NPC Crew - Everything you should know before you hire!! | Elite Dangerous

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[@DukeStarscream]

My pilot is in a station since promoted elite. After that he became a billionaire because i went mining. :-)))

[@zenith9285]

Good job

[@SpartanMikey]

Balling in the Crew Lounge.

[@joetuktyyuktuk8635]

I forgot I had an expert fighter pilot sitting in the bar, after the whole AFK Type-10 craze... I was perusing my stats and noticed I had paid over a billion in crew wages... insta fired the bum!

[@Canadian_Ale]

I remember I got my crewmate back when he was a harmless. Now he's elite and I often just think how cool it is that they added back stories for the pilots even if it does mean nothing. My guy was a smuggler that smuggled Latvian brandy in a Cobra 3. He decided to give it up in trade for becoming a pilot for hire after doing it for a long time. Now he flies my federal Corvette whenever I want to fly a fighter. The only thing I wish happened was that I wish I could see him in my cockpit along with me.

[@kyr_taap]

Well.. don't tell anyone, but he already has space legs and walks around in your ship 😅

[@j.vinton4039]

Had a pilot I cultivated from Mostly Harmless to Elite. Took a full year, he was a stud who flew in dozens of combat zones, and pirate actions as well as thargoids. My guy had been a Beluga pilot prior. He flew with me for almost 2 years, until I fell asleep at the controls and flew my conda’ head first into a star 2 jumps from the centre. When I respawned at Explorers Anchorage he was gone. I was heartbroken. Cherish those pilots you cultivate.

[@nathanblades3395]

Ya i wish you coild see the NPC characters on your ship

[@nathanblades3395]

@@j.vinton4039 ahhh good now i dont feel so dumb 😂 That's what i did with my Anaconda 😁

[@crownofglory1264]

So does your npc actually fight in your ship (Helm)? Because mine doesn't and refuses to follow any orders.

[@Talon-]

Oh no.... I just found out I have 3 expert crew members just hired sitting there whilst I mined millions and explored light-years My money.....

[@danielm.595]

Big *OOF*

[@FardinKhan-nk5ep]

Sed lyf

[@DevilOwnpag]

"They take a cut of all your earnings if they are active or not" So that means, 3 Elite crew members that started out in expert will all take a total cut of 48% from all your credits, that is way too much, good god in the case of 3 Elite crew members that started out in harmless will only take 30% which is still quite a bit That means for money making you are better off flying your ship without any crew members... Wow i learned a lot from this vid! Thank you D2EA

[@Dan-kb7rv]

TBH I have no idea why they give you 3 slots for crew, you can only ever use one so any more is just loosing money for the sake of it.

[@MrDorkLard]

@@Dan-kb7rv I think that was only relevant when you would lose the NPC if your ship was destroyed while they were active

[@Big-Alieu]

Why the fuck would you have 3 You can only have one active

[@Yougosha1]

@@Big-Alieu I would check the crew lounge every now and then for human-attractive looking harmless crew or with a cool backstory. I would leave them unleveled until my primary crew member died. Now there is just no reason to change the UI when players are in complete control of crew hiring/firing.

[@Dustin81]

@@Big-Alieu Would have been nice to have all 3 using fighters.

[@Pho3nixDr]

How to npc crew without too much lost : 1. Hire the best one you can get before combat 2. Do your mission/destroy other ship 3. Dock, and fire the guy 4. Collect all mission reward/combat bound and bounty then repeat Your welcome and thanks FDev to encourage such mechanic =)

[@YuSoMadBra]

I was wondering if this would work while I was watching this. Thx. Lol

[@overseer_the_engineer]

U wil waste cr that way

[@YuSoMadBra]

@@overseer_the_engineer how

[@AdmLancel]

You do get the money, but you never get the joy of seeing a Deadly/Elite crew shredding in PVE like a boss.

[@AndroidBeacshire]

nice idea. the whole 'crew lounge' mechanic is a shambles

[@xAo2xSmurf]

I wish they only earned money from jobs/missions they were taking part in. I *really* wish I'd known all this before losing out on 100mil from wages.

[@nuke___8876]

