Guide / Tutorial Guide to Engineers in Colonia

[Ian Doncaster]

So my question is, why would anyone use the engineers? I can fly back to the bubble in the same time as it would take to collect the unlock requirements.

Why not make them grade 5 for one area and 1 for the rest? That way they would get used and then level up?

Grade 5 in one area wouldn't directly help, since research is per-module.

A few reasons I can think of for them to be useful and attract help even at G1 (all of which I've used them for)
- you can only have so many pinned blueprints, and you might not feel like flying all the way back to the bubble just to engineer a lightweight limpet controller. G1 still saves a bit of weight, so why not do it?
- a few blueprints (e.g. long range railgun or laser) you get almost all the practical benefit of it at G1 anyway
- you're using pinned blueprints anyway but you'll put G1+experimental on at the local engineer first to "do your bit"
- 44kLY round trip is a bit far to go to get engineering done if you don't like travelling and you'll just put up with not having maxed everything.

 

[Nutter]

Grade 5 in one area wouldn't directly help, since research is per-module.

A few reasons I can think of for them to be useful and attract help even at G1 (all of which I've used them for)
- you can only have so many pinned blueprints, and you might not feel like flying all the way back to the bubble just to engineer a lightweight limpet controller. G1 still saves a bit of weight, so why not do it?
- a few blueprints (e.g. long range railgun or laser) you get almost all the practical benefit of it at G1 anyway
- you're using pinned blueprints anyway but you'll put G1+experimental on at the local engineer first to "do your bit"
- 44kLY round trip is a bit far to go to get engineering done if you don't like travelling and you'll just put up with not having maxed everything.

Meh! Guns n Pew pew, really, really not of any interest.
Colonia should be explorer focused, tell you what, meet me half way. You do Grade 5 FSD and I'll bother to unlock the engineers. Until such time, or when they finally do grade 5 modifications for explorers I have no interest or use for them.
Sorry
o7

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Colonia should be explorer focused

Then the explorers need to put the effort in rather than going "ooh, a shiny planet" and wandering off way over there The whole point is that the engineers develop based on collective player priorities, and while pretty much everyone in Colonia must like exploration at least a bit or they wouldn't have bothered coming out here, there are probably more useful blueprints for them right now.

At the moment the priorities (as seen in what's actually progressing due to people using the blueprint) are basic weapons, engines, shields, armour and collector/prospector limpets. Well, it's also a really good place for miners.

(When we were picking a module to test how upgrades worked at the start of this process, we did consider FSD because everyone likes G5 FSDs ... but to unlock Mel Brandon you need to already have ranked up with Elvira Martuuk, so you already have the ability to pin G5 FSDs. That may be why no-one else is working on it much either.)

 

[Nutter]

Then the explorers need to put the effort in rather than going "ooh, a shiny planet" and wandering off way over there The whole point is that the engineers develop based on collective player priorities, and while pretty much everyone in Colonia must like exploration at least a bit or they wouldn't have bothered coming out here, there are probably more useful blueprints for them right now.

At the moment the priorities (as seen in what's actually progressing due to people using the blueprint) are basic weapons, engines, shields, armour and collector/prospector limpets. Well, it's also a really good place for miners.

(When we were picking a module to test how upgrades worked at the start of this process, we did consider FSD because everyone likes G5 FSDs ... but to unlock Mel Brandon you need to already have ranked up with Elvira Martuuk, so you already have the ability to pin G5 FSDs. That may be why no-one else is working on it much either.)

I really think that proved my point, weapons, shields and other pew pew related items don't require jump range. Clearly the only role that can make use of the low grade upgrades are the pew pew crew. I think Explorers would use Colonia as a base if they offered the right grade upgrades. I can tell you right now if I could purchase a Phantom and slap a grade 5 FSD on it I would use Colonia as a base of operations and most certainly use the engineers.

Right now the only way to use Colonia as a base (for me) is to go to the bubble, engineer a heap of modules and then ship them over. Of course this means those Colonia Engineers would stay locked.

