Guide / Tutorial Guide to Engineers in Colonia

[Ian Doncaster]

Colonia Engineers: how they work in 3.3

Every local upgrade contributes research points to the type of module being upgraded. Higher grades of blueprints become available at *approximately* the following thresholds. (Unlike e.g. station repairs, new grades do not require the weekly server restart to be applied - though you will need to relog to see it if you cross the threshold yourself)

G2: 3000 points
G3: 7500 points
G4: 19000 points
G5: 47000-50000? points (estimated based on pattern of other grades - insufficient data to be certain)

This is less than 1% of the targets in 3.2, and as we've seen from the upgrades already available these are targets practical for the Colonia community to meet - though it will be a long time ... or a coordinated effort ... before there's a full set of G5s. If you'd given up trying due to the lack of progress in 3.2, now would be a good time to return.

Upgrades contribute points equal to their own grade - so a G3 upgrade contributes 3 points. It is unlikely that applying experimentals or using a pinned blueprint helps at all. The local news article shows progress every 5% within a grade (though 3 of the 4 articles are currently broken)

There is an interesting trade-off here between material collection efficiency and the time taken to carry out the upgrades, if you're making throwaway upgrades just to help the engineering research. A G3 upgrade costs materials which could be traded in for 13 G1 upgrades, but only gives three times the points. On the other hand, it takes much less time (and clicking) to make 100 G3 upgrades compared with 300 G1 upgrades - time you can use to get more materials.

There are still some unanswered questions - does the G5 target follow the pattern of the others? are exclusive blueprints possible? - which we're hoping to get answers for soon.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Thanks for the lead on mining equipment at Whirling Station/Ogmar.

I now have the gear I need for my Python and Cobra 4's range of permutations.

 

[Galwin]

Hi all,

I'm a complete noob, when it comes to ED.
I just started out with flying to the Colonia region, without meeting or unlocking any engineers in the Bubble.
Read somewhere that it is less intense here and thought it would be a good place to learn the game in a nice and quite place

Now I got interested in the engineering stuff, but from what i read here it seems that none of the engineers in the Colonia region can be accessed without prior knowledge about them from other engineers - in the Bubble!
Does that mean that I'll never get an invite to any of the engineers here in Colonia before getting knowledge about them from other engineers (in the Bubble)?

Hmm - I'm mentally preparing my selves to the trip back to the Bubble....

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Does that mean that I'll never get an invite to any of the engineers here in Colonia before getting knowledge about them from other engineers (in the Bubble)?

Yes - you'll need to unlock Elvira Martuuk, Tod McQuinn, The Dweller, and Liz Ryder - and then get them all to at least reputation level 4 so they tell you about the Colonia engineers.

It can be a little inconvenient - I can see good reasons to do it this way (for example, it stops the Colonia engineers showing up for absolute beginners like the other basic engineers do, and making them think they "need" to head to Colonia) - but it would be nice if there was an alternative way to find out about them in Colonia itself.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

The Colonia Engineers are progressing well - Brandon now having G5 drives and G3 SCBs, to equal the best available in the bubble.

While they don't have many of the "best" blueprints yet (green highlight) they are often the best provider of a blueprint at the "second line" (yellow highlight) - allowing players willing to travel an otherwise much easier way to get access to mid-grade engineering.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Mel Brandon is the go-to guy. He's got the best spread.

 

[avow555]

So this implies if you don't have the prerequisite Bubble Engineer at the appropriate level, you can't unlock their Colonia follow-on? If we've left the bubble without having unlocked Liz Ryder, we'd have to then return to the bubble and go back again to unlock Etienne Dorn? Could it not be possible to hear of the Colonia engineers from other Colonia engineers, so a 40,000ly round trip isn't necessary?

oh dear is this true?

 

[Ralph Vargr]

oh dear is this true?

Unfortunately, yes.

 

[CLG 6]

I'm in Colonia and I'm interested in unlocking Etienne Dorn. What else aside from the escape pods do I need to unlock him?

 

[Ian Doncaster]

I'm in Colonia and I'm interested in unlocking Etienne Dorn. What else aside from the escape pods do I need to unlock him?

To get the invite in the first place, you need:
- reputation of at least rank 3.5 - go for 4 to be safe - with Liz Ryder (back in the bubble, if you haven't done that bit yet) to find out in-game that he exists
- trade rank of Dealer for the actual invite (easy to get locally)

Liz Ryder you need to get Cordial rep with Eurybia Blue Mafia in her system, who'll then give you an invite mission, and then she wants some Landmines.