General advice on NPC crew members/fighters: 1. NPC crew will take half your combat EXP, but only if they are active. If they are sitting in the crew lounge, they won't take combat EXP but will still take their cut of money. Apparently, you can still get full EXP if they don't hit the target for about 30 seconds or so before it explodes, but this requires a lot of micromanaging and most PvE combat lasts shorter than that. 2. Their rank definitely affects how well they fly. Their aim doesn't seem to be affected, but they are absolutely more evasive. A max leveled NPC crew member can usually solo any ship that turns slowly if it's 1on1. Even if it's a more agile ship, the NPC will often be able to solo it if they're high level. 3. Speaking of survivability -- giving them a tankier fighter (Taipan) is a better strategy when they aren't very experienced so they can take a couple of hits before dying (they'll do that a lot at first). Once they've leveled up to dangerous or above, give them the extremely agile but paper-thin imperial fighter because they'll just evade almost everything and not getting hit at all is a much better defense. Since they are NPCs -- fixed, hitscan (laser) weapons are best. They basically never miss and they have the best DPS although they're not so great against large ships with good hulls. 4. To level up your NPC, don't go to combat zones. They will attract attention and die very quickly, even at higher ranks. Instead, try to do combat where you're fighting a single ship or a single (small) wing. Compromised nav beacons and hazardous RESs are the best. If you can keep the enemy focused on you, it will allow them to shoot indiscriminately and have them not die. Them dying is going to be the biggest bottleneck to leveling them up. If you insist on CZs whether you're leveling them up or just because you want to, try to stay on the side of the fray where there are just 1-2 enemy ships. Also, keep them on a tight leash -- set them to maintain formation initially and then send them out to attack individual targets -- typically whatever you are attacking. This reduces the chances that they'll get targeted. 5. The guardian fighters are kinda meh when NPC crew members are fighting human-ships. They typically don't get close enough to use the XG8 Javelin (shotgun-fighter) effectively. The XG9 Lance (railgun-figher) has heat issues and NPCs don't sub-target. The exception is the XG7 Trident (plasma machine gun) though. Against fast ships, the NPC is gonna miss a lot so try not to launch that one. Against slow and/or large ships though, it's going to tear it a new one. This can make it a good idea to slot the double-hanger and have them deploy in the Trident whenever you're going up against something big and slow and then have then deploy in the imperial fighter/taipan against everything else. 6. There's a limit to how many fighters a fighter bay can synthesize. A size 5 has one bay and can make 6 fighters total. A size 6 has two bays and can make 8 fighters total per bay (16 from both). A size 7 has two bays and can make 15 fighters per bay (30 from both). When a fighter docks, it is automatically repaired and restocked if it uses ammo. It takes about 10 seconds to rearm/repair. If a fighter is destroyed, it takes about a minute and a half to make a new one. If you have a second fighter bay, you can launch that one immediately while the other is busy repairing/synthesizing. 7. I think the reason you can have three NPC crew members is you can land your ship, deploy in your SRV, tell your ship to follow you, and then deploy two fighters. I've never tried it, but it should work? Might be important to consider when the expansion drops.

[@LunarBloodRose27]

I never thought about giving my elite NPC a more agile fighter like the Imperial one, I'll definitely have to try it

[@leslieviljoen]

Thanks for the tips!

[@ElderonAnalas]

Sorry to necro, but #7 is partially incorrect. At least regarding the fighters. Even if you take 2 NPC crew into a ship with a size 6 or 7 hanger, you will still only be able to deploy 1 NPC fighter. The second fighter being reserved for others in multicrew. That's the only way to make use of the second bay (aside from having it for quick redeploy of your NPC) as Fdev did this to try to incentivise people in using multicrew.

[@cmdrTremyss]

@@ElderonAnalas Which they've failed spectacularly.

[@ElderonAnalas]

@@cmdrTremyss never said they succeeded, just that was apparently the hope is to get people actually using multi-crew

[@BarneyKB]

I didn't realise that they took money even without being active and now I've paid some random dude 170 million credits for doing literally nothing as I don't even use the fighters...

[@DarthWall275]

I'd like to see an expansion on this mechanic, such as having them appear in your ship when recruited and providing an extra pip as long as they're not flying an SLF. NPC wingmates would be a cool idea for solo and private play, at least with smaller ships. Going into a haz res with four fully engineered Vipers and destroying all in your path with coordinated attacks would be badass...it might even make the Eagle worth using - twelve small hardpoints are nothing to be scoffed at when converged on one unfortunate target.

[@domezasrekh3775]

I would sooo love this!

[@masterman3178]

I wish you could hirer a mining crew that you set to gather only a certain resource and launch them out into rings and they mine for you, at a slower rate of course but with less work on the players part.

[@Cancer6667]

So that you can be afk while npc mine for you? FDev: *laughs in grind*

[@masterman3178]

@@Cancer6667 well they could only get a certain distance away so you’d still have to move about once they mined everything in their radius.

[@cya6109]

@@masterman3178 stop ruining the dream

[@masterman3178]

@@cya6109 the dream of what.......a grueling lonely grind. Name one sci-fi movie, or novel where the mining vessel is manned by a single person. Most are mining crews. With a larger haul ship and smaller mining vessels. I think it adds the realism.

[@02091992able]

It would save so much more cargo space if that the controllers have storage built in so bigger your limpet controllers are the more limpets they can store as well as ones that can be active. But keep limpets as a universal device that you program for your desired tasked like it is currently. Making it that you can transfer limpets between them. For example your out of collector limpets in the collector controller while your mining but you have allot of limpets left in your prospector controller so you can transfer them to your collector controller so you can have collector limpets to collect your materials. Because having to cargo scoop items manually freaking sucks. I know you can synthesize limpets but that cost materials you can use for engineering.