I think there needs to be an incentive to use them, give them grade 5 exploration focused skills and bobs your uncle. There is still time to tweek them before Tuesday.

I'll be first in the queue to use their services if I could use them, but right now they can only make my stuffs worse.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

the pew pew crew

Including traders, miners, and so on in that, sure.

Even combat pilots - min-maxing PvPers aside - find increased jump range very useful, though.

Right now the only way to use Colonia as a base (for me) is to go to the bubble, engineer a heap of modules and then ship them over.

Pin G5 Long Range FSD with Martuuk, remote-engineer the module from any station in the region, use Mel Brandon to add Mass Manager or Deep Charge to finish it off. All my ships got a nice increase in jump range when the engineers arrived out here just from adding the special.

The more major problem for the dedicated explorer - and one which has nothing to do with the engineers - is that we only stock A-rated FSDs up to size 3, and are limited to B-rated above that. So you'd have to ship the basic module over from somewhere else anyway, and might as well engineer it before sticking it in storage in that case.

 

[Nutter]

Pin G5 Long Range FSD with Martuuk, remote-engineer the module from any station in the region

Wait ... what!? What is this remote-engineer you speak of? Have I missed a piece of functionality here? Are you suggesting I can engineer stuff without visiting an Engineer>?

 

[yianniv]

Wait ... what!? What is this remote-engineer you speak of? Have I missed a piece of functionality here? Are you suggesting I can engineer stuff without visiting an Engineer>?

Just in case you're not joking, yes, you can pin blueprints at an engineer's base (one per engineer, so you'd better choose a blueprint at a high level, eg 5) and you can engineer the relevant module on other stations. What you can't engineer remotely are the experimental effects.

For Palin, for example, I've pinned G5 dirty drives and use Farseer for the experimental.

 

[Nutter]

Just in case you're not joking, yes, you can pin blueprints at an engineer's base (one per engineer, so you'd better choose a blueprint at a high level, eg 5) and you can engineer the relevant module on other stations. What you can't engineer remotely are the experimental effects.

For Palin, for example, I've pinned G5 dirty drives and use Farseer for the experimental.

Hmm ok, so next time I visit the bubble I pin my fav G5 mods, then when I build a new ship I can engineer from anywhere? Plus I can use a Colonia engineer to add specials?

If this is true I have one last question, will this method level up a Colonia Engineer?

 

[Dregory The Crow]

You can't pin G5 blueprint, when you pin blueprint you pin all grades.

If this is true I have one last question, will this method level up a Colonia Engineer?

If you use remote engineer then no, but if you add G1 (and all grades available) and special at colonial engineer and then use a remote engineer for the rest grades you level up him/her.

 

[C64Fan]

Hmm ok, so next time I visit the bubble I pin my fav G5 mods, then when I build a new ship I can engineer from anywhere? Plus I can use a Colonia engineer to add specials?

If this is true I have one last question, will this method level up a Colonia Engineer?

Your other questions are answered so I’ll just say yes, you can use the engineers near Colonia to add specials. That’s what I have been doing since right after the Colonia engineers was added + remote engineering.

EDIT: Well, all your questions are answered, but I guess you didn’t see that - and I didn’t either.

 

[Scubadog]

Then I must be doing something wrong. If I come to a Colonia engineer with a ship that has, say, level 3 upgrades on a module but no experimentals, I do NOT see an ability to get that Colonia engineer to add the experimental. In fact, it warns me that I'll LOSE my current mods in favor of the new G1 mods of that Colonia engineer (even though I've chosen the exact same upgrade type).

 

[C64Fan]

Then I must be doing something wrong. If I come to a Colonia engineer with a ship that has, say, level 3 upgrades on a module but no experimentals, I do NOT see an ability to get that Colonia engineer to add the experimental. In fact, it warns me that I'll LOSE my current mods in favor of the new G1 mods of that Colonia engineer (even though I've chosen the exact same upgrade type).

