Newcomer / Intro Engineers (in this case Felicity Farseer)

I'm curious how best to approach engineering? I have unlocked Farseer, and I have pinned the blue prints for FSD extended range. This is my question: Is it OK to gather all of the materials you need to complete all 5 levels at once? Or is it better to get the materials to do stage 1, come back and complete that build, then go out and gather mats for stage 2, come back and complete that build, repeat for stage 3, 4, and finally 5. . .

I guess basically I'm asking, is there a correct way to do this???? I currently only lack a couple of items to do all the stages "all at once" - is this a doable approach??
 
I guess basically I'm asking, is there a correct way to do this???? I currently only lack a couple of items to do all the stages "all at once" - is this a doable approach??
There's no correct or incorrect way to do it.
All at once is doable, that's how I usually do it.
 
It shouldn’t take you much to unlock G3 or even G4, doing that will save you jumping back and forth between each upgrade. You’ll also have a decent FSD boost at G3/G4 whereas G1 isn’t huge. Gathering all the G5, generally speaking for all G5 mats, can be a bit of a pain - although G5 FSD is actually one of the easier mods to G5 IMO.
 
My approach is to engineer up as many levels as I have materials available for. However if I only have a very small amount of a material and it's not a crucial upgrade I might stop at grade 3 or 4. You usually get a lot of benefit from grade 3 and going beyond that is often just making it "more betterer" for completeness/flexing/OCD/min-maxing or other reasons.
Once you have pinned a blueprint the only reason to return to the engineer is to apply an experimental effect, or to use a different blueprint. Going to grade 1, adding the experimental effect, pinning the blueprint and going about your business before upgrading further when you have more materials is a totally viable approach.
Be ready to gather materials when and wherever you find them*. You won't know what they're for but you'll appreciate having some supply when you start to engineer something new. A stock of low value and easy to find materials can also be traded at certain stations for fewer rarer materials. This can save a lot of time or frustration. I had to find all the arsenic for my first FSD range increase by manually shooting rocks in my SRV and praying to RNGesus, and I had to return to Deciat to make each change. You've got it easy kid. ;)

*I might return to the topic of 'where/how to acquire materials' later.
 
Keep in mind the following.

  • You can only engineer things up to your reputation with that engineer, and essentially the way to do that is to engineer stuff with them this has to be at their base rather than remotely
  • The mats required if you have engineered an item on that blue print before are lower as you will need fewer 'rolls' to fully complete a grade.
  • You can start 'rolling' the next grade on a blueprint as soon as it unlocks there is no need to complete the lower grade unless you don't intend to go any further.
  • As said Experimentals can only be added at the engineers base, these can be the most useful bit of engineering so don't forget to include the mats for them in your hunts.
 
And don't forget to use essential tools like inara.cz

There you can get all the info you need, like how much materials you need for each stage, how much you have, which engineers you have unlocked, etc.
 
I'm curious how best to approach engineering? I have unlocked Farseer, and I have pinned the blue prints for FSD extended range. This is my question: Is it OK to gather all of the materials you need to complete all 5 levels at once? Or is it better to get the materials to do stage 1, come back and complete that build, then go out and gather mats for stage 2, come back and complete that build, repeat for stage 3, 4, and finally 5. . .
I highly recommend against completing one stage of engineering of a module at a time. Because the next stage becomes available before your current stage is complete. It is a waste of materials to fully complete a stage of engineering if the next stage has become available.

Instead, complete the engineering you can comfortably with the materials you have. Some engineering is way better than none. Especially for the Frame Shift Drive.

- Another Tip:
As a new player if you think you are going to upgrade your ship don't bother going crazy with engineering. Because that would be a waste of materials. Especially any engineering above G3.

- Another Tip
Do NOT bother engineering temporary ship modules. If you can't afford the shiny A-Class module you know you want, don't bother applying engineering the temporary piece of crap module you are using. Waste of materials. Engineering materials are worth much much more than credits.

- Another Tip:
When you think you might want to upgrade to a new ship.... just wait until you have the credits & materials to purchase and engineer the important modules to a level beyond your current ship. There is no point in trading up to a fancier new ship if you can't afford to make your new ship better than what you've got. Plus its really frustrating to have a fancy new ship that sucks.
 
665F4CEC-27C1-4883-876A-04E9E127B074.jpeg
665F4CEC-27C1-4883-876A-04E9E127B074.jpeg

Are you having a laugh?
 
Back
Top Bottom