[@intraplane]

Thanks to DTA for not telling my story. He solved the problem for me about a year ago. One year before that, I had hired a crew member to test the process for fighters. I never fired the crew member. It took about 8 month for me to realize that when I sold commodities from mining activities that I was not getting my full price. I was perplexed. The crew member was getting some percentage of all my profits. He got $750,000,000 of my money before DTA diagnosed the problem for me. Thanks again DTA!

[@YuSoMadBra]

They should have a self sacrifice binding. Like that scene from London Has Fallen

[@Seraphim_Belisarius]

I grinded three of them harmless to elite. I had plenty of credits, all the ships I wanted, and was training my combat up to elite, so I figured why not. I wish we could give them one of our ships to go get materials, and the higher rank they are, the more often than not the mission will be a success. That alone would be worth the cut they take. Example: I give my pilot an imperial clipper with an SRV to get me materials from said planet.. Or go search for data in a certain locations, etc..

[@mrwhiskers1471]

Still waiting tbh even after 2 years for them to expand on this mechanic I hope they do someday

[@Francesco-ow4ud]

I’ve started my journey in ED about a month ago, and I really find a lot of useful and clear help and suggestions in your channel, thanks for sharing! New sub here! 😈👍

[@WrynnCZ]

I am with you man, I play for the same time. This channel helped me too.

[@leonpetrak2302]

When in doubt I turn to this channel

[@tomusmc1993]

Only thing I would add is making people aware that while active a pilot siphons points earned towards combat ranks. Dramatically slowing your advancement in rank.

[@sigurdrr1015]

On a Yamicks and Pilot news stream someone spoke about leting npc pilots use our stored ships. Now that would be something

[@sandrobotticelli1337]

That would be fun, but at that point they are not mere pilots, but cmrds like players, and a meager 10-15% profit share would have to go up drastically...

[@ivancsontos7011]

@@sandrobotticelli1337 why though, imo the profit share is an incredibly dumb mechanic

[@BigDaddyWes]

@@ivancsontos7011 You can't recognize how much stronger/valuable an NPC flying a fully kitted ship along side you in your own fully kitted ship? Like do you understand the concept of balancing in any capacity? Fighters are already EXTREMELY powerful and with a size 6 with 2 bays, even if your fighter gets destroyed, you can immediately deploy another one. You get 16 total fighters in one resupply. It's insanely strong. Even the theoretical maximum of 16% profit share really isn't much. That's only 160K off of every million. That's nothing. That's like one decent bounty, or less than ton of cargo from a mining trip. You don't even notice, and nobody should be hiring an NPC that starts at expert and training them up to Elite anyway so that maximum of only 160K out of every million isn't even a realistic scenario. They get paid next to nothing.

[@wmgthilgen]

You didn't mention the fact that if and when one has a crew member, they also get a percentage of ones FC when they decommision it.

[@MrSpruce]

You should also know that their accents (if British) will reset to the default American ones after you relog. This is a accepted issue on the issue tracker, and you can vote to prioritise it by voting.

[@Kaethena]

It's not just British ones. All the voicetypes added by the 3.3 update will revert to their equivalent pre-3.3 update voicetypes after you log out.

[@C-JLChannel]

Here's the link issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/1962

[@carloschaparro07]

@Canadian Ale Mine is called Juana Ruiz, her bio says: "Spent my early days flying an Imperial Cutter. That was one beautiful ship. It took a family tragedy to make me understand that I was wasting my life, but what else could I do? I strove to fight for myself, or al least for a decent crew. Outnumbered and outgunned I fought off. A hero? No, just a damned fine pilot." She accompanies me even in the most distant explorations. We fly among the canyons on the most remote and desolate planets. And strangely I worry about her in the most intense battles and I call her name out loud even though I know she doesn't hear me.

[@bendikbanan2089]

bruh

[@balu22mc]

I like my crew member. Sure they aren't useful all the time, but I think they are nice to have. I currently only have lost 10mil to mine, but I am sure he saved me at least 5mil by just getting shot at, distracting the enemy and destroying fast targets trying to flee. I also like that they talk and roughly report about the current state of the battle.

[@yrneh1974]

So NOW you can buy your npc crewmember back. I lost my elite npc awhile ago in a fight agaist a thargoid, when it destroyed my ship. It still makes me sad for he was a fine warrior. To think that I have to get a new one, feel bad. You really can get attached to you npc's

[@alanhobson9121]

You forgot to mention that although there are three crew member slots, there's no real reason to hire more than one since you can only use one at a time. All the extra crew will do is siphon off more of your cash.