Yes, you are definitely doing something wrong then. You have to click on the right upgrade in the left side of the screen, and then click on the Experimental Effect button.

But if I remember correctly you can’t add an Experimental Effect if you have a Legacy Mod on the module. You’ll have to convert it to the new system, which in theory means you’ll loose one upgrade level, but since the Colonia Engineers are at low levels (now) you’ll loose more than that.

I have done it many times since I got to Colonia months ago.

EDIT: I found a short video that shows you it’s possible:
[video=youtube_share;1A-ePAw19Uo]https://youtu.be/1A-ePAw19Uo[/video]

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Following the target adjustments, the following advanced blueprints are available:

Grade 4

• Engines (Mel Brandon)

Grade 3

• Pulse Laser (Mel Brandon)
• Beam Laser (Mel Brandon)
• Armour (Petra Olmanova)
• Hull Reinforcements (Petra Olmanova)
• Collector Limpets (Marsha Hicks)
• Multicannons (Marsha Hicks)

Grade 2

• Shield Generators (Mel Brandon)
• Shield Boosters (Mel Brandon)
• Frameshift Drive (Mel Brandon)
• Burst Lasers (Mel Brandon)
• Heat Sinks (Petra Olmanova)
• Chaff (Petra Olmanova)
• Prospector Limpets (Marsha Hicks)
• Cannon (Marsha Hicks)
• Fuel Scoop (Marsha Hicks)
• Power Distributors (Etienne Dorn)
• Life Support (Etienne Dorn)

The remaining blueprints are still on Grade 1 for now.

https://cdb.sotl.org.uk/engineers will be regularly updated with the latest advances.

EDIT: I should also mention, if you pin a blueprint with one of these engineers, and the engineer later researches a more advanced version, you get that added to your pin without needing to go back - so if e.g. you're after G4 Life Support without having to unlock Jameson, you can just pin the current G2 one (throw in some local rolls to help it on its way!) and then head out again and it'll upgrade itself.

 

[C64Fan]

Following the target adjustments, the following advanced blueprints are available:

Grade 4

• Engines (Mel Brandon)

Grade 3

• Pulse Laser (Mel Brandon)
• Beam Laser (Mel Brandon)
• Armour (Petra Olmanova)
• Hull Reinforcements (Petra Olmanova)
• Collector Limpets (Marsha Hicks)
• Multicannons (Marsha Hicks)

Grade 2

• Shield Generators (Mel Brandon)
• Shield Boosters (Mel Brandon)
• Frameshift Drive (Mel Brandon)
• Burst Lasers (Mel Brandon)
• Heat Sinks (Petra Olmanova)
• Chaff (Petra Olmanova)
• Prospector Limpets (Marsha Hicks)
• Cannon (Marsha Hicks)
• Fuel Scoop (Marsha Hicks)
• Power Distributors (Etienne Dorn)
• Life Support (Etienne Dorn)

The remaining blueprints are still on Grade 1 for now.

https://cdb.sotl.org.uk/engineers will be regularly updated with the latest advances.

Perfect, m8! I was just looking for info about that. Thank you! .

 

[Iralith]

Noobsome question about unlocking the Colonia engineers: what sort of indication should one receive that one's jumped through the necessary hoops?

Way more specifically (including what I think I already know):

• I'm looking to unlock Mel Brandon and Petra Olmanova. To that end, I've suicidewindered back to the Bubble to pal around with the two Bubble-side engineers who are meant to open them up: Elvira Martuuk and Todd McQuinn.
• The wiki tells me that I will "learn about [Brandon and Olmanova] after achieving Grade 3 access or higher" with Martuuk and McQuinn. So, cool, as far as I can tell I've done that--I mean, Martuuk and McQuinn's screens now tell me that I'm grade 3 with them.
• But I don't see any sign that I've unlocked anything--no comms message or bookmark or anything. Before I make the loooong journey back to Colonia to see if anything's changed out there (e.g., go to stations with Colonia Council presence), I want to see if anything still needs doing in the Bubble. Is the wiki out of date; do I actually need Grade 5? Is there some other little dealy I haven't done?