 

[Scubadog]

Ian's right. BTW, if you haven't visited Inara.cz, then you need to add that to your key websites/tools. If you click on the Engineers tab you will all the engineers in ED, and clicking on any engineer gives you pretty much all the details you might want, including how to unlock them.

 

[CLG 6]

Ian's right. BTW, if you haven't visited Inara.cz, then you need to add that to your key websites/tools. If you click on the Engineers tab you will all the engineers in ED, and clicking on any engineer gives you pretty much all the details you might want, including how to unlock them.

Thanks - unfortunately I spent 3 days traveling to Colonia without the necessary requirements to unlock Dorn and Hicks and I have no desire to make a trip back to the bubble just yet. I also left my anaconda at the bubble without realizing what it would cost to have it shipped to Colonia so I now have a challenger which is pretty good for combat. Working my way up to a Krait fighter. Good news is I have Olmanova and Brandon and those mods are nice to have.

 

[Stinja]

It can be a little inconvenient - I can see good reasons to do it this way (for example, it stops the Colonia engineers showing up for absolute beginners like the other basic engineers do, and making them think they "need" to head to Colonia) - but it would be nice if there was an alternative way to find out about them in Colonia itself.

While I agree about new players unlocking them "too early", i'd also add liking an option to unlock them without needing bubble engineers first.
Add much higher requirements (eg: the bubble's unlocks on top of colonia ones), but at least give the option.

In my case it's because I originally left the bubble when Jaques was first discovered, and being on Mac OSX I couldn't unlock engineers anyway.
The "new bubble" was advertised as being independent, and a way to start fresh without all the old baggage.
Fast forward to Colonia-proper being formed, various system renames, and even moving station's in-system positions, and now there's a need to visit the bubble as a requirement - so much for independence.

Sure I could travel back, and with the neutron highway and Guardian FSD (neither of which existed when I first went to Jaques in a 17Ly Python) return easy enough, it feels forced and gamey, and breaks cough muh emurshion.

If you have any questions please post them in here!

So how about it FDev?
It's been long enough, can we not get colonia engineers unlocked in some manner (grindy enough to stop newbies) purely within Colonia itself.

 

[Scubadog]

While I agree about new players unlocking them "too early", i'd also add liking an option to unlock them without needing bubble engineers first.
Add much higher requirements (eg: the bubble's unlocks on top of colonia ones), but at least give the option.

In my case it's because I originally left the bubble when Jaques was first discovered, and being on Mac OSX I couldn't unlock engineers anyway.
The "new bubble" was advertised as being independent, and a way to start fresh without all the old baggage.
Fast forward to Colonia-proper being formed, various system renames, and even moving station's in-system positions, and now there's a need to visit the bubble as a requirement - so much for independence.

Sure I could travel back, and with the neutron highway and Guardian FSD (neither of which existed when I first went to Jaques in a 17Ly Python) return easy enough, it feels forced and gamey, and breaks cough muh emurshion.


So how about it FDev?
It's been long enough, can we not get colonia engineers unlocked in some manner (grindy enough to stop newbies) purely within Colonia itself.

I actually don't have an issue with current unlock requirements for the Colonia engineers, for the most part. You begin your virtual life in the Bubble. All the engineers you need for unlocking Colonia engineers are there. A worse commander should be doing appropriate research for that any way, most certainly before make the move to Colonia. Also, Colonia Has been slowly gaining better modules and more ships. I moved to Colonia over the years ago, never having used any engineers. I never felt I had to go back to the bubble. However, when they charged how engineering worked and then added engineers to Colonia, THAT'S when I gave it a try. I was fine with having to make a trip to the bubble and back. That's the only trip I have ever HAD to make.

 

[Micha]

It's been long enough, can we not get colonia engineers unlocked in some manner (grindy enough to stop newbies) purely within Colonia itself.

Yep, so much this. Like many others, I had made it to Colonia well before Engineers was introduced. Completely silly and ridiculous that you need to unlock the Bubble Engineers first in order to get introduced to the Colonia ones.

You -should- get the start of the Colonia Engineers by docking at Jacques - some rumour or invitation or message or whatever, and then unlock them progressively from there similar to Bubble Engineers.

Alas, this has all been mentioned and discussed years ago, and FDev's (silent) approach appears to be "it works as intended". Meh.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

My only real issue is Etienne Dorn, for roleplay reasons.

There should be one more engineer in Colonia, who is limited to Level 1, in everything. That should be me, of course.

Requirement: 1 Megaton of food.

 

[elginn]

Greetings Commanders!

