Skills

Skills are permanent bonuses or activated abilities acquired by the player and officers. They are unlocked by spending Skill Points, which are earned upon leveling up, up to a maximum of 15 for the player and 8 (or 9) for Officers. Some skills may be upgraded to Elite once unlocked, providing additional benefit at the cost of a Story Point.

40 skills are available, divided into four trees (Combat, Leadership, Technology and Industry), with 5 Tiers within each tree. Initially, you can only pick a skill from the first tier of each tree. Each Tier provides the option of two skills and when you pick one of them, the other is locked and the next tier in that tree is unlocked. When you’ve picked a tier 5 skill, the remaining first tier skill is unlocked and when that is picked. it unlocks the remaining skill of the next tier ect.

Generally skill pairs are a choice between a weaker but generalized skill, or a stronger but specialized skill.

Many skills are affected by diminishing returns, e.g." Carrier Group" has it's full effect for up to 6 fighter bays, after which it's bonus is decreased for all fighters, not just those in additional fighter bays. This makes fleet-wide modifiers powerful without making it obvious to have only one style of ship and curbs the abuse of some logistical skills. With the notable exception of Derelict Contingent which buffs ships with D-mods.

Officers gain skills like the player, but only to a maximum level of 8 (9 with the "Officer Training" Leadership skill), which are chosen from a pool of 4 skills when they level up. Story Points may be spent to mentor offices for additional experience, increasing their skill selection and changing their personality by one step (once, per officer); or to upgrade one of their skills Elite (once, per officer, twice with the "Officer Training" skill).

Mercenary officers are also available. They are used like normal officers but have more skills and more of them are elite than the officers you can get, however they are more expensive and cannot gain more levels.

Skills may be refunded at the cost of a Story Point; as long as no other skills require them as a prerequisite and they are not one of the three permanent skills.

Combat

Skills that improve the combat performance of your flagship.

Tier	Skill	Icon	Skill effect	Skill Quote
Tier 1	Helmsmanship		Piloted ship +50% manoeuvrability +10% top speed Elite effect 0-flux speed bonus applies as long as your ship is not generating flux	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
	Strike commander		Fighters from piloted ship +50% missile, rocket, bomb and torpedo hit points +20% damage to ships sized destroyer and larger Elite effect +100% target leading accuracy	You will fly and it will be a storm like they've never known. You are a thunderbolt come to split the sky itself! Navarch Mars Kato, address to the bomber crews of the Sirocco
Tier 2	Target Analysis		Piloted ship +10% damage to destroyers +15% damage to cruisers +20 damage to capital ships Elite effect +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, XXIIth ed.", from Domain Battlegroup XIV library
	Point Defense		Piloted ship and it’s fighters +100% damage to fighters +50% damage to missiles Elite effect +100 to point defence weapons range	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
Tier 3	Impact Mitigation		Piloted ship -25% armour damage taken -50% engines and weapon damage taken Elite effect +50 armor for damage reduction calculation only.	The maneuver produced an oblique impact angle, dissipating the shell's momentum entirely 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
	Ranged Specialisation		Piloted ship Up to +30% energy and ballistic damage depending on range +0% at 800 or lower to +30% at 1600 or above Elite effect +30% ballistic and energy projectile speed	See this firing solution? It'll make the defensive algorithms overreact at just the wrong time. The catch is, they've got to see it coming. CPO Cameron Fourth-Phobos, instructor posted to Coatl Gunnery Range
Tier 4	Shield Modulation		Piloted ship -20% damage taken by shields 15% hard flux dissipation while shields are active Elite effect -30% high explosive damage taken by shields	Few have a talent for what I like to think of as 'active tuning'. I find musicians make the best shield officers. Ardis Soloman, leaked data submitted to COMSEC redaction algorithm
	Phase Mastery		Piloted ship -50% phase clock cool down Elite effect +100% top speed while phase clock active	I'm not getting back on that ship, not never. Court martial log, [REDACTED], dated ~c196?
Tier 5	System Expertise		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% cool down Elite effect +30 seconds peak operating time	No, I don't think it's a contradiction. It's a, uh, spiritual journey. You're tested. But it's like they say, the Devil is in the details. "Ludd's Footsoldiers" holodoc, interview with Pather engineer
	Missle Specialisation		Piloted ship +100% missle weapon ammo capacity +50% missile hit points Elite effect +50% rate of fire for missile weapons	My colleagues don't appreciate their whimsy. You get all these little spaceships and you break all the rules 'cause they don't need to survive landing. Exit interview of K. Astraia, former ordnance designer, Culann Starforge

Leadership

Skills the improve the combat performance of your fleet, and of other military assets under your command.

