colony +10% accessibility +20% fleet size +50% effectiveness of ground defenses +1 stability	A limitless machine given every datum, every human thought to combine and recombine into variants beyond count. Ask, and an appropriate answer is produced. Yet I find myself not satisfied that being fooled proves such a grandiose proposition. "The Long Road To Gilead" by Anonymous

Changelog

Patch 0.98a:  Electronic Warfare: Reduced objective capture range bonus to 500 (was: 1000) Fighter Uplink: Added +10% fighter damage dealt, with same scaling as other effects Carrier Group: Now also increases the top speed of ships with fighter bays (incl from Converted Hangar) by 10% Same scaling as other effect (presence of officer, number of fighter bay) Patch 0.97a:  ECM rating: Reduces enemy weapon range by the ECM rating Both sides can have a penalty at the same time Penalty is capped to a maximum of 10% After being capped, the penalty is reduced by the ratio of enemy and player ECM ratings(E.G. if both sides have the same ECM rating, each side's penalty is reduced by 50%) Electronic Warfare: Retains the +1% ECM rating from all combat ships effect Makes combat objectives be captured *much* more quickly and from longer range (5x faster, +1000 range) Most Remnant fleets no longer have it Cybernetic Augmentation: Is now a top-tier skill, replacing Neural Link which moves down Increases the number of elite skills officers can have by 1 (was: 2) Now also increases the damage dealt/reduces the damage taken by all ships with officers The bonus is 1% per elite skill the player has The damage-dealt bonus is doubled for the flagship Neural Integrator hullmod: Significantly reduced OP cost (now same as Neural Interface) Increases the ship's deployment points/supply cost by 20% instead Neural Link: Moved down a tier Clarified skill description / related hullmod tooltips Will now set autofire state to group defaults when switching ships for the first time Ballistic Mastery: added "+5% damage dealt by ballistic weapons" to elite effect Target Analysis: "+10% damage to destroyers" is now an elite effect Added extra elite effect: "+5% damage to frigates" Also retains original elite effect Systems Expertise: changed elite effect to "-10% damage taken" Missile Specialization: Reduced bonus rate of fire to 25% (was: 50%) Reduced bonus missile hitpoints to 25% (was: 50%) Added elite effect: +25% missile ammo regeneration rate Helmsmanship: Changed base speed bonus to 15% (was: 10%) Changed elite speed bonus to 10su/s (was: 5) Combat Endurance: elite effect will now repair the hull up to 100% (was: up to 50%) Field Modulation: Increased hard flux dissipation while shields are active to 20% (was: 15%) Added "-25% overload duration" to elite effect Damage Control: replaced elite effect with: "Repairs of damaged but functional weapons and engines can continue while they are under fire" Ordnance Expertise: reduced base skill bonus to 1.5 flux dissipation per ordnance point (was: 2) Hull Restoration: Somewhat faster repair of d-mods for ships with lower deployment points Removed maximum CR increase per s-mod Added "+15% maximum CR, -5% per d-mod (minimum 0%)" Support Doctrine: added non-elite Ordnance Expertise to skills gained by unofficered ships Containment Procedures: fuel use reduction changed to 25% (was: 50%), maximum total is unchanged Patch 0.95.1a [RC3]:  Note: this list is not comprehensive, but should cover the main changes Skill effect text now shown at full brightness Unless the player has the skill but not its elite effect, in which case the latter is dark to make it clear it's not unlocked Rearranged skills in a different tier structure for each aptitude, retaining 2 top-tier picks in each Choose enough skills in lower tiers to unlock the next tier Can skip a tier by taking more skills in lower tiers instead Skills within a tier are no longer mutually exclusive Reaching the top tier requires 4 points, plus 1 more to actually take a top-tier skill Taking the second top-tier skill requires spending 2 more points in lower tiers, plus 1 more for the skill, for 8 points in the aptitude total This replaces wrapping around entirely Skills that have been made elite and reassigned can be re-made elite at no cost Elite skill levels are generally a bit more powerful All skills can be unassigned, there are no more permanent skills Unassigning skills that gave additional s-mods will result in s-mods being removed (the player can choose which for the ships in their fleet) Unassigning skills that boosted officer level/elite skills will result in either the officer becoming a mercenary on a new contract, or losing excess skills And so on There is a mechanism for mods to "undo" the effects of any custom skills not covered by this And a built-in handler for the "ship over maximum ordnance points" case Patch 0.95a:  Complete redo of skills. Four aptitudes Each aptitude has 5 tiers of 2 skills each Pick one of two skills at each tier Can pick other skills after reaching tier 5 and wrapping around One skill point spent per skill to unlock its effects Maximum level is 15 Gain story points have a variety of uses in the campaign; 4 per level Also keep gaining story points at a steady rate at max level Story point uses often grant "bonus XP" which increases XP gain "Weaker" uses of story points grant more bonus XP Patch 0.9:  Increased maximum player level to 50 for the moment; pending another look at skills Removed Surveying skill; can now survey planets with any hazard rating Increased cost by a flat +10 supplies Significantly reduced the value of survey data (30k for Class V; was: 100k) Patch 0.8.1:  Coordinated Maneuvers maximum now applies after bonus from current ship is subtracted, not before Recovery Operations: level 3 now provides +50% fuel found instead of +10% general salvage Added "Converted Hangar" modspec to level 2 Fighter Doctrine Fleet Logistics: Swapped level 1 and 2 effects Maintenance cost reduction is now 30% (was: 50%) Helmsmanship: level 3 bonus now applies at up to 5% flux (was: 1%) Advanced Countermeasures: Level 1: increased to -50% kinetic damage vs armor (was: 20%) Level 2: increased to -25% HE damage vs shields (was: 20%) Level 3: damage to fighters/missiles increased by 50% (was: 30%) Fighter Doctrine: bonuses reduced to 15% (were: 25%) Carrier Command: bonuses reduced to 20% (were: 25%) Wing Commander: level 3 accuracy bonus reduced to 50% (was: 100%) Patch 0.8: Broad skill rework