Crew members are there correct locations?

[MartectX]

If I happen to hire a crewman Kirkner he always goes on boarding duty. And he's usually badass at it.

[SgtFrog]

I don't really have a preference, but I usually put a Rock at Doors (venting the ship is my main way of putting out fires, so if the door-control itself is on fire, then I'm a little screwed, unless I have a Rock there), a Zoltan at Engines (so I always have SOME dodge chance) and an Engi or Human at Piloting.

I don't usually Mantises stationed anywhere, just floating around for blue events and killing boarders, since I think their half-speed repair penalty seems to effect other people. Like, for example, a human and a Mantis both repairing Weapons. Instead of 1.5x repair speed (if repairs stack like addition), it feels like they're only repairing like 0.75x (if repairs stack like averages)

[beefinator]

I just put the first guy in the list on piloting, unless I have a good reason not to (e.g. he's a zoltan, or my only engi onboard, etc)

I normally put an Engi on weapons. Hit to weapons, engi's already there. But also, it can stand being unmanned temporarily if I want to move the engi to repair something else.

Engines, on the other hand, I always keep manned, so normally a human, since there's nothing special about them. If I have a zoltan, he goes to engines (perhaps not if I already have an experienced guy there), because I don't want to have to worry about if I have to move him; if he's in weapons or shields, I might not be able to move him without depowering a weapon or shield layer.

I'll put whatever on shields, since it's not as critical to keep those manned. And if those are damaged, I'm most likely going to be moving multiple crew in to repair, so it's not really a benefit to have an engi already there to begin with.


I think Advanced is bringing mannable Sensors? That'll be interesting, yet another choice to make early game when you don't have enough to man everything at once.

[Levgre]

Level of priority for repairs:

Pilot -> Weapons -> Shield -> Engine

Late game, Weapons and Shield could be interchanged depending on your ship, since enemy laser bursts are more common (and hits lead to even more system failures you have to deal with). However, early on a good offense is by far the best defense, have to have those weapons running.

I don't think Pilot is generally a good fit for rockmen, because they have good fighting + repair utility (can withstand lack of oxygen longer, immune to fire). On the Osprey I put them on shields, the center location in the ship lets them fight/repair wherever is needed more easily.

I will never try to have Engis roaming for repair, as opposed to stronger fighters being able to roam (humans are better roamers). Engi double repair is put to good use already, ensuring operation of the system they are manning.

[Levgre]

Level of priority for repairs:

Pilot -> Weapons -> Shield -> Engine

So for example in Engi A, an Engi would go in Pilot + Weapons. Human goes into Engines, but that's just because the buff + leveling from engines early game is much better, and is more important than repair priority.

Late game, Weapons and Shield could be interchanged depending on your ship, since enemy laser bursts are more common (and hits lead to even more system failures you have to deal with). However, early on a good offense is by far the best defense, have to have those weapons running.

I don't think Pilot is generally a good fit for rockmen, because they have good fighting + repair utility (can withstand lack of oxygen longer, immune to fire). On the Osprey I put them on shields, the center location in the ship lets them fight/repair wherever is needed more easily.

I will never try to have Engis roaming for repair, as opposed to stronger fighters being able to roam (i.e. humans or mantis). Engi double repair is put to good use already, ensuring operation of the system they are manning. Limiting your anti-boarding capability can lead to systems being unmanned (guaranteed penalty), and potentially lead to more dead systems.

[AileTheAlien]

Here's my rundown by system. It's in the order that I'll put somebody in there. So, piloting gets my first crewman, or first pick if there's two stations I would want a guy to man, engines goes second, etc.

• Piloting: Rockmen, or crystals usually go here, since they are slow, and are good if boarders go for it.
• Engines: Like other people above me, I usually stick my Zoltan in here, just so I don't need to worry about de-powering a weapon or shield if I move somebody to the med-bay.
• Weapons: Pretty much anyone except a Zoltan, so that nothing gets de-powered by accident when they need to heal at the med-bay.
• Shields: My second location for Zoltan, if I only have a 2-space engine, or lots of the little green guys. Otherwise, it's an Engi, or unmanned, since it's the slowest skill to level up, and doesn't add too much. (Honestly, I think the devs should nerf the refill rate of shields a bit, and buff the bonus from crew, to make it more useful.)
• Doors: Gets manned by whoever is on hand, just to make dealing with boarders cheaper earlier on, or easier when it's maxed out.
• Sensors: I man this with whoever, to save scrap on the first level of upgrade. Later on, I just stick somebody in there, to have the cute little typing-on-console animation.

I also have some roaming guys, to deal with stuff as it happens on the ship. Engis for repairs, or some of the stronger races for boarders. I was going to list Lanius for piloting and engines, to make extinguishing fires easier, and dealing with boarders safer. Plus hull breaches are no problem. However...that's pretty much useful in every system. Lanius OP? :P

I didn't let Zoltan onboard my ships but with the update I just might this time around. With a cloning bay of course.

For the motherlaaand!

[DarkenDragon]

honestly, to me the only factor that really matters as to who is manning what is their skill level. there is only a very small list of people I'd prefer to doing which job.

such as zoltans should always be on a main system to get full benefit of their energy power. engines and shields are great locations for them. if I have one as a pilot (like on the zoltan cruiser) i'll try to get a replacement as soon as possible.

Mantis i'll try to avoid putting him in main system since their repairs are so slow that if things go down i'd rather have someone else try to repair them. instead I'd prefer to have the mantis in the door room or for boarding. if your being boarded, they will most likely go after the door room most of the time, so what this will do is help you strength the doors to make the boarders have a harder time to get in, and if your venting the room it'll make the enemies a lot weaker by the time they break in for your mantis to destroy.

Engis are best as roamers since they can repair so well,

and humans would best be manned stations since they have a reduced requirement for system skills, though preferably either pilot or shields if you dont have anyone better.

but these are only suggestions when you have multiple units, and are well over a crew of 4-5, otherwise, stick the person with the highest skill in that spot.

[pilgrim]

I have had some success with a Lanius in the cockpit. No need to worry about breaches or fires, and if boarders beam in they start taking damage from the lack of O2 as well as your defending pilot.