Tier	Skill	Icon	Skill Effect	Skill Quote
Tier 1	Weapon Drills		Fleet +10% (max) weapon damage for combat ships Maximum at 90 or less total combat ship recovery cost.	What's it stopped the Tri-Tach plot? (Guns!) What was it ol' Ludd forgot? (Guns!) What've we got that they have not? (Big, big, guns!) drinking song of the Hegemony navy
	Auxiliary Support		Fleet +900% (max) to combat effects of militarised subsystems, escort package and assault package Maximum at 5 or less total militarised civilian ships recovery cost	No reserves? Look around you! There are a thousand space-capable ships in the civilian docks and a billion citizens in the arcologies. We need only open the stockpiles and give them weapons before the invasion arrives. Baikal Daud at the Defense of Chicomoztoc
Tier 2	Coordinated Maneuvers		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 Nav rating increases top speed upto a max of +20%	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		Frigates with officers, including flagship +20% damage to ships larger than frigates +120 seconds peak operating time If lost in combat, ship is almost always recoverable Flagship +100% command point recovery rate if flagship is a frigate +25 to 0-flux speed boost if flagship is a 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"
Tier 3	Crew Training		Fleet +15% (max) maximum combat readiness for combat ships +30 (max) seconds peak operating time for combat ships Maximum at 180 or less total combat ship recovery cost	I know your type. Signed the contract with dirt still on your boots, all ready to play spaceman. Watched too many Hegemony warprop holos, didn't you. Get this now: courage is not competence. Good workers get the job done. Heroes get us all killed. Chaiya Mimas, Tri-Tachyon fleet division, job training introduction
	Carrier Group		Fleet +50% (max) faster fighter replacement rate Maximum at 6 or less higher bays	The stats tell us they'll get evaporated in a wall of flak before a half dozen missions, but we still want to be them. When they're in the cockpit they're the only ones in the fleet who have total control over their own destiny. "Nachiketa Portside Interview Project, Ep.4"
Tier 4	Officer Training (permanent)		Admiral +1 to maximum level of officers under your command +1 to maximum number of elite skills for officers under your command +2 maximum command points	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 (permanent)		Admiral +2 to maximum number of officers you are able to command +2 maximum command points	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, so everything worked out just fine. Carson Kang, GM of Valhalla fleet division, Tri-Tachyon
Tier 5	Space Operations		Governed colonies +30% accessibility +25% fleet size	The same stars are seen in the sky of every world. Persean League founding charter
	Ground Operations		Governed colonies +100% effectiveness of ground defences +2 stability Fleet +100% effectiveness of ground operations such as raids -25% marine casualties from ground operations such as raids	The mud? I don't mind it. Spacers always carry on about mud. It's the blood I can't stand. Griffin Sweet, mercenary marine

Technology

Skills that improve the performance of your fleet in and out of combat.