[@LunarBloodRose27]

I'd totally take an extra 10% loss on earnings if I could deploy 2 NPC fighters at once

[@johnnyhshify]

Why is Krait limited to 1 NPC when there are 3 seats and able to field 2 fighter bays

[@ShadowLynx777]

Only 1 npc is allowed, period. At elite they have perfect aim always, so 2 elite npcs with rail guns would be insane. Or at least that's what the devs say

[@crawldaddy7]

Yeah but go ahead an hire 3 of em your made of credits you been mining like a good lil commander here we got 3 expert pilots for you each will take 12% leaving you with 64% even though they did nothing on your mining run hope you never forget about such things like terminating contracts

[@BigDaddyWes]

@@crawldaddy7 You okay dude? Lol

[@paulwilliams7300]

I wish I knew this before I went mining, was so upset when I was hundreds on millions down when they were both at a station 🤦‍♂️

[@carrotlover857]

I just found out that i lost over 1billion credits to my crew member

[@angrydoge4038]

Sounds like you are incredibly rich regardless then lol

[@treschlet]

It would be great if the crew members behaved a bit more like multi-crew, where they'd bring little bits of boost to your ship. Maybe crew members could have different levels of skill in different fields. Navigation skill could affect your jump range, mechanic skill could have them act as a sort of AFMU, technician kill could improve capacitor performance, pilot skill affects how good they are in combat (and maybe bring auto-dock/SC assist capability without using a slot). Mining skill could improve refinery performance, sky's the limit! Then there'd be a bunch of reason to have more crew on a ship! They could occupy multi-crew seats, but you could even add separate NPC crew seats that would hypothetically be in stations elsewhere on the ship, so you could start building up a whole crew. Even a sidewinder is plenty big enough to have a crew member running around in the back wrenching on things. So every ship in the game could have a crewmember, and the huge end-game ships could have a compliment of a dozen!

[@geois4u33]

treschlet That will be the day. So many ideas can make this mechanic more improve and invite more interactions whether it is for good or worst.

[@adamj8385]

They need to put all this on disclaimer before you hire NPC's. Luckily I learned early when I was getting Xbox achievements, and I'm like PAID WHO???? It would be interesting to see if you can hire an NPC to follow you around on foot when Odyssey launches, then it would be more worth keeping them around.

[@Pl4sm0]

Your videos helped me so much to improve in ED, I did my first mining run after watching one of your guide and I made 16mil in an hour, which is a lot for a new player, deserved sub :)

[@NaughtyShepherd]

I had no idea I was paying for them when not using... thanks for the heads up! Lost about 300mil having them inactive 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@Melvin_RongDong]

Very helpful guide, thank you, was completely lost thank you

[@Ermy1996]

My pilot got 500 millions of my credits, even tough i hired loweat rank. Still is really good to have a pilot, overall is worth it.

[@paulmouatib9999]

Damn it! The inactive still take the share! I didn't know that... I will dismiss mine right away so. Great video as always

[@princesshassim6009]

Thanks friend, you;ve bin a great help.

[@MrJoe2022]

I'll glad I watched your video first thanks 🙏🏾

[@mattsmechanicalssi5833]

I only run the SLF on long exploration trips, mostly for doing canyon runs, so I don't use the NPC crew. I might feel different if there was a dedicated "Launch Fighter" button. I am usually just too focused on combat to even deal with the fighter, so that internal slot can be used for something else. Good to know that hiring a Harmless crew is cheaper in the end than hiring an Expert, if I ever decide to use one. Or get around to programming Voice Attack to deal with launching and giving orders. Good stuff, Astro.

[@HeliosExeunt]

I used to confuse NPC Crew with Multicrew, so when I finally figured out the distinction, I was a little put off. I might be more willing to hire NPC Crew if they also added extra pips to the distributor like Multicrew.

[@vtec667]

I dont use them for extra dps.. but they are perfect for keeping the aggro, meaning if the enemie ship has chaff launchers and your crew member attacked them first, they wont use chaff and u can rip them appart very fast. just let your crew member shoot them a few more times, because if u do too much damage/time the will switch aggro to you and launch the chaffs instantly.

[@drcheese5692]

Love your videos and can't wait to visit your outpost when its available on xbox. But I have 1 question. What ships can I use for Npc fighters I have only bin able to find player controlled ships?

[@KSPDS]

I got a crew member up to master and I turn him loose in the Condor when I go mining. Last night he got around 10 kills by himself on people trying to rob me. A few times he actually beat a 3 ship wing without getting destroyed. The potential for SLF is pretty huge and the agility on those things is ridiculous. No ship can outmaneuver those fighters so a good pilot will just win. Also, I just want to give a combat tip because it seemed like you were having trouble keeping your sights on the enemy. Keep your throttle in the blue area because that is when your ship is most maneuverabile. Once you get better with throttle control, you can start forcing the craft further out of envelope and pull off some crazy stuff, but to start definitely keep it in the blue when turning. Also, use the up/down throttle to your advantage to get a tighter turn, or to slip out of the enemies sight line. Always remember to keep it in the blue if you want to turn faster.

