Officer
Officers are skilled individuals who captain ships in battle, adding skills similar to those of the player's flagship. They can be found in both player and NPC fleets.
An officer can dramatically increase the effectiveness of a ship, especially if they have skills tailored to that specific ship and fit.
Basics
By default, the player can command up to 8 officers; their maximum level is 5, and they can have 1 elite skill.
- The maximum number of officers can be increased by 2 with the Officer Management skill
- The maximum level can be increased by 1 with the Officer Training skill
- The maximum number of elite skills can be increased by 1 with the Cybernetic Augmentation and Officer Training skills
Thus, with all 3 skills unlocked, the player can command up to 10 officers; their maximum level is 6, and they can have up to 3 elite skills.
Officers cannot die in battle even if their ship is completely destroyed and not recovered afterwards; the only way to get rid of them is to dismiss them.
When the player switches flagships before an engagement, the player character and any officer present exchange ships. When switching in combat, the officer's skills are replaced by the player character's while commandeering the ship.
The number and quality of officers in fleets belonging to the player faction can be modified on the Doctrine & blueprints screen.
The number and level of officers (and some of their skills) in NPC fleets can vary wildly depending on faction. Generally, the higher the technological level of a faction, the more they prioritize quality over quantity. Furthermore, the faction's "aggressiveness" affects the personalities of officers you can find in its markets.
Assigning
Assigning an officer is simple and can be done from the Fleet Screen or the refit screen, where the player can click on the portrait attached to the designated ship on either screen to open up the officer assignment screen.
Pressing G serves as a hotkey to confirm multiple things, like closing the officer assignment screen, making an officer's skill elite, mentoring them, or retraining them.
Acquiring
Officers can be often found in the comm directory of markets, especially if the market has a military industry (Patrol HQ, Military Base High Command) and faction homeworlds. These will always be level 1-2 and have to be trained to reach the maximum level.
Rarely, stranded officers can be found in sleeper pods inside derelict wrecks, stations, etc. during exploration. These function the same as regular officers, except they start at level 5 and have a 50% chance of using one of the following skill presets[1]:
| Name | Weight | Skills (* = elite skill) |
|---|---|---|
| Generic 1 | 5 | Impact Mitigation*, Ordnance Expertise, Field Modulation, Target Analysis, Combat Endurance |
| Generic 2 | 5 | Target Analysis*, Impact Mitigation, Ordnance Expertise, Field Modulation, Combat Endurance |
| Generic 3 | 5 | System Expertise*, Target Analysis, Ordnance Expertise, Field Modulation, Combat Endurance |
| Low Tech 1 | 5 | Missile Specialization*, Target Analysis, Ballistic Mastery, Impact Mitigation, Combat Endurance |
| Low Tech 2 | 5 | Ballistic Mastery*, Gunnery Implants, Target Analysis, Impact Mitigation, Combat Endurance |
| Low Tech 3 | 5 | Ballistic Mastery*, Missile Specialization, Target Analysis, Impact Mitigation, Damage Control |
| Low Tech 4 | 5 | Helmsmanship*, Missile Specialization, Target Analysis, Impact Mitigation, Ballistic Mastery |
| High Tech 1 | 5 | Energy Weapon Mastery*, Target Analysis, Missile Specialization, Ordnance Expertise, Combat Endurance |
| High Tech 2 | 5 | Energy Weapon Mastery*, Target Analysis, Helmsmanship, Ordnance Expertise, Combat Endurance |
| Phase Ship 1 | 5 | Field Modulation*, Impact Mitigation, Target Analysis, Systems Expertise, Combat Endurance |
| Phase Ship 2 | 5 | Field Modulation*, Impact Mitigation, Target Analysis, Missile Specialization, Combat Endurance |
| Safety Overrides/Generic | 10 | Target Analysis*, Combat Endurance, Missile Specialization, Impact Mitigation, Field Modulation |
Exceptional officers
Very rarely, exceptional officers can be found in sleeper pods during exploration, having a 20% chance of replacing normal sleeper officer pods. Unlike normal officers, exceptional officers are level 7 with 5 elite skills. Up to 4 exceptional officers can spawn in any given sector, with fewer numbers being possible, though any missing ones can be found by answering Distress Calls (with a 20% chance if the distress call is a derelict wreck containing an sleeper officer pod). The number spawned does not increment until the officer is actually rescued, so getting 4 exceptional officers is always possible in any sector.
All exceptional officers use one of the following skill presets:
| Name | Weight | Skills (* = elite skill) |
|---|---|---|
| Fast High Tech | 10 | Target Analysis*, Energy Weapon Mastery*, Field Modulation*, Gunnery Implants*, Systems Expertise*, Combat Endurance, Helmsmanship |
| Slow High Tech | 10 | Helmsmanship*, Energy Weapon Mastery*, Field Modulation*, Gunnery Implants*, Ordnance Expertise*, Target Analysis, Combat Endurance |
| Low Tech 1 | 5 | Damage Control*, Impact Mitigation*, Polarized Armor*, Ballistic Mastery*, Target Analysis*, Missile Specialization, Gunnery Implants |
| Low Tech 2 | 5 | Ordnance Expertise*, Impact Mitigation*, Polarized Armor*, Ballistic Mastery*, Target Analysis*, Missile Specialization, Gunnery Implants |
| Phase Ship | 10 | Impact Mitigation*, Field Modulation*, Target Analysis*, Systems Expertise*, Combat Endurance*, Polarized Armor, Energy Weapon Mastery |
| Generic 1 | 5 | Field Modulation*, Ordnance Expertise*, Target Analysis*, Point Defense*, Gunnery Implants*, Helmsmanship, Combat Endurance |
| Generic 2 | 5 | Field Modulation*, Ordnance Expertise*, Target Analysis*, Impact Mitigation*, Gunnery Implants*, Helmsmanship, Combat Endurance |
| Ballistic Safety Overrides | 5 | Combat Endurance*, Target Analysis*, Systems Expertise*, Damage Control*, Impact Mitgation*, Field Modulation, Ballistic Mastery |
| Energy Safety Overrides | 5 | Combat Endurance*, Target Analysis*, Systems Expertise*, Damage Control*, Impact Mitgation*, Field Modulation, Energy Weapon Mastery |
Training
Player officers gain XP when participating in combat, split among all officers present and weighted by the amount of time they spent in the battle. Like the player, officers gain a new skill at each level. Their skill pool is the same as the player's flagship skills (the entire Combat skill tree plus the Tier 2 skills found in both Technology and Industry trees). You can pick which skill they gain from a selection of 4. The possible picks are randomised, but from level 4 onwards, the game will always include the two Combat skill tree capstones (Systems Expertise and Missile Specialization) if they have not been picked yet.