Tier	Skill	Icon	Skill Effect	Skill Quote
Tier 1	Navigation		Fleet -30% terrain movement penalty +1 to maximum burn level, doubled by sustained burn Unlock Transverse Jump	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		Fleet -25% detected-at range +25% sensor range +3 to burn level at which the fleet is considered moving slowly Unlock Neutrino Detector	I see you, little fish! Comm buffer of ISS Green Flash, recovered in orbit of Beta Zuma B
Tier 2	Gunnery Implants		Piloted ship +100% target leading accuracy for autofiring weapons +15% ballistic and energy weapon range -50% weapon recoil Elite effect +6% to ECM rating of fleet when piloting a frigate, +3% for destroyer, +1% for cruisers and capitals	Over time the augmented reality presented by implants may become difficult to distinguish from normal sensory input. The psych officer should 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		Piloted ship Up to +30% energy damage, depending on range and flux level +0% at 1000 or above distance or at 0% flux upto +30% at 600 or lower distance and 100% flux Elite effect -10% flux generated by energy weapons	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
Tier 3	Electronic Warfare		Admiral Every deployed combat ship grants +2% to ECM rating of fleet The difference between two fleets ECM rating, reduces the weapon range of the lower ECM fleet by up to a maximum of 10%.	err. 401 // connection refused [try again?] err. 401 // connection refused [try again?] err. 401 // connection refused [try again?] Celadon Immeasurable, alpha
	Fighter Uplink		Fighters -50% (max) crew lost due to fighter loses +25% (max) top speed Maximum at 6 or less fighter bays	The fighter jocks always spin the legends around themselves, but they're just the tip of a spear which I alone command. Commodore Jensulte of the Hegemony Navy, ~c82
Tier 4	Flux Regulation		Fleet +20% (max) flux dissipation for combat ships +20% (max) flux capacitance for combat ships Maximum at 180 or less total combat ship recovery cost	WARNING: By changing these settings user waives responsibility of Tri-Tachyon Corporation for any resulting equipment damage, injury, death, or otherwise undiscovered spacetime effects. Do you wish to continue? Tri-Tachyon Corporation, standard license
	Phase Corps		All combat phase ships -30% (max) flux generated by active phase cloak for combat phase ships +180 (max) seconds peak operating time for combat phase ships Maximum at 30 or less total combat phase ships Fleet +50% to fleet wide sensor profile reduction from phase field	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 our only redeption is final judgment. Livewell Cotton, Luddic Path terrorist, sermon of c205.2.12
Tier 5	Special Modifications (Permanent)		Admiral +10 to maximum flux capacitors +10 to maximum flux vents Able to build 1 more permanent hulled into ships	The Domainers, oh, they designed to last, it's true. But all that soft living, you can tell they were scared to really push these things to their limits. Luna Hexagen, independent engineer, Agreus city
	Automated Ships		Admiral Allows the recovery of automated ships and the installation of AI cores as officers on them +100% (max) combat readiness Maximum at 30 or less automated ship points Automated ship points are equal to the total automated ship recovery cost plus 10 for installed alpha cores, 7 for beta cores and 5 for gamma cores.	[REDACTED] Hegemony COMSEC

Industry

Skills that improve salvaging, colonization, and the overall resilience of your fleet in and out of combat.

Tier	Skill	Icon	Skill Effect	Skill Quote
Tier 1	Bulk Transport		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 1	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		Fleet +50% resources - 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
Tier 2	Damage Control		Piloted ship If lost in combat, ship is almost always recoverable -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 25% of hull and armor damage taken repaired after combat ends, at no cost	Straight from the great forges of Kazeron, this ship is the very best of the League. And we shall treasure this gift, for it stands between our homes and those who would end our way of life. Navarch Tethys, launching ceremony of the PLS Astelene Key
	Reliability Engineering		Piloted ship If lost in combat, ship is almost always recoverable +60 seconds peak operating time -25% combat readiness degradation time after peak combat performance runs out +15% maximum combat readiness Elite -30% overload duration	In the end, by time and rads, my body will die. My comrades will return me to the stars that made me, and my ship will go on. Spacer tradition
Tier 3	Containment Procedures		Fleet -75% crew lost due to hull damage in combat (maximum: 75%) Maximum at 60 or less total deployment recovery cost Reduces fuel consumption by 50% 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		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 - do a preliminary survey on all nearby planets remotely Hull mod: Surveying Equipment - reduce resource requirements for surveying	I guess we left the spares in orbit. It'll be fine ... [static] ... watch this. audio backup transcription, Jericho Wheeler, leader of expedition "H"-team
Tier 4	Field Repairs		Fleet +100% ship repair rate outside of combat (maximum: 100%) 50% of hull and armor damage taken repaired after combat ends, at no cost (maximum: 50%) Maximum at 60 or less total deployment recovery cost Recovered ships have fewer d-mods on average Chance to remove a d-mod from a randomly selected ship in your fleet every two months	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
	Derelict Contingent		All ships with officers (including flagship?), that also have d-mods 15% chance per d-mod* to have oncoming hull damage reduced by 90% -10% crew lost due to hull damage in combat per d-mod* +3% maximum combat readiness per d-mod* +5% minimum armor value** for damage reduction per d-mod for unshielded ships Hull mod: Shield Shunt - removes shields and increases resistance to EMP damage *Maximum effect reached at 5 d-mods. **The base minimum armor value is 5% of the max armour value.	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
Tier 5	Industrial Planning		Governed colony All industries supply 1 more unit of all the commodities they produce 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; our models project vast investment in resource exploitation from Guayota's Disk. Tri-Tachyon strategic development memo, pre-Collapse
	Colony Management		Player Able to personally govern 1 additional colony Able to manage 1 additional administrator	Where there is life, that is the throne of God, and all that is good can be found there. Sacred Texts of Ludd

Change History

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

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)

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%)

0.8

• Broad skill rework

At least two versions out of date. Last verified for version 0.8.1a-RC8. Please refer to Version History and update this page