[@oreste1964]

Interesting video, one thing I would like, to be able to bring my pilot into the cabin even on cruise trips and to be able to use him as a gunboat or as a navigator, maybe he could announce some objectives: hunting at 9 o'clock ..... rich deposit of diamonds soon distance ... Damn gargoid at 6 o'clock !!! .... Sometimes you want to use a ship that does not have a hangar for hunting, I pay for that time that is stationary ^ ^

[@droman608]

Thanks for this useful information! o7 Commander.

[@blazercage]

I wish NPC were allowed to sit on the empty seats inside your ship like inside of my Corvette or Anaconda and also let me have more than one fighter too if I want to equip my Corvette as a combat transport ship.

[@ChrisFowlerNH]

I added the white engine accent and the white weapon color on my NPC fighter plasma cannon. The effect is amazing. BRILLIANT white plasma helping take out my enemies. My Squadron mates are always oooh-ing and ahhh-ing at the sheer brightness of the shots. It's awesome!

[@HalNordmann]

I had an idea for the crew payments: Have them take a percentage payment cut when in use, and a fixed "active" fee for every transaction performed when not used. If the cut is smaller then the fixed fee, they will take that instead. That way they still use money, just a little less when not in use. Also, it would be nice to have other crewmate NPCs - Navigators for FSD jump extension, Gunners for extra turret tracking, Mechanics for slow automatic repairs, etc. And have crew NPCs sit in unused bridge chairs.

[@drogenfeld]

Them taking a share when inactive needs to be removed. What an unnecessary aspect of crew members, that makes them almost unviable to use unless you are Bill Gates-rich.

[@nullx8]

just like everything in ED, this is broken toom you can just hire an expert, to provide some distractions on battle fields, and then fire the pilot when back at the station, before cashing in the bonds, the pilot will net get paid. (not sure this has some effect on the ability to hire later on, but it still seems to work in 2022)

[@bikemessenger7]

I took mine mining thinking it would keep pirates off me. three pirates attacked, I was able to smash two and had to run from the third. suddenly the firing stopped and "thats all of them commander" best investment yet. so much fun to watch them fly my ship too.

[@warmedmints1694]

I haven't used a crew member in a long time, I assume they also still take some of your combat xp as well so it takes longer to hit elite with one. I feel you should mention that as well for new people.

[@frankieb9444]

Great change with the buyback crew member, I have grown attached to my NPC. LOL

[@ntme9]

I would like to see some statistics on how much better the NPC gets with each rank. Like average DPS, I imagine that would be difficult to get

[@eruk4678]

I think the best way of choosing an npc crewmember is their backstory. My npc was a former orca pilot, a resume which made her obviously the best choice to fly my imperial fighter.

[@Kimera_Alternate_Realities]

They should follow you from the station when you use ships that don't have hanger, like your own personal wing. This will allow you to fly smaller ships like a Cobra and have your crew fly their own ships from the moment you leave the station, but that's just my opinion and wish.

[@TheKermit2110]

Dave, u forgot to talk about impact on own combat ranking

[@lloydmills5968]

Great video as usual, Astro. One question that you didn't answer, however. I've only ever had one crew member. If I were to hire multiple crew members, would they all get a cut of my profits? For example, if I were to hire 3 Experts (not that I would) would I be losing 36% of everything I make?

[@DowntoEarthAstronomy]

Yes. They each take a cut. So if you have 3 crewmembers who each take 10% then you loose 30%

[@darlentenstrife5929]

Have you done a review with using vr on the pc?

[@DblDg1252]

Im not a combat pilot so whenever i go to somewhere i think i need an NPC crew member i just hire experts then fire them before i turn in my combat bonds. going my route means you dont have to worry about profit share

[@FelixVatamanu]

I know this is an old video but I was just wondering: do they work planet side? I mean can they disembark with you or give you support in any way when fighting on foot in crash sites or other similar signals?

[@torstenkersten8566]

uhm ... I guess I am missing the remarks to ranking up in combat. Isn't it that one shares the merits for a kill with the NPC and so the rank-up takes double as long? Or did I get this wrong? Would like to find the info in the video .... ?! Else, thanks for your great vids! Very much appreciated.

[@davidbailey5079]

If be interested to know the difference in effectiveness between the Levens of NPC pilots as well

[@gbaysinger]

Late to the party ... haven't bothered with NPC crew yet. Are they able to use the shield buffing lasers on friendly targets (ie, I leave crew in big ship while I'm in fighter, big ship buffs my shields either by smarts or by my command).

[@kylemartin4954]

How do you add multicrew on your ship? I have a ship that has multicrew got a crew member but cant add him to my ship? Do i need module or something?

[@raxxar9334]

Im new to ED and I was thinking to hire them for those mods on your ship what you can buy , like defence rockets or cannons what use extra crew . Can I use them for that ?? or those mods are for second pilot human not NPC ??