Engineers have arrived in Colonia, the farthest frontier of human space exploration! These engineers allow you to upgrade your equipment without having to fly all the way back into the bubble. However, being that they are on the fringe of space and have access to limited resources compared to those in the heart of human space civilisation, they do work ever so slightly different to standard engineers.

To help you make the most of the new engineers we’ve created a quick guide!


Unlocking the Colonia Engineers

The Engineers in Colonia need to be unlocked first before you can make use of their services. To even have them entertain the notion of working with them you’ll need to make sure you’ve spoken to the right Engineers in the bubble first. Here is who you need to talk to:

Mel Brandon – Based in The Brig on planet A 1 C in the Luchtaine system – Unlocked from Elvira Martuuk and invited by the Colonia Council when friendly with the faction.

Etienne Dorn – Based in Kraken’s Retreat on planet A 2 B in the Los system – Unlock from Liz Ryder and have a trade rank of Dealer

Petra Olmanova – Based in Sanctuary on planet 1 A in the Asura system – Unlocked from Tod ‘The Blast’ McQuinn and have the combat rank of Competent

Marsha Hicks – Based in The Watchtower on planet A 2 in the Tir system – Unlocked from the The Dweller and have an explorer rank of Surveyor

Each Engineer will have their own tasks for you to fully unlock their services. Once unlocked you’ll be able to upgrade your modules as with other Engineers.


Improving the Colonia Engineers

Each Engineer will start at skill level 1 for the modules they support and can increase in levels with your help. By completing upgrades engineers earn skill points for that specific module. Skill levels are per module type so for example if you focus on modifying Beam Lasers with Mel Brandon then Mel will get better at upgrading Beam Lasers unlocking higher level upgrades.

All engineers can be levelled up to support grade 5 of the modules they support. The engineer’s level up for everyone, not just the person using the modules, so working together the Elite Dangerous community can increase the grades on offer for each Engineer! There will be a local news article in the engineer's base showing their progress to the next skill levels per module type.

If you have any questions please post them in here!

Fly safe Commanders! o7

My question is from us Colonia Lifers.

I've been in Colonia for over 2 years. The engineers in Colonia are almost useless to us out here since each introduction (or unlock) of the only 4 engineers in our region requires a trip to the bubble (round trip ~44ly).
We need unlock quests in our region for our engineers!

 

[Kaocraft]

My question is from us Colonia Lifers.

I've been in Colonia for over 2 years. The engineers in Colonia are almost useless to us out here since each introduction (or unlock) of the only 4 engineers in our region requires a trip to the bubble (round trip ~44ly).
We need unlock quests in our region for our engineers!

That's only true if you've not unlocked any engineers in the bubble to begin with. It's true that you have to unlock in-bubble engineers to get the Colonia engineer invites, but the unlock quests are all doable from within Colonia itself. I never had to leave Colonia to unlock our local engineers.

 

[elginn]

I did unlock and fully engineer in the bubble two years ago. I unlocked Felicity, The Dweller, Lei Cheung and maybe others.

So, now that I'm in Colonia, how would I go about unlocking Liz Ryder from here? If that's possible, then there is no problem at all!

Thanks for your help here

 

[Scubadog]

You won't be able to unlock Liz from Colonia. To actually get the invite you need to gain Cordial or Friendly status with Eurybia Blue Mafia (again, they're in the Bubble). So, your options are make a trip back to the Bubble and get that engineer unlocked (and engineer something to lvl 3 or 4) then fly back to Colonia...or do a Suicidewinder to get back to the Bubble fast, get a cheap ship and get Liz taken care of using that ship and then fly it back to Colonia.

I know it's not optimal. But, like so many other things in ED, you should spend some time actually planning out goals. I largely keep my travels back to the Bubble down to 1 per year. I didn't do ANY engineering under the old system (I just felt it was stupid and a waste of my time). When they changed it, I made a trip to get the ones done I was interested in. I pinned what I wanted and then was able to use them in Colonia (minus the Experimental Effects). THEN, when Engineers showed up in Colonia I discovered that I had visibility/access to three of them. So, I made another trip to the Bubble to unlock the remaining Colonia Engineer. These days, I never go to the Bubble for engineering.

So, if you plan it right (use Inara.cz, the Engineers section, to learn everything you need to know about all of the engineers) you'll only need to make one trip to the Bubble to unlock the engineers you want. Take advantage of that trip to get a ship or modules that you can't get in Colonia. At this point, the only ships you can't get are the Corvette or the Imperial ships, and certain uber-weapons or modules unique to those ships.