Officer skills can be upgraded to elite in exchange for 1 SP 0% XP per skill upgraded. By default, an officer may have 1 elite skill, though if the player takes the Officer Training and/or Cybernetic Augmentation skills, each increasing the cap by 1
Officers can be mentored for 1 SP 100% XP with the following effects:
- Doubled XP gain
- Wider selection of skills on level up (6 instead of 4)
- Immediate ability to shift the officer personality by one step (i.e. from Steady to Aggressive)
In practice, if you want your officers to have a very specific set of skills, Mentoring is almost mandatory, and it is recommended to take at least one capstone as well. Since skills cannot be changed or unlearned, if the game does not offer an officer a skill you want, the only solution is to dismiss them and start again with a new one.
Officers can also be retrained for 1 SP 100% XP once they reach maximum level. This allows you to change their elite skills and personality one step at a time. Note that this can be done as many times as you want, which means you can turn even a Timid officer into a Reckless one by Retraining them over and over if you're willing to pay the SP cost.
Mercenary
Mercenary officers can rarely be found on the comm directory like regular officers, with their titles highlighted in green. Compared to regular officers, they do not count towards your maximum officer limit, which means you can theoretically have as many of them as you wish in addition to your regular officers. They are between levels 4 and 6, with 1 to 3 elite skills.
To hire them you need to spend 1 SP 100% XP, with the contract only lasting 720 days. Once 0 days are left on the contract, the mercenary will wait until the player docks in an active market before they consider leaving your fleet; the player can either choose to let them go or spend an additional 1 SP 0% XP SP to extend the contract. If multiple mercenaries have 0 days left on their contract, only 1 of them will consider taking their leave when docked; the other mercenaries will not ask to leave for another 7 days, even when the player docks at the same market again.
Furthermore, mercenary officers do not benefit from any of the player's officer skills (i.e., higher maximum level or more elite skills), and they cannot be Retrained. This means they have permanently fixed skills, elite skills, and personalities.
Normal officers (i.e., officers that are not exceptional or mercenaries) can be converted into mercenary officers if the player respecs their skills and removes an officer-enhancing skill like Officer Training or Cybernetic Augmentation. In this case, any officer that exceeds the lowered (elite) skill limit will be forced to chose between losing their excess (elite) skills or becoming a mercenary officer, which keeps all their current skills.
Salary
Regular officers require 2,000¢/level upfront, and then have a monthly salary of 500¢ plus 400¢/level.
Stranded officers of either type join for free but still require a monthly salary.
Mercenary officers require double pay across the board, in addition to the SP cost.
Personality
Officers come with one of five different personalities that determine how they behave in combat.
- Timid: Attempts to completely avoid enemy weapon range.
- Cautious: Attempts to stay in the range of the longest range non-missile weapon.
- Steady: Attempts to stay in range of all non-point defense, non-missile weapons. Default behaviour.
- Aggressive: Attempts to stay in range of all non-missile weapons, even point defense (even if they cannot actually be used, i.e., they point towards the back of the ship), will also utilize fighters more aggressively in the case of carriers and will pilot civilian ships as if they were combat ones.
- Reckless: Same as Aggressive, but does not consider the threat of non-target enemy ships when deciding to close distance.
Note that in addition to personality, the AI will also change its behaviour based on a myriad of other factors, such as relative ship size, relative flux level, etc. See AI Behaviour page for details.
AI Cores
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 fixed behavior is set for any ship with the Automated Ship hullmod, even those without AI cores (excluding automated ships with a certain tag, which are not affected by the forced-Fearless setting and generally default to Steady personality)[2].
Use in non-player fleets
AI cores used by NPC fleets, like Derelicts, REDACTED, and stations with an Alpha Core, generally use the following skills[3]:
- Gamma Core: Helmsmanship, Impact Mitigation, Combat Endurance
- Beta Core: Helmsmanship, Impact Mitigation, Combat Endurance, Target Analysis, Gunnery Implants
- Alpha Core: Helmsmanship, Impact Mitigation, Combat Endurance, Target Analysis, Gunnery Implants, Field Modulation, Damage Control
Certain fleets - mostly Derelict and Remnant fleets - will also integrate and adapt their AI cores, gaining an additional level and skill[4]:
- Ships with enough useful PD weapons will always integrate Point Defense.
- AI cores in Derelict ships integrate Ballistic Mastery.
- Else, AI cores will integrate Energy Weapon Mastery or, if they already have EWM, Missile Specialization.
- For capital ships and stations, Combat Endurance is replaced with Polarized Armor.
- Note that player-built stations with an Alpha Core do not integrate the core, so they will still only have 7 skills as well as the Combat Endurance skill.
Changelog
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