[@soldier72]

A question about pay. I know they get paid regardless if active or not (for me its 10%), but: Bounties/Bonds for CG; if you make 10mil in kills, come back and cash in for CG, they get 1mil (10%) if active or not, is it 10mil or 9mil that get counted for the CG?

[@stoneprevious4294]

I've had the same 12% crew member since I got the keelback. I don't do combat so he's just been soaking up the money. He's currently made 260m. Not a total waste since I use him quite often when I run cargo but I just wish that multi-crew payed as well. lol

[@ariahrism]

What does "run cargo" mean?

[@billcipher-ys3ii]

Can you have more then 1 crew equied at the same time? i wanna build something like a fighter carrier with multiple fighters launched at the same time

[@The-Man-On-The-Mountain]

Excellent video. This is one of those things that Frontier doesn't fix, because is clearly absurd to hire a top rank crew member. No one does it. But there are so many things that make no sense... Like dog fighting with a type 10 or a corvette. There should be the possibility to hire many crew members as gunners to shoot fixed turrets, for instance. I know there are no fixed turrets, that's my point. Let alone the possibility to play with friends as gunners in your ship. That would be awesome. Another absurd thing is that in a huge ship, there is only room for another crew member and a fighter at a time? With a type 10 you should be able to deploy at least 4 fighters at a time. Because one single fighter right now only is useful to distract an enemy for a short period of time. As I said many times, I don't get what's the point of being completely alone in a huge ship that you have to pilot as a fighter when you are in the middle of a fight. Well, is just my opinion.

[@McLoven-vm1ck]

i think the idea is that the elite pilots are just temps cause they are crazy expensive but they are already ranked up.

[@HeathBlythe]

Feed NPC families... that's why I have one. Also he's a great help with the fighter in case of emergencies.

[@theforgottenelitedangerous4827]

And only buy 1 crew member as they do add up the % of profit shares. ( would love to see NPC crew members when not in use flying patrolls for your Carrier )

[@lexsan82]

I'm considering an Elite NPC crew-based Mothership that takes advantage of their aimbot abilities with rails and fixed weapons. Have you experimented with any builds like this? Curious how viable this might be before I dive in.

[@CovertExpertiseArtiMarziali]

Hey man! Thanks for the guide; questiom here! I've set a crew member as active at a station and got a harmless one. How do i actually get him to fly in the ship with me? When i go into space it looks like im all alone! Could you tell me what im doing wrong? Thanks.

[@BamaChad-W4CHD]

Ah I wish I would have watched this video before my first playthrough. I had all slots hired with the best I could get from station to station. I never once used any of them. I played for so long with them draining money in the background. It had to be in on the high of of the hundreds of millions lol

[@azra31]

Do the inactive pilots still take a share of credits and rank if youre using another ship?

[@AndyM_323YYY]

If you are building your own combat rank a crew member slows you down: you are not getting twice the firepower but you need twice the exp gain because you share it with them.

[@angrydoge4038]

Even if they are elite?

[@AndyM_323YYY]

@@angrydoge4038 Yes, even an elite crew member takes half your exp. And if you are flying (say) a corvette you now need to get twice the kills while you have added, at best, very little to your firepower. In practice I found them to be an annoying inconvenience that often did not survive very long, needing constant attention as I launched replacements. At around "dangerous" rank I was finding progress very slow: ditching the crew member (which was elite by then) doubled my rate of progression.

[@joethesheep4675]

since you didnt mention it i wonder if NPC-crew still halfes your XP-gain for combat-rank.

[@Nindjako]

Thanks for the explanation. I have a few questions regarding the mechanics of the crew : 1. Can (or at what point/rank) you trust an NPC with your main ship? 2. What is the difference between the NPC ranks - do they have different fighting strategies ? 3. A rumor says that the background on the NPC picture shows the SFL that they will be most efficient in - is this true? Have a good one CMDR

[@DowntoEarthAstronomy]

1. Yes absolutely. Can you can always switch back if something happens 2. They have the same flight skill as all the NPCs you fight (dependent on combat rank) 3. I think that's just a rumor

[@geois4u33]

Down to Earth Astronomy Question 2: Darn! That is what Fdev needs to change when it comes to difference of Rank. A Crew Member with Pilot Rank of Harmless shouldn't be doing as much of anything more than smaller size ships in Combat or its Combat Flight skill should be limited when going against Medium to Bigger Size Ships as an Anaconda or Cutter. While an Expert Rank should have limitless Combat Flight skills that can do all it can from getting destroyed or destroying a Medium to Bigger Size Combat Ships. Making Expert Rank crew members a favorable option every time we look into the crew lounge or if training up a Harmless Rank crew member would potentially lead to gaining a hidden latent Combat skill they can possibly possess at some point as an alternative option. But no. It's about if you are broke don't worry about it now but want a little help from the AI and have lots of credit only go for Harmless. I don't mean it should be good enough to ward off any and all Human Pirates. At least a distraction for someone that plans to have a sacrificial NPC crew member set up on their ship when their buddy is away doing something else and can't help on an escort but a little help from the NPC should be good enough for you to escape at least. Instead of getting them back after escaping from a Pirate or 2; you end up losing them for good. But worth the credit and/or time to build them up. And of course, Harmless Rank shouldn't be a match for experience Pirate or a group of 2 or more Pirates. And that should make it a reason why Pirates would group up with at least 1 other Pirate to get what they want from a ship with NPC crew member setup. They want people to interact and work together more right. Because last I check in history and modern times. It takes more than one Pirate to take over a Large size ship with some(Not little to no aid or help from NPC crew members, does not include Human players help) kind of Tactical/Combat capability to deter or ward off Pirates along the way "realistically". Fdev just needs to make this more in depth in the future.

