Getting captains
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Getting captains
Hello,
I suppose this question is not new, however my searches were not successful, sorry for that
I am constantly lacking pilots for my trade ships
1) I have big troubles getting level 2 pilots for "distribute wares", some come from miners having made up a little experience, but those are rare
2) My level 2 pilots doing "distribute wares" seem to never get from level 2 to level 3, they simply dont gain experience
I went through headquarters and pirate bases, but finding a level 2 pilot happens almost never
In a very early version of the game, one could buy tons of cheap ships, hoping to have a couple of level 2 pilots, but this seems to no more happen in the latest patches
Thanks for your help!
I suppose this question is not new, however my searches were not successful, sorry for that
I am constantly lacking pilots for my trade ships
1) I have big troubles getting level 2 pilots for "distribute wares", some come from miners having made up a little experience, but those are rare
2) My level 2 pilots doing "distribute wares" seem to never get from level 2 to level 3, they simply dont gain experience
I went through headquarters and pirate bases, but finding a level 2 pilot happens almost never
In a very early version of the game, one could buy tons of cheap ships, hoping to have a couple of level 2 pilots, but this seems to no more happen in the latest patches
Thanks for your help!
Re: Getting captains
For level 2 the solution can be seminaries you can buy from merchants in about every station, but the defenses ones. Basic level up to one star, the other one to 2 stars. So if your pilot is almost 1 star, uou will raise it to almost 3 stars. Working hard this pilot will eventually reach 3 stars when your grandsons will have a long white beard.
Re: Getting captains
i do these to ensure a steady supply of high-skilled pilots.
i find that they gain too little experience completing their missions.
1. buy one or two scout ships with captains, of course.
2. send them to scout a sector.
it takes them ages for them to reveal the sector, but i leave them be.
if i have seminars, i upskill them with those immediately.
3. regularly, i check their scouting progress.
if a number of stations have been located, i set them to revisit those stations.
i find these better than dropping satellites everywhere.
4. then i leave them alone - until i need them.
i have one scout revisiting stations in each neighbouring sector around my stations.
this also ensures that my stations run efficiently.
5. i buy training seminars regularly.
i visit the trading corner every time i have to dock at stations.
6. i upskill my pilots with seminars by using the crew list in the player info screen.
i upskill my managers this way as well.
i find that they gain too little experience completing their missions.
1. buy one or two scout ships with captains, of course.
2. send them to scout a sector.
it takes them ages for them to reveal the sector, but i leave them be.
if i have seminars, i upskill them with those immediately.
3. regularly, i check their scouting progress.
if a number of stations have been located, i set them to revisit those stations.
i find these better than dropping satellites everywhere.
4. then i leave them alone - until i need them.
i have one scout revisiting stations in each neighbouring sector around my stations.
this also ensures that my stations run efficiently.
5. i buy training seminars regularly.
i visit the trading corner every time i have to dock at stations.
6. i upskill my pilots with seminars by using the crew list in the player info screen.
i upskill my managers this way as well.
Mods: RPG: Reputations and Professions, Social Standings and Citizenships, Crime has Consequences, Alternatives to Death. Missions/NPCs: Emergent Missions, NPC Reactions, Mod Parts Trader, High-sec Rooms are Locked, Hacking Outcomes, More Generic Missions, Waypoint Fields for Deployment. Others: Auto-cam, Friendly Fire Tweaks, Teleport From Transporter Room, Wear and Tear. QoL: Trade Analytics, Loot Mining, Ship Scanner, Signal Leak Hunter, Station Scanner, Surface Element Targeting, etc.
Re: Getting captains
Every station trader seems to have 1-2 Basic seminars and 0-1 Level 1 seminars. Getting any pilot to two stars is thus easy/quick/cheap.
If you hire (rather that get with ship you buy), focus on morale. Low morale decreases effective skill. Exactly two stars in piloting does not make two star captain, if she has no morale. A 5* morale could probably boost the 2.67* pilot into effective 3* captain (but those are not for hire).
I don't have any traders, but I do have 3* pilots. Where did they come from? I got a Carrier and 40 fighters to it. Assigned it to intercept flow of small enemy ships. The fighter pilots get to 3* and decent morale relatively quickly.
If you hire (rather that get with ship you buy), focus on morale. Low morale decreases effective skill. Exactly two stars in piloting does not make two star captain, if she has no morale. A 5* morale could probably boost the 2.67* pilot into effective 3* captain (but those are not for hire).
I don't have any traders, but I do have 3* pilots. Where did they come from? I got a Carrier and 40 fighters to it. Assigned it to intercept flow of small enemy ships. The fighter pilots get to 3* and decent morale relatively quickly.