Sincere apologies if the answer's somewhere in this thread! I've looked through it of course, but perhaps I missed something.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

[*]The wiki tells me that I will "learn about [Brandon and Olmanova] after achieving Grade 3 access or higher" with Martuuk and McQuinn. So, cool, as far as I can tell I've done that--I mean, Martuuk and McQuinn's screens now tell me that I'm grade 3 with them.

It's about half way up grade 3 - for safety, just push to grade 4.

If you look on your in-game Engineer pages at an Engineer you have unlocked, you'll see three tick marks for the steps you went through for them. The first of these is how you learned about the engineer - either "public knowledge" or "from Other Engineer".

Once you get that page for Brandon and Olmanova with the first tick mark, you've done enough with Martuuk and McQuinn. In the case of Olmanova, you'll need combat rank Expert to get the second tick. If you already have that, then immediately on getting the first tick, you'll also get the second, and you'll get a message from Olmanova inviting you. McQuinn you'll only get the first tick until you've got back to Colonia and done a mission for the Council.

(You don't say specifically, but while you're in the bubble you may as well get to Grade 4 with The Dweller and with Liz Ryder as well - you might not have any use for Marsha Hicks or Etienne Dorn right now, but if you decide you want to unlock them later it'll save you another long trip)

 

[Iralith]

It's about half way up grade 3 - for safety, just push to grade 4.

Aha! Yes, looks like three-and-a-half or so did it. Interesting; I should probably amend (or at least comment in) the wiki.

(You don't say specifically, but while you're in the bubble you may as well get to Grade 4 with The Dweller and with Liz Ryder as well - you might not have any use for Marsha Hicks or Etienne Dorn right now, but if you decide you want to unlock them later it'll save you another long trip)

I know, I knooow. My reasons for not doing that are silly: Etienne Dorne's unlock is so skeevy that I don't want to do it, and (on the Bubble end of things) the Dweller's is crimey enough that I'm averse to trying it. I have a proud record of only getting on the wrong side of the law through incidents of raging incompetence! (By which I mean that it happens pretty often.)

But I might hang around and try them out; I'd been strongly considering it.

 

[PrimBloodGhost]

Question? Is it worth unlocking the Colonia Enigies? What difference they make versus the others?

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Question? Is it worth unlocking the Colonia Enigies? What difference they make versus the others?

Assuming you don't live in Colonia?

It's four more pinned blueprints. For example, Petra Olmanova is the only engineer other than Ram Tah who does chaff, point defence, ECM and heatsinks, so you could have one of each pinned ... or she's the only one other than Selene Jean to have Armour and HRPs at a decent level, so you could have both of those pinned at once.

It's possible that they can get exclusive blueprints eventually. If so, it'll take a while before Etienne Dorn has G5 Life Support, but you could run a few LS rolls [1] to get up to rep 5 then pin it for when everyone else has done the same.

They have extremely broad selections and (apart from being in Colonia) are very easy to unlock. If there's an engineer it's going to take a while for you to unlock (Jameson if you don't like combat, Jean and Turner if you hate mining, etc.) you can get access to at least some grade of blueprint relatively easily.

The ability for players to make persistent upgrades to services offered is currently literally unique to the Colonia Engineers - the more people who participate in it, the more chance that Frontier think it's worth doing similar things in future.


[1] Currently he's offering G2. Doing mostly G2 rolls will get you up to maximum rep quicker, and each individual G2 roll contributes more research, while the number of G1 rolls needed to get to rep 5 is much larger, so this will be more total research (and cheaper to obtain the materials through the traders) but you'll have to spend a lot more time clicking.

 

[C64Fan]

Mel Brandon has grade 3 blueprints for Shield Boosters now.