[@Nindjako]

@@geois4u33 Some notes: NPC pilots can be leveled to Elite rank, not just to Expert. They also were lost on death before the 'January' update, but we're voted as undesirable mechanic. Lorewise they also get an escape pod like the CMDR now. FDev are unwiling to fix far simpler things while You propose an entirely new AI system with perks. Don't get me wrong, it may be an interesting idea, but it could be difficult to balance. And there even people saying that the current SFLs are OP

[@geois4u33]

Nindjako It was just an idea. All that I said. I already know. Now I retract my ⬆️.

[@rocren6246]

How much is an extra little dps we are talking about? I am using a Cobra MK III, and I can only fight one mostly harmless enemy. Would an expert crew member do all the killings for me?

[@MacVerick]

Lol I remember downsizing from three to one crew after two weeks of LTD mining hahaha when I saw how much I paid them to sit around doing nothing I couldn’t believe it lol let’s just say they those crew never had to “work” again lol

[@plutoidrepublic2765]

"more money than you can ever use" me: fleet ca-

[@NewtdoggGaming]

So I can only deploy one ship at a time? Also, what happens if I die when I’m in the fighter and npc is in my main ship, do I magically go back to my ship or do I have to rebuy my whole ship as if I died in it?

[@totallymady42069]

Considering I only really want 1 crew member I think I'll fire this Expert (now master) and take on an apprentice and train them up (:

[@banm291]

is the rank of the crew member the same as the rank of npc in ship ? i explain : is my npc crew elite rank piloting my anaconda, while i'm in my guardian fighter for exemple, skilled exactly the same as an ennemi npc elite rank in an anaconda (that i can fight against at a bounty hunting spot for exemple)

[@javanjazz]

If they can leave the ship and travel with you planetside then the cut would be worth it. Would be nice to be able to order them to go drive the SRV and mine.

[@mattsmechanicalssi5833]

And if they can drive the SRV, then they can collect raw materials!

[@netwarrior1000]

Haven't used NPC crew yet and won't while they charge so much while not in my ship. I don't mind paying a small retainer, but when I'm not using them, they should not get the same cut as when I am using them.

[@BannorPhil]

@D2EA - Do NPC crewmembers have the same AI as other NPC's of the same rank? In other words, are they able to maneuver, fight and handle their ships as well as equivalent enemy NPC's can?

[@hesperus_7151]

Yes, they are really good in PVE fights if they got high rank. My man's rank is deadly, and effective against 1 NPC. Sometimes he can destroy the enemy alone.

[@lightwoven5326]

No use for ship interiors. How about meeting your crew and sending them on missions, including ground base ones in Odyssey. Real immersive and practical use. Outer Worlds anyone?!!

[@SussedRage]

Would be amazing. Would take Frontier ten years to work out how to do it.

[@Rin8Kin]

@@SussedRage Be realist, its more like 20 years.

[@Cloudman572]

Ok, this covered most of it well BUT by how much do they reduce my ranking up in combat - by nothing, by the percent they earn or by 50%? Also at what rate do they rank up, I have heard it is quicker than me but what rate. I assume they do not rank up if inactive but is that proven? If they are active but just sitting doing nothing in the fighter bay on ship do they rank up at same rate as been actively involved (assume a 1vs 1 pirate battle that you would win without them). Do they rank up if active but in a ship with no fighter bay? Can they control my ship if it has no fighter bay (eg mid battle and the door bell rings)? Since they take money share even when inactive do they slow up my trader and exploration ranking up rate which is money based? Do feel there are a number of points not covered in the video, which is a shame as DTEA is one of the best.

[@Kaethena]

They count as a wing member for combat ranking, so if it's just you and your fighter, you'll only get half the rank. If it's you, another wing person, and your SLF, 1/3. Two people with two AI controlled SLFs will only give you 1/4 of the rank. IF they're actively taking part in the fight. If they're still on board your ship but not actually out, you'll get full rank since they don't get any. The only way they rank up is by actively taking part in combat, just like you. They do rank up significantly faster. I don't have the exact data but I would guess at least double, if not triple the rate you do. And no they don't rank up if inactive. They can't be made active if you're in a ship with no fighter bay, so they can't control your ship if it has no fighter bay. They do slow your trade and exploration rank but not in the same way. Since both of those are money based, they will be slowed by the profit share your crew is earning. Meaning a crew member at Elite that you trained from harmless will make you take 10% longer to rank up in trade and exploration. Their shares don't count towards your rank.

