Officers

Officers: Unlike player characters officers often come with their own skills preset dependent upon the department they come from. You can change an officer’s skillset but you do not regain the points that went into their basic skills.

How to gain an officer: You can either promote an enlisted person of the “elite” skill rating to the rank of officer in which case they’ll become a specialist in the department they were promoted from. You can also recruit officers directly either via military command (if you are a military captain) or from the “officer candidate market” of a world you are visiting if you are a PMC/Freebooter captain.

How many officers do you command: You begin the game in command of a frigate which comes with two officer “reqs”. You can increase the number of officers under your direct command by using the leadership skill.

How do you use officers: Your officers serve two purposes: First they act as department heads so that you don’t have to run each department, in doing so they can also add a “buff” to the department they command. Secondly if you achieve high enough rank/reputation you can actually promote officers to command ships for you at which point they will recruit their own sub-officers and crews though you will still have say in whether or not they can spend the money of course. When you promote an officer to ship’s command or to command of an outpost you can recruit a new officer to fill the slot they vacated.

How do officers’ skills work: As mentioned most officers come with preset skills dependent upon time of hire or what department you promoted them from. It is possible to encounter “blank slate” officers which you can select skills and departments for but these are rare. Officers have access to all the same party and personal skills as your main character at the same points costs.