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Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.
Re: Getting captains
Jlehtone has put a good point. Besides skill you need Morale for your pilots to level up. The easiest way to do that IMHO is to assign those pilots to be as Crew Members in Miners or, even better, Builder(s) as they gain a lot of morale. Also in Combat M, L and XL ships. After that, easily getting 3 or 4 stars Morale, you just give them the seminars to get to 2 stars Piloting (Basic and 1 Star they are called) and they exceed the needed 2 stars, if you don't give them Piloting seminars before sending them as Crew Members there is good chance they get 1 star (or more) by themselves making it easier...
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Re: Getting captains
My additional method is to hire bulk generic service crew on a trader parked at at an NPC station. Of the say 8 of them and using approximate figures, 5 will be rubbish as engineers, and 3 will have some engineering and morale skills. Of the 5 rubbish engineers maybe 2 will have some piloting and morale skills. The other 3 rubbish will be used as future ferry pilots for captured ships to be sold off. When the spare crew are gone, I buy a fresh lot.
Now of the two with some piloting potential, I use them to replace the captains on my own personal M corvette (great for capturing M ships and boarding capitals) and the S fighter docked on it (great for capturing S ships) as I use the originals as the captains of captured ships that I will want to keep. When I first transfer the new reserve captain/pilot to my personal ship/docked fighter I use a basic seminar to take them up to between 1 and 2 stars as pilots. As I go about my usual business using the two personal ships of mine, they gain skills in piloting and morale even though they are not doing the flying themselves. After a while they are ready to be used elsewhere and the cycle repeats.
Along with other advice given here, this tops up the system such that I am rarely short of a decent pilot/captain.
Now of the two with some piloting potential, I use them to replace the captains on my own personal M corvette (great for capturing M ships and boarding capitals) and the S fighter docked on it (great for capturing S ships) as I use the originals as the captains of captured ships that I will want to keep. When I first transfer the new reserve captain/pilot to my personal ship/docked fighter I use a basic seminar to take them up to between 1 and 2 stars as pilots. As I go about my usual business using the two personal ships of mine, they gain skills in piloting and morale even though they are not doing the flying themselves. After a while they are ready to be used elsewhere and the cycle repeats.
Along with other advice given here, this tops up the system such that I am rarely short of a decent pilot/captain.
A dog has a master; a cat has domestic staff.
Re: Getting captains
As to ferry pilots for ships to be sold off, I have found that no captain at all is necessary. You can sell a ship without a captain, in space, to a shipyard, and a captain will spawn on it.Alan Phipps wrote: ↑Sun, 12. Sep 21, 17:02My additional method is to hire bulk generic service crew on a trader parked at at an NPC station. Of the say 8 of them and using approximate figures, 5 will be rubbish as engineers, and 3 will have some engineering and morale skills. Of the 5 rubbish engineers maybe 2 will have some piloting and morale skills. The other 3 rubbish will be used as future ferry pilots for captured ships to be sold off. When the spare crew are gone, I buy a fresh lot.
Re: Getting captains
There is actually not an experience mechanic. Each time a pilot completes a task, they roll on a very tiny chance to gain a rank. The odds diminish exponentially as the star level goes up.
What you are experiencing here, is that distribute wares gives pilots an absurdly low chance per action to level. It is not effective.
If you don't have an academy yet, swarm combat is still the most effective way to gain stars on pilots. But it takes a very long time, probably easier to unlock the academy.
Other than that, trade stations are still the easiest way to gain access to auto-trade. So maybe you don't need 3 star pilots at all, but a 2 star station manager could do what you're trying to.
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Re: Getting captains
Falcrack wrote " as to ferry pilots for ships to be sold off, I have found that no captain at all is necessary."
I know that thanks , but I find that sending them to the right shipyard/wharf for asset-stripping to just the most basic mandatory equipments before ship sale will net me far more money than would be the case for an on-the-spot captainless sale, even with the few thousand paid previously for the generic service crew person that becomes the captain.
I don't mind the extra admin overhead involved as it just becomes part of my usual MO and roleplay.
I know that thanks , but I find that sending them to the right shipyard/wharf for asset-stripping to just the most basic mandatory equipments before ship sale will net me far more money than would be the case for an on-the-spot captainless sale, even with the few thousand paid previously for the generic service crew person that becomes the captain.
I don't mind the extra admin overhead involved as it just becomes part of my usual MO and roleplay.
A dog has a master; a cat has domestic staff.
Re: Getting captains
Many thanks for all the answers!
Already applying your advices
Already applying your advices