[@Cloudman572]

@@Kaethena Thanks for a reply to all that. I am slowly combat ranking up as I am am poor at it but amazed that I will rank up at 50% if I have the fighter NPC active. I really feel that Down to earth Astro should have mentioned that instead of concentrating on the credit side which is not a problem to me. Think I will fire my NPC and get on with ranking up then (expert now and most of the few fights I get in are vs lower skilled NPcs so very little rank xp).

[@andybrown4284]

I prefer the profit share rather than having the wage being a weekly upkeep as it means I can take time away from the game and not worry about coming back to no money or lost crew. The %'s may seem a lot but unless you're intensely focussed on chasing an ever increasing bank balance with nothing to spend it on the amount they take isn't actually that bad. You'll probably never end a session at a loss because of them taking a wage. I did chuckle a bit at my crews backstory painting them as a heroic lonewolf feared by all with a rank of mostly harmless, taken a while but they're comfortably deadly.

[@AndroidBeacshire]

i agree upkeep is worst. i would only agree the %cut isn't that bad if they did get paid in full for doing nothing in the crew lounge

[@Kaethena]

One thing you forgot to mention. AI crew count as a wing member for the purposes of how much ranking you gain in Combat if you aren't Elite. So if you're still grinding Combat rank, unless you want it slowed by half, do not use an AI crew member. That being said, they add tremendous utility to a ship. Some of the SLFs have firepower equivalent to a Class 4 version of the weapon they're using, giving you a substantial firepower increase. Especially once you get them to the higher ranks. They become quite lethal. And they can be used to chase down escaping ships that you either can't catch, or can't be bothered to catch. Once you get them to Elite, there's a good chance they'll be able to fly your Mothership better than you can.

[@LunarBloodRose27]

Gives me an idea to build a separate engineered corvette with the focus on fixed weapons and let my elite NPC pilot that

[@markdudevad]

The word "should" is misspelled in the thumbnail preview for this video! Thought you ought to know

[@glasshalfempty1984]

...how do I "fire" them (or whatever it's called and however it works) in order so that they STOP taking a cut?

[@Daniel9743]

I heard that npc crew that are from valhalla are better than the rest in that if it is harmless the ai in the crrw member behaves like a mostly harmless and etc, meaning that if u have a master one it acts like an elite one, is it true?

[@deezy6eleven]

Love your videos, but (unless I missed it) you left out the most important part of making the crew hiring decision. Profit share applies to combat XP gain as well as monetary payout.

[@user-25352]

but do they perform well enough in PvP?

[@jeankristein3238]

I have deadly rank crew, with imperial fighter Sometimes the crew put out more damage than me lol

[@RenzorTheRed]

So once you hire a pilot, does he get a cut of your earnings even when you're flying ships without a fighter bay?

[@Piorn]

Can we outfit abrasion blasters to our fighter and have the NPC automatically scrub blasted asteroids?

[@TheLukemcdaniel]

If you hire a crew, go explore, wait till you come all the way back, and fire them before you turn in your data, do you still lose out on a chunk of your payout?

[@joethesheep4675]

02:45 - Wait! So NPC-Crew can get Elite? My Fighterpilots XP-bar says 100% since she got deadly so i figured deadly would be the max rank. Is this a known bug or something?

[@justinavery6425]

Thanks for the great rundown. I've had plenty of crew and I have had a few that I had to fire. One in particular did not communicate with me when I got in the fighter. She never said she had control of the ship; never told me I was ready to dock; Rarely said anything. So if you've had the same experience, fire them. They should natter away and let you know what they're doing! My first pilot, she would say "that one's for me commander", after every kill - whether or not she was engaged! I have not had one since that has said that. It made me wonder whether dev have implemented a "blag" on their cv... Such that some just put on their bio they done this that and the other, but in actual fact haven't, and they are a rank below the one they claim! I got the feeling that if you give them the ship when they're low rank, all they did was pop all the torps and missiles ready for when you get back in! I use a condor with gimballed beams and heat sinks, with 4 pips on weapons and I generally just overheat them and discharge a sink and carry on - discharge -carry on in 1 continuous beam to take shields down.. But if you let one get in the fighter, they disable the heatsink in the module! So when you swap and try to discharge you're knee deep in menus. I have also forgotten to set them active... And got out of the ship in a hurry by accident - with noone flying it.

[@MrDorkLard]

Non-speaking NPCs was a bug

[@justinavery6425]

@@MrDorkLard Ha ha. I did wonder. But she got fired and her replacement was fine!